The merits of by ear vs. by the dots - a friendly discussion

[TW]

I've never really seen the point of cluttering ones brain with information which is readily available on paper (excepting information vital to your function in life).

Music scores are written as an expression of the authors wishes and it is only polite to implement them. They do allow a player to sample all kinds of stuff..just like a library..and you don't have to own it in memory to use it.

For ensemble playing; in my experience Barn Dance bands play either one tune specific to the dance - most Playford dances - or a medley for rumpty-tumpty dances written out so that changing band personel from week to week does not affect group performance. I would expect that to apply for all genres.

So why hunt and peck when you can get it right from the start?

On the other hand, if you like session playing using the same tunes over and over again, learning by rote seems the only sensible option.

 

[Pippa]

Any attempted discussion on HOW to play by ear seems to quickly devolve into the above debate, so here is a thread dedicated specifically to discussing it. Please be respectful! :ch

 

[Pippa]

I go to a weekly session at the university (with my violin - sorry!), we have a 2 hour practice session with the books at the union followed by a proper session at the pub afterwards. Im always the one who gets the book out at the pub and people always roll their eyes at me... :roll: As you were saying its definitely about not being able to memorize the tunes, if I can hum it I can generally play it. If I had more by ear skill I think I could listen and join in more easily, currently I rely quite heavily on the book.

I agree with you in parts, TW. Ive been a music-reader rather than a by-earist my whole life and on every instrument. 99% of the time if there is sheet music available, I will find it and use it. However as a result I dont have much by ear skill, but its something Id like to develop, for the following scenarios:

• As above - pub sessions with the folk group. Often they play tunes out the book that I can just go home and learn, but often they play tunes that arent in the book, that I would like to be able to pick up and join in with on the go.
• Jamming with friends - I have some musical friends and we often have parties which involves lots of music playing. We dont have the time or inclination to learn whole sets of tunes that we can all play, so by-earing would help me to pick up what they are playing and join in.
• When I want to learn a tune/song and I cant find the sheet music, often learning it by ear is the only choice I have available.

I think both are useful skills and have their place in my life. Maybe only one of them has a place for other people. So while Im never going to go and by-ear some Chopin at the pub, and Im not about to burn all my books, I look forward to the day when Im not that girl who takes the book out at the pub!

 

[Nonny Mouse]

One of the nice things about this forum is that people play lots of different styles, accordions, etc. Personally I mostly play using the dots. This is mostly because I'm not a fan of English/Irish/Scottish pub session music. The music that I do like tends to shift around far too much on both hands for me to want to spend the time learning it by ear. I also wouldn't want to start changing the keys, I don't see the point. I'm not going into the "playing it as the composer wanted it to be played" business, as my music comes out with my own style!

What I do, when I'm in the mood however, is put on a compilation Cd by someone like Bix Beiderbecke and have a huge amount of fun working out keys and counter-melodies. I don't tend to bother about the left hand, so although I may not be able to pick up a tune "by ear", I can do something interesting alongside somebody else playing by ear!

 

[goldtopia]

Thers a lot to be said for the advantages of both, reading music and playing by ear. Very few people can match the ingenuity of the great composers even some pop music, like that of Kate Bush. Playing by ear enable you to play the easiest chords without any complicated bass arangements and you can walk about, like playing round the tables, if so inclined. I am trying to learn playing by ear because of its advantages and I definitely don't want to give up reading music.

 

[bocsa]

It makes sense to use whatever means available to you to knock out a tune on the Accordion.

The merit of each method is proportional to its accessibility for any particular individual.

Learning by ear and/or from dots is nothing more than learning by rote*.

*Pippa That's how folk play without the dots in sessions ...repeat often but not ad nauseam

 

[acordiansam]

Just my 2 cents. Now I have a good ear. To under stand what you do and why you need to learn the dots. To explain to sum one else you need the dots. To tell other people you might jam with what key to play in to start. What do you want to do with you're music jam on the porch or play in a dot band. Still I think learning the dots to start is best.

 

[Pippa]

It makes sense to use whatever means available to you to knock out a tune on the Accordion.

The merit of each method is proportional to its accessibility for any particular individual.

Learning by ear and/or from dots is nothing more than learning by rote*.

*Pippa Thats how folk play without the dots in sessions ...repeat often but not ad nauseam

Agree largely that whatevers easiest for you is the best way to do it, but different scenarios still call for different methods.

So yes, if I go to a session and I know what tunes are going to be played (the usual tunes!), I will learn by rote / memorize them, and it doesnt make a shred of difference whether I originally learnt by ear or dots. But consider:

Someone will call a tune and start playing it, and the rest will lean up near that fiddle and listen one time through, bring up their fiddles and sort of play along hesitantly, and the third time through they walk away playing the tune.

Hearing a tune for the first time in a session, and wanting to join in. Now by ear is the only option you have.

 

[bocsa]

(...) But consider:

Someone will call a tune and start playing it, and the rest will lean up near that fiddle and listen one time through, bring up their fiddles and sort of play along hesitantly, and the third time through they walk away playing the tune.

Hearing a tune for the first time in a session, and wanting to join in. Now by ear is the only option you have.

Yes, point taken but youd need to be very good to pick up, from scratch, a tune after only 3 times through ...best just listen if you dont have that ability ...but record it, if you can, for dissection at home

New tune(s) in sessions ..I reckon Im doing well if I can find one note I can get more than one if the tune is French as they repeat, seemingly, for ever

 

[Pippa]

youd need to be very good to pick up, from scratch, a tune after only 3 times through ...

I play with some very good people... aim high eh!

New tune(s) in sessions ..I reckon Im doing well if I can find one note I can get more than one if the tune is French as they repeat, seemingly, for ever

Im not great at it either. The more predictable tunes are much easier.

 

[Anyanka]

Some stuff is quite simply impossible for most of us without sheet music. I went to the Super Accordion Day in Ripley in October; 187 accordions playing at least 4 different parts, under the guidance of a very good conductor. I can sight-read reasonably well, but most of these pieces had tricky rhythms, various key signatures, and lots of accidentals etc. With the sheet music, I at least had an idea of what I was supposed to be doing, even though I failed to do it most of the time

Different learners have different types of memory. My visual recollection is above average, but I have rather poor aural processing i.e. I need to hear a tune quite a few times before I can remember it. However, I can remember it much more quickly once I have played it a few times because the kinesthetic memory helps out. Even better if I've played it from sheet music because then I've got the triple whammy, all working together. This is why one should combine visual, auditory and kinesthetic in any kind of learning, whenever possible: they support each other.

Once I've learned a tune all the way through, however, I always try to get away from the sheet music, so that the tune can grow and develop in my head & hands.

 

[Pippa]

Something often echoed in the school of earists is that you don't need to worry about the right chord, there are several that will work. Playing in a group is a good example of where this has its limitations. They might all work, but they certainly won't all work at once. In these scenarios I'd say it's preferable to agree on chord sequences beforehand, if not write them down!

 

[goldtopia]

Hmm,if your playing with others who are playing correct chords and your playing different chords , they are going to clash, even if its just 3 basic chords. If you are playing round the tables accompanied by a violin,you would probably get away with it.

 

[Pippa]

Yes, I mean if there's more than one chord instrument!

 

[simonking]

Indeed, otherwise things get messy very quickly. And most people have to learn from somewhere - there is usually merit in decent arrangements of good music. Whereas someone starting off playing on their own and trying to work out complex pieces and harmony without any guidance is likely to come unstuck....

A good ear, knowledge of harmony, techinal abiulity, being able to read music and knowing about general musical theory and conventions --- they're all part of being a balanced musician, not in any sense rival 'schools' - that's just plain nonsense!