Tag: ear training

The art of transcribing – Part 6

As always, be sure to read parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. I am now switching to a video format for some of these blogs. You can listen to it as if it were podcast, since the video isn’t too important in this one. In this video, I show you how I figure out music 100% by ear without any instrument or reference other than the music. This is an important aspect of ear training; it is essentially listening to music intelligently by engaging your mind. People often ask which solos they should transcribe. That’s not the right way to think about it. When it comes to developing one’s ear, one should generally go for what one likes. Since you and I may have different tastes, it wouldn’t be advisable for you to figure out […]

Practicing, sincerity, awareness, and passion!

This article originally appeared on Djangobooks.com’s January 2015 blog. This version may differ in that it may have been updated since its original publication.   Greetings folks! Today, I would like to talk about two important, yet, often overlooked aspects of music: awareness and intent. These two terms are rather vague, indeed, but encompass many aspects of music, and I would like to focus on what I believe to be the most important ones. Many people contact me asking for advice on what they should be practicing; I strongly feel that understanding these issues will inevitably help you determine what you should be working on, as a musician. To start with, my reasons for generally appreciating an artist, are usually different than most people’s: to me, it is the very subtle, yet important details that I […]