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

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

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!!

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!)

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!

Absolutely Amazing, Ted. SO IMPRESSED

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.

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.

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

Thanks for the lesson and pdf❤️

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!

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

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.

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

8 ай бұрын

I love to hear this!

Brilliant lectures, thanks ❤

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

thank you for this!!

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

Yes!!! Really well said

thank u man 👍🙏

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

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?

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?🤔

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

8 ай бұрын

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

8 ай бұрын

@@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.

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

8 ай бұрын

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.

My favorite is figuring out songs I like.

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

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

8 ай бұрын

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

6 ай бұрын

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

@Goofy8907

8 ай бұрын

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

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

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

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