Playing By Ear

I have a gift.  Or maybe not.  Maybe it is just the result of decades spent honing my skills.  Maybe it is the result of my daily immersion in music-making.  But I recently find that I am able to just sit down a play a tune, completely by ear, and with relatively little error.  Isn't this what we all want to do?  Wouldn't it be wonderful to bypass the dreaded labor of decoding notes on a sheet of paper?  What if you didn't even need to read music in order to make music?  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just sit down and play a popular tune by ear and artfully arrange it on the spot; even improvise around that song? 

Whether this is a gift or skill, I have developed this ability in response to needs.  On the way to church some mornings, I am not always sure what I will play for my prelude music.  This is because I am very busy with three children and a thriving music studio.  There is little time for physical practice at the piano.  Fortunately, God always plants a song in my heart on the way to church.  And, purely through mental preparation on the car ride over, I can be ready to sit down and play, arranging the song on the spot.  How does this work?

STEP 1 - SING MELODY IN SCALE DEGREES
First, while in the car, I figure out the scale degrees of a melody by ear and sing the melody in scale degrees (each note of the scale is numbered from 1 to 8).  For instance, I sing the first phrase of  "Amazing Grace" by singing the numbers 5-1-3-1-3-2-1-6-5.  Those are the scale degrees, or notes of the scale that make up Amazing Grace.  This is a skill I was first exposed to in a Sight-Singing and Ear-Training class at George Mason University.  Since my only training was private piano lessons, this was a completely foreign concept to me!  But I began to listen for the tonic (or the "1") when I was listening to music on the radio.  It's easy to find, because it really sounds and feels like home.  It sounds like the melody note you would end the song on.   A good test is, "If I ended this song right now, what note would I sing?"  That note is the 1!  Another test for finding the 1 of the scale is locating the 5.  The 5 has an inevitable sort of pull toward the 1, and often precedes it in a melody.  The perfect example is "Amazing Grace." Clearly, you can hear the "A" in "Amazing" is the 5 and the "maz" is the 1 because that sounds like the note you would end the song on.
   
Once you can hear where the 1 is in the context of your song, you can determine the scale degree of every other melody note in terms of its relationship to the 1.  In addition to being able to sing scales, it's pretty essential to know what your different intervals sound like (an interval is the distance between 2 pitches).  Your trained ear can identify an interval by matching its sound to the beginning notes of certain familiar songs.  Here is the most comprehensive list I've ever seen of songs that help you recognize intervals:

http://www.people.vcu.edu/~bhammel/theory/resources/macgamut_theory/songs_interval_recognize.html

PICK A SONG YOU KNOW FOR EVERY INTERVAL!  AND KNOW WHICH SONG GOES WITH WHICH INTERVAL!

STEP 2 - DETERMINE CHORD PROGRESSION
Once you can sing the whole melody in scale degrees, you need to figure out the chord progression that goes underneath that melody.  These are the chords the band/ pianist/ guitarist plays with the singer/s.  This takes experience and practice playing by ear.  Yes, you have to practice figuring out tunes by ear, not just reading notes!  You can start by listening to songs on the radio or on your iPod and seeing if you can guess the chord progression.  Then, when you sit down with your guitar or piano, see if you guessed correctly.  The melody notes will also suggest a chord.  For instance, if the melody note is E and you are playing in the key of C, it is highly probable that you have a C chord (the I chord) underneath that melody note since E (the melody note) occurs in the C major chord (C-E-G).  Of course, your other possibilities will be the iii (E minor...E-G-B) or the vi (A minor...A-C-E), but the probability is higher for a I chord since it is the most popular in all of music.  Remember, most songs consist of what I call the "holy trinity of chords" -- the I, IV, and V.  If you don't know what that means then come to my studio for lessons and I'll teach you!  Chord progressions do not occur in completely random order.  There is some logic involved, and you can use logic and probability to boost your chances of figuring out a progression by ear.  For instance,

• I = HOME
• V or V7 = LEADS TO HOME (I)
• IV = TYPICALLY FOLLOWS I
• I-IV-I-V (or V7)-I is a very predictable, common progression, but also rather boring to harmony nerds like me.
• If it doesn't sound like a I, IV, or V, it's probably a ii, iii, or vi chord.  The sad sound of the minor chords will clearly indicate this, and the melody notes should give you a clue about which chord you're dealing with.

Most popular songs (as in soft rock, top-40, rock, country, bluegrass, blues) are going to be made up of the I, IV, and V (or V7), which are also known as primary triads.  They are literally the songwriter/ composer's primary colors.  Of course, if you're a little more imaginative as a songwriter/ composer, you learn to blend those primary colors to create beautiful shades and tones, which would be manifested as a greater variety of chords in your music -- chords such as the ii, iii, vi, and vii diminished chord.

STEP 3 - EMBELLISH, IMPROVISE, ARPEGGIATE, AND HAVE FUN!
This will be a topic for another post.  But if you want to learn how to get to step 3, just come to my studio for lessons and I'll teach you how!  We're at www.madmusiclab.com and our e-mail is info@madmusiclab.com.  Our phone number is 540-338-SONG (540-338-7664).