Listening
If you’ve ever studied an instrument or taken a music appreciation class, you may have noticed that music became more vibrant and compelling as you became more alert to previously unnoticed musical components.
As a musician, the value of educating your ear extends beyond personal enjoyment. In fact, listening may be the most critical element in musical development. When we play an instrument, we make choices regarding tone, dynamics, tempo and more by listening to the sounds as we create them. When we play with other musicians, the success of the collaboration relies on each person listening deeply to every aspect of the musical whole. And, hearing the notes and rhythms in our heads—often referred to as audiation— is the key to effectively bringing them to our instruments when we compose or improvise.
One of the most satisfying and far-reaching things that I do as a teacher is to help my students hone their listening skills. It’s essential for any musician to develop the ability to discern the relationship between pitches, recognize chord progressions, and sort out rhythms. These are skills that anyone can acquire through the study of ear training, and there is no substitute for a good teacher or course to help you learn them. But if you want to enhance your listening experience without using a structured ear training course—or if you want to maximize the benefits of your study—there are plenty of things you can do. Simply shifting your awareness in specific ways in both the practice room and in everyday life can significantly boost your aural skills.
Activities for Musicians and Fans
During your next listening session, try focusing on specific aspects of the music, beginning with rhythm. Find the pulse and listen for the strongest beats. Try clapping with the first beat of each measure. Count out loud as you listen. Look for patterns involving weak or strong beats and notice when those patterns change or shift.
Next, listen for form. If you’re not familiar with form in music, just start by identifying the verse and chorus and name the two parts “A” and “B.” Much of the music you hear will have only these two parts and, once you’re confident in your recognition of them, you will easily hear when there is a part that doesn’t fit the structure of either the “A” or “B” parts.
Perhaps the most fun thing to listen for is how the notes are played. Could you describe the quality of the sound using terms like sharp, sweet, warm, or cold? Does the volume swell or diminish? If so, what is the dynamic range and is it predictable? What do you feel when you hear the expression of these types of performance choices?
Now go deeper into your listening, searching for tension and resolution in the harmony or chords. What is the emotional quality of each chord and what feelings do the relationships between chords evoke? Can you hear and feel a story without words?
Listening As You Play
As a musician, you can benefit by employing the same conscious listening exercises when you practice, but you’ll strengthen your musicianship by expanding your approach.
When examining the melodic rhythm in a song you play, think about how you would write it in standard notation. If you don’t already know how to notate rhythms, consider learning. It’s a useful skill that will greatly sharpen your rhythmic sense and it’s not as hard as it may seem. I’m able to teach people to take dictation of basic rhythms in a single session!
If you play guitar, piano, or any instrument that can simultaneously produce multiple notes, bring your awareness to the quality of the chords you play and the tension and resolution that’s produced by the chord progressions. By doing this regularly, you will come to recognize common patterns of harmonic movement, making it easier and faster to play new pieces and memorize familiar ones.
When playing melodies on any instrument, including your voice, listen consciously, considering the direction and distance from each note to the next. Ask yourself: “Up or down?” “Skip or step?” “Big skip or little skip?” This will require playing in extremely slow motion, but if you take the time to do a little each practice session, it won’t be long before you’ll impress yourself with your ability to play melodies by ear!
Look for opportunities to use your ear in all you do. If you rely on a tuner, for example, start tuning by ear instead, using your tuner only as a way to check your accuracy. If you are accustomed to learning new music from websites and books, try figuring out the song by ear before looking at the music or TABS.
Listening, like all other skills, begins with intention. Merely by intending to increase your listening skills you will find yourself increasingly drawn to opportunities to do so.
