This is a challenging thread title. Having learned everything I play and all the harmonies I sing by ear, I forget that playing by ear can seem to be an insurmountable task for some people. I have a friend who is a wonderful piano player, who really wants to be able to play by ear. He's finding it extremely difficult. I don't think I'll have a lot to offer on this topic, but I think it's a very worthy one.

My attitude in music, and often in life is "I wonder what happens if you do this?" That doesn't work well with dynamite and a match, but it's worked well for me in music, and many other areas of life. Maybe just "messing around" can be elevated to an art form? It usually works for me.

Jerry