Play it by Ear

A glimpse into different perspectives on ear training and how it is used as a music method

[playitby-ear-blog]

Blind Musicians and Ear Training

Musicians who are fully blind and reproduce music solely by ear have an entirely different musical perspective than musicians who read music. They rely heavily on their sense of touch in addition to their innate hearing ability. The three musicians listed above were all born fully blind and have gravitated toward music from having a heightened sense of hearing and channeling that into the ability to retain and reproduce sounds. Cole and Kuha’o display an advanced ability to control their instruments with their hands. When watching them play, there is a heavy focus on how their hands guide them and control the instrument. It is impressive to watch them reproduce sounds by listening to a musical piece one time and utilizing their other senses to gain control and a heightened understanding of what they are doing.

Cole Moran is a twelve-year-old boy from Michigan who was drawn to the sound of his father’s guitar at a young age. He tended to gravitate toward the areas of his house where his dad would be playing music, and instantly fell in love with the guitar and harmonica when he first laid his hands on them. Him and his father created a musical duo called “Blind Wind”, which Cole says is what defines him and his life. Cole’s outlook on his life and the gift he was given has been a blessing to him and his family and he uses every chance he gets to make positive moments through his music.

Kuha’o Case began playing piano less than three years ago. He has the ability to reproduce any piece of music after hearing it one time. The link embedded in his name above brings you to a video of him listening to Phantom of the Opera for the first time, followed by him playing it to a T. It is incredible to watch the way he goes about reproducing this piece, as he displays intense focus on feeling the keys and gaining control over the piano.

[playitby-ear-blog]

Brussels to Boston

From the heart of Belgium to France, Zeke Martin spent his childhood immersed in a musical world where he was able to experience opportunities that most kids weren’t able to imagine. His late father, Stu Martin, was a famous American jazz drummer who played beside many renowned musicians, including Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock. While music was his father’s world, Zeke was never pressured by either of his parents to play and admitted that he never considered it seriously until he was about 16.

Zeke played his first drumming gig in Paris, France, when he was twelve. He played here and there, but nothing grabbed his attention until a few years later.  “When I was 16 I went to my mom’s bedside and was like I really want to be a drummer and follow in my father’s footsteps.” As any mother would, she expressed her concern by saying, “that’s great but I want to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons, you know? Don’t do it because you’re gonna follow in his footsteps doing it to be Stu because there’s already a Stu. If you’re gonna do it, be you. Do it to be you. Don’t think you have to follow the legacy or anything like that.” With that in mind, Zeke confidently decided to pursue his career in becoming a professional drummer.

After he graduated high school he decided to decline his recruitment offer to Berklee College of Music because he wanted a different experience. “Berklee was all about teaching students how to teach rather than how to learn their instruments and I really wanted to learn my instrument.” Zeke paired up with Ron Savage, professional drummer and head Chairman of the Berklee College of Music’s Ensemble department, when he was 18 and 19 to master his instrument and gain all the knowledge he could to pursue his career. 

Zeke took the experience he obtained from Ron Savage and ventured to San Francisco by himself to further his study in music. After San Francisco, he headed back to Boston and then later to New York for a couple of years. During this time, he wasn’t playing much music because the cost of living in New York was so high. The majority of his time was spent working.

Throughout his music career, Zeke has acquired a heightened ability to train his ears so he doesn’t have to read notes to play music. “I definitely think that reading music is a very important thing. I don’t want anyone to think that just because I don’t read, that I don’t think it’s important. I think if you’re going to be a musician you should know how to read, it’s just one of those things. For me, I never got into reading, not because I didn’t want to, it just worked out that way, honestly.” Zeke trained himself by doing a lot of listening, over and over again. “I can listen to a song 2 or 3 times and play it no problem.” Where he doesn’t read notes, he separates what he hears so that he can decide what to play by, “listening to what the base player’s doing- especially as a drummer because the base player is what’s most important, that’s like your best friend because what they’re doing goes with what you’re doing. You’re both laying down the foundation and making sure the song grooves no mater what style of music you’re playing.”

Zeke’s advanced level of rhythmic ability has allowed him to master playing music by ear training. “I have kind of self-taught the way that the notes are and rhythmically I can tap it out. But if you have a note on the staff and it’s a D-flat, I have no idea what it looks like, no clue.” Zeke explained that if a gig he’s doing solely has original music without recordings, he’ll wait for the pianist and the base player to read the music. “So the chart gets sent out and the base player and the piano player will read it- I just look at the chart to find out what time signature it’s in and then I just, you know, hope for the best.” His music career is impressive for a number of reasons, but his career heavily benefited from how well he has trained his ears to understand different forms of music and different frequencies and rhythms to master an expert level of talent. The following interview delves deeper into the vivid lifestyle and raw talent Zeke Martin has to offer: 

KS- Can you give me a brief tidbit about your music background and how you got started and everything?

ZM- I was born in Belgium, as you know. My father, Stu Martin, was a very well known, famous jazz drummer- played with tons of people from Herbie Hancock to Quincy Jones. I was sort of born into music so it was in my blood, but I never really, I didn’t follow it. You know, my parents didn’t really push me to be a musician. My mom actually, I remember my mom was lying in bed watching TV and I was 16- and, you know, I played my first gig when I was 12 in Paris, but I had never really pursued music, and I played in high school in the jazz band- but when I was 16 I went to my mom’s bedside and I said, I really want to be a jazz drummer and follow in my father’s footsteps. And she said “that’s great but I want to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons, you know, don’t do it because you’re gonna follow in his footsteps doing it to be Stu because there’s already a Stu. If you’re gonna do it, be you. Do it to be you, don’t think you have to follow the legacy or anything like that.” And I said, okay well I want to do it because, you know, I want to do it. It’s what I want to do. So she was like, “are you sure you don’t want to be a garbage man? You’ll make more money”- I swear that’s what she said. And I said, no, I want to be a drummer. So she said, “well the highs are unbelievable, best highs you’ll have in your life, but the lows are probably he worst lows you’ll have in your life.” So I started studying with this drummer named Ron Savage after high school for a couple years. I did not go to college; I did not go to Berklee. They recruited me but I just didn’t do it. At the time, I talked to a lot of people who told me that Berklee was all about teaching students how to teach rather than how to learn their instruments and I really wanted to learn my instrument. So I studied with Ron for a couple years then I moved out to San Francisco and studied there for a little bit, then moved back to Boston, then moved to NY and did a little bit more studying but, you know, New York is so expensive. Wasn’t really doing too much playing because I had a day job and it took up a lot of my time and so on and so forth.

KS- Now, were you with a band at this point or were you kind of flying solo while you were moving around?

ZM- I was kind of flying solo. I was in a band for two years when I was studying with Ron called Small Town No Airport- it was a rock band. I was in that band in high school and senior year we got signed by Reindeer Records, which is a subsidiary to Sony I believe. And then after being in New York for two years I came back to Boston. By the way, every time I came back to Boston was for a girl. So I um, I kind of started playing around town- I joined a band called “Groove to This”. We did a couple records together and I just started playing around Boston and making a name for myself, building a reputation. I started my own band in 2000 and at the time it was called Zeke Martin Quartet. And we did our first album in 2001.

KS- Were you in your 20s at this point?

ZM-Yes, yeah I was 27 I believe, yeah. So I started my own band in 2000, my first album in 2001 was called Landscapes. And then I proceeded to play around town and freelance, but also make a name for myself so I could book shows for my own band. Then in 2006 I made my second album called Funky Stuff, and then I did another one called U4ria, which came out in 2009. Then I did another one called 4 and that came out in 2010. And recently, I released another one in 2014 called Say What, which has been [sic], I am officially a two-time Grammy submitter. So that’s kind of a quick version of my career.

KS- Now how does that work, being nominated for a Grammy? Who goes about submitting that and everything?

ZM- So I’m not actually nominated to a Grammy, I’m submitted to a Grammy. There are several different rounds to it. So I’m in consideration in the sense that I hope to get nominated but I didn’t actually get nominated. So I am a Grammy submitter. I’m a Grammy Music Academy member, so as a member you get to submit bodies of work that you might have. So I was able to do that actually two years in a row, last year and this year. Actually which is really rare because you have to submit a new project every time and I did it with the same one. I was able to find a sort of kind of loophole, which basically was that last year I submitted it and it was the album. I submitted it for best jazz album and I actually submitted it for album of the year cause I was like hey what the hell, ya never know. And this year I was able to submit it in the sense of submitting one song as like a new artist, so you can submit a single to the academy. So it was cool, I was able to submit two years in a row and I don’t think most people do that. So you know, would I love to be a Grammy nominee? Most definitely. But I’m a Grammy submitter.

KS- So I just want to know a little about your music technique. From what I know, a lot of the music you play is based on ear training and not so much note reading so I want know how you go about that.

ZM- So let me just say first, I definitely think that reading music is a very important thing. I don’t want anyone to think that just because I don’t read, that I don’t think it’s important. I think if you’re going to be a musician you should know how to read, it’s just one of those things. For me, I never got into reading, not because I didn’t want to, just because I don’t know I just never did.

KS- It just worked out that way?

ZM- It just worked out that way, honestly. I basically trained myself to have really good ears.. And a lot of it has to do with a LOT, a lot of listening. You know, listening to what all the instruments are doing. Listening to what the singer’s singing, listening to what the base player’s doing- especially as a drummer because the base player is what’s most important, that’s like your best friend because what they’re doing goes with what you’re doing. You’re both laying down the foundation and making sure the song grooves no mater what style of music you’re playing. So you know, lots and lots of listening. I’ve been able to train myself where I’ll listen to a song maybe 2 or 3 times and I know it. Just because I’ve learned also about forms- forms of the song and stuff like that just so that I hear the keys changing or I hear the tone of the song changing. I don’t know if it’s an A or a C or whatever, but I can hear that it’s going to be going to a different section and as the drummer, what I need to do is set that up for everybody. So I hear that and I think okay cool I’m going to do a drum fill right here to let everyone know the bridge is coming, for example. And learning you know, there are blueprints to everything, whether it be in life or, since we’re talking about music, music. If we’re talking about a jazz song, jazz is written in AABA, so that’s your form. So the first section is called an A, the second section you’re going to basically repeat the first section again, so that’s your AA. Then the second section you might do a bridge and that’s your B section, and then you repeat the first section again and there’s your form. So that’s great for jazz but there are other styles of music out there. So you just listen to them- pop music has a form as well, not all of it, but in a general sense it has its own form. You have your intro, your verse, your pre-chorus, then you have your chorus, and then your verse again, then you might have a pre-chorus or chorus again, then you go to the bridge, and then you go back to the chorus and that’s the song. So you listen to Beyoncé, or Justin Timberlake or Maroon Five and everyone has their own thing because everyone wants to be “different” but for the most part it’s all pretty much the same thing. And you want to know why? ‘Cause since the dawn of time, pop music has been the forefront. Everyone’s like “oh yeah well what about jazz” and what not, but pop music was still the forefront. You think of guys back in the 40s and 50s, you know, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, James Brown. Yeah it’s soul, its r&b, but honestly its all pop music.

KS- It’s all relative to the time

ZM- Exactly. It’s all relative to the time. I mean really ALL that pop is, is what’s POPular. Elvis Presley was pop music, why? Because he was POPular.. and before a lot of that stuff came along, you know, in the 20s, you had swing music- not straight ahead jazz but you know..and that was pop. There are forms to all of that, all of those different styles of music. Even classical, it has a form to it. It’s a different way of form, its more emotional. Classical music starts off with more of a lower, slower rhythm, then builds up, and then comes back down again. So there are some classical pieces that don’t necessarily do that but for the most part, starts off slow then builds up then comes back down.

KS- Very true, really interesting to think about. I just want to go back to music technique for a minute. If you had music in front of you, could you read it? Or do you just not bother.

ZM- Umm, it depends what kind of music. If you’re talking about drum music, I mean yeah I could tap it out but I cant site read it. I kind of have self-taught the way that the notes are and rhythmically I can tap it out. But if you have a note on the staff and it’s a D-flat, I have no idea what it looks like, no clue.

KS- So you really rely heavily on ear training?

ZM- Yep, yes absolutely. Let’s say someone calls me for a show, like Tuesday I’m doing the hip-hop show at the Middle East. What I had them send me was their music, so they send me their MP3s, and I just do a lot of listening. I dive right into the music and do a lot, a lot of listening. And you’d be surprised; I don’t listen to music at home. The only time I really listen to music is in my car. Driving to go teach or driving to a show, but I really don’t listen at home. I’d rather sit on the couch and watch TV.

KS- I mean it’s such a big part of your like you probably need a break from it.

ZM- Yeah that’s how I look at it. When I’m driving it’s nice, I mean, I know I’m supposed to concentrate on the road (laughs) but when I’m driving I’m able to focus on it more than at home. If I’m at home I’m always thinking about other things I need to do. If I listen to music at home it’s more of me listening to something fun that I can dance around to with my son or something. So that’s like the hip-hop thing I’m doing next Tuesday. But there are times when someone might call me for a jazz gig and they might say, “hey do want me to send you charts?” And most of the time I’ll ask them if they have an MP3 of their songs. For example, I did this other gig that’s all original music- she has no MP3s whatsoever. So the chart gets sent out the week before the gig, we play at the Lilypad in Cambridge on the first Sunday of each month. So the chart gets sent out and the base player and the piano player will read the chart, so I just look at the chart to find out what time signature its in and then I just, you know, hope for the best (laughs). Especially ‘cause it’s jazz, it’s easier. We learn it on the gig, we don’t rehearse or anything like that. I’ll hear it once or twice and I’m like alright cool, I hear the melody and I’m like yep got it.

KS- And there’s definitely more leeway being a drummer.

ZM- Yes absolutely, there is definitely a lot more leeway. And you’d be surprised there are a bunch of famous drummers out there who don’t read music- from Lenny White, to Dennis Chambers and Buddie Rich. You know, James brown’s drummers didn’t read… James Brown didn’t even read. A lot more people don’t read compared to what people think they do.

[playitby-ear-blog]

Fingertips

The first live, non-studio recording to ever reach number one on the United State’s Billboard Pop singles chart was accomplished by the twelve-year-old Stevie Wonder. His live performance of “Fingertips” remains unparalleled as one of the most memorable musical debuts of all time.

“Fingertips” was famously performed in 1962 at the Regal Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, in front of about 3,000 people (the video of the performance can be found on YouTube.) The stage was arranged so that the backup instrumentals were aligned in the back, while Stevie was placed front and center. Twelve-year-old Stevie walked out on stage, escorted by Motown Record’s song writer and producer, Clarence Paul, wearing a suit and tie. Beaming from ear to ear as he excitedly asked the audience if they were ready, Stevie began to create a moment he’d remember for the rest of his life.

Stevie began by playing the bongo drums. He sat perfectly erect, but very relaxed and at ease as he let his hands manipulate the moment. As he scanned his head from side to side, he was continuously talking to the audience while simultaneously playing his instrument. The backup instrumentals weren’t but a blip on Stevie’s radar as he took over the performance. Though they added value to the song, Stevie performed as if he was the only person in the theatre. His hands danced around the drums while his feet simultaneously guided the rhythm. There was nothing that could have taken away from his excitement and candid emotions.  

The drums came naturally to Stevie, as he started out by playing pots and pans in his kitchen. He relied on his sense of touch to understand the different motions and feelings of sounds and beats, making him an incredible drummer. He taught himself how to play the drums before the age of eleven, and was able to perfect the sound and rhythm of any song. As he performed “Fingertips”, the youthful ambition showed throughout the duration of his bongo playing. It was as if he was sitting on his kitchen floor banging pots and pans, producing a magnificent sound, and people came to watch.

His talent on the bongo drums was impeccable, but there is something different about the way Stevie Wonder is able to play a harmonica that is incomparable to all other instruments. When he switched to his harmonica during his same performance of “Fingertips”, there was a clear shift in the atmosphere. The level of talent went above and beyond within a matter of seconds. While he continued to be accompanied by his backup instrumentals, the orchestrator may as well have left the stage because he was no longer directing them, Stevie was. His ability to lead a musical group on his own and completely by accident is the reason why so many people fell in love with Stevie Wonder.

The harmonica was the first instrument he taught himself how to play. Teaching himself how to play didn’t take long, as he benefited from being able to use rhythm and sound to feel out the instrument and analyze how it worked. This lead him to understand different frequencies and sounds made for a natural ability to understand music in its entirety. There is a special gift given to those who have a sensory impairment, and that is the heightened strength of their other senses. With Stevie’s performance, this was very evident as he let his body take control of the scene.

The first time Stevie heard the sound of rainfall, he thought of cornflakes. The crisp sound of pouring Cornflakes into a cereal bowl has the same sound as rainfall- something people don’t typically seem to relate with one another. The first time he heard the harmony of a few guitar strings together, he thought it sounded warm and buttery. He loved the smooth sounds that could come of just a few strings being played together. This is how his heightened senses guided him through his unforgettable performance in Chicago, Illinois. His impeccable ability to interpret sounds and rhythms was clearly demonstrated during his performance of “Fingertips.”

[playitby-ear-blog]

A Written Explanation

You know those people who were just born with a natural ability to excel in something? The type of people like Stephen Hawking or Stevie Wonder- they excel in subjects that can be learned and practiced by anyone, though an “ordinary” person could never master the advanced level at which some were born with. Being able to regurgitate a musical composition solely by ear training is one of those things.

Chris Kersker is a highly talented and experienced musician. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has since become the proprietor and educator of the Accel School of Music; where a variety of musical opportunities are offered to young children and adults. One of the main objectives of Accel is to encourage personalized learning techniques that benefit each student independently and create a curriculum to benefit those techniques.

Chris’s major focus of study in college was Voice with a minor focus in Guitar. He has an advanced understanding of music composition and theory with knowledge in various topics of music as a general subject.  When asked about the concept of ear training by musicians who do not read music, Chris explained, “There are not many people who solely work off this oral idea. It’s a very rare phenomenon because most musicians inevitably get into this written aspect, as there are so many different ways to interpret music at a written level. At some point, the musician will become involved with it.”

The ability to reproduce music merely by replicating what one hears ties with the ability to comprehend how frequencies work and the elements within them. In technical terms, a frequency is the measurement of the number of times that a repeated event occurs per unit of time. In musical terms, musicians gradually learn and practice different frequencies to master the art of composition and note reading. Musicians who are able to play music by ear training most likely discovered at a young age that they were able to master frequencies organically. Chris explained further by saying, “A perfect example of that would be Stevie Wonder- who obviously cannot read music because he’s blind. So how does he do it? The only tools that he has are his ears to figure out what he has to play.” A musician who is blind and chooses to abstain from using the Braille Music System will use the same technique as a musician with no visual impairments who plays music by listening only.

A common misconception is that being able to reproduce music based on ear training means the same thing as having perfect pitch, which occurs in people who are able to hear a frequency and immediately identify exactly which frequency it is- “which is really cool because it means you can cognitively sense the frequencies you have in your brain and figure it out. I have relative pitch, which means when I hear something I can go play it and figure it out, but when I hear something out of the air I can’t replicate it off the bat.”

Chris’s relative pitch was beneficial when he was young and learning how to play music. Though he did learn how to play music at a young age, he struggled with reading notes and relied heavily on being able to replicate a composition at a faster pace by utilizing his relative pitch.  He discussed the idea that these abilities are only prominent among people who have them or among people who are seeking to understand them.  “I think these things are happening around us all the time, but it’s those who are in tune with it that recognize it. Some people wouldn’t even think about this because they would have no idea to understand how it occurs, but people who understand it are just like, well that’s what that is.”

“It’s a skill that anyone can have and you can get better at it if you work on it, but some just have that ability beyond others- which is like anything else, some people in other areas of life just excel at certain things naturally.” So yes, you can train yourself to recompose music using nothing but your ears however, it will not come as organically as it would to someone who is naturally able to do it. You can dedicate your life to mastering the art of composing music through ear training, but that doesn’t make you Stevie Wonder. Sometimes a person is merely born with a talent or ability that cannot be achieved by anyone else.

[playitby-ear-blog]

One-Man Band

Raul Midón was born fully blind in 1966 and became infatuated with music when he was young. An article from The New Standard magazine delves into the inception of Raul Midón’s music career and how he has overcome some of the challenges he faces as a fully blind musician. When Midón was six, he was introduced to his first guitar because that was the only instrument in his house. He admitted, had there been a grand piano in his house, he likely would have picked piano up instead.  

The magazine quoted Midón, who commented on what it was like to live in a world he couldn’t see. He explained how he creates a universe that caters to him because if he ever becomes unhappy with the world he lives in, he has the opportunity to change it for himself.

The one-man band performed his song “Sunshine” live in New York City in 2012. This impressive performance can be observed on YouTube, along with countless other shows and performances by Midón. Throughout his performance he sang in addition to playing the bongo drums, guitar, and the “mouth trumpet.” The mouth trumpet is defined as simply as it sounds, and Raul Midón is someone who produces an authentic trumpet sound as he does it, which enhances his performance.

The song began with Midón playing the mouth trumpet and guitar simultaneously, as if to set a laid back vibe. He continued this for about thirty seconds and then spoke into the microphone, “Now I know y’all can see up here. There are no looping pedals on this stage- no sequencers, no tape machines, except for the one in my mind.” His guitar was supported by a strap to allow his right hand to let go of the body and move to the drums. At this point, he was singing while his left hand was playing the guitar and his right hand was drumming. Completely comfortable and at ease, he continued this trifecta for about three minutes. His smile grew wider each time he threw his head down in rhythm with the song. He offered no sense of nervousness or uncertainty and his talent looked effortless.

The song went into a 3-minute riff, where Midón played his mouth trumpet, bongos and guitar. The trumpet noise coming from his mouth was in sync with that of an actual trumpet. The only indication that he was not playing an actual trumpet was the visible evidence that he was not physically playing a trumpet. He created a vibrato when the measure would come to an end, emphasizing the authentic sound of a trumpet.

In between verses, Midón would talk to the audience in a comical manner as he played, which set a fun and comfortable tone. His hands moved melodically as he transitioned from instrument to instrument, giving no indication that he was unable to see where his hands were moving every second. His rhythm and body language was perfectly in sync with the music he was playing and it was clear that he produced organic talent.

This performance was a clear demonstration of how Midón creates a universe that caters to him. He was put in a world that he was unhappy with and decided to make a world for himself that would make him happy. He manipulated an unfortunate situation into passion and motivation to embrace the positive aspect about his life and his capabilities.