I was always jealous of jazz musicians, simply learning music off recordings— no sheet music necessary. Why couldn’t I do that? Why don’t classical musicians have this skill? It seems like all musical cultures in the world learn this way, so what was I missing?

About 12 years ago I decided I wanted to be part of this tradition. After some trial and error, I hit upon a method that allowed me to learn Bach (or any other composer) by ear. And more than just being glad for having developed the skill of transcribing, the method is extremely efficient: I find that pieces are usually memorized faster than when using sheet music.

Here is the method as explained in the episode:

-Record, slowly with the score, up to 60 seconds of music (or even 10 seconds if you like.)-Put away the score and play ‘call and response’ with the recording, relying on your ears.-Once learned, re-record the music as you've heard it, now learned aurally.-Re-open the music, play the new recording, checking for inaccuracies, missing details, &c.-Repeat…

Stretch the Octave:

Now, once something is memorized, you may want to keep it memorized. So you’re up against the ol’ Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve: the speed at which your mind forgets without conscious review. We all have our own curves, but my rule has been roughly:

Play the newly memorized music twice on the first day,Review the music on the second day,… three days after learning,… one week after learning,… two weeks after learning,… one month after learning,… three months after learning,… six months after learning,… one year after learning,…two years after learning.

You can even put dates in your calendar saying, “You learned fugue X three months ago: Review it today.” With this practice, you’re sure to have some counterpoint written into your DNA.

W.T.F. Bach wants YOU to learn a fugue by ear:

The Pakistani musician I mentioned is the immortal, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Listen to his extraordinary live concerts where he and his band achieve the heights (while sitting on the floor.) In my next life I’d like to be one of the guys in back clapping only quarter notes.

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