Thoughts on Hearing Music

“Ear Training”

I have written a fair amount over the years regarding “ear training.” What is ear training? Literally, it is training the ear to hear music, and/or improving your hearing skills. Why is it important? If you ever want to learn to “play by ear,” it is essential.

I naturally hear music in my head, so I take it for granted. I literally hear complete songs in real time, like an unending soundtrack in my head. If I pay attention to the soundtrack, I can actually learn songs from it, or figure out where I might be having difficulty. While certainly a “blessing,” it can also be a “curse,” especially when I really should be sleeping instead! I often dream about songs, especially when I’m learning a new one; there have been many mornings where I practically run to my banjo, trying to reproduce what I heard in my head over and over, all night long.

I used to assume that everyone hears music in their head like this, but I have discovered that many folks don’t! This just blows my mind. It would seem to me that if you hear music all around you (it’s everywhere), then it should continue to play in your “mind’s ear” when it’s turned off. That is the aural version of the “mind’s eye.” Most folks are visual; I can’t see the meaning behind a painting to save my life, and I have trouble “seeing” things from a description alone.

My advice for someone who doesn’t hear music: I think that a realization that some people do hear music is the first step to learning it. It offers an obvious advantage for a musician. Maybe that will come as a surprise to you—just as big a surprise that it is to me that some folks don’t hear music. If you do hear it but had never really thought about it before, tuning into what you hear and turning it into a practical exercise is a powerful step to becoming a better musician. As a “skill,” it can be learned and improved.

Even with my natural hearing skills, I benefitted greatly from the ear training I received in college and at the Armed Forces School of Music. They were both major turning points in my musical evolution. You might say I “sailed through on my ear” in both places—and didn’t learn as much as I might have if I had studied harder. My ear continues to evolve today as I learn new songs and as I delve deeper into more and more complex chord progressions.

I have found that learning the nuts and bolts behind these things has increased my skill in and appreciation for music. Rather than continue to rely on my ear alone, the things I’ve learned have improved it and have paved the path forward. To paraphrase a famous quote:

“An ear stretched to a new musical idea can never return to its original dimensions.”

I don’t mean to offend anyone: I mean only to tell the truth and advise a path forward. #1, realize that “hearing music in your head” is a real thing; #2, admit it if you don’t hear music; #3, learn to put music in your head if it isn’t already there. I’ll post some actual exercises soon; this is just the introduction.

“Memorization”

I am often asked “do you memorize your songs?” My answer: yes and no. Growing up, my “memorization” consisted of hearing the song through once or twice in a jam session and then just having it. I simply remembered the song—and could usually “fake a harmony” pretty well too. I had no idea that this was any kind of “gift”; I would have poo-pooed the idea that dumb little me was gifted in any way. Again, I just took it for granted; I assumed everyone could do it.

I have learned that my particular gift is called “melodic memory.” There are limits to it of course: the more sophisticated the song, the weaker that memory is. Actually, I remember melodies very well; it’s the supporting chord structure that takes me some work (I suppose that would be “harmonic memory”), and “improvising” around the melody or chord progression continues to elude me. I thrived in the simple-song setting of a banjo band. I have often wondered how this gift may have developed if I had been in a more-complex musical setting.

For the most part, I am able to play Trad Jazz rhythm without a chart in front of me. The majority of songs follow only a few standard chord progressions; when you’ve heard/learned one, you’ve heard/learned a bunch of them (justification enough for studying chord progressions!). Again, the more sophisticated the progression, the less I can rely on my ear. Sometimes I need the music but can usually look away after a couple of choruses. By the time I get a solo (usually after the horns), I have it learned; I’ll usually wave it off if I’m still looking at the sheet music.

The Classic banjo style has been a great exercise for me. It’s a different style of playing, consisting of songs that I had never heard before. Rather than learn the “song,” I have had to memorize “musical arrangements,” note-for-note as the composer wrote it. It’s like learning the single-note melody from Beethoven’s Fifth (da-da-da-da!); does that mean you can play it like he wrote it? Of course not—it’s just the melody; what about the harmony, countermelodies, rhythms, etc.? This seems like a fine distinction, but they are as different as night and day.

Another important distinction: Beethoven’s Fifth was written for an orchestra of course and would be impossible to play on a single instrument. Any “arrangement” would be very limited! Even a piano would not do it justice. In contrast, the Classic banjo pieces were written specifically for the banjo (within the limits of the instrument), and so the arrangements fit perfectly on it, with or without accompaniment. I believe this is the closest a banjoist can come to a “classical education” in music.

So, “memorized,” or just “remembered?” It’s a mixture of both. If you hear music in your head, is it intelligible? Can you hear a song all the way through in real time? Can you also hear the underlying chord structure? If so, can you play them on the banjo, without having “learned” the song first? These are things I take for granted, but I have come to believe they can be learned.

Ironically, the four-string banjo world’s emphasis on “learning songs” misses the mark. You must learn “music,” and then apply those universal skills to songs. That is the truest path forward to real improvement. I strive to be a musician first, a banjoist second. Another paraphrased quote:

“Teach a person a song and they’ll play for a day; teach a person music and they’ll play for a lifetime.”

My online lessons have been in fits and starts, reflecting my short attention span. I have every intention of offering a series of lessons in ear training/memorization in the coming months. They’ll be posted here.