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Guitar Ear Training

By chris | May 18, 2009

Playing guitar is much more than memorizing a series of scale and chord diagrams. It’s an art form based around the power of music. To truly become an excellent guitar player, you have to learn how to play by ear. Playing by ear can only be achieved through hours of intense concentration and practice. There are no shortcuts; there are no books that can make you learn it. There are, however, some tips that should help you on the road to playing guitar by ear.

Practice to Music

Playing guitar to recorded music is one of the most enjoyable parts of guitar playing. You not only get to play along to some of your favorite songs, you also learn more about how to compose music. You intuitively learn what sounds interesting and what doesn’t.

One of the best ways to learn every note on your guitar’s fretboard is to try playing along with some of your favorite song’s vocal melodies. If the music you’re playing along with doesn’t have a vocal melody, try playing along with the melody of another prominent instrument. This technique will allow you to pick out notes that are clear in your music before you move on to the guitar parts, which are typically harder to pick out.

Once you’ve made some progress with mimicking the vocal melody, try playing along with the guitar parts. There are often several guitar parts in a given song. Start with the guitar that is most prominent in your music’s mix, then move on to the parts that are more subtle in the mix.

If you try again and again, but can’t figure out how to play a certain part, try performing a repetitive task for awhile (like mowing your lawn) and coming back to it later. The brain will often figure out the music puzzle on its own while you work on something else.

Play with your eyes closed

Focusing too much on memorized scales sometimes limits the creativity of a beginning guitarist. I’ve found that it helps to close my eyes while I play guitar. Shut your mind to all things but the sound of your guitar and try playing something. Don’t filter your creativity. Just allow yourself to enjoy the way the notes affect your emotions.

Believe it or not, this technique has nothing to do with new age relaxation techniques. It’s actually an excellent way to learn how to navigate around your guitar’s fretboard without thinking too much about scales.

I’ll be frank: you’ll probably sound horrible for awhile. You’ll miss notes left and right and you’ll probably want to go back to staring at your fretboard while you play. Please continue practicing with your eyes closed for as long as you can. It will definitely help you learn to play guitar by ear and it will also keep you from getting embarrassed if you happen to be playing on a dark stage someday.