Given enough time, it’s inevitable that you will figure out what you are hearing. But what about knowing what you hear in the moment? For this, you must practice speed.
You can practice speed whenever you hear a song on the radio, when you’re at your instrument, or just in your head. The key is to be relaxed, yet alert, and set the intention of your practice session to improve your speed. The most accurate form of measurement would be a stop watch or timer of some sort. You could measure the time it takes to get a single answer right or how long it takes to get a group of answers right. Then try to beat your previous measurements. Do this with intervals, chords, pitches, and anything else musical that you want to be able to identify.
Even though you are focusing on speed, don’t worry about how long it will take to meet your goals. That’s not really the point of this practice. The point is to use whatever level of improvement you’ve gained to make better music. Having goals and setting dates can be important, but don’t lose sight of the big picture.
Practice so that you can make better music.
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