Why is learning by ear preferable?

[Bloomfield]

...

And yes, I know I've split a couple of infinitives.

Roger, you probably know what the god-like H.W. Fowler wrote concerning split infinitives (in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage 2nd ed. 1965 (Gowers, ed.), p. 579).

The English speaking world is divided into five classes: (1) those who neither know nor care what a split infinitive is; (2) those who do not know, but care very much; (3) those who know and condemn; (4) those who know and approve; and (5) those who know and distinguish.

If you can't be in the first class, you should aspire to be in the fifth, of course. And I feel that there is a bit of a lesson in this for the discussion about learning ITM by ear or from sheet music.

[Lorenzo]

Learning to play by ear needs a little definition. It's not learing a tune by memorizing the notes. It's more of an innate ability to judge, in some sort of mathematical way, distance between notes, a comparative ability. Like hitting a C on the piano for someone in the other room, then hitting an F above it, a G, or an A...and the person in the other room can tell you exactly what note you are hitting...a 4th above, a 5th, or a 6th, because that person has "an ear" for music.

And, it's also a keen ability to somehow know within the difference between true harmony and discord. Hearing the right chords to a tune is something that might be acquired through practice, but it works a whole lot better if that person has an "ear" for music.

A person that can both read music, and play by ear, can write the notes down on paper while you are playing the tune, and without looking at your fingers, because once he/she has the beginning note, the rest makes mathematical sense on paper because that person can judge, or "hear" the difference (or distance) between your starting note and the rest of them. I play with a fiddler that learns tunes from me by doing that. I almost never read music. But I do refer to it occasionally to learn what I might have missed in only hearing the tune. And sometimes...what a rescue sheet music can be!

-just some lunch break thoughts

[WyoBadger]

Lorenzo's right, though I might add that the ability to discern intervals between notes (consciously or otherwise) is usually required to learn music by listening to a recording...unless one has extraordinary patience OR perfect pitch. Or perhaps both.

[skh]

Learning to play by ear needs a little definition. It's not learing a tune by memorizing the notes. It's more of an innate ability to judge, in some sort of mathematical way, distance between notes, a comparative ability.

Well, not exactly mathematical - you just hear it, and there's many ways to learn it. I've (literally) seen people using their motoric memory by playing along on an imaginary instrument and writing things down when they "got" it right. Others (good sight-readers) just read what they've written and play it back in their head to listen if it's right. Some people have perfect pitch, others don't but are perfect in recognizing any interval. I tend to recognize which note in a scale is played (so I need to remember the base note of a tune/key, if applicable) and measure the distance by counting half and full tone steps up or down (a crutch, actually, but it works). We did this at school, and I had most problems with 12-tone listening exercises with not tonal reference point. I really like the diatonic character of ITM, this makes getting tunes down rather easy

My point: there are many ways to analyze what you hear to the point of writing it down, or playing it without too much note-hunting on an instrument, and it is a skill that can be learned, whatever method works for the person in question. I always "have" the rhythm and some sort of drone as a reference, but I don't hear intervals too well. The note-hunting approach doesn't work for me, as I immediately forget the rest of the tune when I get one note wrong. That's why I sing first.

This analysis, however, is the second step after remembering the sequence of notes I want to play, or write down. I have to remember the part long enough to listen to it mentally, and this is really hard at most normal-speed traditional recordings. What is crystal (Crystal?) clear in listening goes "poof" when it comes to just singing, so I'd encourage any beginner to not give up at this stage. Sometimes, the only way is to listen as long as I can stand it, and then put it away and wait until the tune comes back to me when I don't expect it.

Sonja

[skh]

Oh, just to make that clear: when someone is immersed in a musical style, they of course can, at some point, just pick up tunes by subconscious osmosis. My comments were aimed at people who want to train their ears, and who might find helpful that there are many methods to do that.

All the other hints already given in this thread are such methods as well, in my opinion. Just use what works.

[Martin Milner]

The note-hunting approach doesn't work for me, as I immediately forget the rest of the tune when I get one note wrong. That's why I sing first.

This analysis, however, is the second step after remembering the sequence of notes I want to play, or write down. I have to remember the part long enough to listen to it mentally, and this is really hard at most normal-speed traditional recordings. What is crystal (Crystal?) clear in listening goes "poof" when it comes to just singing, so I'd encourage any beginner to not give up at this stage. Sometimes, the only way is to listen as long as I can stand it, and then put it away and wait until the tune comes back to me when I don't expect it.

Sonja

Another couple of raisins to add to the mix - most of the non-ITM tunes and songs I know were learnt through hearing them rather than seeing them written down. Think of all the hymns & carols you know, and pop songs like Bloomfieldian Rhapsody. Ever seen these written as sheet music?

When I attended a regular singing class, we occasionally did exercises in harmonising where one group would sing the melody, and then individuals would add a harmony as they went along. This was very useful in developing an ear, and as long as nobody is upset when the haromy goes wrong, it's a fun group exercise.

The difficulty with ITM is that there are so many notes in so short a space of time, it's difficult to pick out the tune without dozens and dozens of listenings, and we are too impatient to put in that effort.

[Wombat]

It seems to me that people who deny that it is possible to learn tunes in any European style from sheet music, provided they have been taught how the sheet music needs to be interpreted, are perpetuating a romantic myth best confined to the rubbish bin.

Again, nice theory. Where's your clip, Wombat?

Wrong target I think Az. I learn mainly by ear. Sheet music plays a role but a very secondary one. But perhaps I should send you a clip or two just to remind you how painful music learnt by ear can sound.
OK: now have a go at my challenge.

[Lizzie]

OK, some of you got to me...I decided that I was going to learn Smash the Windows by ear. I got my John Skleton Cd and listened to the tune a number of times. Tried to hum along. Loaded the tune into Slowdowner, Slowed it down a tad and started listening and trying to play. Then I get this error message and it stops playing...won't play a thing. I KNEW I was not meant to learn by ear!!!! But I did mean well lol.

[Nanohedron]

That's just the Devil trying to stop you. Keep at it, lass!

[skh]

Lizzie,

you don't need a slowdowner. If you really can't hear the single notes apart, start with something played a little bit slower. Keep at it, it does wonders to your ears.

Sonja

[E = Fb]

Is there a tutorial for learning by ear? (Forgive me if someone already mentioned this)

[jim_mc]

Is there a tutorial for learning by ear? (Forgive me if someone already mentioned this)

Go back a page or two in this thread. Bloomfield wrote all the tutorial you'll need. I'll add this: I learn about 40 new tunes a year. Once I have a recording of a tune I like and want to learn, I listen to the tune at 50% speed about 200 times before I ever pick up the whistle. Around the 40th listen, I start lilting along. You would hate to spend the weekend with me. By the time I get to the whistle, it doesn't take but half an hour or so to suss out the notes. If I can find a crayon, I usually write down the notes on the back of my pay envelope and refer to that the first couple of times I play along with the recording (still at 50% speed).

It takes me a good 5 or 6 months of having a tune "learned" by this method until it's up to speed and really part of my repertoire. And that only happens if I continue to work at it. But when all that comes together, I feel like I've got the tune for life, and damn, that's a good feeling.