Playing by ear

A lot of my students ask how they can figure out songs by ear.

This is not an easy task to explain for numerous reasons:
- each person has different starting points for relative pitch
- i.e. some people find it hard to match a certain pitch, while others know what a "c" note sounds like.
- some songs are easier to "hear" than others.
- certain notes (intervals) are easier to "hear" than others.
- each person "listens" to music differently.

Here's what I would recommend to get your ear in shape.

Start Singing

This doesn't mean trying to get a gig as a singer. This just means try singing little melodies, whether it be standard old tunes like "Happy Birthday", Christmas songs like "Jingle Bells", church songs if you go to church, or singing in the car along with the radio.

Get used to making sounds with your throat and lungs. You don't have to be a singer to hack out a few melodies, but you do need an ear. Learning to reproduce a melody is great practice for the ear. Now I know that there's some of you out there that won't be able to do this very well - keep trying. In the meantime, here's some more stuff to try.

Matching a pitch

Play any note on your guitar and try to sing that same note (or pitch). You can hum or sing "la". It doesn't really matter as long as you're making some kind of noise that resembles the pitch that you're copying.

This is called matching a pitch or singing a unison.

The range of the guitar is larger than most people can sing, so make sure you pick a note that is physically possible to reproduce with your voice.
It depends on age, gender and ability, but I recommend starting with any note on strings (1)-2-3-(4) and frets 1-2-3-4.

For example:
Play the open 2nd String.
Now, sing "la" on that same note.

play the 3 fret of the 2nd string.
now, hum that note.

How do you know if you got it?
Good question. Some of you will know and say that this is too easy, while other people will still be unsure if they are locked onto the right pitch or not.
For those that are unsure, it's good to get a second or third opinion. After awhile you will know if you're singing "on pitch" or not.

Singing the major scale

Make sure that your guitar is in tune! The best way to be sure is by tuning it with a digital tuner.

Play the F major scale on your guitar.

Tab version of F major: (here's one of many ways)

    -------------------0--1--  
    -------------1--3--------  
    ----0--2--3--------------  
    -3-----------------------  
    -------------------------  
    -------------------------

Now play, then sing each note separately as you go up and down the scale.
If you find that the first note is too low to sing, try a higher major scale (i.e. G, G#, A ... )
If you find that the 8th note is too high to sing, try a lower major scale (i.e. E, Eb, D ... )

You can sing along with the guitar or you can play the note first, stop it and then sing it. It is important to match the note that you are singing to the note that is played on the guitar - LISTEN closely.

Once you feel comfortable singing the major scale along with the guitar - try singing the corresponding numbers of the scale. Instead of singing "la la la ..." sing "1 2 3 ..." The numbers that you sing should be the interval numbers as listed below:

    -------------------0--1--  
    -------------1--3--------  
    ----0--2--3--------------  
    -3-----------------------  
    -------------------------  
    -------------------------  
     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8   = interval number

Next, try singing the whole scale without playing it on your guitar first. Sing it going up and then coming back down using the corresponding numbers (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1)
It's a good idea to play the scale on your guitar afterwards to see if it sounds like what you just sang.

Once the major scale becomes familiar and easy to sing, try playing just a random note on your guitar and then sing a major scale from that pitch.
Check your singing by playing the scale on your guitar afterwards.

For those that find this easy, we can still make it harder.

Singing random notes of the major scale

Now that you know what each number in the scale sounds like. Try to sing any note of the major scale at random.

i.e. Sing the 5th note of the scale (1st fret, 2nd string) keep singing it, then play it on your guitar and listen to see if it's the same.

i.e. Sing the 3rd note of the scale (2nd fret, 3rd string) keep singing it, then play it on your guitar and listen to see if it's the same.

you can try this with all 8 different notes - you'll find that some notes are easier to sing than others.
Generally this is the order of difficulty:
easy: 1,8,5,3
harder: 2,4,6
hardest: 7

Some of you might not agree with my levels of difficulty - there are many factors that affect which notes are easier to hear - the above is just a simple guideline.

I hope your understanding why I'm getting you to sing these notes. If you can sing them properly, then you are hearing them properly. If you can hear notes properly, you'll be able to figure out any tune by ear.

Hearing notes of the major scale

We can also reverse this process of hearing the major scale. Instead of thinking of a random number and then singing it, we can play a random number and guess (know) what it is.

You need 2 people to do this properly.

Have one person playing a guitar and another person just listening. The second person should NOT be able to see what the first person is playing.

Play the F major a couple times on your guitar so the person listening can hear it and think of how it sounds.

Play any note that belongs to F major and have the second person guess what number it is.

Here's the chart in case you forget which note is what number:

    -------------------0--1--  
    -------------1--3--------  
    ----0--2--3--------------  
    -3-----------------------  
    -------------------------  
    -------------------------  
     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8   = interval number

Try playing other major scales for variety. It's best to play the new major scale up and down a couple times before making the listener guess which interval of the scale you're playing.

Hearing and singing intervals

You can also apply the above techniques to practicing hearing intervals.
Of course, you first have to know what intervals are.

Try the random singing method:

Play any note on your guitar, think of an interval and then try to sing it.

i.e. Play the open 4th string. Think of what a minor 3rd sounds like and try to sing it. Keep singing, and play the interval on your guitar (3rd fret, 4th string) to see if it matches.

You can spend hours and hours trying this with all the intervals...

If you have a friend around, try the random playing method:

have one person play an interval on their guitar and have the other one guess what it is.

i.e. Play the 1st fret, 3rd string then play 3rd fret, 2nd string. Hopefully the other person will guess tritone (or flat fifth or sharp 4th)

If you can hear intervals well and know what they sound like, it means that you can retain musical information. When listening to a recording, you can apply this same technique to copy what they are playing. Don't worry if you don't hear all of the intervals right away or don't know how to apply them when "lifting" tunes. You still get into a level of listening to music which will help when you're figuring out music by ear.

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