How To Play What You Hear In Your Head

As musicians, we’ve all experienced moments when a melody or harmony strikes us out of the blue. It’s vivid, alive, and inspiring—yet translating these auditory visions into music on our instruments can be a daunting challenge. Whether you’re a pro or just starting out, the ability to play what you hear in your head is a skill that takes your musicianship to the next level.

In this post, we’ll delve into the things that can prevent you from playing what you hear, how to solve them, and explore a strategy that can aid in bridging the gap between imagination and execution.

Things That Can Prevent You From Playing What You Hear

There are 3 main things that could prevent you from playing what you hear in your head. These are:

• Lack Of Theoretical Knowledge/Ear Training: If music is a language (which it is), ear training is phonics. In order to replicate any melody or chord you hear on an instrument, you have to have the ability to identify intervals and hear pitches, which is why ear training is so important.
• Lack Of Technical Facility: If you don’t have enough technical facility to physically play what you’re hearing, that becomes a challenge in itself.
• Self Doubt: This is so common but so overlooked. Simply put, if you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t achieve anything!

Solutions

• Download apps or watch videos about ear training exercises, quizzes and games.
• Practice exercises that will build your technical facility.
• Believe in yourself and your abilities!

The 3 Step Strategy For Bridging The Gap

1. Record Your Ideas When You Get Them

When you hear something in your head, save it by recording it. In this new age of technology, it’s so easy! All you have to do is open the voice memo app on your phone and start recording yourself singing your idea. You wouldn’t even want to guess how much voice memos I have of me just singing ideas. You’d think im a singer, but after all, the voice is our first and most readily available instrument!

2. Try Working The Notes Out In Your Head Before Playing

If you have perfect or relative pitch, you may be able to identify the exact pitches that you’re singing in your idea, but if you don’t, work out the intervals instead. This helps you to practice interval identification, an important skill that will make it so much easier to play what you hear in your head quickly and more accurately.

3. Take It To The Piano

Now that you’ve tried to work out the idea in your head, you can head to the piano and start playing. It may take a few tries to get the entire idea out, but don’t give up! The more you try, the better you will get! The better you get, the quicker you get!

The “Vessel Mindset” Philosophy

In my book “Musical Common Sense: For Keyboardists”, I speak about thinking of yourself as an empty vessel waiting for music to come through. The “Music Spirit” would be the one to give you the ideas that go through your head and come out through your hands. There are many things that could influence what ideas are given to you, but what influences how you execute them is the quality of your vessel.

If you don’t practice your technical exercises, listen to music and work on ear training, your vessel won’t be in a good position to let you play what you hear in your head. This is why it is so important to keep practicing and improving.

Conclusion

To conclude, sharpening the ability to play what you hear is a journey that combines ear training, technical skill, and self-belief. By recognizing and addressing the barriers that prevent you from translating your mental music into reality, you’ll find yourself more able to capture those fleeting melodies and harmonies. Remember, it all starts with recording your ideas, working out the notes in your head, and then bringing them to life on your instrument.

Embracing the “vessel mindset” can also help you maintain the quality of your musicianship, allowing the music spirit to flow through you effortlessly. Keep practicing, stay inspired, and believe in your potential. With dedication and perseverance, you’ll soon find yourself able to play what you hear with confidence and ease!