Have you ever thought about how people, famous or not play the guitar by ear? Well I’m here to tell you the stories of how they did it.
Some people I have changed their names to protect the innocent. Not that they would care about me using their name but you know how some people are….
Some people I will talk about will be famous, some won’t. Meaning some will be Rock Stars, some will be ordinary people or should I say extraordinary people. But one things for sure, THEY SURE CAN PLAY THE GUITAR BY EAR!
I will find out how these people learned to play the guitar by ear. Some will be people I’ve interviewed on the streets, some will be people from the internet. Some will be people from even YouTube or books or wherever I can find them.
You won’t have to find them because I will have already found them for you. Saving you lots of time to have to find out for yourself. No more looking on Reddit, Quora, Yahoo Answers, etc. We’ll you can and will still go to those sites about this topic because there’s no stopping you when you’re obsessed with playing by ear.
Note: Some of these are not real interviews. They are made to help you.
Join me on this wild ride, as I give you the info:
THESE ARE THEIR STORIES:
Steve Lukather is a real person:
STEVE LUKATHER: Knowledge is power
Steve Lukather:
Steven Lee Lukather is a famous pro American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. Best known as a founding member of Toto. A prolific session musician. He has recorded guitar tracks for more than 1,500 albums, with all kinds of different artists and different types of music. He was also a contributor to several studio albums by Michael Jackson, including Thriller, the best selling album of all time. And has done lots more.
He says, “I played by ear for the first seven years of my career, and it was very hard to go back and learn music properly, but I think it was worth it – and I use it everyday.”
But he did all this to get the edge. Even though he already knew how to play the guitar by ear. He just wanted to be that much better and learned music theory and learned to read and write music and also to sight read music. He said it’s the language of what musicians do.
He says, forget anyone who tells you it hurts your playing. I never heard such s**t in my life. He says knowledge is power. He says, I bet if you asked most great players, they would say they wished they would have learned all this stuff when they were younger, meaning, learn music theory and learn to read music first, then learn to play the guitar by ear.
He was influenced by Jim Hendrix and Jimmy Page Of Led Zeppelin. Both of whom also could play the guitar by ear. And they were both also session guitarists. This in turn rubbed off on Steve Lukather and allowed him to become just like them, which was why he was able to play the guitar by ear and became a session guitarist.
Carlos Santana is a real person:
CARLOS SANTANA: You gotta get the sounds under your fingers
Carlos Santana:
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican and American musician. Who first became famous in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s with his rock band Santana. The Rolling Stone magazine voted him number 20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists. He has won countless musical awards over the years.
Come on! You know who he is. He’s practically a household name among guitar players. But if you don’t know who he is, then that’s cool. You do now that you’ve read this far already.
He always seems to pop up over the years with unbelievable hits using different artists to sing, while he plays the guitar. Has an unbelievable great guitar sound that when you hear him play it, you know it’s him.
Santana’s guitar style grabs your attention. It’s a smooth melody that captures your attention. Others have talked about how he accomplishes playing the music by ear on the guitar.
One person describes that when you play his music, you are working to nail his sound but as you’re doing that, you quickly realize that your ear has to do a majority of the work. (as opposed to your fingers)…
He says “If you want to play like Carlos Santana, and if you ever want to be able to get his sound under your fingers, you’ve got to first learn to “hear” his sound in your head. It’s not your typical guitar playing.”
So in order to play his sound or play the guitar by ear, then do all this. And what he also means is listen to the highs and lows of the guitar sounds you are hearing. Play accordingly as you move up and down the neck of the guitar, striking the right chords and notes as you play, letting your ears be the guide.
Also Carlos uses rhythm and melodic phrasing to get out the music that he hears in his head.
Carlos Santana says he was influenced by Bolo Sete and Garbo Szabo. It’s no wonder he can play the guitar by ear so good. After looking at their styles for so long, he was then able to use his ear to play the songs he plays today because of looking at how they played. Carlos sounds similar to these artists, in a way.
Moral of this Carlos Santana story is: Be careful of the rock stars who play guitar, that influence you on the guitar. Because you might become just like them on the guitar.
So if you’re influenced by Van Halen’s guitar playing, you might one day become just like him. Or if you’re influenced by Led Zeppelin’s guitar playing, you might become just like him on the guitar.
Both of which can play the guitar by ear because they play cover songs and are able to make their own songs also. Although Van Halen tends to carry his sounds to where he doesn’t exactly sound like who he is covering but it is similar enough to what he is copying.
One day you may be able to play the guitar by ear, just like your influences.
Jason Matters is a real person:
JASON MATTERS: Watch others play the guitar as much as you can
Jason Matters:
Jason Matters is a made up name that I made up so, I won’t have to tell you his real name. It’s actually more than one real person that I’m saying here as I’m piggybacking off of what he says to the people around him giving advice of how they also play the guitar by ear. Actually it’s from the same website also and I’m writing it here. I will treat this as one person talking here for simplicity.
Jason Matters says the best way to learn is to just do it. Take a song with a good melody, solo, take it note by note and try to match everything by ear. Then I would try and sort of conceptualize where I think the riff or solo will be on the fretboard and have a crack at it, getting the timing down roughly. After that I’ll go back through it and pick it apart; correcting bung notes or timing.
This is something I’ve only mastered in the last year, he says. Honestly the best piece of advice would be to watch others play the guitar as much as you can. Yes it may put you out of the comfort zone and you will in turn do what they do on the guitar. By imitating them.
It’ll get more and more fun as you watch what guitarists are doing on their guitar. As it gives you more advantage of what you need to do on the guitar. So as you’re playing by ear you’ll have that much more weapons, of how to figure out by ear of what they are playing.
Steve Mills is a real person:
STEVE MILLS: Check to see if you played it by ear right by checking on YouTube or tab
Steve Mills:
Steve Mills originally from New York, moved to California to pursue the warmer weather and to pursue a possible music career with the guitar.
He says, as you’re listening to guitarists, know where they are on the guitar, by thinking of the fretboard, if you don’t have your guitar around. Or play the guitar if you have it with you. And then later on for verification, go watch a YouTube video or look at the tab of the same song you were playing and see if you got it right.
He also says, “Just do it. I started practicing this skill very recently. I can already feel I have improved. I’m not great or anything but my ears are getting a bit less useless.”
Pick a song and try to figure it out. Nothing too complicated at first. Remember every note in your mind at first. It will be hard at first like, why-the-heck-am-I-even-going-through-this-stuff, hard?
And it will be tiresome at first (don’t try to do too much, go easy on your ears, let them rest a bit). It will take time. But keep at it. It feels great when you can figure out even a simple riff or solo or chord. Don’t worry to much about if the song has a minor or major notes. The way you play the notes and the way you use your ears and the timing of when you’re playing will take care of that.
Jim Reynolds is a real person:
JIM REYNOLDS: Learning that he must identify notes by just hearing them
Jim Reynolds:
Jim Reynolds forte is guitar. Ever since he can remember, he always wanted to play guitar. And once he found out the guitar could be played by ear, he pursued to get the knowledge of how to do it. He is an accomplished musician.
He accomplished what he set out for. Learning that he must identify notes by just hearing them. He just had to drill and drill the notes as reference points so I could recognize them when I heard them again, he says.
The way to learn is by trial and error. He says, you need to focus on what exact skill you need to learn, and the best way is to test it, to achieve the skill you want. For example, if you want the pitch of the song, you need to practice listening to the notes randomly in isolation. And you need to listen to different intervals in combination and test yourself on the intervals, rather than just the notes.
Richard Young is a real person:
RICHARD YOUNG: Music theory will help
Richard Young:
Richard Young is a guitar teacher who plays the guitar by ear. He enjoys teaching other students how to play the guitar by ear. He taught himself guitar theory at a very young age. He resides in Torrance California.
He starts off by saying, “Music theory will help. If you figure out how keys (the notes and chords) work, and you can hear the notes and can anticipate what happens next on the guitar (and the possibilities are limited even though every song is different.) So this helps you narrow down the choices better because the guitar only has so much notes.
I’m a guitar teacher and I figure out songs note-for-note everyday of the week for my students and I can tell you music theory is the #1 reason I can do it (and lots of practice). Context is king – know the context and it’s way more effective.
Jenny Masters is a real person:
JENNY MASTERS: When playing by ear just think of how the different intervals are going to sound like
Jenny Masters:
Jenny Masters is like a Pat Benatar of her time. Pat Benatar was a famous Rock Star back in the 80’s, racking up top 10 hits during her heyday. Like Pat Benatar, Jenny Masters has an explosive voice but she also plays guitar. Like Pat Benatar she only plays her guitar on stage every now and then. But she still enjoys playing the guitar.
She says you tell others, how’s your grasp on theory? I think the most rounded approach is to work on understanding scales and chords in terms of intervals, and to then understand those same intervals in terms of sound.
When playing by ear just think of how the different intervals are going to sound like. Also the importance of rhythm cannot be overstated.
Ask yourself, how do I work out these riffs, these chords and such. Ask yourself, what would your famous rock stars do in order to play this? She says.
Mack Miller is a real person:
MACK MILLER: They need to remember what the notes sound like
Mack Miller:
Mack Miller is out of Grand Rapids Detroit. A little bit close to Frankenmuth Detroit, where the famous band, Greta Van Fleet are from, who are currently hitting the top of the music charts. Mack Miller, influenced by the musical culture there in Detroit. He chose to use his rap and guitar skills in such a way that Ja Rule did back in the day. Ja Rule is a very famous rap artist who had numerous top 10 hits, whose band members really did play their own instruments. Mack Miller says he really enjoyed figuring out the guitar by ear. And is fascinated by how you always learn something new on it everyday.
As I was interviewing Mack Miller, he told me, you know, guitarists need to work on their ear training. They need to force themselves to work out songs, solos, etc. by ear. It’ll be hard on them at first but it will get easier as they go.
They also need to play LOTS of music and pay attention to what they are playing so that they will remember what the notes “sound” like and then when they remember what they sound like, they will then be able to locate the notes the next time they play the guitar and thus they will be able to play it by ear. After doing this much (lots) of times they will be able to play the guitar by ear.
Dwayne King is a real person:
DWAYNE KING: Know what each area (place) on the guitar sounds like
Dwayne King:
Dwayne King knows his guitar. It’s no joke to him. It is his life blood. It gives him energy and peace of mind. After long days he can finally pick it up to refresh his mind and to make him change his mood, just by playing great sounding songs.
Dwayne King likes to talk in steps, he says in order to learn the guitar by ear you must:
- Learn all your notes on the fretboard, on the 6th and 5th strings because it is here where you play all your barre chords and it is here where you will know the names (the keys) of the chords.
- After you learn the notes on the fretboard on the 6th and 5th strings, now play barre chords on the 6th and 5th strings as these will be your names of the keys. Example: D barre chords, E barre chords, F barre chords, etc.
- As your playing the barre chords, name them as your playing them. Meaning don’t just play them, REMEMBER what notes they are called. Such as D barre chord, E barre chord, F barre chord, etc. As this will help you greatly in playing the guitar by ear.
- Now when you can name the barre chords and play the barre chords and remember the barre chords names, now you should REMEMBER what the barre chords SOUND like.
- Now when you can REMEMBER what the barre chords sound like you are that much closer to being able to play them by ear.
- Now when you’re sure you can REMEMBER what the chords sound like, now you must remember the AREAS (PLACES) where you were playing the barre chords. As you play all these different areas (places) on the guitar a lot of times, you will remember (know) what each area (place) sounds like.
- Now when you play a song on the guitar, place your fingers and your barre chords in the right areas (places) on the guitar. Letting your ears guide you. You will know where to play them by remembering the sounds in each spot of the guitar. You will see that when you keep practicing this you will become extremely good at playing the guitar by ear, using all this what I just told you, he says.
Prince is a real person:
PRINCE: He can play anything on the guitar you want to hear
Prince:
Prince Rogers Nelson was an American singer, song writer, musician, record producer, and filmmaker. He was known for his wide vocal range. Prince was also a multi-instrumentalist who was considered a guitar virtuoso; he was skilled at playing the drums, percussion, bass, keyboards and synthesizer. His innovative music integrated a wide variety of styles, including funk, rock, R&B, new wave, soul, psychedelia and pop.
Prince developed an interest in music as a young child. As a teenager he developed a strong work ethic which he mastered. Prince performed an unbelievable amount of guitar playing over his years. In which he did it all by ear.
Prince’s dad gave Prince his first guitar sometime after he took him to a James Brown concert. Prince could play all these instruments I listed above all by ear. Prince was quick to embrace technology in his music.
Prince had 121 guitars. All of which were very stylish.
Eric Clapton was said to have been asked, ‘What’s it like to be the best guitar player alive?’ To which he responded, “I don’t know, ask Prince.” Although this was said to have been a rumor, it does speak of how great Prince was on the guitar.
Sonny T showed Prince some basics on the guitar and when Prince was a teenager he could already play solos on the guitar. It was also said that he could play Jimi Hendrix’s star spangled banner as a kid. Which got him respect.
In order to get into Prince’s band you would have to be able to play a certain solo from one of Chicago’s songs. Chicago is a band and is known for having numerous hits in the 80’s.
Prince’s strength is his creativity. He can play anything on the guitar you want to hear.
Prince’s first music teacher, Jimmy Halmilton in the seventh and eighth grade at Minneapolis’ Bryant Junior High, says Prince was at the band room door every day at 8 a.m. sharp waiting to be let in.
Jimmy Halmilton, 79, said he was a natural musician because he had the ear. Describes the icon as being “introverted” – until he picked up an instrument, that is. And when he would play music his eyes would light up and he would become a different person.
Jimmy Halmilton says Prince was mostly “self taught,” so they would focus on music theory and learning fun, contemporary songs.
Says Prince also would spend an hour before classes even started and would jam with friends in the bands practice room.
His music teacher also said that Prince could play any instrument even at that age. It just came natural for him. Says he really got music. He really understood it, what music was at the core.
Related Questions
What are aural skills? Ear training or aural skills is done by learning to identify only hearing, pitches, intervals, melody, chords, rhythms, and other elements of music. Applying this skill is like dictation (talking) in written/spoken language. You can be good at ear training as easy as talking.
What do the dots on a guitar mean? On the fretboard or neck of the guitar are dots that are located at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24. Some guitars have less dots located on the neck, some have more.
Which is easier to play acoustic or electrical guitar? Start with the guitar you’re most interested in playing first. Electric guitars have lighter strings, making them easier to play. Acoustic strings are heavier, making them harder to play. Later on you will know which type of guitar you like.
Photo credits:
Steve Lukather green guitar photo courtesy of Weatherman90: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Steve Lukather black guitar photo courtesy of Jorainbo2001: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Carlos Santana playing orange guitar. Photo credit: Larry Philpot, www.soundstagephotography.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Carlos Santana early days, black and white photo, courtesy of Heinrich Klaffs: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Prince singing with microphone, photo number 1, black and white picture, photo courtesy of Yves Lorson: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Prince singing with microphone photo number 2, black and white picture, photo courtesy of Joel Bremer: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Two bright yellow school buses parked in front of school. Photo courtesy of ArtisticOperations. Photo found on pixabay.com
