The_Complete_Idiot%27s_Guide_To_Music_Theory
The_Complete_Idiot%27s_Guide_To_Music_Theory
The_Complete_Idiot%27s_Guide_To_Music_Theory
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Listening—Actively<br />
Before we get into ear training proper, you need to learn how to actively listen<br />
to music. This isn’t listening for enjoyment; it’s listening to remember, and to<br />
analyze.<br />
Start by isolating yourself from the hurly-burly of your day-to-day life. Turn off<br />
the TV, close the windows, and block out all extraneous noises—the air conditioner,<br />
the refrigerator, the hum of the air pump in your fish tank. Create an<br />
environment in which you can focus on the music, without any distractions.<br />
Prepare the music. This means setting up your audio system, with a good pair<br />
of speakers, or even a quality set of headphones. Make sure the music source<br />
can be easily accessed; you’ll be doing a lot of rewinding and fast forwarding.<br />
Now get yourself comfortable. Find a comfy chair, or a couch, or even a place<br />
on the floor, surrounded by pillows. Get comfortable, but don’t get relaxed;<br />
instead, remain alert and ready for input. And don’t squirm. When you’re fully<br />
prepared, it’s time to listen. Select a song, one of your favorites; then press the<br />
play button … and listen.<br />
Begin by listening to the overall form of the song. Determine where one phrase<br />
ends and another begins. Figure out where the verses are, and the chorus, and<br />
even the bridge, if there is one. Get a feel for how the song is constructed, for<br />
its internal logic, for the way it flows from one point to another.<br />
Now listen to the song again, but this time focus carefully on the melody line.<br />
Listen hard, and listen critically. Note where the melody goes up, and where it<br />
goes down. Note where the melody changes; where the verse ends and the chorus<br />
begins; and where any variations occur. Listen to it as many times as you<br />
need, until you’re sure you can sing it back, verbatim.<br />
Return to the start of the song, and this time don’t listen to the melody. Instead,<br />
listen to the bass line. Listen to the tones played, and to the rhythms. Note how<br />
the bass notes relate to the melody, and to the other parts. Listen to the bass<br />
part and memorize the bass part; then play the song back again and sing along<br />
with the bass, from memory.<br />
Again, return to the start of the song. This time listen to another part—the lead<br />
guitar, or the piano, or the saxophone. It doesn’t matter; pick a part, and follow<br />
it from start to finish. Listen critically, and hear how this part fits with the bass and<br />
the melody and all the other parts. Listen until you have the part memorized.<br />
Repeat this process until you know all the parts of the song. Get to the point<br />
where you can sing back any given part, without prompting. Let that song get<br />
inside your brain; become one with the music.<br />
Finally, listen to the entire song again and try to figure out where the chord<br />
changes are. <strong>The</strong>re might be a new chord every 4 beats, or 8, or even 16.<br />
Figure out the time signature (probably 4/4), and then try to lay a map of the<br />
chord changes over the form of the song.<br />
Chapter 12: Transcribing What You Hear 157<br />
Tip<br />
When you’re isolating<br />
the bass line,<br />
you might want to<br />
turn up the bass<br />
(and turn down the treble)<br />
on your audio system, to<br />
better hear the low notes.