The tune
Paste or edit the ABC
The dots
Listen first. The dots are hidden.
Learning by ear
- Listen to a phrase two or three times before you try it. Sing or hum it first if you can: if you can sing it, you can play it.
- Get the shape before the details. Which way does it go, up or down? Where does it land? Ornaments can wait.
- Keep going in the gap even if you go wrong. The beat matters more than the notes.
- Slow is fine, but not so slow it stops sounding like the tune. Tick “Speed up a little each time round” once a phrase comes easily.
- “Build it up” plays the first phrase, then the first two, then the first three, so you learn how the phrases join up as well.
- Leave the dots hidden as long as you can. Peeking is allowed when you're stuck.
Space starts and stops, and the arrow keys move between phrases.