Playing by Ear

Declan Cosgrove

Following 10 years of classical tuition, Declan Cosgrove has spent the last 35 years developing piano skills that make learning songs on piano easy, fast and fun. The DecPlay range of piano methods created by Declan has been awarded a patent and has been featured multiple times on the BBC. His online course and piano community has helped thousands of students in over 72 countries to learn piano, many of whom are learning later in life or have struggled with traditional methods. 

With a focus on making the joys of piano accessible to everyone, Declan is passionate about making piano easy for beginners, as well as teaching 'fun' skills to experienced players, such as improvisation, playing by ear and performance skills. 

Playing by Ear

Ever wanted to instantly play any tune by ear, or to be the life and soul of a party by playing requests?

Most people think playing by ear is a talent you're born with. Or that you need years of scales and music theory before you can even attempt it.

That's simply not true.

Declan, DecPlay's founder, spent 12 years in classical piano lessons. He could read music and pass exams. But he couldn't do anything he actually considered fun. He wanted to play like Sir Paul McCartney. To just hear a song and play it. No sheet music. No memorising in advance.

The methods he tried were either drowning in complicated theory, or painfully slow. It took him years to work out why, and to develop a simple approach that actually works.

He calls it EarPlay. And it has already helped thousands of people aged 50+ play the songs they love, by ear, without ever needing to read sheet music.

The secret? You only ever need to work out two things. The melody (the tune, one note at a time) and the chords (just three notes, one simple shape). That's it. Everything else you hear in any song is just those two things.

And instead of complicated notation, EarPlay uses a simple numbering system from 1 to 7. If you can count to 7, you can play piano by ear.

No experience is needed, and the method is arthritis, low sight and dyslexia friendly.

"This system allowed me to play the music of my choice. It was so freeing." - Pam

"Within a very short space of time, I was playing what I wanted to play." - Linda

"I've always wanted to sit down and improvise, and play pieces I like by ear." - Gilbert

Many students who already read traditional notation have also learnt to play by ear using our EarPlay course. Although this also works for beginners.

Students with no previous piano experience have gone on to improvise and write their own music within weeks. Whether you want to play your favourite songs for yourself, or be the life and soul of the party, EarPlay makes it possible, faster than you ever thought.

As featured on the BBC and the highest rated piano course on Trustpilot, with over 90% of students awarding the maximum 5 stars.