How To Listen To Music

Making progress on any instrument depends heavily on your commitment to practice. We all need to put in the time practicing our technique, scales, chords, and other building blocks to build confidence and become better players.

But what skills can you develop AWAY from the piano? Well, being a good listener is just as important as your playing ability – so I’ve put together a few tips to help you listen to music more effectively so it actually improves your playing!

1. Let’s start with the melody. Listen closely. What is the song’s melody doing? Is it moving up or down? Listen to how far the spacing is between notes. If you can, try to guess the interval between the notes. Really diving into the melody as a listener is great ear-training and it’s bound to inspire some melodic ideas of your own!

2. Pay attention to the chord progression. Try to determine if the chords are major chords (typically happy sounding chords) or minor chords (often sounding mysterious or sad). If you’re listening to a simple pop song, try to identify the big chord changes of the song. What’s the “I” chord? What does it sound like when a song moves from the “I” to the “IV” chord?

In time, you’ll be able to identify the sound of popular progressions. You may even find that you’re able to predict where the song goes next!

3. Listen critically to the song’s rhythmic elements to strengthen your ear and your rhythmic feel. We hear rhythm in both the melody and the chord progression, so pay close attention to how the song’s beat revolves around the melody, and how it pushes the chord progression forward from verse to chorus. Try to count out the time signature of the song. And remember, rhythm is what makes a song MOVE. How do you feel the beat when you’re listening to your favorite track?

Once you learn how to listen to music, you’ll find that you never really stop practicing at all – it simply takes on a new form away from your instrument. Go ahead, give it a try!

Pick a favorite song of yours and really dive into it, beginning to end. No distractions! You’ll gain a deeper appreciation for the music and further insight into what elements make a song great. And next time you sit down at the piano, you’ll feel refreshed and inspired to see what kind of music YOU can create at the keyboard!

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Jordan Leibel is passionate about songwriting, improvisation, and helping you become a creative musician! He’s worked as a composer for film, commercial, and theatre projects as well as a session musician and producer for recording work.