Have you known someone who could pick up an instrument and play any requested song without looking at a note? You might be one of those people who can hear a song and replicate it.
Some musicians are comfortable using sheet music, while others prefer to play by ear.
Sixty-four-year-old Rick Betsch sits down at a digital piano in his dining room and plays one song after another without using any sheet music.
The retired Cincinnati corporate executive wears blue jeans and a dark buttoned-down shirt. He seems relaxed and confident as he plays any request by ear. Betsch said he was inspired by his dad, who also played music by ear. He credits a former neighborhood piano teacher with helping him get started at age six.
“So I actually, for two dollars an hour, I walked through our back yard, through the cornfield, to the same lady that originally taught my dad a few things when he was a little kid. Her name was Lillian. And she taught me some of the basics. And she said, ok, I can’t teach you anymore. So, I was on my own. And really, she gave me the foundation to grow naturally because I had enough understanding that I could improvise on everything,” explained Betsch.
Betsch plays for fun and occasionally at a retirement home or family party. He recalls how his dad would play for people at parties and at the neighborhood ball fields, where there was an upright piano near the concession stand.
“I saw how happy it made people when he played, you know? Everywhere we’d go, these guys would stand around a piano and ladies, and they’d sing these harmonies and these old songs, and they would just be loving it, and they’d go all night. So, I was happy that I could carry on that, sort of,” said Betsch.
Dr. Jill Campbell is an Associate Professor of Music Education at Eastern Kentucky University. Campbell has been teaching music for 30 years. She’s played by ear since she was six years old. She also uses sheet music and said both approaches have served her well. She compares playing music by ear to speaking a language.
“There are some people that are more in tune to certain languages than others. For example, I am learning German, and I find it very difficult. And I can pretty much do certain elements of the language, but not the whole thing. And so, I think that music is a lot like that. You know, there’s some nature, and there’s some nurture, and for some people, it just kind of comes naturally to them. A lot of people in the world only do music by ear. They only sing or play instruments by what they hear. A lot of the world is not tied down to Western music notation. If you go to different countries a lot of how they learn is by sitting next to someone who is singing a part, and you learn to sing that part in the choir. That’s sort of everything from Appalachia to Africa,” explained Campbell.
The song, titled Rocket Point, was written and performed by Alanabeth Duncan. Duncan is a freshman at Morehead State University in the Traditional Music program. The 18-year-old banjo player sits cross-legged, wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans. Duncan said she’s been playing music since she was three years old and the banjo since she was nine. Playing by ear comes easily to her.
“I have always had the natural inclination of playing by ear, and I’ve always loved music ever since I was a tiny baby. If I can hear something. Like if I can hear the recording or hear someone play it, I can pick it up much faster than if I’m just looking at the music to it. So, most of the time, if I’m looking at a piece of music but I haven’t heard it before, I’m not going to be able to play it correctly by just looking at it. I can play it, but it’s not going to sound right. I have to hear it first,” said Duncan.
At Morehead State University, Daxson Lewis is the director of the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music. Lewis said he plays banjo, guitar, and bass, and he usually plays by ear.
“I think one of the most important things about playing by ear is the connection from one person to another, and particularly thinking about the traditional music styles of Bluegrass, and Old Time, and Country Music. These songs and this repertoire was passed on knee-to-knee in an aural tradition. So, you know, we were sitting across from somebody, and we still do this, of course. But folks were sitting across from somebody who taught them a tune as they knew it, and it had been passed down to them in the same way. So, there’s this personal connection that’s as important as the music itself is. But to learn by ear is essentially hearing something and then sort of regurgitating that information back to the person showing it to you. It’s about recognizing musical patterns and trying to replicate what you’re hearing to the best of your ability,” said Lewis.
The 33-year-old plays professionally with the McLain Family Band and the David Parmley Band.
Traditional Music Studies major Robert Myers is a junior at Morehead State University. He primarily plays mandolin and wrote the song Tree Hugger. The 21-year-old plays in a couple of bands. He said that playing by ear quickly is valuable, especially being in a band. He explained why he thinks he is able to play by ear.
“It’s definitely practice and time, and experience. I probably practice about four hours a day, and I have for the last three or four years. When you spend that much time listening to music and playing music and soaking it all in, you get a lot better feeling for how songs work,” said Myers.
Dr. Pradeep Sharma is Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Houston. Sharma said most people who train persistently ought to be able to play by ear. He conducted research to find out why playing by ear might come more easily to an individual. In his research, he posed this specific question.”
“Is there something structural in our ears that make us better? And turns out the answer is yes. So, the way we hear sound is that we have in our ears, we have these hair cells. They’re not actual hair; they just look like hair, but they’re cells, like biological cells. They’re responsible for the sound once it enters our ear, as well as to discriminate between pitches. For some people, if they have the right structure and properties of these hair cells in the ears they will be able to play music by ear much more easily, better, and more quickly,” said Sharma.
Whether playing by ear is a gift, a skill, or both, chances are, this holiday season will find these musicians playing a few Christmas tunes. Rick Betsch says he’s looking forward to it.
