Playing by ear practice2/20/2023 ![]() ![]() If an average pianist without a degree in music like me can learn to play by ear and improvise, so can you. During that time, I learned to play by ear and basically everything else I know about playing church music. I rarely played classical music and was too lazy to learn published arrangements so I began trying to arrange my own pieces. I have been out of college thirteen years, and gradually over that time, I started practicing again. I played occasionally in church but rarely practiced. Certainly, when people talked about the best musicians in the college, they did not talk about me.Īfter college, I started a job in computer science and essentially quit piano. After high school, I went to college and got a degree in computer science and minored in music. I was never a great pianist–I was the guy that always came in second or third in the competitions. I started playing the piano when I was eight, and I played through high school. Others don’t think they have the time or energy to learn. I understand that most pianists don’t believe they can play by ear. Let me tell you a bit of my history before we start. There is a fine line between playing by ear and improvisation and we are going to cross that line today. This is a special lesson because it is in my opinion the lesson where you start improvising. This entry was posted in Play Piano by Ear and tagged chording, ear training, exercise ear, how to chord, how to play piano, how to play piano by ear, piano exercise chord by Susan McAllister-Bee. The second more important factor is to have fun while you’re doing it! The important factor when moving on to more chords is to make sure your left hand keeps playing the chord on beat 1. Once you feel secure playing around with the C chord, you can try going to the F chord (or the G chord). Here is an example of a right hand combination with the rhythm ta, ta, ti ti, ta…that is 5 notes in the time of 4 beats….you could play C, E, G, G, E. And, keep it easy by only using the notes in the chord…the C, E, or G. You will eventually be able to add in more notes in the right hand. Just simply keep the pulse going with the left hand chord on beat 1. Start with only one or two notes in the right hand. Keep your right hand very simple at first. It is much more important to get the pulse of the left hand on beat one. If your left hand starts to miss the pulse of beat 1, take the focus off your right hand. In your right hand you can start adding notes C, E, or G…one at a time. Once you get the C chord playing on beat 1 consistently, let your body and mind think and feel the pulse of that strong beat. This is beat where your left hand will play the chord. You need to be sure you can hear and feel the strong beat. This exercise is with a metronome, or if you have a keyboard with a drum beat pattern, that’s even better! If this doesn’t make sense to you, then check out my previous posts. ![]() In the key of C major that is the chord C (C, E, G), F (F, A, C) and G (G, B, D). This is a great way to get your “ear training”.Īt the beginner level, we start with I, IV and V chords. Once we realize the role of chords in the structure of music, we can have fun playing our own rhythms and note combinations within the chords. In my studio students get to explore the art of playing piano by ear.
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