Ear-Training

Articles related to ear-training as it relates to trumpet playing. These cover the why’s, what’s and how’s of ear-training so that it makes the greatest difference to your playing.

How Ear-Training Improves Your Sight Reading (Part III: Initial Entrances)

March 30, 2021 / Leave a Comment / Ear-Training / By

Ready, set, go – no test notes!

This is Part III of a three-part article on how ear-training improves your sight-reading. If you haven’t check out parts one and two, start with Part I.

Hearing Your Opening Entrance

The first two articles in this three-part series explain how learning the fundamentals of relative pitch automatically and permanently improves your sight-reading. Essentially, by learning and engraining each of the musical intervals you develop a capacity for reading music ‘note to note’ – just as you learned to read your written language ‘word to word.’ However, we still need to address the issue of hearing your initial entrance. Therefore, this final installment outlines how learning the ‘clues’ of relative pitch will speed up the development of this performance instinct.

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How Ear-Training Improves Your Sight Reading (Part II: The Solution)

March 30, 2021 / Leave a Comment / Ear-Training / By

This is Part II of an article which explains how ear-training improves your sight reading by default. If you haven’t read Part I, read that first. 

Just Enough Music Theory to Help

To be able to look at a piece of music and hear the sound of it in our minds, we need to know a bit of music theory. By internalizing this information, you’ll find yourself a more intelligent, fluent and well-versed musician. And with a bit of practice, you’ll soon find yourself a musical sponge who’s sight reading like a ‘natural.’

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How Ear-Training Improves Your Sight Reading (Part I: The Method Book Trap)

March 30, 2021 / Leave a Comment / Ear-Training / By

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E, A and C# all played first and second valve – but, which is which?

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One of the most commonly asked questions about ear-training is whether or not it ‘actually works.’ And while the positive impact of ear-training must be experienced to fully appreciate, this article intends to outline just one such benefit; how learning the intervals improves your sight-reading practically and by default. …

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Tried Ear-Training Before With Disappointing Results?

March 30, 2021 / Leave a Comment / Ear-Training / By

Fear-training.

I mean, ear-straining.

Uh, ear-training.

For those of you who have tried ear-training in the past – with disappointing results – this article is meant to help you understand why it may not have ‘worked.’ Then, we’ll explore how you can ensure that your time spent ear-training actually makes a practical difference to your trumpet playing. …

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Can Perfect Pitch Be Learned? If So, This Might Do the Trick!

April 7, 2021 / 7 Comments / Ear-Training / By

The purpose of this article is to begin flushing out, with an open mind, the possibility of learning perfect pitch as an adult. We’ll cover what perfect pitch is in a familiar way, then think through a logical, valid approach for how one may develop this awareness if they are so motivated.

The ear-training method covered here comes from Dr. Donald Reinhardt’s “Encyclopedia of the Pivot System.” The thinking supporting the possibility that Reinhardt’s method may legitimately lead to learning perfect pitch was inspired by Gerald Weinberg’s “An Introduction to General Systems Thinking.”

Pretty exciting stuff1.

Doc’s “Encyclopedia of the Pivot System” starts out the section on ear training with a question:

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Trumpet Year in Review: What Worked (And What Didn’t) in 2017

April 10, 2021 / Leave a Comment / BTB Practice Journals, Ear-Training, Improvisation, Practice Journal Ideas / By

Here we find ourselves again; another year down, one step closer to the grave.

Let’s put some pep in that step with the annual, “BTB Year in Review!”

Here’s what worked (and what didn’t) in 2017: …

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Internalizing Melodic Vocabulary (Your Chops on Music)

March 27, 2021 / Leave a Comment / Ear-Training, Improvisation, Retro BTB / By

Funny-Trumpet

These are your Chops on Music

If you have little confidence improvising – or doing so negatively affects your playing from a physical standpoint – you will benefit greatly by implementing an aural approach to your daily routine. A strategy called ideo-kinetics (which Bobby Shew talks about) combined with a structured labeling of sound yields fabulous results in execution and will get you rolling toward success with improvised music.

Ideo-kinetics is a practice procedure where you first …

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Thinking in Sound (The Value of Ear-Training)

March 26, 2021 / 7 Comments / Ear-Training, Retro BTB / By

What’s the glue that holds it all together?

What are we really working on every time we practice our musical instruments?

Why is it that having great chops at home does not necessarily relate to the gig?

How come things don’t feel right when I sight read?

Why can’t I play high when I improvise?

Or (and here’s a good one), how come my chops feel like shit when I play jazz?!?!

The answer my friends is …

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