How to Learn Songs by Ear: A Complete Step-By-Step Guide

V8

I had some experience with figuring out riffs and other guitar parts by ear and I'd done a bunch of ear training exercises. But I was nowhere near as fast or accurate. The way he instantly knew how to instruct his fingers to play the notes he’d just heard for the first time in his life... It seemed amazing.

But like any magic trick, once you understand what’s going on, it isn’t as special as it once seemed. Playing by ear and learning songs by ear isn't some innate, natural talent that you either have or don’t have. It’s a skill that you can learn with the right kind of practice.

https://www.stringkick.com/blog-lessons/learn-songs-riffs-melodies-by-ear/

V8

I'm working on a simple version of "Somewhere over the rainbow".

Started as a discussion with a jazz teacher mate a few weeks ago. He's working on a rather intricate version that flies around the fretboard - sounds great but isn't acoustic friendly.

My version isn't nearly as entertaining, but liberally uses cowboy chords so is a lot easier to play. Still tricky to keep the melody line running through the chord changes while keeping the feel of the vocal.

One unexpected (but welcome) side effect of this - timing! Getting the melody to work with chord changes is a trick of keeping pace with the vocal - not as easy as it sounds...

joeymakesmusic

This is a good article.

The one thing that helped me figure out notes better was to skip the guitar and focus entirely on the bass. I've been into electronic music production of late and my favorite part is writing out bass lines.

This has given me new perspective on how good bass parts work. But because bass is often repetitive and uses few notes (at least in more mainstream rock/pop/edm), you get a much better understanding of individual notes. The melodies aren't complex, which makes it the best place to figure out notes on your own.

For anyone intimidated by complex guitar melodies, I suggest picking up a simple bass riff (say, Seven Nation Army) and figuring that out instead. It's much easier

V8

joeymakesmusic The one thing that helped me figure out notes better was to skip the guitar and focus entirely on the bass.

Most bass lines that stick in one's head are melodic in nature (7 Nation Army is a great example of a singable bass line - it's sung at soccer matches!).

For your first "figure it out by ear" attempt - pick something you can sing 'out of your head'. Something so melodic, you just can't forget it. For many these are some form of nursery rhyme.

It's that much easier if it has lyrics - because the natural rhythm of breathing during singing will help getting the timing right.

And if it's a nursery rhyme - highly likely it's using the major scale. Which gives you a framework to find the notes.

For some going the bassline route may help - if your ears are tuned to the lower register. That's where the butt shakes and feet tap, but it takes a little bit to 'hear'/'feel' that register.