In this chapter we introduced the idea that Playing By Ear is a spectrum, rather than an all-or-nothing ability. You learned about the Play-By-Ear Process, where we use the three steps of Listen-Engage-Express to gradually figure music out by ear. Over time and with practice, these stages can merge and become more instinctive, so that you are able to tackle increasingly sophisticated play-by-ear tasks directly.
If you’ve tried the exercises in this chapter, you will have discovered something powerful: you can already play by ear! From here, it’s just a matter of getting faster and more accurate with your “guesses”, through a spirit of “Trial and Improvement”.
If you are reading this chapter after having gone through Part II of the book and started practicing Integrated Ear Training with our building blocks for Pitch and Rhythm, you have the benefit of a head-start, and some powerful accelerators for the Engage stage.
You are now equipped with a clear process you can apply to any music you wish to play by ear, as well as some activities you can use to gradually level up your Playing By Ear skills.
These skills will have wide-reaching knock-on effects throughout your musical life, whether the dedicated activity of playing music by ear is a big part of your own Big Picture Vision or not. The LNX approach has been designed with the holistic musicality of the H4 model in mind, meaning your Head, Hands, Hearing and Heart are all improved together, and the connections between them formed naturally. You will see this pay off in activities from Improvisation to Performance, Expression, and Songwriting, as well as further improving your foundational skills like Audiation, Singing, and Active Listening. And of course, as you leverage the building blocks from Part II of this book, you improve your recognition skills too, further feeding the positive feedback loops across your musicality.
Maybe you aspire to be that prototypical Jammer who can grab an instrument and play anything they hear, remember or imagine, jamming along with any group, instinctively recognising the musical accompaniment that would fit perfectly. Maybe you’re a dedicated Creative and are excited by how play-by-ear skills can let you deconstruct and more deeply understand the songs and pieces you love and are inspired by, as well as making it easier to bring the music from inside your head out into the real world. Or maybe you’re a pure Performer, who felt like figuring out music by ear wasn’t something you were likely to have much need or desire for in your own musical life.
Whatever the case, I hope this chapter has opened your mind to how powerful Playing By Ear can be for connecting Head, Hearing, Hands and Heart—and how rewarding it can be for any musician to spend some time moving themselves further and further along that exciting play-by-ear spectrum. Every step forwards won’t just increase your play-by-ear skills, but will contribute significantly to all the other abilities we’ll be covering in Part III, as well as your overall musicality.