Hello. My name is Matthew and I am a writer and guitarist from the United States.

I started delving seriously into music during college. I did start to play guitar in high school, but not to any serious point. I started to get serious training in the performance aspects of lead and rhythm guitar with Jimmy Kane. I also spent a great deal of time studying composition, music theory, and orchestration.

Most of my own ear training developed as part of learning to play guitar. The style of guitar I play has several techniques that require ear training to use. Constant repetition of training exercises also contributed to helping certain aspects of ear training sink in. There are also areas of ear training that seemed to develop quickly as I began composing songs.

I have primarily been trained by Jimmy Kane in playing guitar. He has taught me a great deal about the entire process of writing and playing music on the guitar. I have also received lessons from Luca Turilli of Rhapsody of Fire. This was particularly interesting because Rhapsody of Fire was one of my main influences to learn to play the guitar in the first place!

My articles will be influenced by my experience as a guitarist, and in some cases focus on areas of ear training that are unique to guitar. In addition, I would like to draw attention to areas of ear training that might differ from one type of musician to another.



No doubt all you guitar players out there are glad to hear we’ve another six-stringer on board! If you have any topics you particularly want to see covered, don’t be shy! Matthew’s diving straight in tomorrow, with an article on how to listen for broken chords, particularly played on guitar.

I recently heard about an very interesting musical event – a concert in aid of Link Emergency Aid & Development of Burma, which brings young Western composers and classical musicians together to play traditional music, and music inspired by Burma.

Burma (officially now called Myanmar) is a country of about 50 million people, bordering China to the North and Thailand to the East. It has an ancient musical tradition, which in recent years has been adapted to accommodate first Western classical music, then rock, and most recently hip-hop and rap.

The concert, “Musical Bridge”, is the brainchild of Zaw Lu Aung, a Londoner who was born and raised in Burma and has been speaking and writing on Burmese issues for several years. I won’t attempt to address the political and social situation in Burma here – but please follow some of the links at the bottom of this post to read more about it, and learn how some young people in Burma are speaking out through music.

A brief audio glimpse

I was intrigued by the concert’s concept, and not knowing much about the music of Myanmar, I set out to explore – with Spotify as my atlas. Click to read the rest…

This Friday marks the premier of Sabrina Peña Young’s new work, ‘Creation’, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Decatur, Illinois.

Open Your Ears

This is the first post in a new series, “Open Your Ears”, which will highlight interesting and exciting music which will stretch your ears and expand your musical horizons.

We’ve all had the experience: we hear a new song or piece of music and our initial reaction is confusion – “what is this?! “. It’s easy to switch off, skip the song, change the station.

But, if you’re patient and listen actively, you find the real value in the music, which was initially hidden to you, begin to emerge.

“I used to hate this track. But now I think it’s really cool!”
“I didn’t really get jazz before, but after listening to Kind of Blue for the 5th time…”
“Lately I’ve realised that there’s much more to 80s pop than just cheese!”

As your ears develop this new appreciation, you find it empowers you to hear new things in other music too. So the benefits of experiencing new sounds and musical genres really aren’t to be underestimated – opening your ears should be a key part of your ear training!

The ‘Open Your Ears’ series aims to bring you new music of all kinds to help you stretch your ears in different directions and fill your world with a greater variety of wonderful sounds.

Creation

‘Creation’ is not your typical concert piece. Commissioned by Millikin State University, and to be performed in its premier by their 60-member-strong Women’s Chorale and Percussion Ensemble, the multimedia oratorio is a “celebration of culture, life, humanity, and the female body” which features computer animated video illustration, created by the composer.

Speaking of the composer – she may be familiar to you! Sabrina has been writing articles here at EasyEarTraining.com since its launch and we’re delighted to have this chance to highlight her musical talent. Her creative works know no bounds, as evidenced by over 100 compositions for all manner of instrument and technology, and her recent album ‘Origins’.

You can find out more about Creation, and this Friday’s premier here:

The performance is free to attend, with donations taken afterwards. Don’t miss this chance to attend the premier of an exciting new musical work!

Be sure to let us know if you attend the concert. If you have suggestions for future ‘Open Your Ears’ posts, drop us a line at openyourears@EasyEarTraining.com!