The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

156 Par t 4:Accompanying

Maybe you’re playing organ in the church choir. The guest vocalist this week

approaches you just before Sunday’s service, and says she’ll be singing “Amazing

Grace,” in the key of G. She doesn’t have any sheet music for you—“You know

the song,” she says—and if you don’t, you’ll have to learn it, fast.

Perhaps you’re playing saxophone in a pickup band at your local bar. It’s open

mike night, and the next performer wants you to add some horn accompani-

ment to his tune. “It’s a 12-bar blues,” he says, “in the key of A. You have a solo

after the second chorus.” No music, no nothing—just you, onstage, winging it.

All of these situations require you to think on your feet—or, more properly, to

play by ear. You need to be able to hear a song and figure out what chords and

notes are being played, without benefit of any written music.

This might sound daunting to you, but it’s a skill you need to develop. You have

to be able to hear a melody or chord progression, and then transcribewhat you

hear. With practice, you’ll be able to do this quickly and accurately; it can even

become second nature. All you have to do is train your ears.

Transcribing music involves three distinct steps:

1. Listen


2. Process


3. Document

You begin by listening to the music—not for passive enjoyment, but more actively,

so that you clearly hear every note. Then you process what you’ve heard, figur-

ing out what notes and chords and rhythms are being played. Finally, you docu-

ment the music you’ve processed, either by writing down the notes on paper, or

using the processed music as a basis for live playing or improvisation.

With practice, you’ll move through the listen-process-document system almost

subconsciously; the notes will come to you automatically when you hear them,

without a lot of work on your part. So warm up your ears—it’s time for the

training to begin!

Transcribingis the

art of writing down melo-

dies and chords by ear,

without the benefit of any

other written notation.

Definition

Ear training is a difficult skill to learn. Developing your listening skills takes time

and guidance, and for most people is best accomplished in a classroom setting,

or with an experienced teacher.

If you’re serious about training your ears, a good place to start is with the CD

that accompanies this book. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory, Second

Edition, Ear Training Coursepresents a series of audio examples and exercises

that will help you learn to recognize scales, intervals, chords, and rhythms. And

you can check your progress against the answers provided in Appendix D.

If you want to continue in this self-paced fashion, pick up a copy of Ron Gorow’s

Hearing and Writing Music: Professional Training for Today’s Musician(Septem-

ber Publishing, 2000). Even better, head down to your local community college

or university and sign up for an ear-training class. The personal feedback and

guidance you’ll receive from the instructor will be worth the effort.

Note