Book Description

Presently, I am teaching a group of students in Hong Kong to play by ear. Many of them have difficulty reading the standard music notation. They want to play the piano but reading music slows them down. In the process of teaching, I started coming up with this method that works effectively for them. That�s how I started teaching them how to play by ear a year ago. In the process, I started coming up with a method that works effectively for themMost people in Hong Kong are aware of another kind of music notation that is used widely among the older generation. The system is simple, known by the Chinese as Jianpu which means �simplified music notation�. We sometimes see this Asian Music Notation in the older books but we seldom pay much attention to it because we�ve been trained to study the Western standard music notation when learning music.In the process of teaching my students to play by ear, I discover that they pick up this Asian Numeric Music Notation easily, and their play by ear skill thrives as a result. One of my students started playing by ear publicly as a church pianist half a year into the course. He is even able to compose his music at the piano and performs for us. You should see the glowing joy on his face.In the Play By Ear series, I provide you with many tips and analysis to show you how to take full advantage of this system. As I said earlier, it only takes a few hours to learn the system, maybe only one hour. That�s how simple the system is. You don�t believe me? Tell me about it after you learn the system from the PBE course.To guide you to use the system comfortably, I provide 40 songs in Play By Ear Volume 1 for you to work on, so that you get lots of practice to become proficient with the Asian Music Notation. By the end of the course, you will be able to notate your own songs in this numeric notation.It totally simplifies the thought process when you play songs. To me this is most valuable because it frees the student from reading the more complicated music staff notation, and helps the student to acquire a QUIET mind to listen to the sounds deeply, to play with ease and with creative freedom.Level: Beginners to AdvancedIn this course, you will learn 10 steps to start playing songs by EAR. The principles of playing by ear are laid out in detail. I also demonstrate in audios and in 40 videos with animated dotted keyboards to teach you how to play in different keys with the Asian Numeric Music Notation. Each video shows a song demonstrated in at least 3 keys.This is a further look at the approach I take in this Series.Think in SCALE TONE NUMBERS to play BY EARTo play a song by ear, first limit yourself to the 7 scale tones of a key.I use software-animated videos that show you clearly how to apply the simple Asian Music Notation to playing songs by ear. I first demonstrate how this is easily done in the key of C.Play song easily in ALL 12 KEYSWhat you can do to the key of C can easily be done to any key, even in the more difficult keys such as Db key, B key or F# key. The thinking and application is CONSISTENT in all 12 keys.In my videos, using 40 songs, I show you how to apply the Asian Numeric Music Notation to playing songs in all 12 different keys. I purposely also choose some of the harder keys to play in (B, Db, F#) so that you can see how easy the system is once your thinking is clear.Playing in all keys: Simplified FINGERING and HANDSHAPESLearn to LISTEN DEEPLYA lot of ear training programs want to help us to LISTEN DEEPLY to the sounds. My approach uses songs to help you listen DEEPLY to the tones you play rather than naming the intervals such as M6, m6, m2, M2, m7 or M7 etc. If playing songs by ear is what you want, this is perfect for you. If you want to learn sound intervals and distinguish them, you would have to go for ear training software for those drilling exercises.Have fun,Rosa