Ear Training
With
Tim RichardsTim Richards on ear training for improvisers - building the link between what you hear and what you play, by singing your lines and pre-hearing phrases.
What's in the course
31 lessons (1h 44m) · 1 free
Lesson transcript
Ear Training: Building the Connection Between Hearing and Playing
Now, coming to that really important topic of ear training. This is about building the connection between what you hear and what you play.
Avoid Randomness
It's crucial to avoid:
- Moving your fingers around randomly
- Following a scale, arpeggio, pattern, or pentatonic without actually hearing what you play
Most great improvisers pre-hear the phrases in their head a split second before playing them. Whether they're conscious of that or not, this process is what makes their phrases sound musical and enables you to process them. It's not random.
The Importance of Singing
In order to reach the point where you can play what you hear, you need to start singing.
- Let's try that over these two chords from Funky Two Five.
- Get the sound of the minor pentatonic in your head: Do da da da.
If it's a bit high for you, make that connection. Try to create a phrase using those notes.
I'm going to try and get the sound of the flat 3 pentatonic in my head. I'm adjusting it and correcting myself when I go wrong.
The Process of Becoming a Great Improviser
This is an important part of the process of becoming a really good improviser:
- Trying to get the phrases correct the first time
- Singing them
- Playing them
If it's not right, have another go. Gradually, you'll develop a better connection between what you hear and what you play.
31 lessons
1h 44m of structured video lessons
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Critically acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Tim Richards is one of Britain’s most experienced jazz educators, teaching piano privately for over 30 years, as well as at Morley College, Goldsmiths College, the University of Surrey, Premises Studios and other venues in the UK and abroad. He has produced numerous titles for Schott Music, including the best-selling two-volume Exploring Jazz Piano, Blues, Boogie & Gospel Collection and the acclaimed Improvising Blues Piano. He is also co-author, with John Crawford, of Exploring Latin Piano and Brazilian Piano Collection.
More recently Schott have published Jazz, Latin & Modern Collection (15 pieces for solo piano), comprising Tim Richards originals alongside pieces by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and the two volume set Beginning Jazz Piano (now a two-part MusicGurus course).
“The real joy of Tim’s music… is that it is both hugely educational but also such great fun to play. Anyone with the slightest interest in learning to play or teach jazz piano should really acquire a set of Tim’s books.” PianoDao
As a performer Tim has been a presence on the UK jazz scene since the 1980s, also playing the blues with UK and US legends such as Otis Grand, Earl Green, Dana Gillespie, Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and Mojo Buford. He has released over a dozen albums as a leader (featuring many of London’s best jazz musicians including Pete King, Gilad Atzmon, Tony Kofi, Jason Yarde, Seb Rochford, Ed Jones, Dick Pearce and many others), and toured all over Europe with line-ups ranging from duo to nine-piece. His latest recording, the album ‘Telegraph Hill’ by the six-piece Hextet, was described in The Observer as "A true joy from beginning to end".
More info can be found on his website www.timrichards.ndo.co.uk
