Developing Your Ear – The Art of Listening !!
Hello all !!
I would like to stress on the art of listening especially for new guitarists..It is very likely that due to todays technology age, we have the required information at our finger tips…a few searches and we have the chords….It is good but i would also suggest the newbies to simultaneously train their ears for finding the chords of the song….
Here are a few pointers that will help you improve your ear:
- Listen to the song a number of times first until you can imagine the tune and the music even without listening!
- Once you get the feel of the song, find which key the song is in. The key of the song is usually the FIRST chord that is played in the song.
- Using the chord progressions, you can find the chords of that song. Once done, play along with the song for a number of times.
- Practicing the strumming along with the song will develop your skills for the future rather than directly seeing from the net….try different strumming patterns and see the best which suits the song.
- This exercise will be very difficult in the start but gradually with practice it will be much more easy…
Friends, it is important to understand listening for developing yourself as a guitarist…If u can read music through your heart, then getting the rest will be very easy for you ..:-)…So tune in now and start strumming…!
This post is written by our regular contributor Abhishek Manjrekar, who has been playing guitar for over 6 years and is part of an Hindi POP band, Tatva.
Thanks man thats really a true statement. Can u pls help me how to
figure out a chord progression in a song bcos sometimes i tend 2 find
songs having mixed keys which is generally very tough nut 2 crack n by
the way happy new year.
Hi Rahul,
You can find the chord progression charts and then practice/memorize it…When u come to a situation of mixed keys, play the notes of the song and then apply the suitable chords..You can find the chord progression theory on many sites…If possible, il try to post it next time…and happy new yr u too…!
hey dats really great yaar superbly written n i will try it thanks!
Hi Shree,
I suggest you start with simple songs first having not more than 2 or 3 chords…!
Hi Abhishek Manjrekar,
first of all, a very happy new year to you and your family.
I read your post, its really nice and very much logistic & practical.
I love experimenting with music.
I guess, I have the ability to feel a song and once(or more) I listen to a song, I can list in my mind all the tunes played in that.
But, I’m always confused whether my judgment of a proper scale is correct or not.
Manytimes, I get the starting chord/scale according to me hearing and playing a number of times, but I find it hard to adjust it with the original track.
I want to know whether I am right or not.
Thanks!
🙂
Hi Sunny,
happy new year u too..This is a a common thing…its natural for us to initial adjust the chords according to our voice..So once u start singing u feel that the chords are different even though u r playing with the song..this is a thing of practice and also wen u come in such situation, play the entire song on the notes starting with the original scale,then apply the suitable chord and check with the original track…this is a trial and error process so ul have to play with the chords until u hit the right ones..it so happens that we find 3 chords right but we break our head in finding the 4th chord..the notes thing helps here..:-)..try this and play with the song..u should get it then…
Its true man ,but i heard abt some ear training software ….whts dat???
Very true…man…I am a beginner … i have a doubt….according to my knowledge…
Chords means the background music..and Tabs or lead means..the actual tune of the song…am i right?..please reply
Hi Mehul,
Simply put,
Tune stuff which Shahrukh plays in DDLJ on his mandolin is called LEAD and the strumming which u hear in the song of DIL CHAHTA HAI MOVIE THEME SONG is called CHORDS or RHYTHMS….
thanks…dude..I am gonna buy a guitar? which one is gud for beginners?
Hi Abhishek,
Great post!
It’s a good thing guitar players nowadays also try to learn how to play by ear and not just read tabs.
A good tip is trying to listen to the bass guitar. Concentrate on the lower notes. Concentrate on the rhythm and the melody of those notes. The notes of the bass guitar are often the root notes of the chords you seek. For example: if you hear a repeating G note on the bass guitar your guitar chord is probably a G major or G minor.
Keep it up!
Klaus Tol
Yes, very true! It is one of the ways to find the key of the song.
Thx Klaus ! and yes, rightly put by you …
hi,
Actually i hv joined classes fo guitar learning. plz tell few tips that shld be taken care at initials……..
The most important tip is PRACTICE EVERYDAY …..
1. Spend a lot of time on basics…
2. Be patient…Basics in guitar takes a lot of time which can be frustrating as a newcomer…once u r through with it, its fun…
3. Solve your doubts…dont keep any with u…
4. Don lose ur focus on learning…u mite haf people around u playin advance and u may want to reach that level…so focus…
5. Lastly I will always prefer singing along when I strum even i dont haf good voice…so wen r start playing chords, ensure that u sing along..
Keep strumming !!
hello abhishek,
i am a begginer .when i play chords of a song its okay, but when i try to sing with it i just lose the strumming pattern everytime. please help.
Hi raghav !
this can come only through practice…start with slow strumming song patterns and gradually proceed………
hello avishek,
pls tell me about the chord progression
hello avishek,
pls tell me about the chord progression n better if u can tell me the progressions which will help me to play the song
Hi !
U can find the chord progression chart on various sites on the net…:-)
thanx but it wud have been better if u can provide me with some of the basic progressions to work out with and also how to understand the strumming pattern of a song
plz upload video tutorial lessons for beginners like me …
Hi Abhishek Manjrekar,
As per one of your comment you recommend singing along with strumming. But problem with me is if I sing, my strumming pattern goes for a toss. I completely mess up strumming if I try singing along. This is very frustrating as though I’m terrible singer i luv singing songs. I want to master playing guitar along with my bad singing, that will be a dream come true. Can you please suggest some tips which can be implemented to get out of this mess? I do practice daily and have mastered art of shifting open chords and have started getting hang of barre chords as well.
Any help on this will be gr8.
Thanks,
Dhaval Vyas
Hi Dhaval !
Initially u can just humm the tune instead of singing the actual lyrics while playing the chords..do it on a lower tempo and gradually when you are comfortable,increase the tempo. Once you are through with the humm along with playing, you can replace the hummin with lyrics and follow the same procedure..Start from slow pace to fast..An alternate way which i followed was I recorded the chords on a guitar software…then i played chords alongwith it as well as tried to sing so that i could understand where I am going wrong and how much improvement is needed on the lyrics…:-) and this will take time and practice 🙂 no singing is good or bad if u play for urself !!
Hey Abhishek, I am facing same problem as Dhaval. But i have started applying your solution & its working!! Thanks bro!! Can you share the name of the software you are using? Thanks again!!
Hi Swapnil,
I use audacity.
hi,
I would like to know how chord progression helps here?
also can u please list few simple sonsg to start ? I have learnt scales and finger excersices. now wants to start with songs..
thanks in advance!!
cheers!
do u take classes ?
Hi Priyanka,
U can try simple songs like papa kehte hai, ajeeb dastaan hai which use only 2-3 chords throughout..my favorite song for starting for girls is sajna aa bhi jaa by shibani kashyap…its just Em,D,C,Em…u can play along the tempo too which will help u to get control over the chord transitions..classes i used to take before but haf stopped now temporarily 🙂 mite resume in a month or two..
i wanat to know its beat
hi Ahishek,
I have been trying to learn guitar myself from last few years.
But never got hold of it.There is ample information available in net.But its always
confusing the right way to start. I need your suggestion on this.
Should we first learn all the scales and its related chords then practise?
or learn single scale say C major scale. . then learn related chords. .
practise songs using c major scale then move to other scales. . ?
@ Sudhir,
Ya learn the scales first and then practise with the chords…
plz can you help me to play the song name ballo by rabbi shergill..as soon as possible..plz can u provide me the guitar chords of that song….
hi abhi,
i am learning guitar for last 1 month…..
nd got gud comand over scale
bt d prob starts when i strum…..
1stly my pick’s sound is very high….
when i strum along wid song it totally goes wrong…….
altough i have masterd one song do dil mil rhe hain…….
but iske aage koi aur song sikh he nhi pa rha hoon….
plz suggest some soltn to above prob and give me some tips
Hiii…
I want to learn guitar but i m a beginner and most of the time i spend in my ofc… so how can i start..
Can u help me ? 🙂
Regrds,
Vikas Haldar
oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks a lot
I have being tranning my ear but all the times what i found is that i was wrong . so i become hopeless sometimes.
super like
@ zeeshan, boss practice is the only key…take simple songs with simple chord transitions and keep practicing…
@ vik, you need to take out atleast 20 mins everyday for learning the basics initially…guitar is a patience testing instrument..
@ suman, ont give up hope…this instrument needs lots of patience…
@kabs, thx
Hi Abhinav,
I am looking for the lead tabs in song tum ladki ho main ladka hun …(Maine Pyar Kiya) kindly help 🙂
Regards,
Wali.
Hey bro.. I’ve been playing these six strings for a couple of years on my own..
so there is a lot i must go through like theory and all, but your posts seems to be helpful in
the same direction as well.thankx
Please help me. i m trying to learn playing guitar since 3 months but nothings happening. please help me.. i m a beginner.. but i want to learn guitar anyhow.. please help me..
Hey cool tips for Eartraining! Getting deeper into Eartraining is a lot of fun. It´s good to start with singing Intervals, but the best way ist to learn how to sightsing with do re mi fa so lat di do. After a few weeks of practicing it shouldn´t be any Problem to hear chord progression……keep on rocking
hey abhishek,
can i get your contact number please?