Should you develop your ear as a Musician?

By Travis Osterloh

Once upon a time I believed you had to be born with an ear and the creativity to be an excellent guitarist. The truth is these skills are learned and developed over time. A great musician has a great ear and can anticipate chord progressions, play thoughtful melodies, and transcribe music we hear in our head/music from others.  

This skill will help you with all aspects of being a musician. It’s important to take just 5 minutes of your practice time to develop this skill. There are some easy action Items you can take as a musician to improve your ear.

How to apply/practice training your ear:

  • Think of easy melody lines like Baby Shark, Scooby Do, Fresh Prince of Bel Air or Any jingles you know from your favorite tv shows or commercials.

    • Listen and sing the song or jingle to help memorize the melody line.

    • Assign scale degrees for each of the notes (without cheating) in any key you desire

    • Once you have assigned every note, play your written melody a couple times

    • Actively listen to the differences between your transcribed melody and the original. The important part is to make adjustments till you think you have correctly transcribed the melody.

      Your results won’t be perfect at first, you’ll have some notes wrong, you might be in the wrong key, but with consistent practice the melody lines will be easier to hear and find. This will allow you to transcribe what you hear in to what you play. This method of practice is why we limit 5 minutes of practice to not burnout on it.

  • After some time, these melody lines will become easy, now lets target your favorite solos.

    • Break each solo into sections to make it easier to focus on smaller portions.

    • Start with slower sections and sing each solo in your head

    • Assign scale degrees to each of the notes.

    • Play the transcribed melody and compare to the original solo

    • Adjust transcribed melody to better match the original.

      These two applications will help to improve your skill set as a guitar player and a musician. Don’t beat yourself up during this progress. It takes time to develop from the beginning so be patient and consistent. You will start to see results overtime.

      If you are looking for help with your guitar playing, songwriting, improvising, and ear training send a message to Osterlohguitaracademy@gmail.com and I will work with you to help improve your playing to the next level.