Play Without Written Music

Have you ever been amazed by someone who can play music or a song, just by listening to it?

• Have you ever wondered how they do it?
• Is it possible for anyone to do this, or do you have to be born with the gift?
• Would you like to learn how to do this?
  

What this Means to You

What would this mean for you? It means that anything you hear (within your skill level), you can learn to play.

There’s no need to read music, buy music, or even figure out what style and musical choices need to be made in the music (this last point is especially important if you’re new to playing music).

The world of music is opened up to you! Additionally, if you’re learning music from a master of a genre, it’s like you’re taking a private lesson from them; they’re teaching you all their approaches and techniques through the song/piece.

You Already Have This Skill

Learning to play music just by listening (we’ll call this learning by ear) is not a gift only given to the chosen few; it’s available to everyone! In fact, you already possess this skill. How do I know this? Because it’s a skill that the vast majority of people have on this planet: the ability to learn and speak a language.

Learning to Speak

How do we learn our first language? Do our parents sit us at a desk, write the word CAT on the chalk board, point to the word, and say, “CAT”? Or, does a cat run by and the parent says, “CAT” (obviously, this is the correct answer). This approach we use to learn a language is the same approach used to learn music by ear.

Applying this Skill

In order to understand how to apply this skill to music, let’s briefly cover some of the approaches we used when learning to speak:

1. We listen to the language around us
2. We copy what we hear
3. We put it all together

That’s it! It seems pretty simple, but then again, how long does it take to learn a language? It takes children a few years, and probably the same (or longer) if we attempt a second language as an adult.

It’s not going to take you a few years to learn a song, but just remember to be patient with yourself and this skill will continue to grow and develop within your musical language skill set. Let’s look at a few steps to help you apply your skill to learning by ear.

Playing by Ear

Next week we’ll get into more details (to help you learn songs faster) and provide answers to common issues and frustrations when learning a song by ear. For example:

• What do you do when you can’t figure out a couple notes?
• What should you do when there’s a measure that’s too difficult, but the rest is at your skill level?

In fact, if you have some questions of your own about learning by ear, go ahead and write them in the comment section below and I’ll be sure to cover them in next week’s post.