Ear training is one of my favorite topics to work on with my students, and many of the best guitar players of all time learned to...
Ear training is one of my favorite topics to work on with my students, and many of the best guitar players of all time learned to play through listening.
I once heard a guitarist say “if you can hear what’s happening, that unlocks the mystery of music.” Here is a lesson that explores how to listen to music in context, complete with two exercises to get you started. The exercises in this lesson are the first steps of a comprehensive ear training method called “Contextual Ear Training,” designed by my teacher Bruce Arnold, who studied with legendary jazz educator Charlie Banacos. The principle behind this method of ear training is to learn to accurately hear individual pitches by memorizing the unique sound of all 12 notes in western music against a key center through identification and singing.
This is a different approach from the traditional “interval training” method where you learn the sound of all the possible intervals in music. As a student of both methods, contextual ear training has proven to be the more effective method for me. In addition to using what I have learned on a daily basis as a musician, contextual ear training has given me a strong foundation to explore music at a deeper level.
Before we get started, there are a few things I would like to mention about these exercises. First, please be patient. It took me a little over a year to be able to identify and sing all 12 pitches. You might become proficient with these exercises faster than I did, or it might take you a little longer, but regardless, it’s important to be patient. You will undoubtedly notice gradual improvement over time, but this requires consistent practice. Therefore, I recommend