Put away the finger-daggers and stop randomly stabbing at keys!

Playing by ear is a skill (not a lottery!). When you learn more about this particular topic you'll be able to make intelligent choices (rather than random guesses) at what you hear.

Prefer to watch the video instead of read? Check it out below:

Shhh! This is a secret…

When I was younger I did all the grades, up to grade 8 in Piano Performance. I played in the church band and I played in other bands, we wrote songs and performed. Music was the biggest part of my life and playing by ear was one of those things that I loved to do. But what I'm about to share is something that I did not discover until I did my music degree at university!

This is something that most piano teachers do not, or cannot, teach. When you learn piano the traditional way, it's not likely that you are going to be given these tools, and that just makes me sad.

This is essentially why I am a piano teacher! I never wanted to be a piano teacher when I was younger because I didn't want to teach the things that I was being taught (traditional/classical methods). But then I discovered a whole other world of creative piano playing!

My mum always said that I should teach piano and I vehemently disagreed… until I realised that I could do it differently and actually teach people the skills that I'm passionate about: creative piano playing.

When we're playing by ear sometimes it can feel like we're just stabbing the notes in the dark, blindfolded trying to find which keys we need to play. It’s a slow, frustrating progress because playing by ear seems like an easier way to learn songs than reading from sheet music, but in the moment it takes a long time to develop those skills.

Chord Progressions.

What gives music its power and emotiveness is harmony. But when we are listening to music, it's rare that there is only one chord, it’s usually involving a series of chords, it's harmony with movement.

When we add movement to our chords we get something exciting. And we can be purposeful about what we move to and how we move there to create a desire effect for the listener.

If we are figuring out a chord by ear, it helps us to know about why someone would choose to use a certain type of movement or a certain type of chord progression, and what chord progressions most people are likely to use.

When you're listening to music and it sounds normal, how are we able to tell?

When we hear music and it sounds normal, familiar or comfortable it's because the songwriters have decided to use a common chord progression.

Even if you heard a song for the first time it would feel normal if it had used a common chord progression–not because we've heard it so many times–but because the combination of those chords has a magical power* that makes us feel comfortable.

*Not actual magic - it’s music theory!

Songwriters will employ these common chord progressions so that you find the music familiar & comforting.

Here are some you might be familiar with -

The blues progression

Even if you don't know what that is you know that you've heard it before.

The do-wop progression

Originated around the 50s and it's used in many things today.

Perfect cadence

You might not know what that term means but you definitely know it when you hear it, it usually signals the end of a section or song.

…and there’s many more!

These are not used by accident, they're used by songwriters specifically to gain a particular mood from the listener: familiarity & comfort = POPULAR MUSIC!

That is why, when playing by ear, we always recommend that you start with playing pop songs first, because you can rely on that music using common chord progressions.

As soon as you start to learn more about chord progressions you start to pay more attention to the music you hear. Next time that you are listening to music and feel comfortable, think, “why is that? I wonder which common chord progression they're using…”

Rather than having to guess each individual chord on its own, we can learn to recognise a chord progression as a whole. If you can do that, you can learn songs by ear quicker than if you seek out notes individually.

Do you have to know all of the chords and all of the chord progressions?

No. But for every new one that you learn and become familiar with, you can use it as a reference point.

Again, this is not something that you usually learn from piano teachers…

I teach this because it unlocks that creative playing!

By studying chord progressions & harmony, you can be a creative pianist even if you don't necessarily want to go and do a music degree.

Get my course ‘Songs by Ear’ as well as the extended coaching ‘Chord Progressions’ and you’ll be well on your way to playing songs on the piano by ear!