The underlying purpose of my site, Free Music Education, is that playing by ear is the most fun, the easiest, and the
most useful way to play. It is also possible to teach others to play by ear, particularly if the teacher can play well by
ear.
In almost 20 years of teaching, nearly all my students could play by ear. People who have supposedly "lost"
their ability to play by ear, due to faulty teaching, may regain this ability. I know. I did it myself, starting at age 30.
This site can assist you in learning to play by ear.
Below are two links. The first is the some practical help
on learning to play fiddle tunes by ear. The second an introduction and link to a research article from the British Journal
of Music Education, 1989. I was glad to find this, because it verifies through research what I have experienced in my own
life as a player and teacher, and what so many of my students have also experienced -- the thill of ear playing. And how a
musician may play exclusively by ear, or how ear playing can assist a person to become an excellent sight reader.
Marian Drake, Ed.M.
This link about how to play aurally, the difference between aural (by ear) and kinesthetic
(by feel) learning is from the Small Circle Tune Learning Session in the Denver/Boulder, Colorado area. The discussion came
from Jesse Langen, who is working on his PhD in Music, and also plays Irish music on the guitar.
http://www.slowplayers.org/SCTLS/learn.html#top - J Music Ed. (1989) 6, 2, 173-191. Printed in Great Britain
Playing by Ear: Its Nature
And
Application To Instrumental Learning
Philip Priest
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Instrumental reaching methods in schools have resulted in a near total reliance on
notation. Playing by ear has
been undervalued by instrumental teachers, yet it is through
such playing that some of the aims of music education can
best be achieved.
In this article, different ways of playing without notation are distinguished theoretically
and exemplified through the experiences of some players who have learned in this way. A
case is made for all musical
playing to be viewed as 'by ear', including when notation is
involved, so that the aural basis for musicianship
is maintained and a wider view of
performance encouraged. A possible model for teachers is offered based on imitation
and
invention.
_____________________________________________________________________________
For
the article, click here:
http://www.playbyear.com.my/bjme.pdf 