Here are a few great ear training resources on the web which you might not have come across:

Arranging Music for A Cappella

“This guide should get you started arranging music for your a cappella group if you have musical ideas but don’t know how to put them down on paper. It’s no substitute for really learning music theory, but if your primary concern is just arranging your favorite song, this will help get you there.”

A fantastic introductory guide to arranging music for close harmony groups (a.k.a. a cappella or the sub-genre barbershop). I’m a big fan of a cappella music, and listening carefully to it can be a tremendous way to develop your ear.

It may sound like an intimidating topic, but you’ll learn a lot even if you don’t ever start arranging yourself, and it really is taken at a gentle pace. For example, Click to read the rest…

Well, it seems like it’s Rock Band week here at EasyEarTraining.com!

The new Fender Squier Stratocaster Pro controller for Rock Band 3 (Source: Engadget.com)

I’m a big believer in using music video games to learn actual musical skills, whether it’s improving your rhythm and group play with Wii Music, using music games on your phone or improving your singing with Rock Band, like Sabrina wrote about this week. But the power of video games to improve your musicianship just took a big leap forwards as Rock Band creators Harmonix, and guitar design legends Fender announced a real, playable guitar as a controller for the upcoming Rock Band 3 game.

The Squier Stratocaster Pro controller was just announced at the E3 conference in Los Angeles, Click to read the rest…

There are a number of ways for a guitarist to play a chord that can have a significant impact on how the listener is affected by the song. All of the notes in the chord do not have to be played simultaneously, which is the typical method of playing chords. The term “broken chords” covers various other methods that a guitarist can use to present a chord.

“Arpeggios” are a very similar idea, to the point the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Generally, a broken chord lets the notes of the chord ring together, while an arpeggio plays the notes of the chord separately.

Broken Chords

Broken chords are most often used for slower, mellower rhythm guitar work. This is not necessarily the only use of broken chords, but it is the most common usage. There can be a good amount of variance in how slowly the individual notes are introduced. The example below shows three different methods of playing a broken chord, each of which gives a distinctly different tone. Each method uses the exact same open Am chord, but sounds quite different.

Example 1: Standard 'A minor' chord, and three broken chord versions