Playing by ear

[firdaus]

sir what i think is that for you to know what is the key of the song then first you have to know what chord is in the song, next step analyze the chord by using the chord diatonic harmonization for example c maj ,a min, d min ,g maj ,c maj this chord progression is in the key of c .For you to play the chords in the particular key you just stack the notes in thirds.

c major scale:c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c

diatonic chord harmonization:

c,e,g=c major
d,f,a=d minor
e,g,b=e minor
f,a,c=f major
g,b,d g major

continue doing for the rest of the notes and do this procedure for other scales and when you have practice doing this regularly you will be able to tell what is the key of a particular song just by analyzing the chord progression.

As for power chords it is not actually a chord because a chord should contain 3 notes or more power chord is made up of only two notes the root and the fifth, for example c5 =c and g
c major scale :c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c
:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
so power chord is actually an interval its a perfect fifth it does not have a third .The third of any chord is actually the one that determines whether the chord is a major chord or a minor chord .

for major chords = 1,3,5
minor chords= 1,b3,5

so actually you can use either minor or major scales to solo over a power chord

 

[kimura]

I started jamming around the time Master Of Puppets were released, I was 15.The 'similar-aged guy' on guitar was a huge fan of Metallica,Iron Maiden,D.R.I.,Anthrax etc etc.

He could play everything& anything by them note for note, at that age including the solos even though he doesn't know nuts about chords& the like.

I asked him how he did it...

he said like, James mentioned, through determination ( practise,practise, practise ). HIs talent came in the form that he usually only needs 2sitting through a song to get them hook,line & sinker.

I developed my hearing ( music ) ability playing with him. I've met a few people who has perfect pitch & picked up valuable tips from them.

Later on when I took my music exams one of the tested subject was hearing. The tester would play a note say C, on the piano. He would then play another note& ask me for it's 'name'.

That's a good way to start, you pluck a note on your guitar, check what note it is then hit another one without looking& see if you can guess what that note is.

Learn your basic scales.

One thing I must bring up here:
I notice some people here asking for help in regards to playing specifically, which is fine but the thing is some of the request seemed pretty 'mind-boggling'. For example ( for argument's sake ), if you're asking what is a scale, heck if you can go online to ask,I'm pretty sure you can do a search unless the intent was to save time& effort. You might as well ask for a spoon, made of silver.

But c'mon..
'no pain no gain'.

 

[qwertylol42]

i agree..how do u play by ear??? i am still a beginner..only played for 3 months and i watched several youtube videos saying the best way to learn and improve is by playing by ear...for all u guys who noe how to do it..do u start to try playing by ear once u learned de basics already or do u just try to di it when u first got a guitar and trial and error all the way??? i do not know anything about notes on a fretboard though i do know some beginner scales...hais guitar progress is real slow for me

 

[kimura]

i agree..how do u play by ear??? i am still a beginner..only played for 3 months and i watched several youtube videos saying the best way to learn and improve is by playing by ear...for all u guys who noe how to do it..do u start to try playing by ear once u learned de basics already or do u just try to di it when u first got a guitar and trial and error all the way??? i do not know anything about notes on a fretboard though i do know some beginner scales...hais guitar progress is real slow for me

You 'play by ear' through listening. You hear a note, you find it on your guitar. Then you find out what note it is. Practise over& over until it becomes second nature i.e. knowing what note is on what fret on which string.

You do not know anything about notes on a fret, find out. Progress comes with patience, you will start out slow then you will be on a roll, followed by a plateau ( & I ain't talking abt THE Nirvana song ). Then your real 'problems' start.

To put it across blatantly:

Forget about pentatonics, diatonics, chromatics, psychedelicstonepowerrangerstistics.

Your issue is how to play by ear so start getting acquainted with notes on your fretboard through the method I mentioned. Start from zero.

 

[theunknown]

Agreed. Forget about the scales first (not entirely though). Playing by ear takes time, considering that you don't spoil yourself with tabs.

It's like you play many songs then you realise that this sounding note(s) always falls around some spots. Then as you by and play impromtu, you can gauge where the notes are. Your hand will automatically go to the spots you recognise. As time passes, you can memorize cetain notes. Like I always have Iron Maiden (oops, i'm wearing iron maiden t-shirt now) 's Dance of Death intro that is the E note. From there, I can even tune my guitar, though not THAT accurately.

Or in incidents where you hum a song e.g. Knocking oh heaven's door(if you hum in key that is), then you go "oohh I just hummed a G, D and C!".

 

[fenderrules]

Actually I find that the best way to solo by ear is to familiarise yourself with the 7 modes. Guaranteed to work when soloing and you'll never find yourself hitting the wrong note. So therefore if you are soloing in E minor, you will be playing..

E Aeolian (Minor) F#Locrian G Ionian (Major) A Dorian B Phrygian C Lydian D Mixolydian

Memorise the patterns. Then improvise away.

But there's a bit of a disadvantage. Being immature, I actually took these patterns and practiced on speed instead. Never, ever think about speed if you can't play with feel or it will all be meaningless. Think about the melodies you wanna form out of those modes and play with the music. I am now a mindless shredder machine so I kinda regret what I'm doing also.

And I thought Steve Vai was weird.

Yeah so anyway, play around with the modes. Then when you get into scales itself, you will begin to realize a formula and pattern within them and you can make some scales out of modes as well. My personal favourite is to raise the 7th of the B Phrygian, resulting in a Phrygian Dominant 7th.

I've hoped I've helped.

Cheers

 

[Stringcast]

Hi friends, not all of us are born Mozart. Playing by ear requires training. I was browsing the web and this sales webpage regarding perfect pitch caught my attention. I've copied some of the text from the site and posted it below.

Have you ever heard a song and later you couldn't get it out of your head? All day that melody kept repeating over and over again, it was almost like you were actually hearing the notes ringing in your ears! The idea of hearing notes and chords in your mind is very much at the heart of absolute pitch.

A person with this ability has the luxury of hearing a piece of music and being able to know which notes were played. Having absolute pitch, as you might imagine, can give you a huge advantage as a professional musician. Not only that, but working out melodies you hear in your head takes just seconds.

"So What Is Absolute Pitch?" It is the ability to hear a note and name it. This term is also sometimes called perfect pitch.

Get to read the full page with testimonies of some famous musicians who used the product.

This product is said to be 100% money back guarantee and includes several free gifts like:
Guitar Chords Pro 1.0
eTuner Pro 1.0
ClickTrack Pro 1.0
The Guitarists' Guide To Reading Music Notation
The Guitarists' Guide To Tuning & Stringing

These are digital products which means it can be downloaded immediately even in the middle of the night.
I think its a cool deal!

 

[kimura]

Dude, seriously, the commission must be pretty low eh? You won't have to advertise so much if it paid well.

May the gods of perfect pitch watch over you in sleep for even snoring can produce perfect pitches.

 

[Valentinoz]

Key of the song: I usually figure the first chord or the most reocurring chord.

How to figure chords: I usually play the power chord to figure out. Say I don't know what chord that is, I figure which power chord sounds most similar. If I found it, I try different shapes of the chord. (This, in a sense, is also finding the bass note also).

good............

 

[orgasmatron]

You 'play by ear' through listening. You hear a note, you find it on your guitar. Then you find out what note it is. Practise over& over until it becomes second nature i.e. knowing what note is on what fret on which string.

You do not know anything about notes on a fret, find out. Progress comes with patience, you will start out slow then you will be on a roll, followed by a plateau ( & I ain't talking abt THE Nirvana song ). Then your real 'problems' start.

To put it across blatantly:

Forget about pentatonics, diatonics, chromatics, psychedelicstonepowerrangerstistics.

Your issue is how to play by ear so start getting acquainted with notes on your fretboard through the method I mentioned. Start from zero.

Hail to all guitar experts and music lovers...

Interesting topics to talk about...

First of all im a newb in guitar...and really enjoy my guitar journey

Agreed with this respond above...very detail and nice xplanation.Same with me,i must say i dunno that much about guitar theories like others(just know a bit bout basic theories),not to say i dont want to know,like the guitar scales, but its very boringggggg!!! hehe.I just play by ear

1) Try to listen to the great song that you like and you want to play.It may varies from others depend on the individual.Just be honest to yourself,play things that you like but not play the things thats gonna make you look cool.

2)I do believe that music come from heart and mind,guitar is just the medium for you to transfer your creativity(like a computer or typewriter).I just make it simple ...i just play what i hear in my head..Its sound easy aite:twisted:

3)I dun make it too complicated...like other guitar god always said "Just fu@#in play man"...actually its true..just play what you hear or what in your mind.I dun care much about scales or any other complicated guitar theories,but im aware of that.Make it as a knowledge like English grammar,no need for you to know all the grammar in order to speak well or to write a nice piece of arts or poem.Just make it as a references,same we apply to all the guitar theories.

4)Try develop your ear and its become better from time to time.Hehe i know its not easy,but like what other people always said "Only The Strong Survive"

Just my 2 cents

 

[daniaoz]

haha well i feel that there's no one sound formula to play by ear. it just takes experience (not to say that i'm really there myself. hahah)

well certain genres have their own signature kind of chords and notes that they frequently use, and after playing that same genre for awhile i think it's easy to spot patterns and you can start from there. of course the better u are, the more genres u can probably manage and have a 'sensing' of where the chords are going and stuff.

usually playing by ear you'll have a sense of the intervals of the chords, well unless you have perfect pitch, then this will probably be quite useful. you probably can distinct whether its lets say a 1st, 4th, 5th or 6th in whichever part of the song it already is.. like you'll know if a chord sounds wrong, means you probably know when a chord is right too. a lot is just 'sensing' and 'feeling' where the song is going. applicable to solos too. once you know or 'feel' the chord coming next, you'll know which note to play that will add to that feeling.

of course one good way is to try listening and tabbing solos, riffs, chords for the song by your own. well occasionally if you get stuck go check the chords out (though many times i realise that chords online are wrong too! hahah). it'll be quite long and arduous to do it but after awhile you'll get the hang of it

it all sounds a bit abstract but then again it comes with experience, i feel. just keep practising and soon you'll be there

 

[monkengreg]

Haha! Personally I feel that playing by ear has both good and bad points. One thing is that playing by ear really tests your abilities as a guitarist. However, sometimes you might have missed out certain parts of a solo that others did not or was written in their "official' tab book.

Normally what I do is I will start by ear, and check with tabs. Tabs are not ALWAYS accurate though. Actually hardly have I come across a tab which seems accurate (to me).

Everything comes with practice. Practice is the key.
Start with simple songs, simple solos, slowly.
And the most important is knowing the key.
Knowing every single scales ranging from Phygrian, Dorian, Pentatonic, Major, Minor etc
Then it would be much easier.
If not just go to Youtube and type "song"tutorial haha!

 

[whattodo]

How long did you guys achieve the"Play by ear " standard?

 

[Likui]

1 yr or 2 at most

 

[willytan]

Using a software that slows songs down helps a lot when transcribing