Play Guitar by Ear – Getting Started to Play Guitar by Hearing

You may think that the average person can’t possibly learn to play guitar by ear. Playing by ear is something that is often looked at as being a special skill and something that only those who are musically gifted can ever do. That is all untrue. Anyone can learn to play guitar by ear. It does take some skills, but you can learn them. Most people will find that with a little work they can learn to play guitar by ear.

What It Means

Playing by ear simply refers to being able to play music by just hearing it and not actually reading sheet music to play. You may not realize it, but you probably already know how to play by ear in some fashion. When you sing you are actually doing it by ear. You hear the music and then sing it. The one main skill you need to play guitar by ear is the ability to hear if a note played is the same as the note you hear. This is called recognizing the pitch. Don’t worry if you think you can’t do this. There are some things you can do to perfect this skill.

Getting Started

The best way to get started is by choosing a song or simple tune that you know quite well. It helps if you do not know how to play it on the guitar, though. Listen to the tune or sing it out loud and then simply try to duplicate it on your guitar. You should be able to hear if the tune sounds right.

Now you may notice that you get stuck on a note here or there. This is where your musical knowledge comes in. If you are trying to get a note and you keep strumming the wrong one, try changing to the next note, either higher or lower, whatever direction you need to go. If that doesn’t work then try adding in a sharp or flat. Keep messing with different notes until you find that right one. Eventually you will find it.

Spend time working with tunes that you know quite well. These are the easiest because you know what sounds right and what does not. After a while you should find it pretty easy to play a simple tune by ear on the guitar.