There are many websites which claim to teach you to play piano by ear. But, the real question is; does it work? Can you truly learn to play the piano strictly by ear? While I believe it is possible, I believe that this method has its limitations.

First of all, learning to play by ear generally means that you need to be able to hear pitch and gage the quality of chords with your ear. In other words you would need to be able to distinguish the difference between major and minor chords, dominant and diminished etc. The only problem is most people do not possess an ear capable of such distinctions.

I’ve been playing the piano for 36 years and I often cannot tell the difference between chords. How is someone with no experience supposed to do this? Does this mean that my ear isn’t any good? Quite the contrary, I have very good relative pitch and can often hear entire chord progressions but often miss the nuances of each specific chord. Therefore an approach which is solely geared to hearing the changes has its limitations.

The other problem with learning by ear is that you cannot gain a complete understanding of music just by listening. You see, music is like math. It has formative structure derived from centuries of musicians and teachers who have dedicated their lives to the understanding a betterment of each specific musical genre. To discount this process and work around it using just your ear is counter productive.

For example; let’s say you’re going to learn to play the blues. If you learn by ear that would mean you would have to hear not only the dominant seventh chords, then the melody which is derived from the blues scale, the rhythm which comes from structured meter and the re-harmonization of the chord structure all without understanding the words I just said. It would mean you would have to hear all of this without knowing what its called, how it works and how it all comes together. You would learn by watching someone else play the piano, copy it and repeat it until it sounds the same as what you just hear.

Not only is this a completely inefficient way of learning it is highly limited because you cannot gain an understanding of what it is you’re actually doing. Only until you are able to comprehend and dissect each specific aspect of the music can you fully appreciate and learn from it.

I believe that it’s highly productive to learn how music is formulated rather than just hearing it and trying to repeat it. Why? Because that way you can stretch the boundaries of learning and be able to move your playing to another level. Even if you were able to copy certain aspects of learning to play by ear that would severely limit you from moving beyond that point because you simply cannot understand what it is you’re doing.

It would be like trying to build a house with no foundation. Eventually if you wanted to add an extra floor of musical knowledge your paper thin layer of foundation and understanding couldn’t possibly support it.

So, what’s a better way to learn? Choose a teacher or online piano lessons that can help you build a strong foundation. In other words, pick a course that helps you with the basic understanding of how music works. Then you can use your ear to strengthen your understanding because the ear can converse with the mind and come to a consensus of how and why things sound the way they do.

Where do you start? Start with how chords and scales are made and use that information to formulate melody and structure. Your ear can support this process obviously but it’s the scales and chords that create the building blocks of true musical understanding.

It’s not enough to know how to play a simple F, G, C progression with melody. You need to know why and how this progression works and why it sounds the way it does. Then and only then can you begin to build on that foundation by learning richer chords, re-harmonization and more complicated melodies.

For example; F, G, C can sound so much better if you play it as Fmaj7, D-7, G7, Db7, Cmaj7. This is the same chord progression but re-harmonized to sound richer and more pleasing to the ear. How can you possibly do this if you use only your ear? For the vast majority of people who want to learn to play the piano it’s impossible. So, next time you’re thinking of learning just by ear, you might want to reconsider that plan. Why limit yourself?

For the great pianists, playing by ear enhances their ability to play and enjoy music. Understanding the origin of melodies, the role of harmony in the melody and the importance of altering chords within the harmonized melody are essential ingredients to really understanding and appreciating the magic that is music.

Learning chords is very important, because they obviously make up the main direction of a song. You learn some music theory ideas through the basic parts of the music. However, knowledge of theory is not enough. The complete pianist recognizes scales, melodies, chords and progressions by ear.

The good news is that it is now easier than ever to learn music by ear. With today’s technology, what used to seem a difficult task can now be learned with a simple download over the internet. This software can be used to develop ear-training, improve recognition and increase the pianist’s ability to distinguish the major chords and progression sin every song.

Once the user has mastered these techniques, the joy of playing the piano by ear will seem easy and second nature. Playing the piano by ear is regarded as a gift. Pianists can learn to play well through practice and repetition, but there is playing by ear brings so much more to each piece. When playing the piano, practice pays off, but playing with a practiced ear makes for perfection.

With a developed musical ear, the pianist will recognize wayward chords and can correct the errors to create the right sound. Musicians who can play by ear can also improvise by changing keys and altering notes. Long ago, this ability way regarded as something of a mystery. Even today, many schooled pianists cannot play by ear, or do not trust their ear to elevate their play.

Developing an educated or trained ear is easier when the basics of music theory are understood, but, with today’s educational software programs, your computer becomes an interactive piano and coaches your ear through the learning process. Think of it as brainwashing the ear. By flooding the ear with identified chords, the ear will quickly learn to distinguish and understand the ingredients in each musical composition.

Learning to train the ear is best accomplished by using this new software because playing and training are hard to accomplish at one time. Using the software package, the lessons are designed with expert teachers playing the notes and teaching the ear. This, fun, relaxed presentation is cost effective and sensible. You get to learn at your own pace, not by following a strict teacher schedule. The absolute best way to learn piano is by ear, but it takes a lot of practice and trial and error.

For aspiring pianists who want to learn to play without sheet music, who want to be able to hum a tune, or play what they feel like playing, or play in a band, or at church, and who want to learn on their own schedule, today’s musical ear training software programs could be the long-awaited answer. If you want to take your piano playing to a higher level, or if you feel stuck in a learning rut, try these new products to boost your skills.

Piano Music for Four Hands