Can you play music just by hearing?

In the West, learning by ear is also used heavily in the genres of folk music, blues, rock, pop, funk, reggae, and jazz. 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.

What is it called when you can play a song just by hearing it?

Audiation simply means hearing music in your head, on demand. When you try to remember a song you heard, you generally audiate it, imagining it playing again in your mind.

Can we play it by ear?

To play it by ear is to act spontaneously and according to the situation. Playing it by ear means you have no game plan. The original meaning of this term was to play music without sheet music, meaning you either remembered the music or improvised it. We all have to play it by ear sometimes.

Is it possible to play music without knowing the notes?

It’s a phenomenon known as “chunking”. You certainly didn’t learn to talk by reading. Yes, it is possible. There are people that can play music without knowing the notes. You can work out the songs either by ear or have someone tell you what to play.

What happens if you can’t hear music in your head correctly?

But if you can’t hear the music in your head correctly, you will learn the song the way you think it is, rather than how it actually is. It’s like building a house without carefully looking at the blueprint. You’ll end up with a house, but it just won’t be the one in the plans.

Can a pro play a piece just from hearing it once?

To answer the question whether a pro can play a piece just from hearing it once, it’s more about how good of an ear the person has regardless of whether he/she is a pro or not. Some with very good ears, but with little or no training or experience, can do so with even amazingly complex music.

Why should we learn music by listening?

According to Edwin E. Gordon and musicians like Victor Wooten, it makes a lot of sense to learn music in a similar way. That means we should start by listening. And we do. The reason you started to play an instrument, was because you heard a bunch of music and you liked it. In fact, you’ve listened to thousands of hours of music.