Playing By Ear

Playing by ear refers to the ability to listen to music and, without the aid of written notes, reproduce what you heard on an instrument. To someone who has never learned to play by ear, the ability seems almost magical. For those who can do it, it feels like second nature.

Playing by ear is, actually, singing on an instrument. Once you become familiar with the logic of an instrument – which way is up, which way is down, and what it sounds like when you skip over notes or play them in order – it is only a short step to being able to transfer the sounds from your mind to an instrument.

You will: 

• Learn songs that “live” in 3 notes on the piano

• Transpose these songs to different keys

• Transfer these songs to recorder, guitar and xylophones

• Find scales and “invent” key signatures

• Learn about chord families and how to use them

• Create accompaniments on the autoharp

Example:

A student is shown a C, D and E on the piano. The teacher tells her that “Mary Had a Little Lamb” lives in those notes and that the first note is E. After some trial and error, Lucy is able to figure out how to play the song by herself. This success will encourage her to try to figure out more songs by ear.

As this student begins to grasp the logic of the keyboard, she is able to find songs that “live” in an increasing number of notes. Being able to do this gives the student undeniable proof that she has musical ability. From that point on, confidence and skill leapfrog upward.

The mystifying ability to play by ear requires only that you:

• have ears that are working

• are motivated to spend enough unpressured time at a keyboard to become familiar with its patterns

Not all of us will be able to use our ears to write Bach fugues, but absolutely everyone has the innate ability to learn to play by ear, at least a little.