• From: Orpington London
  • Registered: 2006-10-22
  • Posts: 390

Topic: Learning by ear

i've been playing guitar for some years and can play most simple chord progression. i even picked up a bit of music theory. Harmony, Scales etc

however one thing I never worked out was playing by ear

some people seem to have a huge flair for it.  afterall there's folks who  transcribe music as a living and most players with experience seem to be able to pick up the basic chords of a song  but I seem to have cloth ears in that respect. i don't think its because I'm tone deaf. thats a medical condition but I can hold a tune to sing it.  i just can't turn that tune into notes and chords on the guitar

its a bit of disadvantage because it means I forget almost instantly all the songs in my "play list". the only song I can play from memory is Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix and in case youre wondering thats without the solo. Just the chord progression. I only learnt it because I strum through the chords as soon as I pick up the guitar too check that its in tune. 

So what to do ? Thats the Question

I've put away all my tab and chord sheets and have my guitar in front of me waiting for tips

(I've already played Hey Joe) 

all suggestions welcome

johncross21's Website

  • From: A black hole in deep space
  • Registered: 2007-10-28
  • Posts: 7,863

Re: Learning by ear

That's a tough one, I always wanted to be a pilot but i'm near sighted and afraid of heights sometimes wanting something isn't enough even if you crack the books and practice the simple truth is not everybody is cut out for what they want and if you try sometimes you get what you need(see where I'm going here) if you enjoy playing that's reward in itself and if its not fun find something that is smile

"Growing old is not for sissies"

Russell_Harding's Website

  • From: derbyshire
  • Registered: 2007-05-17
  • Posts: 2,843

Re: Learning by ear

hi johncross21 its simple really you sing the song and try different chords to fit,i usually sing slowly to pick up on the chords then speed up when i've transcribed it,i usually pick songs i like which makes it more enjoyable,give it a bash.....stay cool

love is life ,life is for love,keep a true heart and live life to the full....stay cool

daddycool's Website

  • selso
  • selso
  • Senior Member
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  • From: El Paso, TX
  • Registered: 2007-07-18
  • Posts: 994

Re: Learning by ear

I just go up and down the thick E till I find the key then the rest will either make sense or it'll take me a few to figure it out. Normally if i figure out the key then I think of other songs I know in the same key and go from there. I have to have the song playing or it doesnt work unless its something simple. Ive never been able to figure out solos. Like Daddycool said, its better to pick songs you really like and have heard a 1000 times.

Everything is bad including me
But being bad is good policy
Reverend Horton Heat
  • Zurf
  • Zurf
  • Blunt but well meaning moderator
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  • From: Virginia, USA
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 7,522

Re: Learning by ear

Scales.

Also, try using your fingers.  I tried playing by ear, but my poor lobes just never got calloused enough to get a good well-defined pluck.  I've found my fingers much easier.

Sorry for the silliness.

Scales really are your answer.  You need to learn scales.  Practice them, and also arpeggios (which are the individual notes of a chord played in a row) and inversions (which are the individual notes of a chord played out of order).  By the time you practice them a bunch, 'hearing' the relationship between notes in a song isn't hard.

Or so I've been told.  I am terrible about taking my own advice.   Figuring out how to play the right notes by the sound of the lick is not something I"m good at either.  It takes me absolutely forever.  I am terribly jealous of folks who have a "quick ear" (as I call it). 

Good luck and have fun.  There's always tabs. 

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude
  • From: Renfrewshire, Scotland
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 1,359

Re: Learning by ear

I'm led to believe that anyone can do this, with practice and experience. I can only guess a lot of experience. I have a friend who really has a quick ear as Zurf says. Man it's annoying.

I tend to go the same way as selso and figure out the basic chords from the low E string and then work from there. Sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's not. You've just got to get yourself in the zone and really concentrate on it. Which can be hard, depending on the environment you are working in.

Once you've done it once you'll feel so proud of yourself you will instantly become a living guitar god and everything will be at your mercy.

Is anything really made up of zeros and ones??

alvee33's Website

  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2007-02-08
  • Posts: 1,912

Re: Learning by ear

There are programs/aids you can buy that are helpfull... I bought "Complete Guitar by Ear" about a year or so ago and it has been a great trainer. It's a cd collection that carries you through all the notes at varying pitches and then you have go through and find them on the guitar. I practice with this a lot and it really helps! Before I was lost trying to find things by ear. Now I can hear a G note in a riff and say hey that's played on B string 8th fret or D string 5th fret etc... I got it from Musicians friend as one of their "Stupid deals" for only $5. It's been well worth it.

[b][color=#FF0000]If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something.
[/color][/b]         [b]Peace of mind. That's my piece of mind...[/b]

Guitarpix's Website

8 Reply by johncross21 (edited by johncross21 2009-04-15 17:45:27)

  • From: Orpington London
  • Registered: 2006-10-22
  • Posts: 390

Re: Learning by ear

Russell Harding - thanks. yes I may never be good.  I shall only aspire to get a lil' better. 

Daddy cool - I have a few songs with only four or five chords (passenger, best friends girl, knocking on heavens door,  so lonely, you really got me). I will try to work them out without the book open. any other tips for easy tunes would be gratefully received   

Selso - good tip. I shall try it.

Zurf -  ummmm. I've spent what seems like several  lifetimes playing scales and my ears are still useless. meantime my fingers have damn nearly fallen off. but thanks for the encouraging words. glad I'm not the only one who finds it tough.

alvee  - i so look forward to becoming a living guitar god. and only another 10,000 hours of practice to go !

Guitarpix - pleased that it worked  for you. I'll look out for it

johncross21's Website

  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2007-02-08
  • Posts: 1,912

Re: Learning by ear

johncross21 wrote:

Guitarpix - pleased that it worked  for you. I'll look out for it

I still have a lousy ear smile  My previous post may have made it sound too easy lol What I was trying to say is that now I can figure them out. I can't really just hear it and name it... (wish I could though) It's just that before I was completly lost and now I can actually find them and figure out what and where they are. So it seems to be helping.-Pix

[b][color=#FF0000]If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something.
[/color][/b]         [b]Peace of mind. That's my piece of mind...[/b]

Guitarpix's Website

  • Zurf
  • Zurf
  • Blunt but well meaning moderator
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  • From: Virginia, USA
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 7,522

Re: Learning by ear

You may want to try one of those guitar trainer thingies.  I have one for bass, and it's neat.  You can slow a song way, way down without changing the pitch.  It makes it a bit easier (a lot easier) to hear what's going on.  You can also set it to loop a particular section over and over (and over and over unless you can figure out how to make it stop, which I could not for a while, so don't lose your instruction manual).  Anyway, that may help if you don't have to move quite so fast.  You can also change the pitch/key to put it into one that you can play easier. 

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude
  • From: Alabama Gulf Coast
  • Registered: 2008-06-24
  • Posts: 1,819

Re: Learning by ear

How do you get both ears on the guitar at the same time?

We pronounce it "Guf Coast".
Ya'll wanna go down to the Guf?

tubatooter1940's Website

  • From: Orpington London
  • Registered: 2006-10-22
  • Posts: 390

Re: Learning by ear

I have come across this site. it plays random intervals and chords and encourages allows you to guess them. 

http://www.good-ear.com/

other things I am finding useful is harmonic theory. for those not familiar with the idea;  this is about taking the chords buildt on each  of the intervals of the scale and numbering them (usually with Roman Numerals). So C F G become  I IV V.  That  is in fact by far the the most common chord progression in the Key of C and its relatively easy  to memorise and recognise.

However  there are lots of other recognisable progressions. at the moment I'm just playing chord changes and listening to them.

johncross21's Website