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Ultimate Ear Training for Piano, Guitar, & More: Play by Ear (Udemy.com)

Wish you could sound out music by ear? Drastically cut your practice time by learning how to hear chords & notes by ear.

Created by: Nathan Lawrence

Last updated January 2019

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What you will learn

  • How to sound out chords and melodies by ear

How it compares

Against the other 270 rated Udemy courses in Music on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.2 out of 5higher than 3% of them
  • Reviews235#120 of 271 by number of reviews
  • Length2.9 hoursshorter than 56% of them
  • Last updatedJanuary 2019earlier than 86% of them

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Course Description

People spend thousands of dollars every year in expensive college music degree programs, and virtually every one of them includes an ear training course of some kind.

They do it for good reason; hearing and identifying pitch is a powerful tool. Ear training helps you learn new songs faster. Ear training helps you avoid mistakes before they happen. Ear training gives you the ability to improvise and compose.

Now YOU can have an easy, yet thorough, overview of the most practical aspects of a college ear training course, focused on the typical modern musician's actual needs, at a tiny fraction of the cost.

We have pared down these long and complex courses into simple and practical tutorials that will help you really develop your ear for music.

You will learn how to:

  • Hear and identify the chords of nearly any song.

  • Know what families of notes and chords will sound best together when improvising or composing.

  • Learn new songs faster, using your ear to speed up the process.

  • Reduce your likelihood of live performance mistakes

  • Increase your ability to recover smoothly when mistakes might happen.

  • Plus much more!

Here's what one student had to say:

"I got the class last night, and finished 3 hours of what may have been the most fun I've ever had learning anything. I genuinely found myself on a Netflix-style binge through the class. Your direction, explanations, and demonstrations helped me more than any other basic training I've attempted (let alone finished) so far...I absolutely loved it!" - Brian Esserlieu


Stop feeling jealous of great musicians who seem to effortlessly play whatever they hear.

Now you, too, can learn their secrets.

Why not start today?



Keywords: ear training, music theory, music, piano, guitar, scales, chords, major, minor, play by ear, play by chord, compose, composition, improvise, improvisation.

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Instructor Details

Nathan Lawrence

Nathan is an accomplished musician, worship leader and composer. He has taught one-on-one lessons for about 15 years. He has a B.A. in Music Education from St. Olaf College in Minnesota.  He has taught over 2000 students from over 100 countries through his Udemy videos.

He combines his classical music theory experience with the fun and excitement of modern music. His videos have a personal and relaxed style, with practical, condensed teaching that helps you learn lots of content at whatever pace you like.

He has played and sung in hundreds of worship services throughout the U.S. and has been recorded on over a dozen CD projects. He lives in Iowa with his wonderful wife, awesome kids, and their dog Patches.


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Reviews

4.2

235 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By Wesley Anderson on 7/15/2026

It has helped me figure to better figure out the "distance" from two notes, because that can be difficult when using different keys. I am glad I got this course! It reviews over the basics, and that can be kind of boring for experienced people. But it always is a good reminder for them on the foundation of their musical knowledge.

By Surmani Rose on 5/8/2022

I am finding the course difficult, despite having played piano since childhood. To be able to identify a tone in isolation, without a reference tone is almost impossible for me, yet this was presented early in the course. Having said that, the presentation is very clear.

By Michael McGee on 3/27/2022

I am a little disappointed, as I need some thing a little bit more little bit more advanced and comprehensive to help me really hear and recognize the notes in a song so that I can play a song. Especially the bass. And hearing the different cords. This is a little bit too basic. I wish that you would make a more advanced course.

By Aaron Shea on 10/30/2020

We are learning to identify notes but aren't even given the notes that he is playing. Seems like a waste of time.

By M Fikri Abror on 9/12/2020

Amazing, I need to repeat for three time now. I'm okay with one note. but really terrible with chord. As other reviewer said we need more quiz. but this is really good course sir. so, Thank you so much

By Sarah Abrams on 6/22/2020

Fantastic! Unlike many ear training courses which can just give you quizzes, this has clear explanation and tips on how to figure out what you are listening to. An excellent course!

By Troy Alan Clobes on 5/22/2020

Love it. Easy to follow along. The exercise provided have already sharpened my ear, and they can be used as platforms for creating other ear-training tools.

By Sean C on 4/16/2020

This course really gets your ears to recognize things in a simple way. I've learned a lot in a short period. I really appreciate the teacher's laid back way of explaining things and distilling them to what you need to know.

By Kristy Fisher on 3/31/2020

I enjoyed this course. I found the tricks he used to help recognize the different scales, and intervals super helpful. I would totally recommend it.

By Yusuf Ata Aydın on 3/28/2020

It is okay. He knows the stuff he is teaching clearly, but most of the time he didn't give enough material to grasp the things he told. But I can say now I know what I should practice and study to have a better ear. You will learn some valuable stuff from this course.

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Quality Score

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Overall Score : 84 / 100