If you are reading this article, you probably cannot instinctively play the piano by ear. People born with that talent can play any song, but they probably couldn’t explain the process they use to you. They simply listen to a familiar song repeatedly and slowly select the notes as they go. You too can learn to play without reading notes by following these simple steps.
Before you start playing the piano by ear, you should learn some basic musical concepts. If you understand how scales are formed and how chords and chord progressions come from scales, playing by ear will be much easier. This knowledge will also save you time because you will understand exactly why certain chords are played at certain points in songs.
Here are some definitions to help you better understand these musical elements:
scales – They are a series of seven specific notes played in sequence, one after the other. A song or “melody” is made up of notes within a particular scale.
chords – They consist of 3 or more notes played at the same time and generally played with the left hand. They are also known as “harmony”.
chord progress – A series of chords played one after another.
Rhythm – It is the disposition (or pattern) of sounds and silences with accents on certain bars. (ie rock, waltz, etc.) If you’re like most people, you “feel” the beat.
There are 3 basic elements in music: melody, harmony, and rhythm. These are also the 3 basic steps that you are going to apply to play the piano by ear.
1.- Melody. Notes in a song move up (higher key), down (lower key), or repeat (same key). So focus on each note in a melody and determine if it is moving up, down, or repeating. You can then start to find and play each note on your piano or keyboard.
Your first attempt at playing the piano by ear may be “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” It starts moving down on consecutive notes, then up, down, up, up, and up again skipping a note. It then begins to move down gradually, up, down, up, down, and finally down. (EDCDEEE, DDD, EGG, EDCDEEE, DDEDC). Try using the C, G, or F chord and see which sounds better against the different parts of this melody.
2. Harmony. Now try to harmonize the melody by finding the chords that match. The 3 main chords for the C scale are the C chord (CEG), the F chord (FAC), and the G chord (GBD). The melodies spell chords. In the first 7 notes of this song, all but one match the C chord. The next 3 (DDD) are part of the G chord, and the next 3 go with the C chord.
The next 7 notes again spell out the C chord, the next 4 except one match the G chord, and the last note goes with the C chord. Let your ear guide you and listen to how one chord sounds better against the melody than other chords. .
3 rhythm. Look for rhythmic patterns in the melody and note if or when they repeat. When you play the piano by ear, you will notice that the melodies are divided into phrases that have similar patterns. For example: shorts, shorts, long / shorts, shorts, long. Or short, short, long, rest / short, short, long, rest, etc.
This song starts with 6 short notes but the 7th note (E) is longer. In the following sentence, you have two short notes and one long note (D). The pattern repeats for the next seven notes, with the next four notes being short and the last one being long.
Learning to play the piano by ear can be a great advantage for you, especially if you understand the basic structure of a song and have an easy and effective system. With enough practice, you will eventually develop your own style and maybe even create your own music.