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When I learn a song by hearing,  I am essentially trying to decipher the notes making up its melody, bass and chords.   With all that in mind, here are the tools that I use (also watch the video):

1. A piano keyboard

This can be a full-sized 88-key digital piano, or just a ‘fun’ electronics keyboard (with at least 61 keys) like the ones made by Casio, Yamaha, Roland and Kawai that are available quite cheaply. In the USA, one could be bought on eBay or Craigslist for between $50-$100, shipped . I prefer using this (my Casio CTK-601 is  pictured) as it doesn’t take up too much space on the dining table, and is easier to work with in front of my laptop (where I of course store my music, and play them on  the WinAmp media player).

The above electronic keyboard typically features some variations of piano (which really is the only instrument you’d need for learning songs) plus other instruments; and you should of course buy one that comes with an electrical adapter.

Most importantly, for the purpose of learning by hearing, you need to ensure that this keyboard comes with a transposer or transposition feature.

2. An MP3 music player

This device (a) stores the music you wish to learn; and (b) must be able adjustable back and forth so you can re-listen to parts of the song as you are progressively learning it.

Just as a technology flashback, during the 1970s, I had to use a cassette recorder (picture) to learn my songs. I used to go into a record (as in Long Playing vinyl albums) store to select tracks off artistes’ albums, paying 25c for each track that I wanted to learn. The record seller would then record these songs onto a cassette tape, which I would pick up and excitedly take home and insert into my tape player. I would learn each song by rewinding and fast forwarding the tape, accompanying it on the organ. Every now and then, the fragile tape would entangle in the unit’s rollers, while the cassette also diminished in its ability to rewind – difficult times!

Fast-forward to the 2000s, and things have certainly changed quite a bit!

Today, you could pay 99c a tune for a download from the internet, or check out sharing websites like Limewire, Bearshare or Seeqpod, or from the tens of midi sites out there; or for my preferred source, YouTube.

Consider this… if you can then hear and learn the original song, paying 99c a song is a lot cheaper than spending several times more on music sheets.

I just download a video from YouTube of a song I like, convert it into an MP3; or I could also buy and download a song music I want from the internet; or I could even ‘rip’ the title from a CD from .cda into an .mp3 file and store it in my ‘Songs To Learn’ folder.

I then play it back using the WinAmp player on my computer, which I prefer because it looks compact on my screen and sounds clean; and I can use the ‘C’ key on my keypad laptop to stop and play the song, and the > and < to rewind and fast-forward 5 seconds - very efficient for a repetitive activity like learning by hearing.

Of course, you can also use any other MP3 player with a stop and ‘rewind’ tab, like an iPod. I just suspect there’s less ‘wear and tear’ doing this clicking action on a software (such as WinAmp or Windows Media player) on the PC or laptop, than continuous depressing of a button on a ‘hardware’ device like an iPod.  It is also not advisable to learn by re-playing the  CD.

3. Headphones or Speakers

Next in my tools is the use of a reasonable pair of headphones to hear the song clearer, as opposed to just turning on the speakers on the laptop.

You must not only be able to hear the melody clearly, but also and more importantly the song’s bass notes because, as we shall see later, they help indicate what the chords are.   I use the Sony MDR-V150 (picture) headphones because it’s cheap, lightweight and comfortable, and gives great bass audibility.

4. Book for writing your notes

As you will want to write the notes of the song you’re learning, you will need either a plain exercise book with ruled lines, along with one black (for the melody notes) and one red (for the bass notes) ballpoint pen (if you’re writing in alphabets or your own other notation). If you can write conventional music notes, then use the appropriate music blank sheets instead.

5. A work table

To learn songs in the way I do, you should be comfortably seated on a table (say, in the kitchen or dining), and able to lay back on a chair as you patiently work out a song. You should not be stretching back and forth on the back-less piano chair, bending over to write on a book on the piano rest, or straining to adjust your music player.

After you learn 4-5 songs successfully using my hearing method, you may finally discover what ‘hearing heaven’ is! …. It is sitting down comfortably at your table space, with your laptop, keyboard, notebook and headphone all at hand, then surfing onto your favorite music download site, and asking yourself….

“Let me see… how many and which songs do I want to hear and learn tonight?”.

It’s that relaxing and fun when you have these above simple tools, and a command of hearing!

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