THE FACELESS DOUBLE SOFTWARE

So? How did you do?! Was the gig good, barely okay or a total train wreck? The live playing situation is very particular and requires different listening skills from those taught through ear training software, books or CDs. Tell when it's time for you to lay out completely? (know when to NOT play).Interact on a melodic, harmonic or rhythmic level with any other band members? (While you soloing or comping).Tell right away what inversion of the chord the bassist is implying?.

Get the 'musical cues' as to how the other musicians will be ending the current tune? (vamp, turnaround, tag, other?).Hear if the sounds are well balanced? (are the drums too loud? is the bass too soft? etc.).Tell if someone is out of tune in the group?.Wing it and improvise a decent solo on an unfamiliar 32-bar form tune? (playing mostly by ear, 'faking it').Sense if the music is rushing or dragging?.Hear if anyone (yourself) is lost in the form?.Determine what meter the drummer decided to shift to?.Identify the chord substitutions imposed by the pianist? (provided you do know and hear the 'normal' changes).In that unexpected musical situation, could you. That's you! Ready? You meet up, plug in, tune up, discuss the set list (standards) and. People are also curious: there's a 'new guy' in the group tonight. Pay is good, you accept.īy the way: there's a crowd of 20-30 people waiting in that jazz club. It's understood that the band will only be playing tunes you're familiar with. Your bandmates are strangers from out of town (good jazz musicians, the Doxas brothers above). Please imagine the following as if it were really happening to you, today: You get a call from someone asking you to sub in and play on a gig tonight, only a few hours from now.

THE FACELESS DOUBLE SOFTWARE

For some concrete, simple (yet effective) exercises and suggestions, here's a link to a great ear training article / software (FREE) that is more 'technical' (interval recognition, chords, progressions, etc.) Ear Training in performance: jazz musicians on the bandstand If this is not what you're looking for: There are plenty of ear training resources out there to help you work on technical ear training. Most of the tips and techniques are directly related to jazz performance. Several guidelines will be given to put the concepts into practice. This is NOT what you would expect from a classical ear training class in college. This article concerns the general aspects of listening and aural perception while playing music. but they can sometimes feel out of context (compared to the playing situations musicians experience). Recognizing intervals in a classroom is very different from listening to sounds 'under fire,' on stage! I don't like the expression 'ear training' in general because it's too often associated with classes, books or software. Sounds empowering, doesn't it? Ear Training Overview In short, the better you hear yourself and other musicians around you, the greater your musical abilities become (to play, interact, improvise, compose, etc.). You can only go so far practicing techniques, scales, harmony (etc.)Īll the jazz legends tell us the same thing: It's all about listening! Great music is performed when good musicians play together and closely listen to each other.

If you were only allowed to practice and work on one musical topic throughout your life, only ear training (and developing deeper listening in general) would provide you with steady musical growth for the duration. In fact, let's go further: I GUARANTEE it! But you have to do it 'well' and be open to suggestions.Īnd, yes, it's that simple! Work on the ears, and you'll be a better player. In fact, I can almost guarantee that exercising your hearing a little will improve your playing (regardless of level, instrument or style). Of course, changing and developing our aural perception should also yield results, musically speaking. Basically: growing as a human being will affect many aspects of our lives. We know that changing our general perception (of life, music, relationships, etc.) can change the way we create and play music. but make no mistake: musicians who actually train their ears usually make great strides in a short amount of time! Ear training anyone.?! Let's follow uncle Pat's advice. Working on (and achieving) good listening / hearing is seldom discussed. Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of learning to make music is the training of the ears. Steady Musical Growth and 'jazz performance ear training'

The faceless double