Practice This!
August 2008
Steve Treseler on Developing Your Ears

Click here to watch Steve's Practice This! video clip.

Saxophonist Steve Treseler has just released his debut album, Resonance, and his book, The Living Jazz Tradition: A Creative Guide to Improvisation and Harmony, will be available in October 2008.

The greatest improvisers have monster ears. Try devoting part of your practice time to developing a direct line of communication between what you hear and the physical act of playing your instrument.

You can begin by playing a simple melody that you can easily sing, like “Happy Birthday” or “Amazing Grace.” Sing the melody slowly and accurately. The singing part is important, even if you don’t think you have a great voice. Once you’ve sung through the melody, sing the starting note as a sustained pitch and match it on your instrument. Begin to play the song on your instrument and use your ears to correct any wrong notes. Trial and error is an important part of this process. Don’t get frustrated if you initially make a bunch of mistakes; few people nail it on the first try. Learn the melody without writing anything down so you don’t slow down the process of learning how to imagine and visualize music. Be patient, especially if you have never played by ear before. Learn music with your ears, not your eyes.

Once you can play the melody all the way through without making any mistakes, it’s time to understand the musical tools involved. What key are you in? What’s the meter? Try transposing the melody into a new key. Personalize the melody and play it your own way. Then repeat the entire process with other songs.

Soon you will be ready to learn new music by ear. Once you choose a recording of a song to learn, listen to it over and over. Listen passively in the car and while cleaning, but also be sure to listen to it actively and intensely. Sing along with the recording. Turn off the recording and imagine the song. Try to sing it all the way through alone. If you have trouble, keep listening and listening until the melody has been absorbed into your ear and musical imagination. Then pick up your instrument and figure out the melody. Also try turning on the radio or putting your iPod on shuffle and play along.

This type of practice will help you to expand your ears, transcribe jazz solos, and instantly play ideas you hear in your head while improvising.

For more information about Treseler’s new album and forthcoming book visit www.stevetres.com