Learn any song by ear in 3 steps

[@Noffsing52]

Awesome!! I am a 70 year old adult who took lessons from age 8 to 12. I was quite proficient mechanically, but never was taught any music theory along the way. I played many sonatas and was able to memorize some for recitals, etc. , but never understand structure until high school and college when i took a piano lab course for fun, when i began to understand the ‘language’ of music. I was also a math major so it all began to make a lot of sense.. i regretted the manner in which i had been taught and felt ‘cheated’ by not being exposed to chord progressions and ear training!! Thank you, thank you for your easy to understand approach!!

[@C4rps]

I think I might be you, but younger.

[@rowancharleslee]

Ted, just watched 4 of your videos so far. You have a gift for explaining things. This video is great!

[@SeanYeomans71]

Another banger, Ted. I've played guitar by ear for most of my life and I'd say my approach pretty much follows yours, if less formally. You explain it all so well, glad to see your channel starting to blow up (your subs have tripled in the past month!)

[@usernamesnamesnames]

Watched this video and remembered how much I love trying to find chords and playing by ear and here it is 4 AM and I’m still on that 😅

[@madesmeas2745]

Hello from Cambodia...Ted. You are truly a gifted teacher. I've been doing a self-taught on piano for a couple years now, and I have learned a lot from 3 of your videos. I feel guilty if I don't subcribe to your channel, Bro. Keep up the good work and many blessings.

[@ivanrego9883]

Thank you, Ted, for explaining the subject matter of ear-training so very well. I am pleased to tell you that I have managed to pick up a few ideas. You are indeed a talented teacher. Please continue your instructions; it helps me immensely. Ivan - Brisbane Australia

[@pianofluency]

I love to hear this!

[@omaralkarnos4488]

Guys he is right trust me I have been doing it for about two years and am improving a lot this is my way too i used to take a song every week and I used to struggle at beginning now it’s become something fun. I started with easy songs like kids songs and now I try to practice with difficult songs because the kids are now toooo easy to me. Believe me it works just now your major keys and chords

[@AnHoai-kp1sm]

thank for your sharing. it's very easy to understand and useful!

[@EarTrainingMastery]

I can totally relate to your journey! Starting with sheet music can make it tough to develop the ear, but transcribing really does change everything. I’ve found that mastering scales and understanding the home chord are essential, especially for instruments like the trumpet. Your video does an amazing job of breaking down the steps to improve playing by ear. I often struggle with mental fatigue during practice, too-10-15 minutes of focused ear training can be exhausting! It’s great to see that even with slow progress, every bit of practice counts. Thanks for the valuable insights!

[@AdrumaVictoria16]

You are so matter of fact in your brilliant instruction, I am running out of excuses and just have to grow in understanding. Thank you bruh!

[@MichaelGawesebmainone]

I started playing from sheet music (hymns). It was initially difficult to play by ear as I used to guess notes on the instrument until I started transcribing. I must say my strength came from ability to play/recall the scale. The home chord/arpeggio is quite important especially for melody instrument like trumpet. Even if you don’t know a song you can accompany with those 3 notes and rely on intervals between those s sper composer choice.

[@natalieboyack]

This was great! Thank you!! I'll be watching it again. . . I loved the layers of explanation to learning this skill at different skill levels! ❤ So cool!

[@Practicalmusicministryskil4906]

This is very helpful-thanks! I just started sharing videos on my KZbin channel in the hopes of making music literacy accessible to all.

[@piedysantos928]

Thank you so much for the encouragement and the ideas.

[@sharonmorgan2666]

I love the lesson. Will be looking for more to come.

[@leeclarke8993]

Watching on my smart tv and you tube on my iPhone. Good lesson on something I’m interested in.

[@ScarletteFiesci]

Ted thank you once again for an awesome video. You certainly have given me confidence to retry this skill again after many years. I know I give up too easily and yes I know I second-guess myself and find it hard to believe that I do sometimes and can get it right. I know I have to believe that I can trust the process and my skills. Yet it is so hard especially when you are classically-trained. We certainly are short-changed when classically-trained as we are never taught how to hear chord progressions but to recognise them when we see them in notation and that's always hit and miss, dependent upon your teacher and their experience and knowledge. I will try this method thank you so much for an enjoyable and instructive breakdown.

[@isitbearorbarret]

Absolutely Amazing, Ted. SO IMPRESSED

[@fragneeljellal5445]

this is exactly what I've been looking for. thank you

[@maestro2033]

I have been doing this method for years it has served me well. My problem is hearing the singer singing the melody if any instrument is play a melody I can find it no problem but soon as the singer singing I’m lost?🤔

[@keithbarnhart6952]

I tried playing by ear but got much better results using my hands and fingers......

[@slawaschwed]

Brilliant lectures, thanks ❤

[@shannencalibo]

for me i use the melody first to know what key it's using , then everything will follow through. i love fingerstyle.

[@Shine-ef1up]

Thanks for the lesson and pdf❤️

[@dalemcmillen2065]

Excellent video. Love the way you show the progressive steps to better master playing by ear. Question: how long does it take to build these skills? Both duration over time and minutes of practice each session. Off and on I've worked on this and I find this type of practice incredibly fatigue mentally. 10-15 minutes of intense concentration in developing better ears can wipe me out. Of course, this tends to mean progress is slow. I've definitely made progress, but I wish there were a better way to avoid the mental fatigue so I could practice ear training more and progress would come more quickly.

[@pianofluency]

Great question - it's hard to give a concrete answer on "how long it takes" because every student is different, and there's no single point of arrival in playing by ear. Your ears will keep improving for a long time if you stick with it! I personally feel that my ears continue to keep getting better. If you're getting stuck on a particular song or part of the process, look for a way to get unstuck - ie if hearing bass notes is challenging, try listening in better headphones. If you're stuck on the first verse of a song, try listening to the second verse instead, or learn other songs by the same artist to understand their approach to harmony. 15 minutes of focused practice at a time can go a long way! Have fun with the process and just do what you can, the results will come with time.

[@dalemcmillen2065]

@@pianofluency thanks!

[@andrismattson]

Yes!!! Really well said

[@goldstandardsilver555]

I learning this song by ear and felt i had sussed it was in e flat major.. did the whole number thing, the melody was 6 1 3 4 3, and ive done half of the song and suddenly had a thought that the first note is C, and does that possibly mean its in C minor rather than E flat M,,, now obviously it sounds the same, but if it is C minor all the numbers are wrong, does this matter at all? ❤

[@paul7188]

Great video - subscribed! One question though - if you are listening to a song that is in a minor key (or in a different mode), do you still hear the tonic note as "6" and maintain the numbering of the major scale, or always use "1" as the tonic and use the accompanying scale for numbering?

[@tessplease]

thank you for this!!

[@justshoby3374]

Just found the video i wanted 🎉❤😅

[@nafelbood2343]

thank u man 👍🙏

[@SigmaHt]

Sorry Ted I can't help you right now, lately realised the importance of piano thanks fr helping me

[@favourbuilds]

Try it on some crazy classical compositions or Jazz 🌝

[@smithyq6335]

Great video, really enjoyed it. Question: is this something that a beginner should pursue? That is, does it make sense to train the ear to hear all these songs if they hands can't play them yet? Should we develop a certain level of base technical ability first? I have so much time to practice each week, and I want to make sure I'm not spending time on an advanced skillset when those hours would better help me doing chords and arpeggios, say. Thanks again!

[@pianofluency]

Great question. I'd let your own interest guide you. If you get frustrated with this because you haven't yet learned your major scales and basic chords, you can always take a break from it while you work on those skills. But the most beginner version of this process is totally something you can start playing around with early on in your development! And some people find they like learning this way so much that they develop a lot of other skills through playing by ear, vs the other way round.

[@evans383]

Hi Ted not sure if you remember me from the WP/HDP days. Good to see you back on the interwebs :) these have been great! Any chance you have an interval ear training video in the pipeline?

[@pianofluency]

Thanks Evan! :) this is a great suggestion, I actually have a pretty strong opinion about the value of training intervals vs functional ear training, would make for a good video.

[@evans383]

@@pianofluency I'd love to hear them I haven't found a solid way to learn them...I actually do the functional currently (a few times a week actually)...it's been super helpful. I still struggle to suss out melodies though. The only useful thing that's helped me with intervals so far is by remembering different songs, but I still kinda struggle if the rhythm is weird. Anyway looking forward to seeing what you make next.

[@CrazyHomelessWeirdo]

While I liked the concept and some of the advice in this video I thought it would have been better to use a song you didn't know instead of cruel summer which you did. This way we could have seen how you use it to learn a new song right along with teaching us

[@leeclarke8993]

My favorite is figuring out songs I like.

[@Claocera]

I can do these, albeit with some difficulty. But there is a subject that I am curious about and cannot find an online resource for. How can I make the chords exciting with my left hand while playing the melody with my right hand? Currently, I play the melody by pressing only the root notes with my left hand. The song feels so emotionless when you do it like that. I would be very grateful if you could show me any way.

[@pianofluency]

Good idea for a future video! In the meantime some suggestions - try playing full root position chords in the LH, and just make sure they're not too low on the piano (where they'll get muddy). You can also try the root-5th-root shape you see me use here for Cruel Summer.

[@edwardsaidu7775]

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[@maestro2033]

Or say it’s a D in the bass, but it’s not a D chord on top it’s a C/D I need a system to help me find the chords

[@jimmykimx12]

Am James from Kenya. Am looking for a good Samaritan to donate a Yamaha keyboard please

[@Goofy8907]

I can only play by ear and struggle to play stuff structurally because it's not as fun

[@Goofy8907]

All I do is find the root on my left hand and then the rest falls into place Some songs are trickier of course, but most basic pop stuff can even be nailed first 3 tries

[@HashnadayMarak]

I want to see the piano more than your face! This is piano class right!

[@Red-ne13]

Chord charts are NOT FREE

[@kirstenfruehling2868]

Try Ultimate Guitar

[@CrazyHomelessWeirdo]

Also, nowadays. Wouldn't it be easier just to ask Google? What key gruel summer is written and then start from there instead of doing all this guess work

[@CrazyHomelessWeirdo]

@@bhwannabesmiles no my talent is that I play Google very well

[@HashnadayMarak]

Talks too much!