TakeLessons Divulges The Crucial Tool Every Guitarist Already Has

Online, December 4, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The Black Keys are taking the music industry by storm, with their newest album El Camino out this week, their songs creeping up the Billboard charts, and a head-turning performance on SNL over the weekend. With rock music is suffering within the music industry, some critics are saying this may be just what the genre needs to rise to the top again.

TakeLessons (http://takelessons.com), the nation's fastest growing music lessons provider, took the opportunity to feature a helpful article on their blog, highlighting the most important tool for guitarists to get to the next playing level: ear training.

The following is an excerpt from the blog post, which lists several things to practice to help one's aural skills:

"1. Turn on the radio and transcribe (figure out by ear) songs, chords, melodies, solos, etc. using your guitar.

2. Similar to above, try transcribing without using your instrument. Write the music down on paper and then when you think you have it as close to accurate as you can get it, check your work with your guitar. Notice what errors you made and look to see if a pattern forms in your errors. For example, if you realize that you always think that minor chords sound like major chords, then you can see that this is something you will need to focus your practice time on.

3. Sing (yes, out loud) scales. Start with singing the major scale, later add the natural minor scale, harmonic minor scale, pentatonic scale, blues scale, etc.

4. Sing intervals.

5. Sing arpeggios - start with major triads and then move on to minor triads.

6. Improvising melodies, solos, etc. over chords. This is great thing to do anyway.

7. Record yourself playing several different chords (just major and minor triads for now). Try not to repeat the same chord very often. Then, play back your recording and try to identify whether the chords you hear are major or minor."

By sharing the tips with blog readers, TakeLessons hopes to continue engaging current students and help with any musical goals they may have. Readers are invited to share their thoughts by commenting on the TakeLessons blog, where fans can also learn breathing exercises for all instruments, and comments are also welcomed on Facebook (http://facebook.com/takelessons).