Want to play the music in your head on the guitar? There’s an easy trick most players miss… I’ll show you how to start playing by ear today, and the #1 mistake to avoid.
I want to talk about one of the most desired skills for any guitarist: the ability to play by ear. So many of us, I remember back in the day having records and even CDs, wanted to associate the notes that are in our heads onto the guitar.
I used to start with a big mistake. And the big mistake I used to start with was trying to figure out guitar parts first to train my ear. Don’t do that. If you’re just starting with your ear training, I’m going to show you a much simpler, more effective way to begin.
The #1 Mistake Most Beginners Make with Ear Training
If you’re just starting to understand what notes are in your head versus the guitar, I highly recommend that instead of trying to figure out guitar parts, you try to figure out vocal lines.
Instead of sitting there and trying to be like, “Wow, that guitar chord. What is that?” That’s going from zero to hero. You’ll get there, but don’t start there. You’re only looking for failure and sadness if you start there. So instead, you want to go with what is the most present sound in the recording mix: the vocals.
The EASY Trick: Start with Simple Vocal Melodies
What can I try to play around with the vocals, and try to match, especially very simple ones? This is the key. I’ll give you two examples of how simple this can be.
Example 1: My Heart Will Go On (Yes, Really!)
I remember being young and listening to a very simple song. You might be wondering, “What the heck is that?” Well, I started training my ear to the hit song that we all know: “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. Don’t come at me for that at all! But it was one of those things where, as an example, that is such a simple vocal line that it becomes very easy when you isolate it.
What I want you to pay attention to is how actually simple just the vocal line is. Don’t pay attention to the bass and the lower register I was just playing. Just focus on how simple this vocal line is.
And again, I just did that on the spot. So, you know, of course, there was a mistake. But with that, it goes to show you, you can start figuring it out. And all I was playing there are one, two, three, four, five notes. Five notes. That’s it. So, you can start to see, “Okay, I think I can do that. I think I can figure that out.”
Example 2: Simple Rock Songs
It’s far easier when you take a simple vocal line and start to figure it out. I mean, there are things out there like punk rock and stuff that have very simple vocal lines. There’s that band Simple Plan that did that song “Perfect.” That vocal line is just a little bit of it. So, it allows you to start to focus on something much simpler than a massive, shreddy guitar solo that is almost impossible to figure out.
Your Daily Ear Training Exercise
So, I highly recommend you start finding simple vocal lines and just sitting down and experimenting and just trying to figure them out.
You will fail. I promise you that, because I did many times, but that is what we need to do to start to get it right. So don’t feel like that’s not a normal part of the process or you’re an outcast.
Every day, sit down, pull up one of your favorite songs that is a simple singing vocal line and just start to test the waters. Start to figure out what’s going on. Start trying to play along with it.
How to Progress Your Ear Training Skills
You can get into harder songs with more defined and wild, crazy vocal lines. You could start with something like Celine Dion or Simple Plan and eventually go to something like Queen or Adele, where they have all of these vocal shifts and changes. But again, the vocal is the most present piece of the mix in the recording, so you don’t have much guesswork when it comes to knowing if you were right or wrong in what you were practicing. And that’s the key.
The big takeaway here is that you need to make sure that you’re starting this process with vocal melodies so that you can hear them. More than likely, they’re already in your head, right? Because that’s where we need to start from. We need to have something that’s actually in our head, and then we start to apply it to the guitar. By doing it with simple vocal melodies, life becomes a lot easier in that process.
FAQ
- What is the biggest mistake beginners make when trying to play guitar by ear?
The big mistake is trying to figure out complex guitar parts, like chords or solos, first. This is like going from “zero to hero” and often leads to frustration. - What should I focus on learning first instead of guitar parts?
You should try to figure out simple vocal lines from songs you enjoy. - Why are vocal melodies easier to learn by ear?
Vocals are usually the most present and clear sound in a song’s mix, making them easier to isolate. Also, you likely already have the melody in your head, which makes it easier to match the notes on the guitar. - Is it normal to make a lot of mistakes when I start?
Yes, you will fail, and that’s a normal and necessary part of the process. Don’t feel discouraged; it’s what you need to do to start to get it right. - How can I get better at this over time?
Start with very simple vocal melodies (like those from pop or simple rock songs) and, as you get better, move on to more complex vocalists with more shifts and changes (like Queen or Adele).
