Can You Learn To Play The Piano By Ear?
Many of the great bands of today do not know how to read or write music and everything they compose and play is done by ear. Playing music by ear refers to the learning of music by listening to it until it is memorized and then being able to play it. Even classically trained musicians who have studied the theory and history of music and are able to read and write music like a second language still need to be able to play by ear – that is how they are able to pick up the finer nuances of a composition and adapt it to their own style. This is what you will be doing when you learn to play the piano by ear – you need an ear for music and the ability to remember what you hear.
Start by picking out a simple tune you are familiar with and sit at the piano and try to find the keys to produce the first few seconds of the melody – it won’t come easy so be prepared to work at it. Do not try and maintain the tempo of the melody – it is enough if you are able to work out the right sequence of key to be played. Start with just trying to play a few bars, and once you can play it, not matter how badly, go on to the next few. Make sure you record everything you practice and listen carefully to the playback – notice the mistakes you made, the ones that correct themselves and the ones that remain – it gets easier over time. Keep doing the same thing each day until you are able to play a full tune – you will be far from perfect but you will have taken your first steps in learning to play the piano by ear.
Do not force yourself to play the same melody till you are perfect – that will become boring and frustrating. Try playing another melody and repeat everything you did for the first one; once you can play that try another one – again, do not worry about the quality of your play as long as the tune is recognizable. As you get more used to the keyboard, the time you take to learn to play the tunes will drop and your skills as a pianist will improve. There are many things you cannot pick up when you learn to play the piano by ear, but it is a starting point and you will be able to play music.
