Why you should learn piano songs by ear.
Imagine this - you're sitting at a piano, effortlessly playing any song that pops into your head, without needing any sheet music. Sound interesting? This is the power of playing by ear. It's more than just a different way to learn piano; it brings a whole host of unique benefits. It can add variety and enjoyment to your practice sessions, while also deepening your overall understanding of music.
When you teach yourself to play piano songs by ear, you're doing more than just copying tunes. You're nurturing key musical skills and tapping into your inner creativity. No matter what age you're starting from, it's never too late to embark on this fulfilling musical journey.
Want to discover the secrets to why learning by ear works? Grab a copy of my book!
Playing piano by ear vs. reading sheet music
Deciding to learn songs by ear is distinct from learning through sheet music. Each method has its own advantages. Piano teachers recommend trying both on your musical journey. But for beginners, where do you start? Take a look at the following overview of each learning method's benefits. Use this information to guide your choice.
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What are the necessary skills for learning piano by ear?
Contrary to popular thought, playing piano songs by ear does not require rare abilities like perfect pitch, or natural talent. Anyone can learn to play the piano by ear with a few learnable skills and a bit of perseverance. Let's break it down.
- Develop a good sense of pitch.
This is all about being able to recognize and reproduce musical notes. This skill can be honed through consistent practice of ear-training exercises. Developing ear training skills can help pianists play any song they want. - A strong understanding of music theory. This involves being familiar with scales, chords, and intervals. Grasping these basic musical elements will enable you to detect patterns and structures in songs and help you determine the key of a song - which is vital when learning to play it on the piano.
- Basic piano technique. Knowing your way around the keyboard, understanding how to play scales and arpeggios, and knowing which fingers to use are essential. Good piano technique helps you seamlessly convert what you hear onto the piano keys. You can delve into basic piano posture and exercises with these videos.
- Patience and determination. It won't happen instantly, so don't be disheartened. Keep your spirits high and persist in practicing. You'll get the hang of it with time and every correct note and chord you find is a huge win!
What is it called when you play piano by ear?
Often, when discussing playing piano by ear, you'll hear experts talk about 'audiation.' What does it mean? Well, think of audiation as the thoughts of music. It allows you to hear music in your mind, much like how we think words in our brain, music is another language we can ponder. This skill is crucial when you play piano by ear. It's about playing the sounds you imagine inside your head, sometimes without even having to hear them out loud! When you hear the word 'audiation', just combine audio + imagination!
Discovering the Main Elements of the Song
Identifying the key of the song
So, why is identifying the key of a song the first step? It's simple. By figuring out the key, you're discovering the 'home base' of the song, which is often known as the 'tonic' in musical terms. This tonic helps to establish the tonal center for the melody and harmonies. It's like your anchor, your point of reference, the home to which all the other notes and chords will invariably come back to. That's why it's necessary and importantly, the crucial first step in your music learning journey. Think of it like your song's personal GPS, guiding you from note to note. Thus, once you’ve picked a song to learn, start by determining its key. This foundation will greatly facilitate your understanding of the song's structure and progressions.
But how do you pin down the key, you might wonder? Well, the chord that a song starts or ends with is regularly its key centre. Furthermore, the key can often be identified by locating the note or chord that feels like home base in the song, the place where the music could comfortably conclude. This doesn't always hold true, but in most cases, you’ll find it’s a reliable guide in your quest to identify the key of a song. Focusing on listening for that 'home' chord can be a critical part of your initial learning phase.
Discerning the Tempo and Rhythm
Next, it's time to listen for the song's rhythm, an equally vital component of any musical piece. The rhythm, or the beat, is the lifeblood of a song. Your ability to keep time to the rhythm determines how well you play the song. In the beginning, it could be helpful to tap your foot, bob your head, or sway to the rhythm of the song. The goal is to feel the music - its pulse, its flow, it's groove.
Once you internalize the rhythm in your body, it's time to identify the tempo, which is the speed at which the song is played. Tempo is measured in Beats per Minute (bpm), you can find this measurement by finding an online metronome that has a 'tap the rhythm' feature. Simply tap along consistently with the beat of the song and the metronome will tell you which bpm the song is at.
Decoding the Song Structure and Form
Every song is made up of multiple sections - verses, choruses, bridges, intros, and outros, presented in a specific order. This is known as the song's structure or form. Understanding this structure can help you predict where the song might go next, making it easier to learn.
However, merely identifying these sections is not sufficient. You need to understand how the melodies and harmonies are structured within them. Commonly, you will notice a repeated chord progression in the verses and choruses. Spotting these patterns is crucial for learning a song effectively and efficiently.
Identifying the Notes
Once you've laid the groundwork - identifying the key, discerning the rhythm and tempo, and decoding the song structure, you're ready to start deciphering which keys to play at the piano. The first step is to begin deciphering the melody one note at a time, then bass notes in the same way, and then lastly you'll decipher the chords by listening to their overall feel.
Remember, this is a process, and it will take time and patience. But, with consistent practice, you'll soon be able to play your favorite songs on the piano - just by listening. To improve this process considerably, you'll need to gain a basic knowledge of music theory including chords and chord progressions.
Breaking down melodies
Playing melodies by ear can turn out to be enjoyable and easy, especially for beginners. It's often considered the most fun and effortless part of the process because you're dealing with one note at a time. If you have picked a favorite song that you're already familiar with, you probably have the melody memorised already, making the process a lot smoother and enjoyable. But it gets even more exciting...
You're not alone in the time-consuming effort to decipher each melody note, we like to call it 'key-stabbing' because it's as if your blindfolded at the piano, randomly stabbing at keys in the dark! Here's a trick to make this process quicker — learn to recognize 'intervals.' Simply put, intervals are how far apart notes are from each other. Recognizing these instantly can cut your learning time significantly. So instead of stabbing at keys, you'd be hitting the right notes immediately, your ear guided by the familiar distances between notes. This way, your ear-training gets a boost, and you get better and faster at learning melodies.
Learn how to recognise intervals with our course 'Ear-telligence'.
Recognizing common patterns
Learning to play piano songs by ear can be a captivating journey. One key aspect of this process is your ability to spot common musical patterns. As you delve into a song, your ear starts to pick up repeated patterns subtly. Even though each piano note may seem singular, when played together they form short patterns that become recognisable not only as repetitions within the song, but in other songs you play too. So, with practice, you'll begin noticing these patterns more and more.
So, what happens when you begin recognizing more and more of these patterns? You're essentially accumulating a musical repertoire in your memory - a library of patterns, if you will. Each new song learned by ear adds more patterns to this collection, often without you even realizing it. This is because music genres, such as pop, rock, folk, classical, blues, jazz and EDM, regularly utilize similar patterns. These recurring patterns are like the building blocks of music - once you master them, you'll notice them popping up in all sorts of songs.
Consider this musical library as your 'riff bank.' As you expand your riff bank by listening to and learning more songs, you're effectively storing these patterns for future use. The best part of having a riff bank? It's incredibly versatile. Not only does it aid you in learning new songs by ear, it can be used to enrich your own compositions or improvisations. Ultimately, recognizing these repeated motifs helps you anticipate the song's flow, improving both your playing ease and your overall enjoyment.
Discover over 100 riffs to build out your riff bank in our course 'Riffing Pro'.
Understanding chord progressions
Think of chords as the foundation of any song. They form the backbone, the 'skeleton' if you will, over which melodies weave. Harnessing a solid understanding of essential chord theory, therefore, will open a world of possibilities for you as you strive to play piano songs by ear. Think of it as a secret weapon, enabling you to anticipate what comes next, even if you've never heard the song before.
Let's delve a little deeper. In any song, you might notice a pattern of chords—a sequence occurring over and over. This is what we call a chord progression. Just like words combine to form a sentence, these progressions tell a musical 'story' with the chords. Many genres have their common progressions; for example, in pop music, you might frequently encounter the I-V-vi-IV progression (In the key of C, this would be C-G-Am-F).
Recognizing chord progressions by ear is essential for learning songs. This handy skill helps you quickly identify chords, making it easier and more efficient to learn new pieces. A real time-saver and boost to your learning speed! A double win!
Recognising chords involves identifying the feel of the chord - what type of story does it tell? If you think of each different type of chord as having it's own distinct feeling, then you can identify it without having to piece together the individual notes that make up that chord. For example, at a basic level the major chord feels happy, and the minor chord feels sad. But it takes practice to be able to notice those feelings when the chords play quickly in a song - through listening exercises you'll need to sharpen your awareness of the difference between the two.
Here are 10 pianist pay-offs of learning chord progressions.
Training your memory
Learning melodies, understanding chord progressions, and getting used to bass lines involve more than just technique. These are also memory tasks. As you constantly pick up notes by ear, imagine piecing together a musical puzzle. Can you recall how A minor shifts to G, or how the melody moves along? Each time you ask these questions, your memory becomes stronger, just like a muscle being exercised. These memories are stored in the hippocampus where listening to music produces new neurons and improves memory.
Every song you choose to learn offers a unique challenge. It pushes you to remember how various musical elements work together. As you remember the notes and keys, you're also training your brain. Each new song you decide to learn is like a workout for your memory, strengthening it with every melody you conquer.
Practicing with simple songs
As you embark on this journey of mastering how to play piano songs by ear, it will be beneficial to start with melodies that are not too complex. Time-honored pop songs are generally a good place to start, as they usually have catchy, straightforward tunes that are easy to follow.
For your initial practice, here's a recommended list of songs:
- 'Clocks' - Coldplay
- 'Hey Jude' - Beatles
- 'Someone Like You' - Adele
- 'Stay With Me' - Sam Smith
- 'Don't Stop Believin'' - Journey
- 'Get Lucky' - Daft Punk
- 'Grenade' - Bruno Mars
- 'No One' - Alicia Keys
- 'All of Me' - John Legend
- 'Say Something' - A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera
These selections offer a variety of genres, tempos, chord progressions, and melodies, making them a fantastic resource to begin your training and hone your ear. So go ahead, dive in, and let the music guide you on this exciting journey!
Start learning songs by ear with our proven 10-step process - guaranteed to get you playing your piano by ear within weeks, not years!
Frequently asked questions about learning piano songs by ear.
Can I learn to play piano songs by ear if I have no prior musical experience?
Absolutely! Even if you do possess the rare natural ability to replicate any given note, a skill known as perfect pitch, training is still crucial to successfully play songs by ear on the piano. Let's bust the myth here though, if you don't have perfect pitch, playing by ear is still most definitely within your reach.
The first step is to learn basic piano technique and essential music theory, which provides you with the groundwork and familiarity with the instrument. Next, you need to acquire the skill of translating the note you hear into a key on the piano – a process that may seem challenging initially, but with practice, It will gradually become second nature. Lastly, to take your playing to the next level, engage with our 10-step proven formula, specifically tailored to teach you how to effectively play piano songs by ear. Remember, patience, consistency, and dedicated practice are integral for this learning journey.
Begin playing piano songs by ear today.
How long does it typically take to learn to play piano songs by ear?
First of all, let's dispel the myth that learning to play piano songs by ear requires years of musical training - it doesn't! With the fundamentals in place and by using our 10-step formula, you'll be able to start playing basic piano songs simply by listening in a matter of weeks, not years. Of course, the timeline for learning specific songs will vary based on factors like the song's complexity and your existing knowledge of music theory and piano technique.
As with any skill, the key to speed and proficiency lies in consistent practice. The more you expose yourself to different songs and spend time at the keys, the quicker you'll find yourself picking up new tunes. Over time, you'll be able to reduce the time it takes to learn a new song and you'll be confident enough to tackle more complex compositions. So, be patient and enjoy the process!
Begin playing piano songs by ear today.
Are there any specific genres or styles of music that are easier to learn by ear?
If you're a beginner pianist and eager to start learning piano songs by ear, pop music can be your best bet. Why? The answer lies in the songwriting techniques used over the years. Songwriters use common chord progressions, simple melodies, and repetitive song structures to create songs that appeal to a broad listener-base. This makes pop music particularly approachable for those embarking on their ear training journey.
Repetitive songs translate to less groundwork on your end!
Are there any recommended exercises or drills for learning to play piano songs by ear?
There's more to ear training than just 'hearing' music. The key is to engage in 'Active Listening'. By actively listening to music, you learn to hear it from a musician's perspective. It's a vital initial step in learning to play piano by ear.
But how does one practice active listening? Glad you asked. Active listening is a deliberate, attentive way of engaging with music. It's not simply letting music play in the background while you do other things. Check out this resource with exercises to boost your active listening skills and cultivate a musical ear.
Are there any online resources that can help me learn to play piano songs by ear?
To embark on this journey of self-teaching the piano by ear, the first thing you can do is activate your "musician's ears". This principle goes beyond just hearing tunes; it involves active listening. Rather than music as background noise, it's about engaging fully with the music in order to notice the details most people wouldn't.
Interestingly, this foundational step is often overlooked by most piano teaching platforms. Failing to understand the vital role of listening deeply can hinder your progress in learning to play songs by ear. So why wait? Not only is it a vital stepping stone to attaining your goal, but it's also free!
