played by ear
No sheet music
Played by ear describes music performed from memory or improvisation rather than written notation: She played the whole song by ear after hearing it once.
The phrase extends to any situation handled without a fixed plan, responding to circumstances as they unfold: We didn't have an agenda—we just played it by ear.
- ad-libUnscripted speech or remark
- off the cuffSpontaneous, unrehearsed speech
- unpreparedLacking readiness beforehand
- impromptuWithout advance preparation
- offhandCasually unrehearsed
making it up · spontaneous · on the fly · unscripted · extemporization · intuitive · gut feeling · improvise · informal · autodidacticism · freeform · going with the flow · trial-and-error · spur-of-the-moment · unscored · winged · self-taught · instinctive
played by earprearranged
Organized ahead of time
scripted · premeditated · mapped out · strategized · rehearsed
play, played, playing, plays, player, players, playful, playfully, playfulness