Graham English

Posts Tagged ‘skills’

Always Be Training Your Ears

If you hear some music and don’t know what it is, figure it out immediately. The next time you hear the same chord progression, melodic structure, or rhythm, you’ll probably know what it is. It’s usually as simple as that, and not unlike looking up a word you don’t know in the dictionary. Read on…

Advice To Adult Learners Of Music

Music is like a language. And we all know that learning languages comes easier when you’re a child. And in some ways, it’s much easier for a child to learn music, especially to learn how to play by ear. Putting two and two together, you might ask yourself what is the difference between an adult [...]

Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 08-20-07

Topics covered: The pleasure of finding things out, Richard Feynman, Dr. Kurt Fischer, dynamic skill theory, developmental levels, adult learning, ear training, and much more…

Do You Make These Mistakes When Learning New Skills?

Dr. Kurt Fischer (Harvard Graduate School of Education) explains in his dynamic skill theory that we all develop through stages of development while learning new skills. These stages also mimic the developmental levels we go through from infant to adolescent to adult. They are: (1) Actions (or Sensorimotor), (2) Representations (or Concrete Operations), and (3) [...]

Absolute Pitch Ear Training Podcast 10-06-06

Topics covered: The art and craft of absolute pitch hearing.

Understanding The Art And Craft Of Absolute Pitch Hearing

Learning to hear with absolute pitch requires both talent and tenacity. Little talent? Tenacity can help get you there. But if you lack tenacity, then you won’t even have the desire to learn. But focus on the reasons why you want to hear with absolute pitch and you will develop the muscles of tenacity and [...]

Hack Your Musical Mind

From Mind Hacks:
All abilities are skills; practice something and your brain will devote more resources to it.
Brain scanning of musicians has shown that they have larger cortical representations of the body parts they use to play their instruments in their sensory areas — more neurons devoted to finger movements among guitarists, more neurons devoted to [...]