Q: so i've been playing around with learning songs by ear, and that's been working pretty well! but so far i've only been able to get pretty slow, uncomplicated ones. (e.g. most recently: peter gabriel's "here comes the flood" - the stripped down version, and schubert's "du bist die ruhe") i can almost always easily identify which notes to play until it gets up to like, 4 or more at one time. i have to sit there and go into hyperfocus and even then it takes me a minute. ive always thought i had a pretty good ear but maybe not - is this something i can develop with practice and experience? do you think it comes more naturally to some than to others?
A: for the peter gabriel song, are you doing the vocal melody? for this one you will need to expand the range to include down to the G below your low C. i don't know if that helps. Also, I should mention, when you are learning these melodies, they will not necessarily be in the same key as the recording -- meaning, they will sound like the song if you play it by itself. but if you compare it with the recording, the whole thing may be higher or lower. also, not every song is possible to play all in 1 key. some times it borrows notes from other keys (for example, in C that means using the black notes). are you familiar with the the traditional alphabet song (also known as twinkle twinkle little star), or row, row, row your boat, or happy birthday? Try those. hint: happy birthday will actually require you to expand the range down to G, when playing it in the key of C. happy birthday would start on the low G note. the other 2 songs should start on C and only use the notes from C to C. let me know if this helps. all this is called "playing in the key of C", where the C note will feel like your home base. for example, if we were to play these songs in the key of D, all the notes would be up a little higher, and as an added twist you have to swap in a couple of black notes to get it to sound right. but you will learn that later