Which would you say makes a better keyboard player?
Someone who use the dots or plays by ear ?

Some good players playing by ear could outshine the lesser player who can read, and vice verse, but the player who can do both has an advantage, especially, in learning new music. IMHO

I would say Ear because they can do things that are not on paper most of the time people stick to whats on the sheet
if you are less disctracted by what your doing you can put more feeling in it thats what i think

Greetz Rico

PS i also agree with Bernie !! if ya have both thats awesome !

Ear players are more fun to watch and listen to in an impromptu setting, but, if you do demand studio work, you have to be able to sight read.

Well rounded players read when they have to, but play by ear whenever possible.


Russ

I agree with Rico.

Many players for whatever reason are too lazy to memorize songs, lyrics, or have to use the charts as a big crutch,.. that's the first step....but after you memorize or just playing it out of your head by ear then you can ad-lib and play it the way you like instead of the stiff way it's written,....you gotta bring some musical soul into your playing and doing it by ear is a very powerful way to do it, your stage performance and appearance will be better also when you eyes no longer have to be glued to that chart,.......but if your playing with other musicians or in a big band /orchestra, etc, the charts are needed to keep the arrangement and players in sync otherwise it's a free for all..some may call it Jazz and that's ok with a combo of 2,3,4,5 where everyone can play & express their own thing and make it sound great,..
but in bigger player scenarios the charts are a must.

I read well and also play pretty good by ear and I enjoy the latter far more than the former. In the studio it's primarily charts so I've learned how to read them too.

I think ear playing is very important, as it's not possible to write "feelings" in written sheet music (or in charts).

One of the reasons we have written music is because at one time there was no other way of archiving and passing on what was played...there were no audio recorders of any kind.

Reading well is one thing, but the player's interpretation what the composer laid out is just as important.

Ian

I think the best players can do both... I know some great classical players that can read or play anything that they hear. Also there of plenty of great jazz/pop players that can read. Having good reading skills and a good ear are both fundamental skills... However, since music is an aural art form, I'd say having a good ear is more important. But why would you want to limit yourself?

I try to do both...

Playing by ear, i can easilly find my right hand parts
But recognicing chords, espescially the more advanced ones take me some more time
The fun thing is when i play by ear, i easilly memmorise the song
When i play from sheet music, its mostly piano style arrangements

Keep in mind, i am far from a professional musician, just a homeplayer trying to have some fun, and playing as good as possible..


The other thing i want to share with you, is that the new keyboard music coarses, like the one my nephews use, try to encourage both, and are meant to develop both at the same time... Sometimes they have excersises that make them replay by ear, while other times they get to improvise and play fee.... The course teaches both left right hand arranger playing, as full keyboard piano arrangements... There is a bit of everything, even the dreaded etudes...


So i leave the opinion whats better to the pros, while cherrishing the tought that kids nowerdays learn both... Where in my good old organ childhood days, we only learned to play from sheetmusic and replay the piece allmost till eternity till we knew the notes from our head..

Sight reading music is a important skill for most musicians who want to really grow and appreciate all the nuances and flavours of music out there.

But being able to hear chords and appreciate the relationship between chords and scales and melodies and rhythms is a far more versatile skill in my opinion.

The art of truly creating music cannot be restricted by the notes on the piece of paper in front of you . At best, that can only show you how to mimic someone else's creativity. But being able to play by ear and understanding chord inversions and chord progressions and to be able to apply them to any given tune is fundamentals to true creativity. So in my view although both skills are important, I would rate playing by ear oversight read

I'd say ear players tend to get the feel of a tune better than pure readers. However I'm biased, I consider myself fortunate to have pretty good ears and bearable reading ability. If I have to play from music, if it's an arrangement of a tune I know I tend to play what I think it should sound like and use the music as a second line of defence.

An issue I have with a lot of transcriptions Is that they can be inaccurate to a lesser or greater degree. I really noticed this with a book of Elton John songs where the written music was clearly different to the original record. Not usually hugely, but nevertheless different.

Nevertheless, what this music book did was train my ears. I originally bought the book because, like Bachus, I found it hard to "decode" some of the more non-standard chords. As a direct result of playing the music as written, whether I ultimately agreed with the transcription or not, I was playing some interesting chords and inversions (9ths, 11ths, 13ths, flattened / sharpened additional notes, bass not not necessarily having a lot to do with the right hand, etc etc) and now I find there are very few chords that I have problems decoding.

I've never been able to conquer the hieroglyphics, but I can read the tabs just fine. Sometimes I need them, sometimes I don't.

Cheers,

Gary

I can read pretty well - I attribute that to having played in an accordion orchestra as a youth, that played classical music from the original scores - and can play a little by ear ... I've heard many 'ear' players, and they usually are excellent players, and I believe playing by ear gives them an advantage because they hear such beautiful chords ...
As a player, I try to address a song as a singer, playing phrases as if I were singing them as opposed to playing them ... other than classical music, which is expected to be played 'as written', I would not play 'popular' song note for note as written...

[quote][/quote]Reading well is one thing, but the player's interpretation what the composer laid out is just as important.

Ian
I have to agree with Ian. I have been playing since I was 10 yrs old. I started on the accordion. I was taught to read music and memorizing songs. Memorizing songs is not playing by ear. I admire and am envious of anyone who can play by ear. I cannot pick out Mary had a little Lamb but I can read the notes and improvise the music. I could play it in any style rock , country etc. I personally feel that a person is born with the ear as well as being able to sing. If you can sing you have a better ear. I am impaired in both of these categories.

Having been a trumpet player, I can read the right hand parts fluently. I can follow the left hand parts if they are simple, but I play left hand chords 100% of the time and let the arranger to the work.
Having said this, I rarely read anything anymore; I just listen, find the chords, and improvise. I can hear melody lines and most of the time play them without much struggle, particularly in the keys where I am most comfortable--C,F,G,D,A,Bb,E--in that order. One of those keys will suit my vocal range on any song I want to do. If not, push the transpose button.
In think "playing by ear" is somewhat a misnomer. What most of us do is understand the chord structure and the way the chords and lead/fills interact.

I only play by ear.I do wish I have learned to read music too.In all, I do have maybe 10 hours of accordion classes in my life, unfortunately.

Anyone can learn to improvise! Having a good ear is definitely an essential part of improvisation, but also one must understand chord and scale relations which is just music theory...

Like a lot who have written here, I do some of both. I learned to read "reasonably well" as a kid, and use that to help learn new songs. I also had a habit, for many years as a kid (even into college age) of "playing along with the radio", that is, listening to various stations and trying to play along "by ear" - I did a LOT of this years ago, and I think it helped my 'ear' quite a bit.

These days, I tend to learn new songs best by hearing them (esp. good is hearing various renditions and not just one), and if I have a "fake sheet" (or full score), the listening plus having chords/melody, makes learning that much faster.

I find that I may have a chart up (on my iPad) but for many songs I'm playing say ~90% by ear/memory; the chart is just there as a guide to the overall arrangement and I look at it now and then but not constantly.

I do find that I've become, as some people say, "lazier" in that I rely on charts more now (at 55 years old) than I did a decade or two ago. One reason is that I have ~1,200 songs in my repertoire, and I just can't remember the overall arrangement and some details, for all of them. So these days, there are maybe ~200 songs that I can play from memory, but for the rest I need the chart just to get me started, or to help with some chords I might forget.

I've also noticed that my (5pc) band likes having charts available for more tunes, whereas years ago we had no charts on stage. Just our aging brains, I guess! :-)

=Jim=

I am a ear player and always have been. The good Lord gave me a gift to hear chords and place them in the right places.
It's a cherished gift but I know that reading music is a very
important thing. Sometimes if a song has "different chords"
from ordinary(Example: "Girl from Ipanema") These are difficult
to find by ear. The girl from Ipanema gave me a fit so I got the music and from that I found the chords.

This is where problems occur and reading the music solves the
mystery. I would not trade the gift of ear playing for anything.
Lloyd

I am an ear player and have always been. Of course reading music
is an important thing too. Most tunes I can hear the chord changes easily. Sometimes you find a song that has complex chords and changes. I found that "The Girl From Ipanema" give me a fit as the chords were different from the average. In this case I bought the music and read the chords which solved the
probmen.

Reading music certainly has it's advantages but I must agree
that ear players have more of a "feel" for improvisation and
that makes the music so much more pleasure to listen to.
The combination of both reading and ear playing is the ultimate.
Rico is a perfect example of ear playing at it's extreme. Lloyd

I am a ear player and agree with Rico. To be able to hear chords and know where they fit in a song is certainly a gift
from God. An ear player can improvise and add interest that
a pure reader simply cannot.

The ear player can have trouble when a piece of music has chords that are very different from the norm.

The song "Girl From Ipanema" gave me a fit to try and learn so
I bought the music and from that I was able to get the right chords and play it. Being able to read music and also have a
gift for ear playing is the perfect combination. I certainly
am thankful to be able to "hear" those chord changes and put
them in the right places. That's my story and I'm sticking to
it. Lloyd