If you can't play by ear, you can't be a musician

Perfect example of why you need to be able to play by ear if you want to be a professional musician! #shorts #musician

[foolishfrankieshorts]

Check out my main channel here: youtube.com/foolishfrankie

[-carpet-]

The lesson here isnt “you must learn to play by ear” the lesson is “dont become a jazz musician”

[Lastman]

Unfortunately unless there's a few musicians in the crowd it'll go unnoticed

[janjg]

me as a drummer see this as an absolute win

[johnfkennedy]

Musician here: while being able to play by ear is always a good thing to have, I don’t think you HAVE to be able to play by ear to be a musician. What you really need is just basic music theory and the ability to keep beat and you can make all sorts of cool tunes. (This is coming from a Hardcore Thrash musician tho)

[MigusRandomness]

My piano teacher literally got angry with me regularly because I would play by ear. I quit after 7 years - I was 14 when I gave it up. My trombone teacher throughout middle and high school was throughly impressed by it though and actually encouraged me to use it to my advantage.

As for my former piano teacher, like, sorry that I possess a skill that you wish you had? I can read music just fine and sight-read fairly decently, but I understand it much easier and learn it more quickly if I can predict where to go with it. Found out later in life that I also have ADHD, so that may have been an invisible but major factor as to why she disliked my learning style so much. I've long since embraced it as a gift to be able to learn and play music by ear. I taught myself to play acoustic guitar and ukulele in my 20's, but I can't read chord charts for the life of me (which are drastically different from the traditional chords and notes that are written on staffs). It may be basic knowledge to some, but I'm also dyslexic and the dots on the lines always seem to be moving around whenever I try to read them. 😂🙃

[davidguthary]

As a cellist, I think sight reading is a much more important skill to have than playing by ear in an orchestral setting.

[yeetyeet_spagheet]

Beethoven be like: "damn, im out of a job"

[idk]

U definitely can. Especially if u join a band and just make ur own music. Maybe u can't be a jazz musician. But musician in general u definitely can.

[jesus_thevirulent]

Not just playing by ear, but also knowing basic theory and progressions helps too

[RobCabreraCh]

That is the hardest thing to learn, because it takes so much time to become fluent in music to that degree. It really is like learning a language

[fionacomerford]

Musician here: I’m deaf, and we play just fine

[UltiametsIgsmas]

“if you don’t practice, you’re not a musician”
-twoset

[SaxandRelax]

Well that’s very specific to jazz music I would say. But true in that context

[squeezmm]

the title of this was so devastating to read

[alexjones]

Definitely handy as a drummer. There's a lot of times I've had to play by ear. I love hearing good players play too, and understanding what goes into it all

[debbie]

Of course you can. Not if you are a jazz musician who improvises, but I was a professional classical musician who never had to worry about your example. I would suggest that you have to be a good sight reader at times and, in my case as a clarinetist, to be able to transpose to another key (difficult if you're sight reading at the same time time!) That being said, I have always admired jazz musicians as being the people who really know the mechanics of music at a really advanced level.

[brandonpryormusic]

Playing by ear is more important than being able to read charts in my opinion. However, if you plan to play professionally, you absolutely need to learn how to read and sight read.

[error.]

Don't gatekeep. You're still a musician if you can't play by ear. There is a ton of music out there which is played rote and still valuable.

[paulandersbullecer]

Being able to play by ear makes you versatile especially during gigs and when mistakes happen.