Playing by ear is arguably the most joyful and expressive ways of playing the guitar. In its purest form a person can play anything they hear in their head instantly on the guitar. Whilst very few if any guitarists can actually play absolutely anything on the guitar immediately, there are some extremely skilled guitarists that come close. With consistent and appropriate practice, you can definitely expand your abilities to play by ear, moving closer and closer towards the goal of playing purely by ear. I can’t do the practice for you, but I can show you some very useful methods to help you learn to tune in and play by ear.

Playing by ear is very useful for a musician for several reasons. If you wish to learn a piece of music, then with this ability you can do so very quickly. A person who can play by ear can simply listen to the piece several times, and then play it easy! If you wish to write your own music, then you can play whatever sounds are in your mind, rather than fumbling around the fretboard trusting to luck. If you are playing live, then you are far less likely to forget the next note or chord because you can hear in your head what you are supposed to play next, and simply play it as you hear it. A person who has the ability to play by ear can also improvise much easier, and can spontaneously jam with other musicians, since they are far better positioned to think on their feet.

These abilities are the hallmark of great guitarists. Not how many exotic scales or chords you know, but how you can play with your soul. Playing by ear definitely unlocks your soul and allows it to wander into your playing, making it special and unique just like you! You can relax and allow your powerful and creative subconscious mind to take over the playing, rather than play consciously and robotically. How can you open up your soul if you don’t know what sounds you are going to make until after you have made them?

Some people can play good solid improvised pieces without this ability. However if they don’t know what sounds they are going to make until after they have made them, then they are relying on technical knowledge such as chords and scales, and some luck. There is little opportunity for opening up the soul this way.

Here are some valuable tips to help you develop your skills in playing by ear.

1) Always make sure your guitar is tuned in concert pitch.

It is very important that your guitar is accurately tuned at all times. If it is not, then your mind can become confused when the sounds it produces are different each time you play it. When you hit a low E on the 5th fret, it should always ring a true A unless you are experimenting with alternative tunings.

2)Practice playing very simple tunes that you know the sound, but don’t know how to play.

Simple nursery songs like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” are a great way to start. Take your time and relax, and work out how to play these simple songs without relying on musical notation or TAB. It will be slow at first, but keep persevering. As time goes by you will be able to gradually increase the complexity of these songs, and find them quicker and easier to work out.

3)Try and re-learn old songs you have forgotten without consulting the sheet music or TAB.

This is great for developing your abilities to play by ear, as it forces your mind to work and fill in the gaps of your knowledge of the song.

4)When practicing scales or guitar melodies, sing or hum the note you are playing.

Start simply and build up. After some practice you will be able to hum every note that you play at the same time you play it. This exercise seriously helps bridge the mind guitar connection.

5) Really listen to yourself when playing.

This may seem obvious but it is not always. It took me many years of playing before I got into the habit of really listening to myself playing. I was too busy concentrating on what I was playing to really listen. You need to relax, let go, and listen to yourself. Your ears are the most important part of your playing. Jimi Hendrix once commented in an interview that he plays guitar with my ears. What he meant by this was that he had the ability to play guitar by ear, and he really listened to his own playing in order to express himself.

If you follow these pieces of advice every day, then you will quickly notice an improvement in your abilities to play by ear. To play fully by ear may take years of practice like this, but you can move some way close to this in a relatively short period of time. As your abilities to play by ear improve, you will find your enjoyment and all round guitar abilities improve.

The best way to practice this is definitely little and often. If you practice these exercises for even 10-15 minutes, several times per day, you will see vast improvements in your playing in just a few weeks. Your confidence on the guitar will soar when you realise you are no longer faking it – you intimately know the guitar and you know what you are doing. Your playing will rapidly grow to new heights, and your passion and enjoyment will grow exponentially.

So put in that work and share in the joy of being able to play guitar by ear. Just a few minutes every day will help you make significant leaps. It’s a wonderful world to live in, and you will be so grateful that you tuned in.

Jon Rhodes is both a clinical hypnotherapist and professional musician. He has helped many people advance their guitar playing abilities with his unique talents in the fields of both music and hypnotherapy. If you would like to improve your guitar playing and bring out the soul in your music, then click here for his guitar hypnosis programme.

If you would like to increase your general creativity, then please click here for details on his creative hypnosis audio session.

By Kevin Sinclair

Did you know that there are many people who can naturally play by ear? Often they sing by ear as well. Sure, they may be able to follow along as the music moves up and down the scale of the page they are looking at while performing. However, in reality, they never learned the difference between an A flat and a D flat, it is something that comes natural to them and they truly follow their ear when playing an instrument or singing vocals.

It is very possible that these natural ‘by ear’ performers even found themselves puzzled as to why learning to read music was so very difficult for them, some not being able to learn how at all. Even though many of them are awesome performers and many others never discover their secret at all.

On the other hand, there are many learned performers, who know their scales by name and type as well as timing, since they put a great many hours into learning each step there is to take when learning to play and instrument or vocalize. Even though it may take many years to learn to be a master of music, you can learn to play by ear.

It is simple really, to learn to play by ear, since anything that you have ever heard is available to play by ear; you just have to learn how to do it. Then all it takes is practice to be perfect, since the more often you do something, the easier it becomes for you to do. First however, you must understand the theory of teaching your ear to understand the musical structures as they are being played is an age old practice. Actually, it is one that you often experienced as a child; before learning to play by lessons, it is something that most people come by naturally. Very simply, playing by ear is an ability to play a piece of music by listening to it continually. You are then able to play a piece of music simply because you have heard it so many times.

Basically, there are three contributing elements of music.

1. The melody is the tune that moves up and down or higher and lower as the song moves forward. You must first become aware of this as it is the first step in learning to play by ear. By mentally defining the boundary of a songs melody, you begin to improve on playing it on your instrument.

2. The harmony of a song matches closely the melody and is the ability of harmonizing or matching up the chords, which supports the melody. For instance, you can harmonize with a melody of a certain key with other keys on the scale that find harmony in association, such as G and C chords in music.

3. Rhythm is then the third element, which supports the beat or timing of a song. Rhythm is normally easier to learn since most people can feel the beat. Basically, there are two rhythm meters, the duple meter and triple meter, which are combined in a great many ways. The rhythm of a song determines whether a song is very slow or very fast.

Keep in mind that while learning to play by ear, it will require practice. However, there are a few tips and tools available while learning to play by ear.

1. Play around with your instrument. Play the notes and listen to how they sound, this will help you identify how notes and stings, keys and frets relate.

2. Learn the scales, as by doing so; you truly do learn your instrument.

3. Learn music theory as this practice enables you to learn the notes and their names.

4. Begin with simple melodies, this is also a great way to understand your instrument.

5. Transpose the songs you hear, as you will begin to develop your ear as well as becoming able to understand the relationship between the chords.

Some of the tools available while learning to play by ear are ear training videos, software and hardware. You should be able to find DVD and CD aids that help in a number of ways while you learn to play by ear. Some of these aids can remove the lyrics of a song, while letting you listen to the music. As you listen to the changing of the sounds as you change chords, you will find understanding in how the chords change in a song you listen to repeatedly.

Just keep a good outlook and try not to become discouraged, it is just a process of learning. If you are committed to the project, you can learn to play by ear.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development. http://www.musicianhome.com/