I finally got it. I figured out how to play "Someday," by Nickelback, on my keyboard.

Here's a secret of playing pop and rock songs by ear. Once you've figured out the first, oh, 30 songs, figuring out most of the others takes a relatively shorter amount of time. This is because most American pop and modern rock music uses one of a finite set of chord progressions and hook formulas. Granted, I have a pretty good ear, but it's why I can play a song like "Almost Paradise" instantly without ever having played it before. (I just kind of landed in it while playing other stuff, and there it was.)

The real fun starts when you have a song with no piano or keyboards. This is why a song like "Someday" is a refreshing challenge. I also love playing Dave Matthews for the same reason. And Oasis. And Pearl Jam.

Of course, some piano and keyboard songs aren't easy. You're not going to transcribe a Bruce Hornsby solo on the first crack -- probably never. Phish has some pretty easy pop, like "Free," but try to dismantle that solo in "Taste" and you're asking for trouble.

Sometimes songs take years to learn. When "Do You Believe In Us?" by Jon Secada first came out in 1993, I got the intro in about five seconds. For whatever reason, the modulation turned out to be nasty, and I didn't nail it down until a few months ago. Well, at least it sounds pretty good now, with a complete song from beginning to end.