How To Play Piano By Ear

Play real music by ear. Develop practical skills to recognize melody, harmony, and form.

What you'll learn

Learn to recognize and play popular songs by ear without using sheet music

Understand how songs are built — verse, chorus, bridge, and more

Apply essential music theory in a simple, hands-on way

Develop your ear for chords, progressions, and structure

Gain confidence to play and interpret songs using your own intuition

Understand the basic elements of music theory in a practical context

Learn to recognize and play common song forms and structures

Build the ability to break down and reconstruct a song by ear

Requirements

You should be able to find notes on the keyboard and play simple melodies or chords. Some basic understanding of musical terms (like verse, chorus, chord, key) is helpful. You don’t need to read sheet music, but this course is best suited for learners who already play a bit and want to connect theory with practice. A keyboard or piano is required.

Description

Welcome to "How to Play Piano by Ear" A course designed to give you the tools, structure, and confidence to understand music without needing sheet music or theory-heavy lessons.This course is built for intermediate-level musicians who want to unlock the ability to play songs by ear. Whether you're a pianist, composer, performer, or just someone who wants to connect more directly with music, this course provides a clear and proven method for building real listening skills.You won’t find abstract theory or endless lectures here. Instead, every lesson is practical and hands-on. You’ll play, repeat, listen, and apply. The goal is simple: to help you understand music through experience, not memorization.You’ll learn to:Identify key centers and tonal movement by earBreak down and understand common song structuresBuild muscle memory for chords, scales, and patternsDevelop a strong sense of relative pitch and musical memoryUnderstand how scales and chords work in a useful, hands-on wayRecognize melodies and find them by earListen to a song and identify its basic structureConnect what you hear to the keyboard step by stepPractice simple tools to develop relative pitch and harmonic awarenessBy the end of this course, you’ll be able to listen to a song and begin figuring it out immediately - the chords, the melody, the structure. You’ll feel confident sitting at a piano and making music in a natural, intuitive way.This method is based on how real musicians learn: through listening, repetition, and application. You don’t need perfect pitch. You don’t need years of classical training. You just need curiosity, consistency, and a desire to learn.Let’s begin.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction

Section 2: Music Theory Basics: Scales and why they matter

Lecture 2 Music Theory Basics: Scales and Why They Actually Matter

Section 3: Music Theory Basics: Chords

Lecture 3 What Are Chords and Why They’re Easier Than You Think

Section 4: The Form (Song Structure)

Lecture 4 The Form (Song Structure)

Section 5: Finding Chords by Ear

Lecture 5 Figuring Out the Chord Progression of a Song

Section 6: Mimicking a Melody (Like a Parrot!)

Lecture 6 How to Hear and Play the Melody

Section 7: Putting It All Together: Song Performance

Lecture 7 From Practice to Performance: Playing the Full Song

This course is ideal for lower-intermediate musicians and self-taught players who want to bridge the gap between theory and practice. It's especially valuable for those who already play a little by ear or know some basic chords, and now want to understand song structure and build confidence in practical application.