Core Lesson #2: Develop Your Xray Hearing
One day my mentor Gilbert handed me a track that was way over my head and said: “Transcribe this by ear for next week.”
I sat there for hours in my piano roll, stuck on two chords, convinced I’d never get it.
He corrected my work in class, and showed me how to analyze what I’d transcribed.
I realized he had just given me the key to teaching myself music.
So I started doing it on tracks that I loved, instead of tracks he gave me.
It was hard - but slowly, it got easier.
Transcriptions that used to take hours started taking minutes. Then seconds.
It shifted from “transcription work” to x-ray hearing - I could quickly hear through tracks to the core of how it was built.
That’s when my music made a huge jump.
I’d hear a track and almost instantly know how to capture similar vibes in my own DAW - sometimes within minutes.
No tutorials needed.
My ideas became more intentional. I could hear why something was working - or wasn’t - and fix it fast.
Transcribing tracks was world-changing because it taught me how to hear accurately - the highest-level fundamental.
I still transcribe all the time: To teach myself based on tracks that are inspiring me, to understand reference tracks for professional work, to help my students understand tracks they love.
That’s why it’s one of the very first exercises I have students do in private lessons.
Because if I can help you develop Xray hearing, you will have the ability to teach yourself music for life. 🙂
The same gift my teacher gave me.
The more you transcribe, the more your ear starts automatically absorbing patterns from everything you hear.
Your influences start blending in ways that help you find yourself.
It’s just like learning any language.
We listen. We imitate. We find our own voice.
Transcription is building the essential skill that powers all the rest: how to listen accurately.
Which brings us to…
Your homework: Transcription by ear.
1. Download a track that’s inspiring you - one from the playlist you made from the last homework is ideal.
2. Bring it into your DAW. Match the BPM. Loop your favorite section.
3. Transcribe it note-by-note in a basic piano sound - the key is to listen through the sounds to the notes underneath.
Stuck? Try to focus on just the bass. Then just the highest notes. This often hints at a chord, and you can fill in the middle with educated guesses until it “clicks.”
You don’t have to get it all perfect. Just do whatever you can. Even guesses count right now. It's about starting this practice.
I could barely get a few seconds of music when I started.
Next lesson we will use this transcription - so please don't skip this my friend!
Avery
