Recreating Old Town Road by ear
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can work out a simple melodic line and bass line by ear.
Key learning points
- Learning music by ear is an important musical skill that can be developed through practice.
- Working out rhythm and pitch separately helps to simplify the process.
- We can describe melody using the words ascending, descending, conjunct and disjunct.
- We can then use this process, we can work out hooks, harmony lines and other musical ideas.
Keywords
Hook - a short, memorable musical idea that recurs in a pop song; it is designed to ‘catch’ the ear of the listener
Bass line - a low-pitched part that supports the harmony and melody
Timbre - the distinctive sound of an instrument or voice
Common misconception
Only highly skilled and naturally gifted musicians can work out music by ear.
Anyone can work out music by ear. It just takes practice and is made easier through use of effective strategies, including working out rhythm and pitch separately, and identifying individual pitches through trial and error.
Teacher tip
Vocalising pitch can be very helpful when working out ideas by ear. If appropriate, encourage students to sing the pitches back to themselves when working out the shape of the melody and individual notes.
Equipment
DAW, MIDI keybaards
Licence
Sign in to continue
Our content remains 100% free, but to access certain copyrighted materials, you'll need to sign in. This ensures we’re both staying within the rules.
P.S. Signing in also gives you more ways to make the most of Oak like unit downloads!
