3 Ways to improve your Aural skills

This week, we will cover a topic that is a little complicated but will help you wonders in the future. It may sound easy but, it is the most complex technique or skill to have as an aspiring musician. It is one of the most important tools you need to have in your inventory. You must have heard about ear training, and as a student you must have done a lot of exercises but in this blog, we will look at few general skills you must have and understand.

Recognizing the Instrument

This is the most basic skill you need to inherit through hearing songs. When you listen to a song, can you differentiate the instruments? Every instrument has a part to play in the song. They all have a different role and yet, together it sounds so majestic. Listen to each instrument and recognize the different tones and different space in the song that they occupy. This will help you a lot in a band setting where you understand your peer's participation and weigh their contribution. This will also enable you to use your instrument in a much better way and sound unique yet one with everyone.

Finding out the key/pitch

Except for the drummers, others should be able to find the key of the song in their instrument just by listening to it. Once you do that it will help you find the melody line as well as chords that is been played in the song. Although, some of the songs make key changes, most of them follow the theoretical study you are doing now. As a drummer, your task is to understand where the beats are been played, for eg; where does the bass drum kicks in or where the snare is been played.

Understanding the Rhythm

As you get acquainted with the process of hearing the song and applying it to your instrument, try to understand the rhythm of the song and play it accordingly. The best way to test if you are doing it right is play along with the song and listen if it matches the groove of the song. Once you can get the rhythm, you can easily express the feel of the song and add texture to your playing. Drummers should now able to identify the rudiments and different pattern of beats that is going on in the song.

There are lot many aspects and traits that you have to understand and master through just hearing the song, however we will discuss those in detail another time. For now, just start with these basic approaches and try to learn as much as you can.

BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 

The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.

3 Tricks to get the Most out of Listening to Music

Now, we have so many tools that can help us play our favourite songs and artist However, in the midst of technology we should not forget about one of the main component in music which is Ear training A good musician has a good auditory skills To develop this skill you have to listen to a lot of music but to really hone the skill, you have to know how to effectively listen to music. How do you train your ears by listening to music?

1. Isolate the instruments

One of the very first exercise you should do is to be able to recognise different instrument in a song and understand how they are contributing to it. For example, start with bass, listen to the melody it is laying and then hear the drums, listen to the beat and tempo it is following. Once you got the beat and flow of the rhythm, listen to more complicated arts like the guitars and keys. Vocal should be the last thing you should concentrate. This will help you develop your musicianship and also understand different ways you can use your instrument to contribute in a song. This will make you a better musician as well as a better user of your instrument. However, it takes a little bit of time and sounds daunting when you are beginning with it, but once you have done it a couple of times, you will be able to segregate them in ease and understand each musical component in the song Yes, it will take out the leisure of listening to music as enjoyment but if you are looking to be a musician, you have to train your ears to differentiate different components of music.

2. Play what you hear

Now the next stage is to be able to interpret what you hear. Play a very small melody part of a song and then try to emulate on your guitar. You can do the same with chords, however it will be challenging for the first few months to exactly recognise the chord, but once you keep doing it and get familiar with the different sound of different chords and their relation between them, you will be able to figure out the basic chords that outlines the song. This exercise will help you even more if you know your theory and know the scales. Then you can relate the notes in reference to the scales which will help your own creativity and strengthen your understanding about the usage of scales. You can also keep some of the licks that you listen in a song for your own creativity. Also, in case of drummers, they will understand the way to use their rudiments in more practical and effective ways. Once you get used to it, it becomes easier to find the melody and chords you hear which is a great sign of a good musician.

3. Play what you see

Now that you are able to pick up melodies, chords and different rudiments, it is time to polish your techniques. For this, you will have to not just listen but also watch your favourite players play their lick or fills. Every technique has a different purpose to it and those techniques help you showcase different melodies with more dynamism Copy your idols or someone who has put up a video on that song Listen very carefully, what kind of musical sound each technique is making and try to emulate that in your playing. That way you will have a reference and also practicing to execute in the correct way. So along with your auditory skills, you have to also develop your comprehension ability to be able to take the most out of any song that you hear.

BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 

The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.

3 Reasons Why you should explore Different Genres of Music

Everyone has a favourite genre. A genre that you most relate to, enjoy and go back to every time you are in the mood of listening to some songs. However, there are millions of artists and many good ones whom you can’t put under a single genre. So should you be ignoring them just because they don’t play your kind of music? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Give it a chance! You never know what surprises and inspires you. 

Every genre has different elements in their construction and if you are a musician, exploring genres is perfect way to improve your playing by learning the different tricks and techniques involved in the song. Here is our take on 3 major reasons you should explore different genres of music.

1. Genres are like languages

Different genres make you feel different emotions. Country will make you feel at home whereas Metal will make you feel pumped up, get your adrenaline going. So it is important to understand as many languages as possible to aid your playing, to present your story in different ways. It will add depth and attitude in your playing style, which is very important as a musician to stand out. The dynamics of pop style music and rock style music are very different, so to understand the difference and execute the nuances in your playing, you have to listen to a lot of songs from both genres. May it be vocals, guitar, drums or piano/keyboard, every instrument plays different roles in different genres. So if you play in a band, all the more reason to explore different genres to spice up the music you are playing.

2. Explore artists

Although genres give you an idea of what to expect from the music, it is better that you listen to music keeping the artist in mind. Understand their take on music, how they apply their craft and creativity, explore their backgrounds. If there is a video, sit and take in the way they use music theory in their playing. Copy their melody and try to decipher the way they have used scales and different techniques and apply it yourself to benefit the most out of every small detail that you can take from an artist. There are many free streaming services such as Spotify, Soundcloud, Youtube etc. where you can discover new and old artists of the same genre, also the fresh independent artists. Listen to as many of them as you can and develop an ability to enjoy every kind of music. It will enhance your knowledge on music and give you different perspectives.

3. Be Up-To-Date

If you stick to one kind of genre, you might have no idea what is the world listening to! If you are someone who wants to put out music, you have to be familiar with what world is listening to, even in your genres. Every genre evolve with time with new artist changing the complexion of what music was with new elements but also keeping in mind the effectiveness of some old techniques as well. So as much as we learn throughout our music journey, keeping up to date and learning new things to adapt to any change in style with new techniques and creativity is essential. The only way to gain these kind of knowledge and perspective is to listen to as many artists as you can and also following the new and upcoming artists regardless of what they are playing. Just explore, absorb, take in the details, execute it in your instrument or vocal style if you liked any of the elements in the song or just leave it be to enjoy it some other day because some of the genres can be acquired taste such as jazz music and progressive music. So maybe give it time you will find the reason to love it. So don’t discriminate on the basis of genres and listen away any artist you can come across.

BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 

The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.