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So I've just recently gotten back into piano (I took lessons for several years), and I'd really like to learn how to play by ear, but I don't know where to start.

Is it possible to learn how to play by ear or is it just natural talent? I'd appreciate any guidance! Like books or youtube vids or methods I could look up. I have heard of the chord method, but I don't know much about it.

Or maybe good (free) places that'll teach music theory? I honestly don't know where to begin.

A lot of people in the Adult Beginners Forum have used this:

Piano Magic

There used to be quite a contingent, tho not so lately. We had posters who learned how to play piano this way, and posters who had learned to play classical music than used this method to learn to play by ear. At least one of our posters plays for weddings, etc, now, having learned from here. The one thing the site owner asks if you have previous piano experience is that you forget about it and start at the very beginning. It seemed to work.

There is also, from what our posters said, quite a good forum where members help each other.

I learned my chords/chord progressions by playing folk tunes from lead sheets - mostly from The Fiddlers Fakebook. The compiler of that one explains a lot of the basic theory in the introduction to the book.

So I've been playing tunes I know by ear and adding chords, and it's been working. So I think you can, too.

Cathy

Also Dr. Keys.com is another online piano method. Dr. Keys also frequents PW forum.

Well that's one of my piano quests I started lately (with many other quests, maybe to many hah!).

A few things that seem to work for me are:
- Sing. Sing/Hum along while playing piano tunes you know. For some reason this creates a better connection between the ear and the keys.
- Try to play (starting with relatively easy) melodies by ear you know/hear. Again, singing is a good way. Hear the melody, sing the melody than try to play the melody. This is a process of trying and trying. It won't come easy, but after a while you start to hear things much more easily like scales, arpeggio's, patterns etcetera. Speed down the music and take your time to really hear what is going on.
- When I try to play something by ear and want to find not only the melody but also the chords, I always try to find the bass note that suits the melody. From there you can find the chord, the bass note seems like a good starting point.

These things worked for me the past, let's say 6 weeks. So I'm all but experienced regarding playing by ear but well, maybe you can use some of this information

It seems most people learn to play by ear by a lot of trial and error, and listening to a lot of music. Of course an understanding of basic music theory is important, at the very least learn all the major scales and how they relate to chords.
"The Contemporary Keyboardist" by Joh Novello is a book which has some nice practise tips for that, if you're interested.

It's almost as if it would be easier if one only knew how to play in one key. That way, that much is decided. Then it's only a matter of deciding on a tune. There would be no need for I, ii, IV, V etc. because, the V chord never changes in a given key. Some song's chord progression is more involved than other's, so then if one can't hear the chord changes, try a simpler song.

The best way to learn to play by ear is to start with simple, well known tunes (folk tunes, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, Christmas carols, kid's tunes), figure out the melody part, and then figure out how to fit chords to the melody line.

For chords, you learn the 7 notes in the key, and learn how to make a chord on each of those notes. So you've got 7 chords to work with and you simply try one after the other until you find one that sound like it fits most logically.

This topic has been my major quest for quite some time. I have tried many online courses; and I have learned something from each one, regarding the topic of playing by ear. From these online programs, I have learned the following:

1) Learn your scales
2) Learn all chords in every key (start with C)
3) Learn the Circle of Fifths
4) Learn the number system
5) Learn common chord progressions (2-5-1, 6-2-5-1)
6) Start to play two chord songs and move to three chord songs
7) Start with simple songs (nursery, children, hymn tunes)
8) Listen to all styles of music to hear common chord patterns

It has been a continuous long journey for me to start learning; but it is possible. For example, I am starting to hear common repetitive patterns in music I hear from recordings.

Some of the programs I have tried have taught how to use lead sheets for playing by ear. However, I have to wanted to learn how to play by ear without any lead sheet music.

Some of the programs I have tried that are in my top three are:

1) Piano Magic (strictly for beginners)
2) Hear and Play (gospel music - good on music theory)
3) David Higginson's Professional Chord System (accompaniment
lead sheet music)

Others programs I have tried are:
1) Gospel Music University (chord music theory)
2) Steve Lungrin Piano Man (ballad, pop music accompaniment)
3) Nate Bosch The Piano System (scales, chords, lead sheet)
4) Robert Chambers Any Key Music System (audio tapes - scales,
chords)
5) B Sharp Tricks (music theory)
6) Creative Music (app for learning chords)
7) PlaybyEar.com (gospel music, number system, chords)
8) Matthew Stephens Learn Piano by Ear (scales, chords)
9) Pattern Piano Keyboard (lead sheets)
10) Piano for All

As you can see, I have tried and ordered many programs. I have spent many hours researching methods; and there are many online programs available now. Also, youtube has many videos on this topic.

Just keep in mind, as I have been learning, that it takes time to learn how to play by ear, unless you already have a good ear for music.

Hopefully this is helpful in your search and learning how to play by ear.

That's good list.
I eventually collected those tools.
I don't remember the song, but I remember the moment. I was playing along with a song and heard the (change)timely transition from one chord to the next.
For once I heard the Music, not the progression of notes or tri-tones. I heard one phrase connecting to another musically. I was no longer typing notes, or beating on a chord, but playing music. While everybody's different, it was like a switching on a light bulb to me. 6, 7, & 8, are important to note, because even simple musicality is better than no musicality. In other words, there is a spark, then there's fuel for the fire. Think of simple tunes as kindling.
Good heaven's ima sap. But a happy sap.

I would recommend Rosa's method of learning to play by ear:

www.LearnPianoWithRosa.com

When you get stuck at some point trying to figure out the melody or chords by ear, here's a trick that can help: quickly run through the major scale for the key of the song from root to root. Your ear will retain the various intervals in your short term memory, and you are able to readily pick the correct pair from the several choices available (7 tones in the scale). It also helps with the correct chord sequence.

Someone above mentioned identifying the chord roots as a way to help figure out chords. A word of caution: yes, it helps in many cases because chords are often voiced with the root on the bottom. But not always, sometimes an inversion is the proper voicing in order to convey a stepwise bass line. Just be aware of that.

You guys can vouch for pianomagic? I'd totally pay but I'm thinking of waiting for about a year under my belt with private lessons

Sweet06 - I have not used Piano Magic. The posters in the ABF who were using it haven't been around for awhile, tho at one time there were several. So I can't speak to what it's like at this very minute. But at least I can say it was a legitimate business at that time, and the posters seemed to learn a lot.

Seaside Lee was one of the prominent users, and on occasion he still checks in in the ABF. You might try pm'ing him.

Cathy

I bought a keyboard and joined Piano Magic 6+ years ago and it's really one of the best investments I've ever made ... so inexpensive for what you can learn in a short time ... as if I had a lot of time left.

Mike was out for a spell recently due to some matters unrelated to piano plus he gigs A LOT, but it's been a lot of fun even if he's not there 24/7. Seaside checks in over there occasionally too.

Thanks for the recap, Rerun. Nice to hear it's still going well and is a help.

Cathy

Cathy, this is the first time I've been to the Non-Classical board ... never noticed it was down here.

EM24 / S06, I'd bet the ranch most people can learn to play by ear ... perfect pitch is probably a natural talent/gift; playing by ear? not so much, imo.

People diagree about the recipe or order and amount of ingredients in it, but everyone agrees about the importance of one of them and the need to apply it liberally, the necessity to listen. The question is how do you deepen that skill and apply it "as needed" which is what the recipe calls for. In my experience singing while you play is the best way. For one thing is frees you from being chanined to the melody and forces you to improvise your own musical responses to it, while forcing you to tune in to the overtone series to find the best harmony.

I also think that knowing reharmonization is a major ingredient. Yes, it's is easy to recognize the cadence of two chords and play off them, as in the I-V, but what about all the variation of chords that may come in between or be added (IMaj7, I6, IMaj9, IV, vi etc.), and chords that can be added to delay getting to the V (ii, ii6, II7, vi, IV, ect), and the fact that even if you do hear that tritone substitution, you have to know that next chord may not be the V but some variation of the the chord it was subing for using the 3 as a bass note instead of the root to make for a smoother bass line (as Michael points out). I agree with Elssa that Learn Piano with Rosa, especially her reharmonization series one of the best (easiest and most effiicent) ways to learn this. Also, Simon Schott does a brilliant job of explaining it in is book, Play Piano By Ear.

Great points brought up by the posters. I want to emphasize the importance of referring to recordings when you are learning melodic lines and harmonic progressions. It is really not enough to just figure out a melody from memory and add chords. This is because you might be remembering the melody incorrectly, and you can justify using harmonic progressions that "make sense" even if they are not the same harmonies that are actually used. This is usually not a problem when it comes to simple, achromatic melodies, because most people will remember these accurately--but, in these instances, while a particular harmonic progression may be implied, it is not "set in stone" (and also using alternative harmonic progressions to simple, popular melodies will often sound more interesting than what is implied by the melody).

Another helpful tool is to practice improvisation. This is a separate skill set, and it involves more than just playing by ear, so it cannot be your only tool (often times a good ear is not even necessary to produce a decent improvisation, it can be "faked" by applying theory knowledge). Explicitly attempting to play what you hear in your head on your instrument will help develop your ear, not to mention help develop your compositional skills and ability to play along with other musicians.

Obviously improvisation cannot be your only ear training tool. You are going to be limited to whatever stylistic leanings you have. For instance if you never "hear" a certain chord in your head, like a dim7, you might not ever get around to applying dim7 chords in your improvisation. Every time you hear this chord on a recording you might just wonder what it is. And really it's not going to be one chord or one rhythmic motive or even one key... there are going to be a lot of options you're missing out on because you're not learning from what others have done.

There is also musictheory.net, a good site with some ear training exercises. The interval ear trainer is very good, it is totally customizable, and even keeps tabs on your score.

I totally agree. Try transcribing Miles Davis' solo on So What by ear only from memory if you haven't listened to a lot of modal jazz--try even learning it by singing it from the recording and you'll see just how inaccurate your ear can be.

Yes, and unfamiliar inflections and rhythmic patterns will trip up your ear as to the melody line because melody is rhythm, so I agree you must study others, especially the most innovative players if you want to develop your ear and technique. But even the most brilliant of these players might have heard things wrong (or rememberd them that way) at some point but liked what they heard and kept playing it that way so that eventually others learned to hear it that way. There's nothing wrong with experimenting and playing something inaccurately if you like the way it sounds. Maybe others will too, and even if they don't, at least you'll surprise them.

Thanks for the link for the ear training program. I might need it for help on So What.

The points brought up by stalefleas are good, but one thing jumped out at me as needing some clarification:



About 90% of the time there is one correct chord for any given spot in a song (I'm talking about simple tunes). Other chords may work, but they will be much weaker. You should always try to identify that best choice whenever you harmonize a melody.


Absolutely. There's no point in even bothering with this kind of exercise unless you are already playing jazz, but this is light years ahead of where most of the people who are interested in this thread title are at.
Learning to play by ear is a progressive thing. You start out by playing and harmonizing simple diatonic melodies by ear (think Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and you progressively work your way into different, and more complex forms of music. Your ear improves along the way.