by ear vs improv

by ear

prep
  • To do by guessing, to improvise. 

  • To play (an instrument) or sing or to learn music without reading or memorizing sheet music; to learn a language without instruction. 

improv

verb
  • To perform improv. 

noun
  • Improvisation. 

  • A form of live entertainment characterized by improvisation and interaction with the audience. 

How often have the words by ear and improv occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )