Well - I concur 100% having tried everything mentioned but once the tune is solid in my ears I have a much accelerated learning curve. Little gotchas get worked out pretty quickly when I loop one or two bars in a lesson. Thanks again for your clear writing. ♪♫
This is excellent, Ed. I will refer people to your article as I explain to them why, for me at least, playing by ear is a BRIDGE to playing by note. Fifty years ago in music school, hearing a piece before you tried to play it from sheet music was broadly considered "cheating" and suggested that you were weak at reading music. That makes about as much sense to me as saying that it is cheating for a child to hear their native language before they are taught to read.
Thanks for your thoughts, Susan. I'm glad this makes sense to you. It is certainly strange how the value of reading has been elevated to the point where some people look down their noses at learning by ear. I did have a student who cleverly hid his inability to read, so I had to both encourage his ability to play by ear, and teach him to read. I continually find that especially when teaching adults, they presume that if they apply enough effort to it, they can memorize everything and get everything "right"! Eventually they learn to appreciate the physical nature of playing music., and I think this expands many people's awareness of life in general, really. Keep on with your thoughtful teaching!
Really nice synthesis of your observations, Ed! I love this framing. My only quibble is that most of what you attribute to the "ear" is also happening in the brain -- it's in auditory working memory (auditory cortex) rather than sequence memory (possibly hippocampus?). Ditto "muscles" -- that's motor learning in motor cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum. But brain-brain-brain vs. brain-brain-brain isn't quite as enlightening...
You might find it interesting to read this book -- https://www.amazon.com/Intelligence-Flesh-Your-Needs-Thinks/dp/0300208820 -- in which cognitive scientists toss out 2500 years of Western philosophy and religion, and come back to the fact that there is no body/mind divide, and that the brain is more of a mediator of bodily signals than an executive decision center. For example, they did an experiment with 4 decks of cards with positive and negative messages (e.g., you lose 15, you gain 100, etc). By measuring perspiration, they found that the hands knew which 2 were the bad decks and which 2 were the good ones, after only 15 draws, whereas it took the brain 40 draws to make that decision. Very well-written and readable book with fascinating information.
I agree- if I have a tune in my head and can hum it... I can play it
Well - I concur 100% having tried everything mentioned but once the tune is solid in my ears I have a much accelerated learning curve. Little gotchas get worked out pretty quickly when I loop one or two bars in a lesson. Thanks again for your clear writing. ♪♫
This is excellent, Ed. I will refer people to your article as I explain to them why, for me at least, playing by ear is a BRIDGE to playing by note. Fifty years ago in music school, hearing a piece before you tried to play it from sheet music was broadly considered "cheating" and suggested that you were weak at reading music. That makes about as much sense to me as saying that it is cheating for a child to hear their native language before they are taught to read.
Thanks for your thoughts, Susan. I'm glad this makes sense to you. It is certainly strange how the value of reading has been elevated to the point where some people look down their noses at learning by ear. I did have a student who cleverly hid his inability to read, so I had to both encourage his ability to play by ear, and teach him to read. I continually find that especially when teaching adults, they presume that if they apply enough effort to it, they can memorize everything and get everything "right"! Eventually they learn to appreciate the physical nature of playing music., and I think this expands many people's awareness of life in general, really. Keep on with your thoughtful teaching!
Really nice synthesis of your observations, Ed! I love this framing. My only quibble is that most of what you attribute to the "ear" is also happening in the brain -- it's in auditory working memory (auditory cortex) rather than sequence memory (possibly hippocampus?). Ditto "muscles" -- that's motor learning in motor cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum. But brain-brain-brain vs. brain-brain-brain isn't quite as enlightening...
You might find it interesting to read this book -- https://www.amazon.com/Intelligence-Flesh-Your-Needs-Thinks/dp/0300208820 -- in which cognitive scientists toss out 2500 years of Western philosophy and religion, and come back to the fact that there is no body/mind divide, and that the brain is more of a mediator of bodily signals than an executive decision center. For example, they did an experiment with 4 decks of cards with positive and negative messages (e.g., you lose 15, you gain 100, etc). By measuring perspiration, they found that the hands knew which 2 were the bad decks and which 2 were the good ones, after only 15 draws, whereas it took the brain 40 draws to make that decision. Very well-written and readable book with fascinating information.