1.1. Defining “Playing by ear”
Playing by ear involves reproducing music learned aurally, without using written notation. This process involves transferring an aural representation of the music into appropriate instrumental techniques, a skill known as ear-to-hand coordination (McPherson, 2022).
The present section aims to outline the key concepts for understanding how playing by ear works. Music influences us deeply, both emotionally and physically. Hearing music often compels us to tap to the rhythm or hum along with the tune—an experience so familiar that we often overlook its uniqueness (R. Harris, 2017). This remarkable ability of the human brain to interpret and respond to music has become a significant focus of neuroscientific study in recent years.
According to R. Harris (2017), hearing involves two main pathways in the brain: the ventral and dorsal streams, each associated with distinct roles and hemispheric dominance. The ventral auditory pathway, predominantly in the left hemisphere, is involved in sound recognition and processing (“what?”), enabling us to identify and make sense of auditory stimuli such as speech or melody. Conversely, the dorsal auditory pathway, often linked to the right hemisphere, integrates auditory information with spatial and motor processing (“where?”), crucial for audiomotor transformations, such as locating sounds in space or coordinating movements with auditory cues. These pathways work together to allow a seamless experience of hearing. The mirror neuron system (MNS), particularly in the left ventral premotor cortex, plays a crucial role in linking auditory perception to motor action, allowing musicians to translate heard sounds into coordinated movements. This system is essential for audiomotor coupling, enabling not only rehearsed performance but also spontaneous improvisation (R. Harris, 2017).
In R. Harris's thesis (2017), evidence compares the neural profiles of classically trained (score-dependent) musicians and improvising (non-score-dependent) musicians, as well as non-musicians, to investigate action-perception coupling in music. The study suggests that score-dependence may restrict the activation of audiomotor transformation networks, diminishing the embodied experience of music. In contrast, improvising musicians show additional activation in the right-hemisphere networks, enabling pitch-to-space transformations and enhancing their ability to perform by ear. This stands in stark contrast to score-dependent musicians, whose neural activity is more aligned with aural discrimination and predominantly left-hemisphere processing (R. Harris, 2017).
R. Harris's (2017) puts forward a more focused definition of 'playing by ear’: the real-time transformation of imagined or perceived music into goal-directed action. Therefore, all of these ideas are relevant to understanding how music is processed. The left hemisphere is associated with slower analytical processes, while the right hemisphere is associated with spatial and motor functions, and is therefore linked to faster, more immediate responses.
1.1.1. Historical overview
While Western art music today emphasizes notation-based learning, both McPherson (2022) and R. Harris (2017) highlight the importance—and historical precedence—of aural-based musical development. McPherson explains how, before the rise of affordable printed scores in the 19th century, Western musicians often learned through listening, imitation, and apprenticeship, integrating improvisation and composition into their training. Harris reinforces this perspective by reminding us that written notation is a relatively recent invention and that humans have long been capable of translating heard music into instrumental action without relying on written notes. Both authors suggest that the modern focus on technical drills and visual learning may suppress the natural development of aural skills, advocating instead for a more balanced, intuitive, and historically grounded approach to musical training.