OK for the ones who may be confused as to what ear training is, let me explain...

If you are blessed enough to be able to hear, then you have been a student of ear training for as long as you have been alive.  In the womb our ears were trained to recognize and distinguish mom's voice as well as other sounds we were exposed to.  As we grew older we were exposed to other sounds of the world which our ears were trained to distinguish such as a train whistle, school bell, fire truck siren, dad's voice, etc.  As a musician, when you listen to music for a long period of time, you eventually train your ears to hear where it will go even when the music is not playing.  This is a very important skill for a musician because he/she needs to be able reproduce the music that they hear ultimately in their head.

Ear training consists of:

Memorization - (of chords and melodies)
Anticipation - (of progressions)
Disection - (of songs to individual instruments)
Recognition - (of chord qualities, key signatures, rhythms, and melodies)
Imitation - (of progressions, melodies, and rhythms)
Familiarity - (with your instrument and tunes)

Memorization is an important part of learning to play.  It's been said before and it will be said many times more... "Commit as much as you can to MEMORY!".   I sometimes fall in the trap of being overwhelmed with everything I don't KNOW.  I eventually make myself understand that the path of a musician is a long and fulfilling journey where you try to memorize as much as you can along the way.

Anticipation is very important result of ear training.  There are two ways to anticipate:  1) If you understand progressions and their functions, you can anticipate where a chord or a progression might go.  But ultimately you want to get to the point where 2) you can anticipate by hearing where a chord or progression might go.  I have seen many organists and pianists over the years back up a vocalist where it is the ultimate exercise in anticipation, because many times vocalists can be very unpredictable in where they may take a song.

Disection is a skill that is developed from ear training.  Many non-musicians listen to music as a whole.  That means they don't hear individuals instruments within a song.  This is usually not the case with musicians though...just ask my wife.  She is a non-musician, so when a song comes on and I make a crazy noise, because that bass lick was just crazy, she looks at me like I'M crazy.  Being able to single out instruments and study them in a piece of music is critical. 

Recognition.  Can you hear a Major 7th, Minor 7, m7b5b9?  Being able to hear chords and distinguish their qualities is very important.  I would have to admit that as much as I practice trying to recognize chords, I still get a little confused sometimes.  There are so many ways a chord can be voiced and sometimes when a keyboardist or guitarist plays a very "Close" chord (chord that has been inverted to the point where there are minor 2nd and major 2nd intervals) it can be difficult to decipher the chord.  Don't get discouraged though because this is a talent that will just increase with time.

Imitation is critical to ear training as well.  In my practice time, I actually practice playing what I hear on my saxophone or the piano.  It could be music from cd, radio, tv, or something I'm thinking about.  This is a VERY imporatant exercise that helps to bridge the gap between your mind and your instrument.  You should take every opportunity to practice by ear that you can.  
 
Familiarity with your instrument and tunes is essential.  If you don't know your instrument, you will have a very hard time trying to imitate what you hear.   A very well respected musician in my area was asked the question once, how he is able to play the things he does on the sax.  His response was, "I try to play as much as I can..."  When you practice make sure you take advantage of the whole instrument so that you can use it in your solos.


Incorporating Ear Training in Your Practice Time:

If you don't have the ability to Dissect music, then that is where I would start.  Take a few minutes each day and listen to music of your preference.  It could be Jazz, Funk, Rock, Blues, Country, Gospel, etc.  Practice listening to the music as a whole and then dissect the music and pick out each individual instrument and concentrate on that one.  This can be a little tricky, but keep trying until you get it.  Then when you think you have it, start listening to accapella vocal ensembles and try picking out the lines each vocalist is singing.  This is more difficult to me because, the voices tend to blend together more than instruments with more distinct tambers.  After you have this licked, start memorizing and imitating lines you hear.

If you surround yourself with the same type of music all your life, eventually that music becomes a part of you.  There are many non-musicians with better ears than musicians in our world.  The only problem they have is that they just don't have an instrument to get the music out of them.  Basically you must spend quality time in your practice session on your ear.  There is no getting around it.  You ear is as important to your musicial development as your technical ability on your instrument.

Well that's my time!

Good Luck!

Letron Brantley (CEO & Founder)
GospelSkillz.com