by ear
Sans written music
By ear means without reading written notation or following a fixed plan.
A musician who plays by ear learns and performs music through listening rather than sheet music: She never took lessons—she plays entirely by ear.
Extended to other contexts, it means improvising based on circumstances: We don't have a script; we'll just play it by ear.
- auditory memoryRetention of heard sounds
- perfect pitchIdentifying tones without reference
- relative pitchPerceiving tones comparatively
- pitchFrequency of sound
- auralOf hearing
melody · trial-and-error · improvisation · chord progression · tuning · self-taught · natural talent · scales · practice · recall · busking · imitation · jam session · campfire songs · folk tradition · intuition · earworm · rhythm
by earby the book
Following established procedures exactly
according to plan · systematically · methodically · step by step · precisely
by, ear, ears, earring, eardrum, eared, earlobe, earshot, earful