I've been looking around and can't seem to find what I want to know, and the search function won't cooperate because 'ear' is less than 4 words, lol...
I'm wondering how or more like, what I can do to train my ear to be able to recognize what chords are being played, strumming patterns or basically figure out the guitar parts of a song? Are there any music theory I should be familiar with as well?
Sure I could use google, but I also wanted to know the experiences of you guys or anyone who attempts to play music or transcribe music by ear. How is it like at first..etc.
Thanks.
Not sure if I can answer your Q, but I'll try to share my experience.
For me, playing by ear is my biggest asset. I started off playing the guitar without any understanding of music theory, but I soon realised that I really just wanted to play stuff that I heard on the radio, or tunes that were in my head. I familiarised myself with the basic chord shapes/progressions (I started with G,C,D and A,D,E, which basically are the same progression in 2 different keys) and some substitutions/variants, and just mucked around with them till I could belt out simple tunes using various combis of them. It helped that I had a singing background, and loved music, so more often than not I was trying to put down on guitar what I heard in my head. With the progression above, I was able to conjure up many of the songs I knew, and that fueled my desire to learn more chords to play more songs. I proceeded to learn several other commonly used chord progressions, but I honestly found most of my way ard by using my ear, rather than charts and theory sheets.
I went on to listen to records that I liked, and analysed the guitar rhythm sections, particularly how the guitars were strummed. I also tried to watch videos of rhythm guitarists that I admired, and tried to emulate the same strumming patterns they used. Soon after, I was combining my knowledge of chords and strumming patterns to play a whole bunch of songs on the radio. The thing is to keep listening and trying/practising.
If you already know the basic chord shapes, I would encourage your learning of the CAGED system, which really helps you understand the various possible shapes/positions on the fretboard for a single chord, and helps familiarise you with the fretboard. Youtube and google should be extremely useful.
There is some truth in the notion that some ppl have an easier time with playing by ear than others. Some are caught up in theory, and can do amazing shreds in whatever diminished key you stipulate, but are seemingly lost as soon as you ask them to play along to a random tune without telling them what key it's in. To me, a gd balance of the theory and the ability to play by ear is quintissential to a guitarist's success.
Thanks!
