Playing Piano By Ear:

Learn How To Do It

Playing piano by ear is an excellent skill to have. I'm sure you've seen people who can do it well. They can sit down and play anything they hear.

Some people have a talent for playing by ear but it is also a skill that can be learned. I have found that the more I practice it the better I get.

How To Start

If you haven't learned chords, I would recommend doing that before you start playing piano by ear. Chords make it much easier to play by ear.

This is the process I would recommend for improving your ear:

1. Pick an easy song to work on.

2. Listen for the bass line of the song and try to play it.

3. With the bass line, start working out the chords.

4. Start figuring out the melody. Most of the melody notes will be a part of the chord in that area.

5. To improve playing a melody, do some ear training. You can find some free ear training at Good-Ear.com.

What is Ear Training?

Ear training is learning about a number of things:

Intervals: these are the spaces between 2 notes and are called by particular names. (This helps you learn to play a melody by ear.)

Chords: you learn whether chords are major, minor, 7th, etc. You also learn about which notes of the chord are at the top, middle and bottom. (This helps you to play an accompaniment by ear.)

Scales: you learn which type of scale is being played.

Recommended Course

I would also recommend one paid piano course in playing by ear. It's called Hear and Play and it specializes in teaching you to play by ear.

It takes you through learning chords and playing them by ear. It teaches you how to play notes by ear. It provides all the ear training. They have some free lessons that you can do on their homepage.

Overall, playing piano by ear well and fluently comes with practice. The more you'll do it, the better you'll get.

Return from Playing Piano By Ear to Piano Lessons Info Homepage.