Learn How to Play Guitar by Ear:Learning to Play Guitar by Ear is another method of learning, as opposed to the traditional sight reading based guitar lessons. Lot of guitarists have learnt to play guitar this way and you too can learn it if you approach it correctly.
There are a lot of guitar teachers who teach you to play guitar the traditional way, wherein you would start with learning to recognize the basic guitar notes and then progress to easy guitar lessons.
The approach this far is okay and most students are quite happy to go this route. It’s just that lot of students don’t want to follow this route beyond a particular point. And that point is usually when you start playing intermediate to the more advanced guitar songs.
This is where most guitar students wish there was an easy way to learn to play their favorite guitar songs. And most students think that learning to play the Guitar by Ear is the solution!
There are several well-known guitarists who cannot sight-read but have managed to learn to play the guitar by ear, and that too to a very high level of proficiency.
Is it Possible?
So if you ask the question “Is it possible to Learn to Play the Guitar by Ear?” the answer is definitely Yes!
But if you expect it to be a cakewalk, it definitely is not going to work.
So what do you need to learn to play by Ear?
A bit of natural talent (ear for music) and knowledge of music and sound in general will definitely help.
Besides, you need to have patience and be ready to practice diligently.
Prerequisites
You need to know the basics of guitar before you can learn to play by ear. You need to know how to play the various guitar notes.
You also need to know how to play major and minor scales!
Doing finger exercises from guitar books will also help as explained ahead.
How do You Practice?
Once you have this, get you favorite songs that you wish to play (begin with the easier ones though) and start listening to them. You may start with Carlos Santana!
Once you know the melody of the song, break it down into various small sections and try learning them one at a time. Patience is needed because you will have to keep on repeating the same section unless you get the melody, chords and the riffs correct.
If you figure out the scale of the song, it becomes easier to guess the various notes.
Remember that’s why I said you need to know the major and minor scales. Besides, doing some finger exercises also help because most of them make you play notes that are patterns based on the various scales. So it helps you to guess the various notes while playing by ear.
Again, remember that patience is the key as you will need to repeat the various sections several times, and then finally join them together. But now that you know how to learn to play Guitar by Ear, you better get practicing.
About Guitar Tabs
Even if you decide to access online guitar tabs to learn some of your favorite songs, you need to know that most of them have several incorrect notes on them.
Another problem with tabs online, in case you’re looking for your favorite song, is that its very easy to find several different tabs of the same song and they all could be different from each other, with no real way to know which is the correct version, especially if you’re a novice.
The only reason I would imagine that students use guitar tabs is because “it’s easy.” And though its okay to use them (as one more method of learning to play), relying solely on guitar tabs means limiting your skills as a guitar player.
An expert musician definitely knows several different methods to learn & to play new songs.
Summary
Now that you have some valuable tips on how to play guitar by ear, pick up your guitar, find a silent place for yourself, get hold of your favorite Guitar CD/MP3 and start practicing. It is important to know that the more you practice the better you become. If you are persistent, after a few months you will easily be able to play even tough songs by just listening to them.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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