Ear Playing vs. Sight Reading

Do you know pianists who can play anything by ear? Drop by any piano bar, and chances are you'll find a pianist who can play any old standard you can name and transpose it to your key, without so much as a fake sheet on the music rack. Some can even wing it if you sing a few bars.

Do you know anyone who can sight read any piece of music they encounter -- Mozart, Brahms, Gershwin, the score of any Broadway musical? College music departments and recital halls are full of them.

But do you know anybody who can do both?

It does seem that there is a distinct division in musical abilities. There are those who have the talent to play by ear and to improvise. There are those who learn music as it is written and can follow a composer's instructions to the letter, but cannot improvise or play by ear. And apparently, never the two shall meet.

Perhaps it is this great divide that keeps players of classical and popular music worlds apart. Classical music, which is written out in every detail, is best suited to those who can read music and especially satisfying to those who can sight read well. Popular music -- particularly jazz, blues and rock in all their subforms -- is tailor-made for those who play by ear, with an extra edge in favor of those who can read chord charts.

Of course, people who play by ear can learn to read notes. They can memorize childhood jingles to learn the lines and spaces, then struggle through college music theory classes to understand chord structure. But if they have a choice, many play-by-ear types would just as soon "get it off the record" or learn a tune by listening to someone else play it.

Likewise, those musicians who learned to read notes, analyze chords and write four-part harmony can study ear training to a certain extent. They can listen to tapes and sing back perfect fourths ("Here Comes the Bride") and major sixths ("NBC") until doomsday. They can use their knowledge of theory to guesstimate what chord probably comes next, but it doesn't come naturally. But even if they have a recording of a great 1940s pop standard they want to learn, they'll go the extra mile to locate the sheet music. It's just easier for them to learn music from the score.

There are always exceptions, of course, but those are few and far between.

In reality, most musicians, both amateur and professional, seem to fall somewhere in between the two extremes with a tilt toward one side of the other. With a lot of work, average musicians from both camps can learn to improve their skills in the area in which natural talent fails them.

Some specific suggestions will follow next month. In the meantime, think about your musical acquaintances and try to determine where their natural talents lie. And what about you? Do you fall squarely into either category, and if so, do you think you can tip the balance? Would you want to?

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