# What does ‘play it by ear’ mean?

To “play it by ear” means to improvise as you go, without a plan. The phrase comes from musicians playing without written score. Its idiomatic use spread in the 20th century.

## What it means

- The phrase comes from musicians playing without written score. Its idiomatic use spread in the 20th century.

## Action steps

1. Common about flexible plans.
2. Example: Let's play it by ear and see how the day goes.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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