Piano by ear

Piano by Ear: Learn to play by ear, improvise and accompany songs in simple steps (with links to practical help and video clips below).

Finalist in the Best Print Resource category at the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence, 2016,

Piano by Ear, Learn to play by ear, improvise and accompany songs in simple steps is aimed at helping classically trained teachers, students and pupils play without notation, spontaneously, wherever there's a piano. It also provides useful training for Practical Musicianship and Jazz Piano exams.

Buy the Book

Piano by Ear is available from your local music retailer, or buy online at Faber Music Store or Amazon - and see the amazing reviews there too.

Resources to help you with Piano by Ear

Request the pdf of Practical Help and Suggested Chord Progressions for Piano by Ear

If you are a teacher

See pages 122 and 117 and the Solo or group improvising ideas on pages 15, 42, 64, 77 (my favourite!), and 82, for ideas to begin improvising together with your pupils.

Also, remember that when beginning to teach them to improvise solo (e.g. on pages 13 and 14), teach them to play the left hand first, counting strictly in time, while you demonstrate a very simple right hand improvisation. Then they can try improvising with their right hand, playing simply and naturally mainly up and down, while you play the left hand, before they put hands together.

Watch the videos

Piano by Ear

This video clip demonstrates some of the ideas in Piano by Ear to help get you started. They are taken from pages 13, 14, 32, 33, 28, 29, 80, 73, 77, 111 and 117 (in that order).