Suggest a book on playing piano by ear

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I Googled and found lots but has anyone here got a favorite, a book that they turn to or a book that got them up and running.  Nothing terribly complicated, just backing singing and noodling (kinda like guitar after all)

Thanks.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

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Comments

  • DiscoStuDiscoStu Frets: 5382
    I had Piano For Dummies when I stated. I found it pretty good and keep meaning to go back to it as I haven't played in years but I leant it to someone but can't remember who. 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    I'd suggest learning to use your hands first.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Rocker said:
    has anyone here got a favourite ... that they turn to or a book that got them up and running.
    Yes. Thelonious Monk. Listening to his music and seeing film of his unorthodox techniques made me realise that my own untutored efforts were within the bounds of acceptability. There is no definitively right or wrong way.
    Be seeing you.
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  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723

    Surely a book on playing by ear is an oxymoron?
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  • Modulus_AmpsModulus_Amps Frets: 2569
    tFB Trader
    I am self taught on piano... i.e. not very good compared to a pianist trained in a classical context, but I could jam with other muso's and improvise pretty well, enough to make my grade 6 taught wife jealous. the best thing I found was working songs out then working out the melody, then improvising around it all, transcribing guitar solo's onto piano was good too, the first guitar solo from November Rain makes for a very nice piano piece actually.

    If you find a decent book on the subject then I would be interested in it too, but I suspect you won't without having to work through the more classical/jazz approach first
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  • goldtopgoldtop Frets: 6101
    jpfamps said:

    Surely a book on playing by ear is an oxymoron?
    What he said.

    The best piece of music for learning by ear is Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music. Just put it on Youtube/etc and find the notes. It is brilliantly written, the intervals are simple and then get more interesting and if you're not tone deaf, you'll be off very quickly.
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    goldtop said:
    jpfamps said:

    Surely a book on playing by ear is an oxymoron?
    What he said.

    The best piece of music for learning by ear is Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music. Just put it on Youtube/etc and find the notes. It is brilliantly written, the intervals are simple and then get more interesting and if you're not tone deaf, you'll be off very quickly.
    It’s also the perfect piece for learning inversions on the guitar. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    edited February 2018
    I'm trying to learn keyboards and struggling with the same thing. On guitar I can visualise what I hear and can associate patterns with what I hear. In doing things by ear, I'm still at the stage where I have to go via guitar visualisation then translate that to piano.

    In theory it should be easier on piano because it's all laid out in a line. The smaller intervals aren't so bad, but I find it harder to instantly see the larger intervals on piano. I try to look at the black and white notes chromatically and think in terms of intervals. But, for example, I instantly know what a fifth looks like in terms of the shape on guitar, but it's hard to instantly see a fifth in all keys on piano.

    I think it's probably more about picking out things by ear and developing interval visualisation for piano than learning from a book, but I'm still trying to get my head around it myself.

    It's not a competition.
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  • goldtopgoldtop Frets: 6101
    It's true. The piano keyboard isn't isomorphic. The cheater's way is to use the semitone transpose buttons ;) Fine if you just want to make music, not so good if playing piano 'properly'. Of course, it's not really cheating any more than learning one set of patterns on the guitar neck and shifting them up or down is cheating. :)

    The middle ground is the Linnstrument (hardware) or the Geo Synth (iPad software).

    I'm a "whatever works" keyboard player. I'm never going to play classical piano pieces properly, and I don't mind.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Graham Rowntree's book is very good, but he did really put the hours in


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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    If it were not for those lugs, Rowntree could pass for a twin, separated at birth, from notorious Australian convict, "Chopper" Read.
    Be seeing you.
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