playing by ear

Both men wrote defensive, score-settling last books — respectively, “Playing by Ear” and “Cursed Questions.”

And a new book, “Playing by Ear: Reflections on Music and Sound,” was published the following month.

“It doesn’t come from notes on the paper or anything like that. What happens is, the music comes from my toe and travels all the way up like electricity. And that’s why I’m surprised when I’m playing. That’s because by playing by ear, I really let my body play what’s in my heart, right there on the bandstand. I play life instead of notes. I play what I lived.”

“I played it for my piano teacher, who slapped me across the wrist with a ruler for playing by ear,” Mitchell, now 76, continues.

We’re all playing by ear day to day, and in the best-case scenarios, our ethics, integrity, and consistency create a harmonic score to low-key interpersonal chaos.