A little-known fact about playing guitar by ear is that anybody can do it. It’s like a lot of artistic ability, half of it is in your perception of yourself. If you think you can’t draw, then you never will. If you think you can’t play by ear, you will always be dependent on learning music from notation or tabs.
So, why not just set aside some time to try to play guitar by ear? The first step is to become familiar with the music your guitar makes. A few months’ practice and learning songs will give you some empathy with the guitar’s sound. But if you want to start trying to play by ear right from the beginning of your career as a guitar player, then you’re quite free to do so.
You will have a greater chance of succeeding in playing guitar by ear if you try to learn relatively simple songs at first. The scales are simpler and have less sharps and flats and there are a lesser number of chords to choose from.
Pick the song you want to learn and play it on a CD. Next, without giving the matter any thought, try to play it on your guitar. You could be way off, or you might surprise yourself how accurate your rendition is. Of course, you are not completely free styling here, you need to be reasonably sure of the note values. If you can give the notes their correct value, that will help you hear where you are going wrong.
If you find that you are having any success with playing guitar by ear, then do not try to analyze it. Lots of people have theories about how they can play by ear, the same as lots of old people have ideas on how they stayed alive so long. Most of these theories are just stabs in the dark, so forget thinking, and just keep trying to do it.
It will help if you try to find the song’s key. If you can identify the first or last chord, you are on your way. Look for the root note first. Just start with the fifth or sixth string open and then on the third fret, till you feel you are close. Once you have the note you want, you might need to adjust your tuning to match the CD. With your root note as your guide you can then try the major or the minor chord, then other chords that usually are played together with your root chord.
Here’s Aaron from Aaron’s Guitar Lessons the first of a series of lessons on playing by ear:
And hear is the link to the second lesson on playing by ear so you can also watch the other eight or so videos.
