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.
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.
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!)
It might be surprising to hear, but learning to sing can improve your guitar skills rapidly. As we go through this post, I’ll explain why.
First thing’s first though – having the ability to belt out one of your favourite tunes is a skill that not only feels and looks great, but is also an ability that all of us have somewhere inside of us.
Every guitarist should learn at least 10 famous chord progressions and know them inside out.
Why?
The main reason is, doing so will save you a lot of time and make you a better guitarist in the long run. [Read more…]