If you are interested in playing the piano without reading music your first step is to develop your musical ears.
Use these tips to strengthen the connection between your ear and your brain to listen like a musician and train your hearing to work better for you!
Your first step to playing piano by ear! - 7 minutes.
#1 READY YOUR ENVIRONMENT
The first thing you need to think about is readying your environment.
It won’t help you to be bombarded by outside noises and movement so find somewhere quiet and comfortable, but not too comfortable! To complete this exercise you’ll need to be relatively still for 15-20 minutes, so sit upright rather than reclined to avoid falling asleep!
PLAYBACK METHOD
Your playback method can make listening easier or harder for you. The better quality stereo or headphones you can afford, the clearer you will hear different aspects of the music.
Avoid bothering your neighbours and housemates by having headphones, or a stereo at moderate volume behind closed doors. Full volume is not necessary to listen carefully and it’s important not to feel self-conscious. Being mindful of others provides you the freedom to focus fully.
#2 PICK A SONG YOU LOVE
First step is to find yourself a simple pop song. Not just any song though, choose something that features the instrument you are interested in (piano?), is of standard duration (up to 3.5 minutes) and that you don’t mind listening to many, many times. (Seriously, choose a song you don’t mind listening to a whole. flipping. lot. because we are going to go very deep.)
I would recommend you choose a popular song–something you might’ve heard on the radio at some point–so you know that it’s not going to be too complicated to break down.
Once you’ve chosen a song it’s time for your first attempt at active listening, but don’t dive straight in just yet, there are a few things you’re going to pay attention to.
#3 PRACTISE LISTENING AS THE PRIMARY ACTIVITY
When was the last time you listened to a piece of music with your eyes closed?
Blocking out distractions and inviting no other mediums to crowd your senses: putting on your favourite record, sitting comfortably somewhere quiet, closing your eyes and just listening…
Like most people, you probably can’t remember the last time you did this.
For many, consumption of music is either as an accompaniment to visual media, or a soundtrack we play in the background while we multi-task.
Most of the time we are doing what is called passive listening: music is secondary to whatever activity we are primarily engaged in. Seldom do we engage in listening as the primary activity. This sort of listening is intensive and active–the kind of listening that pays off in learning and understanding.
Active listening in music is similar to active listening in conversation. Hearing doesn’t guarantee listening, we have to put some effort in.
#4 LISTEN IN LAYERS
Most people find that as a song becomes more familiar the less they hear it.
Think about it - the first time you hear a song, everything is new. Each part of the song that you notice (if you notice) is a complete surprise. But as you hear the song a 2nd time, then a 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th time - each time you hear it, you have less of that new & surprising feeling as you become more familiar with the song and so it sinks further into the background of whatever else you are doing at the time.
But when we listen like musicians, every repeat listen is an opportunity to uncover a new layer! We can continue to find something new and surprising each time we listen to a recording! Imagine that! You can have many, many new experiences listening to the same song - and each time you uncover a new layer you feel as if you know the song more intimately.
When we listen in layers we focus our ears and mind on different things each time. So if the first time you listened to the song, you mostly heard the drums, the vocals and the main instrument - that is a completely normal response. The first listen will always be the primary focal point of the song, as purposely crafted by the mix engineer.
On a second listen, if you are listening like a musician, you will say to yourself “ok, I’ve heard the vocals, and the main focal instruments – what else can I uncover?”. You realise that there is backing vocals, a bass guitar, some electric piano, a string section in one part and an intermittent cowbell… LAYERS!
#5 REPEAT LISTENS UNCOVER MORE DETAILS
As you listen to a single song more times you will uncover more layers you didn’t hear before.
It might not always be a different instrument - layers can include embellishments, subtleties, dynamics, meter changes, key changes, the different ways an instrument plays the 2nd chorus to the 1st… there are many details to hear when you treat it like a challenge…
How deep can you go?
Once you are putting these 5 tips into action, you are beginning to train your ears to do the work you need them to do. Training your ears is just like training any other muscle. As your ears become more ‘in tune’ to make more detailed observations, you’ll start to truly feel that playing by ear is just an extension of that skill - rather than a mysterious, magical power!
Active listening can be a doorway to a deeper musical understanding; it focuses our mind on aspects we often wouldn’t otherwise notice.
It also helps with the skill of learning to play music by ear, a term that simply means to actively listen and translate what you’ve observed onto your instrument.
