subject: Guitar Learning And Ear Training [print this page] Ever wonder how composers could just jot down notes on a piece of paper and come out with a fantastic piece? Beethoven was deaf, so how did he compose intricate compositions that until today are being played? The answer to that is the art of ear training.
Through guitar learning, the beginner student is made to play a note and say the notes out lout. When they play a chord, they are made to say the chords out lout. There are even some teachers who demand that the student be able to play their music while reciting the notes and chords as they are being played.
It may sound ridiculous or a waste of time but that is how to train the ear. It means that when a guitar player trained in this technique hears an unfamiliar piece, they could replicate it note for note. Is it a gift or is it a technique? The answer is both, it takes a good ear to recognize the sounds and a learned technique to be able to apply what is heard onto the guitar itself.
Some get very good at this easy to learn technique that when they start hearing music in their heads, they could immediately jot down the notes as the music is played in the mind. Some nasty critics call this a form of insanity, but it is not. It is a technique that has been handed down form one teacher to the next and this is the reason how Beethoven was able to hear the music and translate it on paper so that the orchestra could play his 'Ode to Joy.'
For those who are just learning how to play, this task may seem daunting, even cause apprehension. It should not; it is a way of learning the instrument inside out, that the player could play what is in the mind. It is one that a lot of musicians use when jamming together. One starts a rhythm, the next starts the tapping, the other sets the tune, the whole makes music. Do these jam sessions create good music? Well, ask any musician who do it once in awhile and let them explain the wonders of creating music as a group, music that was created impromptu. Once the technique is learned, the only way to keep up with it would be to keep practicing and never stop. The music created by the mind is easier to translate if one gets good ear training.
