Below is an article I recently wrote on the topic of aural training for Guitar Tutor magazine, published and released by RGT – the Registry of Guitar Tutors. I`m a member of the RGT and love getting this magazine in the post every 3 months as it features some wonderful insights, tips and tricks for teaching and playing the guitar.
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A short while back I mentioned that I have two pretty awesome announcements coming up soon. Well, here is the first one; it is my brand new guitar podcast.
Music theory is a touchy subject for a lot of guitarists. Most of them don`t believe in it and others just hate it. On the other hand, some guitarists who struggle to knock out a decent tune, spend too much time reading up on advanced intricate theory when they should be practising their guitar skills and learning how to play the songs they love. [Read more…]
Out of all the things I have written about here on my blog, one thing I haven`t given you much of so far is ear training and specifically, ways to test your `ear`. Well, in this post that`s about to change. Ear training is so important for your overall musicianship and is often neglected by a lot of guitarists.
Recently, I was thinking about an old friend I had back when I was a kid. His name was Ian. Although he wasn’t a formally taught musician, he used to play this game that at the time I thought was a bit silly but, as a full-time musician nowadays, I know now is incredibly useful.
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I get asked a lot by students exactly how I work songs out for myself. That is, by not using any sort of tab, chord chart or YouTube video—nothing but my own hands and ears.
Often a student is really keen to learn this skill but they cannot believe it is something they can acquire. They see working songs out by ear as a mystical skill that only wizards such as Gandalf and Merlin could acquire (just imagine those two rocking the guitar!)