Can playing by ear actually be learnt or is it something innate, i.e. either you have it or you don't. I've always thought that all pianists could play by ear (at least simple tunes on the simpler keys) but was amazed to find out that it wasn't so in my JC days.
performing

Something I've noticed : pianists who are good at sight reading are generally not so good at playing by ear or improvising, and vice versa. I wonder why. (Because two different parts of the brain are utilized?)

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Liew Soo Hin
Haha, can see that this can be a "war" between sight-reading and play-by-ear. But I think we can discuss with educational benefits. One simple example that sight-reading will survive is... See More Haha, can see that this can be a "war" between sight-reading and play-by-ear. But I think we can discuss with educational benefits. One simple example that sight-reading will survive is because composers want their works to be reproduced correctly. Maybe a piece played by a single instrument can be reproduced by a person with great ears, but a film music typically comprising many instruments would be better reproduced with scores. I've always looked at scores with thick chords, maybe both hands playing about 8 notes together, and wonder how someone can pick these 8 individual notes out easily by ear. It's quite obvious which side I'm on.
November 23, 2017 at 11:57am
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Goh Zensen
Not really a "war" but more a "divide". In fact I was invited to delivery a talk on this topic at one of Pianovers's special meetup at the Bliss House some months ago. In the talk I mentioned each... See More Not really a "war" but more a "divide". In fact I was invited to delivery a talk on this topic at one of Pianovers's special meetup at the Bliss House some months ago. In the talk I mentioned each serves a different set of purposes, and the merits and shortcomings of each. If you are keen I can email you the slides.
November 24, 2017 at 9:24am
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Goh Zensen
Another vital insight to share with regard to play-by-ear is as follows. If we treat classical/art music as THE genre, then of course sight-reading carries heavy weight. Don't get me wrong, I'm a... See More Another vital insight to share with regard to play-by-ear is as follows. If we treat classical/art music as THE genre, then of course sight-reading carries heavy weight. Don't get me wrong, I'm a classical music specialist (among all genres) and I advocate all music learners go through at least the main classical repertoire. However, the world of music is more than the classical genre. We have several other genres of music whereby "scores aren't available" for such pieces because of the nature/context of things. For example, traditional folk music of several countries/regions such as Greensleeves (England) and Sakura (Japan) - we can't really traced their original composer. And even if we are able to, most of them did not pen their works via the 5-lined stave. Many could be played/sung throughout the generations/eras. And if we need to rely on scores to play such pieces, we can only find specific score versions done by specific ARRANGERS. So we are playing someone's arrangement, instead of its original version (which has no score). Play-by-ear and improvising/arrangement skills of us (as pianists) are thus coming in handy for such purposes. Even in the mege-genre of pop music, and also other genres like New Age music and Soundtrack music, many composers don't create the stave notations - they only produce the final product (the audio track). As such, music score transcribers start to earn some market share by notating these to various degrees (which again is subject to their own "arrangement"). So in this context, wouldn't it be better that we play by ear?
November 24, 2017 at 9:52am
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Michael LS
Black cat or white car, as long as it can catch the mouse, it's a good cat. Using this philosophy, it doesn't matter the method to learn, as in the end, you achieve your aim. Of course,... See More Black cat or white car, as long as it can catch the mouse, it's a good cat. Using this philosophy, it doesn't matter the method to learn, as in the end, you achieve your aim. Of course, your aim might be different from me.
January 15, 2018 at 5:59pm
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What's the difference between playing a piece in the privacy of your living room versus performing the same piece for an audience? After all, it's the same piece right (no?) Any thoughts or comments on this? :)

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Michael LS
Is there any well-known method then?
November 3, 2017 at 7:29pm
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Goh Zensen
The Acosean Method of Music Education (AMME), though it isn't well-known yet.
November 4, 2017 at 2:36pm
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Michael LS
I googled up AMME, and it points back to you! So you're the founder of AMME!
November 7, 2017 at 11:04pm
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Goh Zensen
Haha, long story!
November 8, 2017 at 7:14am
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Bing Shao, I think I'd missed your posts! Anyway it was great meeting you in person and we had a good chat on the play-by-ear methodology in greater depth!
One thing that has helped greatly in improving my play by ear ability is to listen on Youtube hundreds of pieces that follow the score as a video. Now, when pieces are played, I start visualizing... See More
One thing that has helped greatly in improving my play by ear ability is to listen on Youtube hundreds of pieces that follow the score as a video. Now, when pieces are played, I start visualizing staves and notes and can more intuitively figure out how to play a piece just through listening.
Oh yes, to answer your question. I don't think this is an innate ability unless your parents have been exposing you to music ever since you are in the womb. Then maybe you would be more accepting... See More
Oh yes, to answer your question. I don't think this is an innate ability unless your parents have been exposing you to music ever since you are in the womb. Then maybe you would be more accepting of music in life.
Before I forget. There are quite a number of Ear Training software on the Android Play Store that may be of some use. I have used 'The Ear Gym', 'Functional Ear Trainer', and 'Perfect Ear' before... See More
Before I forget. There are quite a number of Ear Training software on the Android Play Store that may be of some use. I have used 'The Ear Gym', 'Functional Ear Trainer', and 'Perfect Ear' before. Quite simple but useful apps for training yourself to play by ear. I am pretty sure there are equivalent apps on iTunes too - like 'Play by Ear' and 'Ear for Life, Ear Training'