Current Events > How long did it take you to learn to play an instrument by ear?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm tired of giving up on the guitar and piano, because I keep trying to teach myself to play one song at a time. Kind of hard to learn to play even simple songs when you can barely play.

So I decided I'm gonna start teaching myself to play these instruments by ear, so I can pretty much play anything that I can humm.

How long did it take you to learn this skill, CE? And with what instrument?

My cousins autistic and was doing it since he was 8 years old with a guitar

---

JTilly posted...

My cousins autistic and was doing it since he was 8 years old with a guitar

That's P. rad.

You either have that or you don't.

Learn scales. And chords.
Some people are great sight-readers, but can't ad-lib to save their lives....
Some are great and knocking out a song in their hands, but not as a good at sight-reading.

How long have you been trying?
What simple, I mean really simple songs can you play on a keyboard?
Learn on a Keyboard/Piano first.
---

035

---

I had an uncle (RIP) who taught himself guitar, piano and later the organ and played by ear. He was quite the musician and singer. Dude was an actuary who was also a math wiz and said music and math were related in ways that weren't always obvious to the average person. Sadly pancreatic cancer got him last January.

---

SiO4 posted...

You either have that or you don't.

Every instructional video I've found on YouTube disagrees with you. Sure, being pitch perfect right away is something you'd have to be born with, but most people can train themselves to wing a song and either come very close, or add their own improvisations.

How long have you been trying?
What simple, I mean really simple songs can you play on a keyboard?

Like a couple hours total. Lol. Marry had a little lamb I learned when I was a kid. I taught myself The First Noel when I was a kid just doodling around. I taught myself certain melodic segments of Somebody to Love today, also just doodling around.

brestugo posted...

I had an uncle (RIP) who taught himself guitar, piano and later the organ and played by ear. He was quite the musician and singer. Dude was an actuary who was also a math wiz and said music and math were related in ways that weren't always obvious to the average person. Sadly pancreatic cancer got him last January.

I could see patterns and rhythm having a lot to do with math. I believe it's proven that listening to Mozart in particular can help you perform better at math.

brestugo posted...

Dude was an actuary who was also a math wiz and said music and math were related in ways that weren't always obvious to the average person.

Yup, Musical theory and Math are very much the same.
I bet he loved Bach...or at least I hope so.

Funny thing is, I can do Musical theory with my hands...with ease.
But my brain gets lazy with math proper. I've been trying to work on that.
Same part of the brain though for sure.
---

Ic3Bullet posted...

Like a couple hours total. Lol. Marry had a little lamb I learned when I was a kid. I taught myself The First Noel when I was a kid just doodling around. I taught myself certain melodic segments of Somebody to Love today, also just doodling around.

Well, brother, it takes more than a few hours. Come on man.
And yes, learn scales. At least in one hand.
Slow and steady wins the race.
---

It takes a good while tbh. It's best done as a child, and is easier if you happen to speak several languages (Asian languages are best). You can still develop a good ear later on in life though, or what they call "relative pitch." Most people can probably do this to some extent by just noodling around on an instrument, like trying to find a known melody. It's harder to pick out in actual songs but it can be done.

It's not particularly fun or interesting but definitely add some interval training to your practice sessions. Intervals are the pitch difference between two notes, and they are specifically named (minor third, perfect fifth, octave, etc). Practice playing them in different positions and maybe stick with just one or two at a time until you can for sure pick it out just by hearing it. Eventually you get to where if you're trying to figure out a song you can sort of guess how many "spaces" there are between notes and it makes learning it a lot faster.

Of course, also do a little theory work such as learning scales and how chords are built from them. It's the sort of "mathematical" side of learning an instrument that nobody really likes, imo. Since you usually just want to pick it up and play. It'll make you a better musician in the long run if you don't ignore it though.

---

it took me around 2 months of fumbling around on the piano to do it, but I was also doing it for long sessions at a time (2 - 3 hours daily)

SiO4 posted...

Well, brother, it takes more than a few hours. Come on man.
And yes, learn scales. At least in one hand.
Slow and steady wins the race.

Lawl I never said I expected it to take less, nor did I say I was frustrated after just a few hours.

I said I was frustrated with trying to learn songs with my limited knowledge with the instruments. That's why I've changed my goal to something that I feel will benefit me more in the long run.

Ic3Bullet posted...

Lawl I never said I expected it to take less, nor did I say I was frustrated after just a few hours.

I said I was frustrated with trying to learn songs with my limited knowledge with the instruments. That's why I've changed my goal to something that I feel will benefit me more in the long run.

The real key is to, just try to play something, whatever it is, and get comfortable with it.
Don't treat it like a lesson that is timed or any of that. Once you can knock out a song..if only the melody in one hand, that is a good thing.

After that, attempt a song you like, that you want to play.
You need to want to do it.
But also, and I'm not sure if this has come up. Become familiar with sheet music. It will only help you.
---

it takes a long time, ear training is something that comes from time moreso than just skill

---