Learn piano by ear - Picking out the melody

Picking out the melody with your right hand is one of the most exciting parts of learning to play the piano by ear.

NOW...You are ready to pick out the melody to a song!

Picking out the melody to a song is easy. First, let’s pick out the melody to “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. The melody (tune) to that song is easy to hear and play. This will really get you going! We will pick out the melody in the key of C. That means that when we play the melody there will be no black notes because the C scale has not sharps or flats. (We will talk about accidentals later.)

So, play the C scale with your right hand. Then play the C chord with your right hand. Now the next, part is a bit hard to explain in writing and that’s why I’ve recorded all of these tips in the lessons on the “Piano By Ear for Beginners” DVD so you can watch me teach it right at the piano in the comfort of your own home! But, lets give it a try! After playing the C chord, hum the note that you sing as the first note of the song. Then, play the C scale until you land on the note that is the same one as the one you are humming! Are you on the note “E”? THAT’S IT! You are ready to begin playing the melody to the song.

Now playing the melody to a song is by trial and error. Let me explain. When you begin with the first note (the one you hummed) sing the song (either out loud or to yourself). Do the next two notes go down or up in pitch? They go down! So, using the C scale, beginning on the note “E”, you would go down for the next two notes. Like this….

Ma-ry had…
E D C (Melody note)

Now, go on! Does the melody to “a lit-tle lamb” go up or down from the note “C” at “had”? Sing it! Listen to it…what does the melody do? Wow! It goes back up….like this…

Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb…
E D C D E E E

Notice that on “lit-tle lamb” that the melody note stays the same. That’s because when you sing the song, you do not go up or down on that part. You sing three notes at the same pitch. You will do the same thing when you play it.

Now, go on...finish the song using this easy method.
Why is it so important to play the melody? I just want to chord?

Playing the melody is so important because with out the melody, when you are playing chords you have just a bunch of chord changes. Your audience will not know what song you are playing because the melody (tune) is missing! Learning the melody is a must!

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Learning to play the piano by ear is fun and exciting. You can learn to play the piano in the comfort of your own home with Piano By Ear for Beginners instructional DVD!