What do you want to get out of your music lessons? Allen, TX sits close to the vibrant jazz and popular music scenes of Denton, Fort Worth, and Dallas, so you might want to focus on your ear training.
But can you learn to read a chart when you only know how to read note-by-note? Can you make the jump from classical to popular music styles?
You absolutely can -- and you can even do it without spending hours on painstaking interval drills.
We talked to Justen Blackstone, Artist Lecturer at Moravian College and co-founder of Backstage Podcast, to find out.
Use the “Simple Playback Method” in Your Music Lessons in Allen, TX
“Simple playback can be a fantastic way to train the ear of all ages,” said Blackstone. “A teacher can simply make up a melody on the piano and ask the student to play that melody back to them verbatim.”
Justen usually starts with a five note span on the keyboard -- C-G -- and sets progressive levels for his students.
In level one, for instance, he plays a three-note melody between C-G and asks the student to play that melody back. Level two could be a five-note pattern, and he usually progresses with a student all the way up to ten notes.
“These melodies increase in interval difficulty, length, and timing (syncopation, dotted notes, etc.),” Blackstone said. “Once the student has mastered the five-note span, I will then expand the available notes and even add sharps or flats.”
You Don’t Need a Piano to Use the Simple Playback Method
Your music lessons in Allen, TX will have a piano, but what if you don’t have a keyboard at home?
All you have to do is start with Spotify. Find a simple song (it can even be one that you know), and listen to 5-10 seconds of it before pausing; now sing that melody back. Move on to more unfamiliar and difficult songs, and increase the amount of time you go before pausing the song. Just do your best to sing it back correctly.
If you want to keep up your keyboard ear training, download an app like Melody Ear Training. It’s fun, cheap, and will dramatically improve your ear playing.
What About You?
Would you like to incorporate ear training into your music lessons in Allen, TX? Give Matt Burk Music Studio a call at (469) 353-6100, or visit us online. You’ll improve your practical musicianship, and you'll be jamming at the Scat Lounge in no time.
Music Lessons Allen TX
Matt Burk Music Studio
1701 Legacy Drive, Ste. 150
Frisco, TX 75034
United States
(469) 353-6100