How to play i run to you by lady antebellum by ear on piano?

Q. Hello,
I know there are probably sim1lar questions on here, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me how i would go about learning to play i run to you by lady antebellum on the piano by ear. What chords form the building blocks for this song, it's in e flat major. I have been taking piano since 1999 and i would love to play this song for a recital.

A. The best way I've found to learn songs by ear is to listen to a recording of it, over and over, until you can sing, hum, or whistle it accurately, from memory without reference to the recording.

You already know what key the recording is in (Eb major). If you've been playing piano since 1999, you should already know what chords are in the key of Eb, I hope:

I -- Eb
Ii -- Fm
Iii -- Gm
IV -- Ab
V -- Bb
Vi -- Cm
Vii -- D dim

....Where the I, IV and V chords are the most commonly used chords in any major key, so the Eb, Ab and Bb chords are the ones most likely to be used in this song. In all likelihood, the song starts on a I chord (Eb) -- most songs do -- so start on the Eb chord and start singing. At some point, the Eb chord will no longer harmonize with the melody you're singing, and you'll have to switch to a different chord. Your ear may tell you which chord to switch to, or you may have to experiment to figure out what the second chord is. Continue singing, until once again, your ear tells you to switch chords. And so on.

A. I'm not a pianist, but I suggest leaving the root out (odds are the bassist is playing it) and leaving the natural 5th out (it does very little to define the quality of the chord).

Do play 3rd/7th in your left hand and other chord tones or melody notes in your right hand. You'll discover that the LH voice leading falls together pretty naturally this way, and you are free to add tension tones or improvise in the RH.

Less is more, and the larger the ensemble, the truer this becomes.

Now... that said, comping is a delicate art that requires years of study to do well, so take your time, have fun, and perhaps get yourself a jazz piano teacher who can help you along. Also listen to and steal from your favorite pianists a LOT. If you arent' sure who to listen to, start with Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, and Chick Corea just to get their sound into your ear - all are very sophisticated and really playing the way they do will be out of your reach for a while, so cherry-pick the occasional cool voicing that you can and just enjoy the rest. McCoy is known for huge voicings that require a lot of strength, and Chick often plays polytonally (in multiple keys at once) so don't discourage yourself by trying to become like them overnight. Bill is the epitome of mainstream "cocktail jazz" piano, and you will learn and grow conceptually just by enjoying his amazing, delicate, beautiful compositions, solos, and voicings.