Learning to Be a Better Musician Starts With Your Ear

The speed and accuracy with which you react to what’s happening around you musically is definitely not a competition, but I believe it’s the single most important element of any musical performance, and your ears play a pivotal role. Through some brutally honest self-inventory of my own abilities over the past month, I’ve discovered a few things about my playing that are far from flattering.Here are a few key takeaways.I want to get better: I’ll be the first to admit that my abilities—although well-developed after 35 years of practice—can still be improved significantly. Whether it’s recognizing the exact notes in a chord someone is using over my bass line, or hearing a song once and playing it back immediately, there’s plenty of room to grow. As bass players, we get to hang out in the low end and “listen up” the harmony vertically. It’s a great place to be, and the nature of our fundamental role in the band to hold things down often gives us a little more space and time to use our ears. It’s good to be aware of that and make the most of that extra time to absorb more information. Repetition of listening has never been more important: Depending on the time frame I have from an artist—or my own personal goals—I want to spend as much time as possible listening away from my instrument. I’m making drastic changes to how I allocate my practice time, and the results have been huge. My playing is already sounding more natural because I’m focusing more on my ear than on my chops.Recording shows religiously: I’ve always had some kind of recording device running during live gigs and practice sessions. Lately, I’ve been leaning much more heavily on this process. The more honest I am with myself about a performance or a practice session, the better I can plan future practice time to fix weaknesses and accelerate growth—even after 35 years!“No matter where you’re at, creating a positive feedback loop—recording everything we do, listening back, and being self-critical when needed—has enormous potential to make us better musicians right away.”I think it’s essential to remember that we’re all at different stages of the journey and want different things from our playing and our music. But no matter where you’re at, creating a positive feedback loop—recording everything we do, listening back, and being self-critical when needed—has enormous potential to make us better musicians right away.I’ve been comparing learning to hear “faster” and more accurately to how a successful athlete approaches their sport. In tennis, for instance, you need multiple specialized skills to become a top player: speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, physical endurance for long matches, and mental toughness to outthink your opponent under pressure.Similarly, a musician needs great time, great tone, a fantastic ear, solid memory, social skills for working with others, and technical command to execute ideas. It’s no small list of requirements.But I think the most striking similarity is the mental toughness and focus required to handle the pressure of being onstage or in the studio. The best musicians feel no pressure at all. As a result, their ideas flow freely, they absorb everything happening around them, and their ears catch every detail. That’s where I’m looking to improve: Feel no pressure, and take in as much as I can.Listening faster has become somewhat of an obsession, and I suspect it will stay at the top of my priority list for life. In just a few weeks, I’ve become more relaxed onstage, uncovered dozens of new things to practice by reviewing old recordings, and started to feel what a great athlete must feel when they step onto the court knowing they’re in complete control.Distractions are fading, focus and intent are way up, and I feel like I’m playing better than I have in years. I thought I would never get back to the feeling I had when I first picked up a bass in my early teens, but the past month or so has surprised me greatly.It has actually been quite emotional at times because the past decade has had its fair share of self-doubt, including hitting several plateaus where progress felt nonexistent. But now I can confidently say there’s no end in sight when it comes to new challenges to tackle. The improvements may not come in leaps and bounds, but they’re coming—and that’s what matters.