How to Play the Piano by Ear

You can actually learn to play the piano by "playing by ear," but it's not the common route. The common way to learn piano is to learn to read music simultaneously. Most professional musicians can play by ear regardless of how they learned, but this was a talent fine tuned with years and years of practice, reading music and listening. That being said, playing by ear is sometimes a case of being born with the talent. It is said that Mozart as a small child could play and compose beautiful compositions before he even saw a sheet of music.

Reading music, however, is a necessary skill and, as a result, most piano instruction starts out by teaching it. It will give you all the basics you need to learn to play by ear. Without good playing technique and a thorough understanding of music theory, playing by ear will be very difficult for most people. So spend time with your scales and positions because it's important. These tasks, though boring, should be part of every piano session. They help to develop good habits, and just as important, they help to train your ear. We're not all Mozart, but we can gain some of his skill with practice!

Once you reach a certain skill level, you might be best suited looking for a teacher that is skilled in playing by ear. This will give you another boost in your playing abilities. They can teach you tricks of listening that will help you pick out the chord progressions that form the basis of any piano work. They will usually combine this skill with regular music-related teachings.

Whether you want to play for your own pleasure, play for friends and family, or even make a career in music, you'll be well-served by opting to both read music and hone those playing by ear skills. If you've ignored either, it's never too late to start. There are even Internet or computer-based courses, such as Rocket Piano Software, that teach these skills.

Start searching, start learning, and have a lot of fun in the process. Once you have a beautiful piano and piano light, and you can both read music and play by ear, you'll be a complete pianist!