Like what the title says, I would really want to learn how to play the piano by ear. I've previously made it to grade 1 and know quite the basics of music (like the notes, scales, keys etc. but nothing much about chords other than broken chords).

The reason I want to learn how to be an ear player is because I would really like to play and transpose my favourite songs I hear (mostly EDM, where sheet music is rather scarce) to piano. Next reason being I'm very slow at reading sheet music and take up to more than 3 secs to just read ONE note, yep, just ONE note . Another reason is also I would like to one day produce songs and that ear training might give me an advantage in the musical side and composition of music production.

Any recommendations? I would prefer somewhere nearby my area, PJ SS2.

theres a school call play by ear. started in sg, has branch in canada and japan. not sure whether their msia sxhool is in kl or pj

http://www.ppm.net.my
here you go. its in damansara utama

its not called play by ear in malaysia apparently

This post has been edited by Jyunkai: May 25 2014, 03:09 PM

Thanks for replies.
Jyunkai
great suggestion by you really , checked the address, seemed not far away, hmm, am quite interested.

im learning jazz piano at their singapore school and I really think its a good school.

I see. Well, I would like to ask if their focus is more on Pop or also cater to any musical genre that can be played on the piano on ear?

Also open to other suggestions so I can narrow down my choices .

there is a pop course and there is a jazz course, though i dont think that they have a jazz course in their msia branch.

I think you got my question wrong lol . Suppose I'm asking if the main focus is more on Pop or the techniques they teach can also be applied to play any type of musical genre by ear on the piano?

Erm.. meaning that playing songs without reference to sheet music and notes but just by using your ears and playing any song. It's something cool that I wish to learn .

What type of music genre do you want to play?

I think you you start the classical way with scores and theory. Playing by ear will come naturally when you start to recognize notes and chords as you gain experience.

I think what many people mean by learning to play by ear is just figuring out what chord to pay for each bar and then playing a running chord for the whole bar. It's quite bs if you're gonna pay a few thousand to learn that.

Ermm.. not only chords but I also would like to know how to pick out melodies from songs. I tried a hand by myself and I just can't seem to get things right, hence why I'm leaning to centres.

Btw, mind you, could you share more of your experience?

As the very basic level, I listen to 2 things - the melody line and the bass line. melody line is basically the "tune" of the song. Bass line (in most music, its the bass guitar) will generally determine the chord. From there, you just fill in the notes in between to get the chords.

But to do the above, you'll first need to understand how to play chords (inversion). At the basic, learn the major and minor. Then progress to Major7, 7th and minor 7th. That will generally take care of songs in most genre and would keep most home keyboardist happy. You can google keyboard charts for chords.

With that, you should be able to figure out how to play a song at the most basic level and should be able to play songs using keyboards with chord function.

Also good to find a teacher to guide - especially if you want to learn proper piano playing.

Good luck and don't give up!

Considering my grade 1-2 Piano Practical/Theory knowledge, what you meant of chord inversion must be like, well in C major, C-E-G, E-G-C, G-C-E right? And then I think to build minor or major is like count few steps up right (I forgot how many lol). Is it that?

Yup, that's what i meant by inversions.

Here's a link to a simple but effective chord chart

Actually, as I stated in the first post, I would really want to produce and compose original songs one day. Does playing by ear like give me a slight edge to make the compostion easier? Because I've been fiddling around the keyboard freely and always come up with real childish sounding melodies that don 't make things memorable . Of course I know it might not be overnight (as always), but I just would like to know if it can really provide an advantage when composing and is it the correct direction to move to? Kindly enlighten me .

Forgot to add, I can think of some melodic ideas in my head, but when I want to put them on to keyboard, it just won't work.

This post has been edited by darthbii: Jun 11 2014, 03:42 PM

Very difficult question... for me, playing by ear came quite naturally as I had some music foundation (i was classically trained btw). Also, playing by ear and composing could be quite different. To me, playing by ear means to be able to replicate a song / music piece by just listening to it. The structure of the song/music is already there and play by ear just teaches you to identify the structure thru listening. Composing is creating the structure. Kinda like the difference between drawing a picture and tracing a picture.

So, when I create a song, I kinda have a chord structure in mind with my melody (i.e. I can hear the song in my head) - it may not necessary be nice, but the structure is there

So, for someone starting out with basic theory, I can understand the difficulty. It's not so much play by ear now but rather music theory as well as you need to understand what chord goes with what note and what chord progressions you can use.

Maybe if you can post up a sample of your melody. I can perhaps give you an example of chord progressions - no guarantees it will sound good tho.... I'm also not sure what the play-by-ear course teaches so you may want to find out from forummer who have done it or talk to the school.

Anyways, don't get too hung up on all the theory and stuff. Some of the most beautiful songs written have a 3 or 4 chord structure only

I see then. Because I thought like I should try and pick out melodies and chords to try and get a feel for those common compositions and hopefully might turn out in my style.
Yeah true. There seems to be less centres teaching play by ear methods, all seem to scale up to the conventional-stiff ABRSM exams which I really don't fancy. Problem being like always, I don't want to depend on sheet music which only caters for old songs . Also like I stated, I really have a slow time reading sheet music and it takes countless repetitions and memorization to get me playing properly (that ain't from the heart ).
Lol, about that. I don't think that would count as a composition lol. I didnt even bother playing in scale or provide repetitions, all I did was randomly pressing up down up up down down up down the keys. Turns out weird and childish like.

There are still some play by ear courses out there and some of them have been listed in the postings above. Do check them out - tho it doesn't look cheap . But if you are really serious about learning, then, think of it as an investment for future joy!

Don't be too bothered about the "traditional" music qualification stuff (ABRSM, Trinity) if you do not intend to teach. Just learn to play for self enjoyment. Once you get the hang of it, memorising won't be an issue. It'll come second nature to you after a while