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I started with a new student yesterday, and he wants to learn piano ONLY by ear.

He is a 23 year old who also plays the guitar. He obviously knows chords and has a clear sense of tempo. He can already play some songs by ear on the piano, and he is mostly looking to play non-classical pieces. He is looking for me to help him with proper fingering technique and expand upon his current knowledge of chord structures to enhance his ability to play by ear.

Any suggestions?

I'd first confirm that he has no current desire (this could change, of course) to learn any Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin (have him listen to some popular works - i.e. "Pathetique" Sonata, K.332, "Fantasie" Impromptu, etc. respectively). If nothing else, this may at least inspire him enough to learn to read basic notation in treble and bass clefs - it worked for me!

If this doesn't work, I'd convey that while there are certainly non-classical musicians that never learned that skill that became wildly successful, there were far more greats that could at least read and comprehend basic notation in the treble clef for lead sheets (assuming they weren't very grounded in classical training even going so far as to obtain advanced degrees like the great Bill Evans, for example). While someone could certainly try and find recordings to learn a whole fake book song by song by ear, it would be far easier (and quicker, which is probably largely the reason he thinks he wants to go this route, as many mistakenly think learning to read notation is an insurmountable task) to learn to read what's written on the page in all fake books and then have every song immediately at his disposal. The way I see it is that if you can at least convince him to want to learn to read treble clef, you could most certainly convince him to learn one more.

I second the suggestion of at least having the student learn the treble clef so he can do lead sheet playing. It would definitely provide more options for future playing.

For strictly playing by ear, there are lots of familiar tunes that can harmonized with I, IV, and V chords while the melody is played by ear. You can transpose these into different keys, thus teaching the scales and primary chords. You can also try out different chord patterns (blocked, broken, waltz pattern) to dress up the left hand.

From there, it is easy to branch out into pop songs. They rarely use more than 4 different chords. Depending on what style of music your student is into, maybe some Beatles or Coldplay tunes?

Tell him note-reading on piano is far far easier than on guitar, because they keyboard is simpler than the fretboard.

You may not like this. I admit I'm not a teacher, just taking a look at your forum. But, as one who's played by ear all my life, as well as majoring in music, and who had various teachers with various levels of experience with the non-classical world, I'd suggest that if you're not completely comfortable with his request, you might help him find a more suitable teacher for his needs. No offense.

I do agree on the basis that few classical teachers would also be equipped to teach non-classical improvisation and playing by ear, but the importance of learning to read can still be conveyed and - if correspondingly understood and appreciated - taught, at the very least. Even though you've played by ear all your life, if you did in fact major in music, then I can hardly conjecture that you yourself can't read music notation at least decently fluently (I think it's safe to assume you're not Dave Brubeck in disguise ; R.I.P.). A little classical exposure, too, wouldn't hurt.

San Diego,

There seem to be several "whys" here:
Why did you not know this about your new student BEFORE starting to teach him?

Did you ask your new student exactly why he wishes to learn only by ear?

Why are you seeking suggestions? Is it because you do not want to teach him to play by ear, or because you are unable to do so?
Ed

Ed,

All great questions, thanks for asking.

1. Yes, I knew about this before I started teaching him. It was an unusual request, and definitely outside of my normal teaching method, but considering that he 1) was 23 years old (I would never do this with a child), 2) already had familiarity with a musical instrument, and 3) understood chords, I thought it would be a fun challenge. As a music teacher, we often get in the same pattern with each student. To be honest, it can get monotonous (maybe it's just me). I thought this would be an opportunity to teach "outside the box."

2. He wants to learn by ear because he plays in a band, wants to incorporate songs on the piano as quickly as possible, and just wants to play. I'm hearing everyone cringe as they are reading this, but he's got natural talent, and after meeting with him for the first time, I see where he is coming from.

3. I'm seeking suggestions of anyone who has encountered this type of situation before. Sure, its out of the box, but if he thinks I can help him and provide him value (which I know I can), then why not?

I have sold him on the idea of some treble clef reading. I sold it as learning the melody. I said, "Would you sing lyrics in your band that were anything but the original?" He got the point.

Thanks again for the questions and suggestions!

That is exactly what I told someone yesterday. Just politely wrote that I would not be a good fit for him. (Why are you worried the poster would be offended by your comments?)

SD,

For whatever it might be worth, I think you have extremely sound reasoning, representing a very well-thought-out plan of action. I am not cringing at all - quite the contrary.

In addition to those you have already received, I would offer one further suggestion. Focus lessons on having the student replicate at the piano whatever he hears, as in aural "dictation", but with him playing instead of writing.

Ed

OK, from what you describe, he needs to learn scales (regular and pentatonic) and chords, chord progression commonly used in different keys. Get him to learn the shapes of different keys, and scale degrees as he plays.

I do not have teaching experience of this, but some experience on a guitar.

I have had a few students over the years who either flat out said that they wanted to only play by ear and thus did not want to learn to read, or it became clear that was their intention.

What you did SD is what I have done. IE, show them a small aspect of reading that is clearly helpful to their goal.

Then, over time, show another bit, and so on, and over time they will see at least some value in learning to read, and have gained some ability to read.

For those teachers (myself included) who do not teach playing the piano by ear, I'm curious as to what a teacher who teaches playing by ear, actually does in a lesson? I've had a few students (10, 15 and 25 --all male) who improvise songs they know on the piano, and do not want read notes. Other than teaching them chords, inversions, scales, I'm at a loss -- I feel like part of audience just observing. I can play by ear, but it isn't a strength of mine. If I am unfamiliar with the song, it would be even more difficult to help a student who doesn't want to read notes, especially if I don't have the music in front of me.

Based on my own experience, this happens more often in a jazz context. In any case, the student will need to understand chord voicing - the standard of which is much higher on piano than on guitar - we have a lot of options. They should know the basics of stride piano. In jazz, they'd learn various voicings for "ii/V" progressions as well as harmonic analysis and uses of various scales/modes.

To state the obvious, it is very difficult to even COACH someone in a skill or an art that you can not do very (VERY) well yourself, never mind TEACH! That is precisely why other teachers here are recommending NOT attempting to teach in this manner.

Ed

Well, Ed, that is precisely what I do not teach. My question was directed at those teachers who do teach by ear -- if you read my post through you'd see that those students I taught who didn't want to read notes (3 of them) were students I "had." I had to let them go because of course they didn't come to the initial interview saying they didn't want to learn to read music, quite the contrary, they claimed they wanted to learn to read music. Despite my many attempts to determine their motives, they would not admit they just didn't care to learn note reading.

Pretty basic, but a fun read with some ideas in it nonetheless: http://doctorkeys.com/piano-blog/2011/10/the-top-3-myths-about-learning-to-play-the-piano-2/#myth1

The story goes that The Beatles only needed to finger
some 6 basic guitar chords to be able to back their
amazing motley of songs.

It sounds as if this 23 year old bandleader imagines
that the same is true of the piano ... and by scraping
together a few crunchy chords, he can frame a passable
background sound.

But the piano has 88 notes and a vast range of 6+ octaves ... comparisons (are odious) and can therefore only be fragmentary.

Playing by ear is an excuse for not being prepared to
learn to sight-read.

Nevertheless Sir Paul bangs out a good tune on his 88 keys, for someone who can't read music.

Or, being limited to reading music places an extra intellectual processing step between you and the music, a step that disappears when you can let the music out by ear.

I wish I could do it better. I work it every day.