by ear vs written

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. 

written

adj
  • Of, relating, or characteristic of writing (i.e., of that which has been written). 

  • Having been written. 

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