Curing the Proverbial "Tin Ear"

Do you insist that you're tone deaf?

We hear it all the time. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, I'm tone deaf, believe me, you don't want to hear me sing. Here's some good news for you: your ear can be trained! The fact is, very few people are truly tone deaf, most of them have just never been trained. If your environment growing up didn't involve music, if no one in your family is "musical", then it can feel like you are tone deaf.

OK, how do I cure it you ask?

If you don't have an electronic tuner for your guitar, go get one now! The last thing you want to do is get used to your out of tune guitar sounding good to you. Practice tuning until the tuner agrees that your guitar is in tune. Now, pick out a song that you know by heart and try to pick it out on the guitar. Keep in mind that it has to be one you're completely familiar with. Happy Birthday, Jingle Bells, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, something like that. Work on it until you're sure it's right, then play it for someone just to be sure. When you can do that, try to figure out a song that's a little more complex. Again, do it until you're sure it's right, then play it for someone.

Keep at it and try tuning by ear.

Now that you can pick out a melody, tune one string to the tuner, put the rest of the strings out of tune, then try to tune it by ear. Check it with the electronic tuner and then repeat. Do this a few minutes a day and before you know it, you'll have a much better ear for music.