Piano Forum

Topic: What does playing by ear really means?  (Read 1468 times)

Offline danny_pianist

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 47
What does playing by ear really means?
on: January 26, 2014, 05:05:40 AM
Hi everyone!  :)

Well, I know that if someone, for example, listens a song and then plays it on the piano, he is playing by ear, right?

But what about if a pianist learns a sonata from the sheet music, and then listens to a recording multiple times, and then when he plays the sonata he is trying to make it sound like the recording (maybe unconscious). This also counts as playing by ear? Even if he is following the sheet music in front of him?
Play Mozart in memory of me,  and I will hear you.  — Frédéric Chopin

Offline hfmadopter

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2272
Re: What does playing by ear really means?
Reply #1 on: January 26, 2014, 10:43:43 AM
Hi everyone!  :)

Well, I know that if someone, for example, listens a song and then plays it on the piano, he is playing by ear, right?

But what about if a pianist learns a sonata from the sheet music, and then listens to a recording multiple times, and then when he plays the sonata he is trying to make it sound like the recording (maybe unconscious). This also counts as playing by ear? Even if he is following the sheet music in front of him?
lass.

I don't agree. In playing by ear as I interpret that, you never read the sheet music. You pick the piece up by hearing it and then going to a piano and playing it. You can build a new piece of repertoire from something  you heard totally from ear. You hear it, when you get to the piano you first figure out the key signature, then lines of melody, put a bass to it and build an arrangement from that. I did this in a summer course I took, we had two weeks to put something together at the end of the course, to be played for the class and of course the instructor. I never dream pt I was capable of it but I did it. Out of the class there were only a couple of people who didn't complete something. mine was kind of funny,  the theme song to The Three Stooges. One lady did a nice arrangement to some folk song I don't remember the name of off hand. It was a fun course and inexpensive at the time. The course was actually about filling out the keyboard, semi improvising etc. Hitting on playing buy ear was the last portion.
Depressing the pedal on an out of tune acoustic piano and playing does not result in tonal color control or add interest, it's called obnoxious.

Offline awesom_o

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2630
Re: What does playing by ear really means?
Reply #2 on: January 27, 2014, 04:43:10 AM
This also counts as playing by ear?

Who is counting?

Offline danny_pianist

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 47
Re: What does playing by ear really means?
Reply #3 on: January 27, 2014, 05:28:49 AM
It's because I have the idea that playing by ear means that someone tries to plays the music he listens, but I'm not sure if this also applies to people that have actually read the music  ::)
Play Mozart in memory of me,  and I will hear you.  — Frédéric Chopin

Offline awesom_o

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2630
Re: What does playing by ear really means?
Reply #4 on: January 27, 2014, 08:09:37 AM
Are professional musicians who play in orchestras or string quartets, where the score is always used, playing by ear?


Just because you are using the score doesn't mean you aren't using your ears!

Offline minifingers

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 13
Re: What does playing by ear really means?
Reply #5 on: January 27, 2014, 12:33:18 PM
I'd say playing by ear is where you play something on the piano that you have heard but that you haven't read from the music.

I don't really think of it as something that is black and white ie playing completely from just the score or just from what you've heard only, it's has grey areas in between which I think is where the difficulty lies as everyone has their own different idea of where that point is.

For example if it's a song I know I tend to by my reckoning 'play by ear' to some extent, which means I may not be paying as much attention to certain instructions in the music as I would have if I didn't know the song. I think to some extent everybody plays 'by ear' but what each person defines as 'playing by ear' is different, like many things I believe it is a spectrum and so has no true definable answer that would suit everybody. Which of course brings us back to where you started  ::)

Offline gregh

  • PS Silver Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 190
Re: What does playing by ear really means?
Reply #6 on: January 27, 2014, 09:03:50 PM
I say what the others have said--playing by ear means being able to play a piece without needing to read the music. And, ideally, any instrumentalist should be able to play anything he can hum. It's the ol' "I don't know the tune, but hum a few bars and I'll see if I can pick it up" thing.

I once saw "Bones" Malone speaking. He plays trombone for the Letterman band. And trumpet, piccolo flute, bass guitar, sax, and maybe a few other things. They don't know what they're going to be playing ahead of time, and he said Letterman thinks it's funny to try to stump the band leader (he hasn't yet). They're told what song they're going to play, they pick a key, get assigned parts, and they play it. If someone in the band doesn't know the song the band leader will sing it for him, and then he's good to go. Try to imagine the various skills they bring in to that... Now THAT is some professional-level talent!

The pianist who is trying to interpret a score in a particular way is not playing by ear, he's just playing music. Not to dismiss it, but it's just what a musician has to do if he's going to meet the standards of the profession. Finding different ways to interpret the same sheet of paper is one of the things that musicians do.

Offline matt7777

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: What does playing by ear really means?
Reply #7 on: January 29, 2014, 08:59:19 AM
i agree, playing by ear means no sheet music, other wise it would be playing by eyes surely?

if someone has read the music but doesn't have it in front of them, it is not playing by ear in my opinion. playing by ear is solely the ability to play something that you have heard only, without ever having read the sheet music.
For more information about this topic, click search below!
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert