Close Your Eyes – To Open Your Ears
It sounds simple but it has a powerful musical impact: to hear more you must Close Your Ears. Find out why it helps and how to do it most effectively.
How Music Alters Your Mood
Anyone who loves music knows its power to affect (or perfectly reflect) your mood. How does it do it? Here are three great examples and the tricks they use.
Open Your Ears with a Five Song Set
The 5 Song Set podcast showcases a different musical genre or theme in every episode. Expand your musical world and improve your ears just by listening.
The Art of Appreciating Accompaniment
When a musician picks up a piece of music for the first time, their eyes zero in on their own line, whether that’s a vocal solo, clarinet solo, bagpipe solo, or choral octavo. It’s a natural response to look at the part you will be responsible for in a...
The #1 Essential Activity For Every Musician
There’s one activity which should be prized above all else for a musician: listening to music! Here’s why music listening isn’t a waste of time but a necessity.
What makes a song? It's not as simple as it sounds.
Over the years I have learnt a lot about the ownership of music. The official line when it comes to splitting royalties and ownership is still the same as it has been for decades: 50% for the melody and 50% for the lyrics. But do you think that this is a fair...
How to hear more in the music you love
Do you truly listen to music – or just hear it? The skill of active listening is vital for a musician to develop their ears and learn to hear more in music.
The Power of Listening (Chris Tarry)
Ear training is not just note recognition; it is a complete awareness of everything going on in a musical moment. Learn how to listen when playing in a band.
Open Your Ears with an MPR Coffee Break
It’s no secret that I love The Current, one of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)’s flagship stations. I wrote something of a love-letter blog post in support of their fund-raising drive last year, and I’m a proud supporter of the station – despite...
Open Your Ears to 60×60
In the Open Your Ears series we cover a wide range of music: from opera to electronica, from Björk to Tuvan throat singing. (seriously, if you haven’t heard about throat singing, you’re missing out!) But if you want to have your mind blown away minute-by-minute...
Open Your Ears to Modern Electronic Opera
When they think about opera, many folks envision Bugs Bunny wearing a Viking hat singing loudly to Wagner or remember sitting bored in a concert hall as a robust soprano belts out some serious Italian. For many reasons, opera has gotten a pretty bad rap in the last...
