Pro Pianist Learns “Rush E” By Ear

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If there’s a piano song that has destroyed the internet, it’s “Rush E.” The musical meme by YouTuber Sheet Music Boss is notorious for being impossible to play. But it’s also remarkably catchy, and as we’ll soon discover, it’s actually not a complicated song! In fact, a master pianist like Sangah Noona can even learn “Rush E” by ear.

How to Figure Out a Song By Ear

Watching Sangah Noona figure out “Rush E” by ear is a fantastic lesson in how to learn any song by ear.

Playing by ear is something we can all do. (Well, maybe not a song as dense and fast as “Rush E,” but the principle is the same.) All you really need is a basic understanding of chord harmony, the ability to remember melodies, and lots and lots of patience. 

Here’s how Sangah does it.

Figuring Out the Theme

The theme is what everyone hears first and remembers, so it makes sense to figure this out first. Knowing the theme will also help with figuring out the chord progression.

Sangah sings the melody as she figures out the notes. Singing helps you internalize the melody of a song. If you can sing the melody, you can play it on the piano!

Singing is also handy because you become your own boombox. You can sing the melody as fast or as slow as you want as you find chords to harmonize with. You don’t need to be an excellent singer—all you need is to carry the melody.

> How to Play By Ear Using Intervals

Figuring Out the Chord Progression

The chord progression is the underlying harmonic structure of the song. Once you have your melody down, you can start finding the chords that harmonize with it.

Knowing the primary chords in the key you’re in helps here. In fact, if you look at the original sheet music for “Rush E” (which you can download on Sheet Music Boss’ official website), you’ll find that the first few lines of the melody are simply built on i and V chords in A minor.

Knowing the chord progression behind your song also lets you put your own spin on things. For a cool example of this, watch the end of the video when Sangah jazzes up “Rush E” with some 2-5-1s and tritone substitutions.

> How to Harmonize a Melody in 4 Easy Steps

Listen More Than Play

Sangah tells us that a key thing to do is to listen more than play.

Sometimes, if we rush to play a song before knowing it well, we end up not reproducing the melody faithfully (at least, this is what happens to me sometimes!). Your brain can fill in gaps without you knowing.

So, if you want to accurately reproduce a song, listen more than play. At least initially. 

Write Stuff Down

At one point, Sangah asks for staff paper so she can write down some notes.

Now, you don’t need to know how to read and write sheet music to play songs by ear! But a notation method can help you keep track of things, whether that’s handwritten notes, chord symbols, or recording yourself. You can also use staff paper to write down pitches in free time—it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Writing stuff down helps with a song like “Rush E” because there are so many notes involved!

Persist!

Finally, Sangah tells us to keep going.

Playing songs by ear isn’t easy. It takes time. It can come naturally to some people, but for most of us, it’s a lot of trial and error and it can be frustrating when you just can’t figure out that one note.

But playing by ear is possible! It’s not just for musical geniuses. If you can hum a melody, you can play by ear.

And it’s a skill like no other. Practice will make you better at this skill.

The Origin of “Rush E”

The story behind “Rush E” is a little bizarre, but such are the origins of internet memes.

The song was inspired by the Lord Marquaad E meme, a deep-fried image of YouTuber Markiplier E photoshopped onto Lord Farquaad’s body (a character from Shrek) with the letter E. 

Sheet Music Boss then created a “how to play” video called “E” that consisted of just the note E and the Lord Marquaad meme. They made a similar tutorial for the note B, and then some viewers asked them to make it “sound Russian.”

So, “Rush B” was born. But it didn’t take off the same way “Rush E” later did, racking up 67 million views in 5 years. The rest…is history.

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Charmaine Li is a Vancouver writer who has played piano for over 20 years. She holds an Associate diploma (ARCT) from the Royal Conservatory of Music and loves writing about the ways in which music—and music learning—affects the human experience. Charmaine manages The Note. Learn more about Charmaine here.