How can I improve as a musician?

[maschinelf]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for advice from the more experienced keyboardists/pianists out there, but words of wisdom from any experienced musician would help too.

I have been learning piano for about 4-5 years now. However, about a year and a half into my training, I changed my teacher because I moved to another place. The new teacher (my current teacher), made me start from scratch again, because he's kind of a perfectionist, and was not happy with my technique etc. I initially resisted, but in the long run I think this has paid off.

The problem now is that I feel I have learnt what I had to from him, and may now be stagnating a bit, and don't know what to do next to keep developing as a musician. The problem can't be helped by my teacher, because he pretty much knows only one way of teaching i.e. with sheet music, and is himself incapable of playing by ear. As a result, I now find that I can play perfectly fine with sheet music in front of me, but am slightly lost without it. I find that, because of his reliance on sight reading and classical training, the teaching is very one dimensional. Also I worry that if I keep carrying on with it, I may end up like him and so many other classical musicians I know who overly rely on sheet music.

Since I first started noticing this problem (about a year ago), I started paying more attention to intervals and also started brushing up my music theory knowledge. And to some extent , of course, this has helped. However, I am still a long way away from immediately being able to play something by ear. Or say I wanted to jam with a bunch of other musicians, I'm not really confident about what I'd do apart from very simple chord progressions, etc. I should also mention that after I first noticed this and consciously started working towards it, I have noticed a marked improvement in my hearing ability too, and so while I might have been completely lost a year back, I am only slightly lost now . I guess to an extent its just a question of practice and time, and there are no shortcuts.

So, my question ultimately comes down to how I can improve my ear, and what I can do to improve my ability to play by ear. It's all well and good being able to play a beautiful classical piece with the sheet in front of you, but that's not the reason I started. Also, I am considering possibly stopping my piano training and working on it on my own from now on, so as not to develop an over reliance on classical methods, as I have observed many other classical musicians do.

Obviously, one thing I could do is look for another teacher. This could lead to a lot of wasted time though, cause it'll have to be by trial and error. In this case, I'm probably just better off sticking to my current teacher, because atleast I know that for what he does do, he is very good. And I could supplement it with additional home training material, like Nate Bosch's piano system or something like Auralia or earmaster.

Not really sure how to go about this, and any help would be really appreciated. Thanks!

[robogone]

If you ever get to the point where you don't think your teacher is teaching you what you want to learn, or if you think you're stagnating, start looking for another teacher. Maybe find one who puts emphasis on composition?

[arkmabat]

Though a bit dated, this is a great book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/082561130 ... ot_redir=1

[foosnark]

It seems very Zen (and as useless and nonsensical as a lot of Zen wisdom sounds when you don't already get it at least partially), but I think the way to learn to play by ear is to play by ear.

Improvise a lot. (Jazz is good for that.) Play a blues scale, run up and down it, break it up, make it more interesting. Pick one chord for the left hand and go nuts with the right, and then switch for a while just for something different.

And do it on other instruments too. I think hand drums are great for this -- they make you concentrate on rhythmic and dynamic improvisation while keeping a beat. Expressing yourself and telling a story without even getting into melodic or harmonic issues.

Get a loop pedal or equivalent software and improvise your way through that.

Play with others when you can, because improvising with other people is a whole other level.

These days mostly I get my "practice" while testing plugins, and I'm primarily finger drumming even on melodic parts. I'll find I have accidentally played something similar to a familiar melody, and I'll just work out how it's done and toss in some harmony and variations, then move on. But that's after years of just playing whatever comes to mind, playing in school orchestras and jazz ensembles and one really terrible rock band and a bunch of drum circles and a taiko drumming group.

I could sightread pretty well on violin, once upon a time, but on keyboard instruments it's more like translating than reading; and reading music isn't a skill I kept up with or actually miss in any way.

[JoeCat]

It seems very Zen (and as useless and nonsensical as a lot of Zen wisdom sounds when you don't already get it at least partially), but I think the way to learn to play by ear is to play by ear.

+1
Especially with tech we now have (I come from the "move the needle back" or "rewind the cassette" generation) - spend some time every day picking out tunes and learning the progressions, seeing where the melody sits, etc. You'll start finding patterns, etc., and picking them up will become second nature as you move on to understanding the more complex relationships. Start with music that is, in fact, musical (thinking The Beatles but take your pick). Improvise on those patterns, change the beat, add your own melody, etc., and you'll be much more confident.

I think this really helps with technique also - especially for classical music, which spills out into everything - because there's mental energy involved with playing music that you don't understand (why avant-garde, 12-tone, etc. is so difficult even if when it may be technically easy). Recognizing that a certain passage is just an arpeggiated chord progression, etc. - goes a long way towards helping you concentrate on the details while having a firm foundation.

Good luck!

[maschinelf]

Thanks everyone for the great advice!

I think that though it may well be zen in its own way, its also very practical advice . You have to crawl first to be able to walk, and if you try to"study" walking rather than actually walking, you won't really end up learning it.

I suppose a lot of it comes down to discipline and practice. I think one of the places I'll start is with going crazy with a scale, actually done this a few times, just not often enough. As for picking songs and trying to work them out, this is a bit more difficult, or can be sometimes. I have tried a few times, and sometimes it seems to come real easy while at other times I struggle with it. It could be that some songs are more difficult than others, but I think that sometimes my ears are just working better and the whole process is a lot faster, but its not consistent.

So I suppose its just a matter of keeping at it, and doing it consistently.

[topaz]

I'm completely the opposite to you.

I can play by ear, improvise but can't read.

Be thankful, IMO you learnt the tuffest part.

Now you can study all those jazz rock and prog books

Check out a keyboard player called Jem Godfrey
He will inspire you to advance.

[topaz]

...

[OzoneJunkie]

If you're on Android, get the "Interval Recognition" app. Fantastic for ear training. I suggest starting with the major diatonic intervals first. Then add the others in or concentrate on sections (m6, M6, m7, M7) together. Also, do 3 note phrases.

In a couple years, my ear has gotten much better.

[datroof]

Find things that sound interesting to you, and transcribe them. The fact that you read music well means that you have the basic tools. Transcribe something every day, study and dissect it, learn to play it. It can be a tune, a solo, some interesting changes, etc. But this will strengthen your ears, your chops, your reading, and your overall musicianship.

[SODDI]

Start a band.

[Sendy]

If you're on Android, get the "Interval Recognition" app. Fantastic for ear training. I suggest starting with the major diatonic intervals first. Then add the others in or concentrate on sections (m6, M6, m7, M7) together. Also, do 3 note phrases.

In a couple years, my ear has gotten much better.

There's an equivalent Windoze app called "functional ear trainer" that does interval recognition.

[OzoneJunkie]

Good to know, thank you

[AudioPhile2]

I find that I have a cap on how much I can excel that differs from instrument to instrument.

You can try learning guitar now, for instance, and might get way more advanced than you can on piano. I don't know why, but that's how it is.

I don't believe that "practice makes perfect" is an absolute truth. I think there is also aptitude to consider.

[OzoneJunkie]

It's "perfect practice makes perfect". Knowing how to practice is important. Intelligent focus is necessary.

A good personal example is picking technique on guitar. Economy of motion, even/equal up and down pick strokes, appropriate amount of tension/looseness in fingers/hand/arm, and so on. Observing and refining these things assist in better technique. Just practicing without the 'intellitent' side will yield lesser results. We're all capped by our own genetics, but I believe that that cap is far beyond what most people actually achieve.