“How does ‘playing by ear’ work?”

Playing by ear is based on observation, trial, and error. This is how very young children learn to walk and talk. The ToneWay Music Method incorporates this approach to give you the simplest and easiest way to learn to play music. Simply playing around and making mistakes guides you into the ‘groove’. As you intuitively sense the ‘relative tone’ nature of music, your innate talent blossoms naturally.

“How can your books cover all these instruments in so few pages?”

Your book is excellent, even for a slow learner like myself! Thank you so much for your help.

–Toni from Houston, TX

Most learning methods we’ve reviewed rely on rote learning to ‘force’ music out. Instead, our method rests upon the ‘simple roots’ of music—the Five Commandments, as we call them. This allows us to connect the fundamentals that apply to all string instruments. Thus, we can convey more information in fewer pages. But don’t take our word for it; read our book online. and decide for yourself!

The benefits to this approach are numerous. For example, in learning just one instrument, you will automatically be learning how to play the others. You will learn to play new songs easily by ear. And, because our method is key-independent, you will be able to play in any key, making singing more comfortable and enjoyable.

“This sounds too good to be true. Is there a secret?”

The secret lies in implementing the Five Commandments as efficiently as possible. We’ve found the dictum ‘less is more’ to be profoundly true. Teaching folks to play music intuitively requires limiting the instruction to only what is necessary. Oddly, that is perhaps the greatest challenge; it is so easy to fall into the ‘more is better’ trap, teachers and students alike.

Another obvious secret is patience and listening. An ounce of such ‘love’ qualities equals a pound of talent. Indeed, without this, all the talent in the world will not bring joy. Too many expectations will make your cup seem forever half-empty.

On the other hand, if you can approach your musical quest with ‘love’, you can enjoy every step of the journey no matter how meager you talent. Attitude is everything! With that, and Five Commandments, you can’t fail! Finally, and perhaps most importantly, play with other folks, friends, and family. This music, like its African and Native American cousins, lives and breathes in its social experience! This is why playing with others as early as possible is the quickest way to learn, bar none.

“But what if I don’t have any musical talent?”

Even if you don’t have any oratory talent, you can speak fluently, right? Having talent is totally unnecessary when it comes to communication, whether through music or speech. Sure, without talent your not going to be a rock star, nor an eloquent preacher. So what? Simply approach music as a child would, tapping into your sense of curiosity and play. With that alone, the “playing by ear” approach to this music will have you singing and playing the old-time way before you know it. If you want it, it will come.