Play Better Music Now - Train Your Ear!

by Dave Lockwood

Part I

an you play many scale patterns, but you just don't seem to

feel

them? Do you know alot of chords, but you struggle putting them together in a satisfying way? I've definitelyhad those same challenges and many more. However, once I learned what I needed to doto overcome those obstacles and others, everything changed. The answer is to starttraining your ear. You're in luck, because that's what this series of articles is all about!

start

with, let's begin by going over some basic music theory fundamentals. This mayseem odd to those that think that knowing music theory is the enemy of creativity. Buthere's the process... Using music theory, we'll identify the different elements that makeup the music we hear. The second step is to take those elements - one at a time - anddevelop an exercise that will help your ear identify those sounds either in other people'smusic, or music you hear in your own head (!). With that, let's get moving!

et's start with the notes that have no sharps or flats. These notes are called the "natural"notes.

bserve...C D E F G A B CW W H W W W HW= whole step H= half stepC D E F G A B C B A G F E D C

he musical distance - called an "interval"- between each consecutive natural note willeither be a half step (1 fret on guitar), or a whole step (2 frets). Out of the natural notes,there are only 2 half step intervals - E to F and B to C. You don't need to use thatinformation right away, I just wanted to point that out to you.

otice also that in the tab, I placed all the notes on the same string. On the guitar, it'smuch easier to visualize music theory basics by playing on one string, instead of playingacross the strings, which is referred to as position playing.

urprisingly, you already have enough information to start training your ear tounderstand what's going on in the music you listen to, and the music you're trying tocreate.

o, let's get to work on those half steps and whole steps! For those of you that read myprevious article on playing songs by ear, you'll know that I'm a big fan of using yourvoice to help your ear. So, if you're still reading :) ...

Practice playing and singing half steps and whole steps, starting from any note . Atfirst you'll want to do it along with your guitar, or on the piano. For those using thepiano, 1/2 steps are 1 key away (including black keys), whole steps are 2 keys away.At first, you'll want to work on this material in one direction only. In other words, onlysing your half and whole steps up, or down. After you're comfortable singing these 2intervals in the direction of your choosing, start to mix it up. Play a note, then sing a notea half step lower . Play another note, then sing a note a whole step up from that note, andso on. Do this A LOT, and you'll start to hear these intervals jump out at you when youlisten to music.

The next thing to do is to sing these intervals without your instrument. Since you'restill relatively new at this, you'll want to check yourself to make sure your attempts are onthe right track. After doing this for awhile, you'll KNOW when you're on the right note,and you won't need your instrument to do this anymore. KNOWING is a great place tobe. Congratulations, your training wheels are off!

Once you're confident singing your half and whole steps, you'll want to up your game,and do this next exercise. Record yourself - using software, a digital handheld recorder,or even an old school tape recorder - playing 1 note several times, and then another notea half or whole step away. A few seconds after the 2nd note, say whether you played awhole step or half step. Make sure you play them slowly at first.

hen you listen back, try to find that first note quickly, then figure out if the 2nd note isup/down and half/whole step, and then find it on your instrument. If you find yourself struggling too much, re-record it at a slower pace. Record at least 10 minutes of thisexercise to give yourself a good workout. As you get better, you can re-record theexercise at a gradually faster pace.

ou can practice in the car as well. Listen to the recording and decide whether it's awhole step or 1/2 step, then listen for the answer. Without the recording, you canpractice singing 1/2 steps and whole steps. To some, this may seem like a lot of work,but as you add more intervals to your collection, you'll REALLY begin to hear music likeyou've never heard it before - I promise. Again, a great place to be!