For the final part of the “Resolving to be a better musician” series, we’re going to focus on the easiest and most fun way to get better–listen to more music! It’s funny how sometimes musicians get so lost in the forest of playing gigs, writing music, working on technique, etc., that we forget to sit back, relax and let our ears do their thing. When is the last time you listened to music for pure enjoyment?

I’m going to split “music listening” into two parts: Live and At Home. Both have their own advantages and both are very useful to developing the aural skills necessary to become a better player. While it is great to experience a live show, listening at home at times can be less complicated and more focused; the drinks certainly are cheaper! Let’s be honest, not everyone has the budget to go see live music whenever they want, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy listening and/or watching music at home.

Let’s focus on live music first. The key here is two-fold: 1) Have a good live music calendar and 2) Get off your rear and go see a show! JamBase does a great job at listing shows as does SongKick. There are others and Google can be your friend here too. With regard to a methodology, it’s not too esoteric–either pull a calendar search from your geographical music area and/or go to the websites of bands that you enjoy and look at their tour schedule. I’m sure today most band websites can RSS (or ping) you when the band is going to be in your neighborhood. Other than that, it really is simple–when your preferred band comes to town, buy tickets and go! Sometimes this sounds way easier than it really is due to regular life getting in the way but like everything else with regard to “being a better musician”, set a goal to see live music. Whether it’s X amount of shows per year/month or picking 10 of your favorite bands, put some metrics together and then just work it in to your schedule. Imo, one live show per month is very doable. You don’t get to see everybody, but you should try hard to see the great ones.

When you finally get to the show, make sure to find a good spot to listen. While it’s fun to be upfront near the stage (sometimes) the acoustics aren’t always the best. Your best plan here is to locate the soundboard and post up there. Remember that the sound for the entire room is being listened to right at that spot, so it is likely to be the clearest picture of what the sound guys are doing. If they are doing a good job, the mix should be fantastic nearest the board. Hopefully, they are capable sound people–I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when the show is mixed by amateur hour sound guys.

Of course, I don’t want that to get in the way of listening/watching your favorite player/instrument. Admittedly, sometimes it’s really nice to cozy up to the bass or guitar–although too close and you’ll get those amps screaming right in your face. I would note here to at least have some ear protection. I have found that over the years just a little bit of toilet paper (yes, that stuff–and it’s cheap!) goes a long way toward cutting out some unwanted frequencies and decibel levels. It will save your ears long term–thank me later.

Now that you’re in the spot–focus. I find that while certainly you might gravitate towards your favorite instrument, take time to listen to everyone. I don’t necessarily think you have to have a “listening regimen” so to speak, but try moving your audio consciousness around the stage to hear what everyone is doing. As a player, it is always fun to watch your instrument of choice; however, watching the band often brings more nuance and hidden gems with it. Remember, these guys are professional so it can help out a lot to see how the band performs together, how they manage the dynamics and sound, how they segue through their setlist and how they work the crowd. These are all valuable things to note as a fellow band member, live performer and/or pro musician

Remember that you don’t have to stay in the same place the entire show. I always like to walk around the room to hear the sound in different areas–evaluating what kind of rooms work where specifically and how sounds are affected by the shape of the room. I also like to get a close up view of the guitarist (my favorite instrument). If you are seeing a performer/band more on the virtuoso side, definitely spend some time watching them play! You will pick up little hints about technique and tone that aren’t as obvious when listening to the CD. Even if you’re not a drummer, when you hear an odd time signature–count it! Try to figure it out. Listen for the poly-rhythms between the instruments.

Finally, make sure to bring some of your musician mates along. Make it a social occasion. This doesn’t mean jabber jaw over the show the entire time, but if possible bring a small group of players that also understand the subtleties of music. It is very satisfying to hear something incredible from the stage and look over to someone else who gets it. It can provide some nice fodder for a post concert musical discussion. Let’s be honest, your significant other doesn’t care and is just going to look at you funny. Overall, take some enjoyment out of being in the audience for a night.

As great as it is to see live music, don’t miss the opportunity to listen to music in your normal surroundings. I would categorize home listening in two ways: Active and Passive listening. Passive listening is the easiest to do but also the most often overlooked. Take stock of your daily routine for a minute. Is there dead space anywhere? Is the TV on at a certain time? Are you in the car? There are so many places to inject music into one’s life and most of the time it is forgotten about. So do yourself a favor; turn off the television, turn on music. Turn off the talk radio, turn on music. No music on? Turn on some music!

The idea here is to keep your background free of noise and instead replace it with music whenever possible. It is surprising how much of one’s background seeps into the mind subliminally. As Funkadelic said, “Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts will rot your meat”. Pay attention to what kind of audio wallpaper is going on in the background and try to improve this by choosing good music instead. The great thing about having music playing in the background is that you don’t have to do anything to receive it. It will happen automatically. Of course, you may not notice it at first, but your brain has the ability to hear quite a bit of your surroundings while you may be focused on other things. The result is that, even though you are not actively listening to something, your brain is still digesting the music–the phrasing of the notes, the harmony, the melody, rhythms et al, while you go about your daily business.

One of the ways I first figured this out was by listening to some of my favorite guitar players on the way to the gig. I hadn’t even sat down with these recordings or the guitar solos, structure, etc., and magically found myself emulating some of the same phrasing I just heard in the car! How did it happen?? That’s the power of your brain. It runs parallel in the background on so many things. Yet, people forget about it and tend to feed it shit instead of healthy audio food. Don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself. There’s a reason that babies who are played jazz and classical music (in the womb) end up with higher IQ’s. And you will too at any age if you start doing this simple practice.

The other kind of listening that the reader should engage in is active listening. This is also quite fun, but takes a more deliberate effort. So start by picking one time/space per week–maybe an hour or two–sit in your favorite stereo field spot and plop that new CD (or old CD) into the player. You really don’t have to do anything but sit there and enjoy it. However, like being at a live show, you can let your focus drift from individual instruments to more of the collective interplay. Or just focus on the rhythm. Latin Jazz is great for this! Bring a shaker along! Regardless of how you want to parse the time, make sure to vary up the selection, relax and be here now.

This type of listening will ultimately act in a similar fashion to passive listening, but the learning factor upstairs will happen much quicker. Additionally, it is helpful at times to really focus in on what a player might be doing versus just hearing it in the background. For a more advanced take, grab your axe and work out some of what you hear!

At the end of the day, the point of this “practice” is to move your musical monkey mind to a more focused listening effort in those daily spaces that you might overlook. Besides adding nice color to your daily activities it is an easy way to turn some of those otherwise dead spaces (in the background) to more effective learning experiences. While it does take some time to take effect, you will notice the results in short order.

So, have you resolved to be a better musician yet? What are you waiting for? All of these suggestions are easy to implement and just take a little time and discipline. Do your craft and brain a favor and start moving down the path of becoming a better musician today. You may not notice at first, but I guarantee that you will see verifiable results within the first 6 months. (Doctors hate this simple trick…hahaha). By then, your regular practice regimen should be set and it will feel like a normal part of your day–perhaps the most enjoyable time (even the part that bears the most fruit!)

Good luck in 2025!!