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401:, where different strokes and techniques are used to produce different tones and timbres, or improvised music like jazz and classical Indian music, where large parts of the composition consists of guidelines for improvisation. Western musical notation can be ill-suited for these situations, and although supplements to musical notation can be invented to try to accommodate this, playing by ear and oral learning are often preferred because of readability, ease, and tradition.
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Learning to play by ear, in the sense of making music without notation, is often compared to learning to speak a language. When sufficiently mastered, playing music by ear should be as comfortable and easy as having a conversation. We speak and react to what we hear, without having to think too
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Blues, pop, jazz, and many forms of non-western music are fundamentally rooted in the concept of playing by ear, where musical compositions are passed down from generation to generation. In this respect, playing by ear can also be seen as a music-specific example of
374:. While most professional musicians currently active in these genres are capable of reading musical notation, playing by ear is still widely practiced for a number of reasons. Among those are ease and speed of learning songs, flexibility while
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deeply about every word we use. The same would be true when playing by ear. A musician can produce a sound at the same time they think of it, without having to consider every separate note they play.
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One learns a piece of music by ear by repeatedly listening to it performed, memorizing it, and then trying to recreate what one has heard. This requires the use of several related skills such as
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Playing by ear is often also used to refer more generally to making music without using musical notation, perhaps using (elements of) improvisation and instant composition.
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It is a misconception that musicians who play by ear do not have or do not require musical education, or have no theoretical understanding of the music they are playing.
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system. Musicians will also train their playing by ear skills by taking recordings of full songs and pieces, figuring out the notes by ear, and either
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To practice playing music by ear, music teachers often have a student listen to short musical examples which the student will have to write out in
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or memorizing them. According to studies playing by ear is associated with a higher level of creativity and musical intelligence.
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However, many teaching methods in this tradition incorporate playing by ear in some form. For instance, "
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In most instances, traditions in which music is primarily learned by ear do not use
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Sequences in Music: Skill, Content, and Patterns- A Music Learning Theory
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This article is about the musical concept. For the album by
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Professor of Instructional Systems & Learning Technology
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The
Imperfect Art: Reflections on Jazz and Modern Culture
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The
Imperfect Art: Reflections on Jazz and Modern Culture
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Audiation is a vital skill for playing music by ear.
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