How to Play Piano by Ear | Simple Step-by-Step Guide

Playing music on the piano by ear is not as difficult as you think. You just need to know what to listen for, and that's exactly what I will show you today. 

I'm a self-taught pianist. Ten years ago, I pushed myself to play my first song by ear, and since then, I’ve been sharing my own piano versions online with great success. 

Through that journey, I developed a simple, intuitive six-step method anyone can use to play music by ear, without relying on sheets, tutorials, or music knowledge.

But here’s the best part: This method doesn’t just help you recreate music. It opens the door to free piano improvisation. The final step will show you how, so make sure to watch till the end.

Step #1 - choosing the music

Before we get into the juicy steps, I first need you to pick the right piece. 

There are no limits to what you can play by ear, but, it’s important to keep the bar realistic, especially if you’re just starting out.

That means sticking to pop songs and simple instrumental pieces first, that have a clear, distinct sound, before moving over to more complex works. If you’re not sure where to begin, check out today’s hits or think of your favorite songs and movie soundtracks - those are often great starting points.

Over time, you will find yourself managing harder pieces with a muddier sound and unusual note progressions.

Step #2 - finding the melody

Great, so you’ve picked out a song or piece you want to perform by ear.

For now, let’s assume you've chosen “Love Story” by Indila.

The first thing we’ll do is pick out the main melody - the part you would naturally hum or sing along with, in this case the vocals.

Play the audio a few times so the melody gets stuck in your brain. Then, sit behind your piano and reproduce it with your right hand, one note at a time. 

(View the video for an example)

If you think you have the right notes, replay the audio again and perform along with it. If all your notes blend in well, you have found the right notes. If not, and you hear some clashing between the notes, repeat the step and check again.

Based on the melody alone, you are usually able to identify the key signature of the piece. This refers to the exact scale of notes that the music is built on, such as E major or B minor. Knowing it will make the next steps easier and more predictable. 

To help you find the key signature, here's a free guide with 5 clear steps you can follow. But keep watching, because later on I will explain how you can use the key signature to improvise freely on the music.

Step #3 - finding the bass

Once you figure out the melody, the next step is to find the bass line. As the name suggests, these are the lowest notes in the music, usually played by a bass instrument.

Again, play the audio a few times, but this time ignore the melody, and focus on the bass instead. To make things easier, use headphones and actively sing along with the bass notes. Once you’re ready, play them with your left hand, one note at a time.

Make sure to replay the audio again and perform along with it. If all your notes blend in, you found the right notes. If not, repeat the step and check again.

If you struggle to hear any other notes than the melody, it’s not your lack of talent, but your lack of experience, and not knowing what to listen for. The good news is that you can fix it using simple practice material. To learn how, stick to the end of the article.

Step #4 - adding the chords

Right now, you have the melody in your right hand and the bass line in your left. You can already recognize the music but it still sounds blank.

To fix that, play the audio one more time, but this time pick out any notes in between the melody and the bass line that you haven’t played yet. Again, sing along with these notes and play them, using either your left or right hand.

To establish the chords, simply bring all the notes you found so far together, and see what note-combinations come up. Usually, different sets of notes will appear on every individual bass note. These sets of notes are the chords of the music.

Even though you can come a long way without it, studying basic music theory will help you identify chords faster and use them in different ways, so that you can play piano by ear more efficiently.

It will also save you in some cases where you can only hear the melody and the bass with no extra notes in between. Because then you will be able to try out chords proactively and check if they blend in well with the music.

Step #5 - comparing the results

This is the most important step for making progress.

Play your final version alongside the original recording, or better yet, look up the actual arrangement of the music, for example the sheet music or a tutorial video, and compare your version to it.

Ask yourself: do the melody, bass and chords match, and did you establish the right key signature? If not, make the necessary adjustments and take mental notes. This is where you get better.

Now be aware, because the tutorial videos you find online often contain errors. 
If you want reliable self-check sheets, plus a huge list of songs for practicing melodies, bass lines, and chord structures, all organized from easy to challenging so you never feel overwhelmed...

I highly recommend grabbing my Complete Piano by Ear Mastery Bundle.
It’s a one-of-a-kind course that helps you learn your favorite music by ear, and improvise on it with confidence.

Since music theory is a key part of playing by ear effectively, I’ve also included a comprehensive theory guide in the bundle, that you can put into practice right away using the song-based exercises.

If you’ve ever dreamed of playing the piano with absolute freedom, and you would like to see results in weeks, instead of months or years, just click here.

Step #6 - add your own twist

In other words, improvise, possibly to the point that you create your own version of the music which you could post online or perform for others.

So how do you do it? As I mentioned in step 2, it starts with the key signature. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, check out my free guide on how to identify the key signature for any song.

Once you have the key signature, all you have to do is play the notes within that key signature. It actually is that simple, but people like to overcomplicate it.

This works even better if you use an existing song as a starting point, that you analyzed by ear first using my steps. Because then you can repeat the chords that are being played in the song with your left hand, while your right hand explores the key signature.

Simply play around with the rhythm, dynamics and different note combinations across the piano. You will quickly go from playing something generic to playing with real personality.

If you would like tips on specific improvisation techniques you can use, check out the full Piano by Ear Mastery Bundle I mentioned earlier, which includes my Improvisation Handbook.

Wrapping up

Now that you’ve got everything you need to play music by ear and even improvise on it, it’s time to put the steps to practice. Go enjoy yourself, and thank me later.

If you would also like to learn the 10 essential steps to improving your piano playing in general, check out this other blog I made a while back. That said, I see you in my next blog/video!