Man playing guitar on Jeep outside. Enjoying the outdoors in the woods.

Is It Easy To Play Guitar By Ear?

I know people ask themselves, when they see pro musicians playing the guitar by ear… “Is that easy?” Today, we’ll go over that.

So is it easy to play the guitar by ear? Yes and No. Yes, it’s easy if you have the right conditioning for it. And no, it’s not easy if you don’t have the right conditioning for it. What I mean by conditioning for it, is a lot of things, like mindset, circumstances, as well as knowledge.

Ahh! The jewel of all questions. Which can start a avalanche of guitar playing once you learn it. Because whether it’s easy OR hard for you to learn how to play the guitar by ear… you will, once you learn it, NEVER be able to stop playing the guitar, because it’s so fun.

Will It Be Easy For You Or Hard For You To Play Guitar By Ear?

Which one will I be? The one where it is easy to learn to play guitar by ear? Or the one, where it’s hard to play guitar by ear?

Well….. it’s going to all boil down to your conditioning. The conditions of learning. The conditions of circumstances. The conditions of how you think. Which is your mindset. And finally, the conditions of other things. ALL compel you to MAKE it easy on yourself OR harder on yourself.

Life is funny like that. You never know what’s coming sometimes. Life benefits some. And slams others, straight on the ground. But that’s good. That’s how we learn to find our place in life. What will be handed to us is the wisdom to know how to play the guitar by ear, because we HAVE to!

Which makes it easy to learn to play the guitar by ear. And out of this conditioning, out of this circumstance, comes a quick grabbing of straws. And it becomes easy to learn chords, learn the guitar fretboard, scales, melodies, etc. Because it’s DO or DIE!

Wisdom to play comes QUICK when you’re slammed to the ground in oppression. AND, also, because you have friends. And they’re already good at the guitar.

Just like that saying goes …. hang around the right people, and it will all rub off on you. And that my friends, makes it EASY for you, to learn the guitar by ear.

Well…. what makes it HARD to learn the guitar by ear?  You, my friend, had life handed to you. A bowl of cherries. A life of living in the clouds, so to speak.

Which is your conditioning. A conditioning of having it easy. Causes you to have to work at it more, to learn how to play the guitar by ear.

There IS no circumstances in your life to compel you to learn, because the only motivation you have is, you just want to LEARN guitar.

There’s a little desire but not a DO or Die attitude, which causes you or should I say?  Makes you have a harder time of learning the guitar by ear.

You HAVE no friends who are good at the guitar, which causes you to not excel as fast, at learning it. But don’t despair, there’s STILL hope because it’s not about whether it’s hard or easy because both types of people end up learning how to play the guitar by ear.

It’s just one person has it harder than the other.

Which Guy Am I? The Guy Who Thinks It’s Hard To Play The Guitar By Ear?

“I hope I’m one of those guys where it’s easy for me to play the guitar by ear,” you say to yourself. Because, if it’s not going to be easy, then I don’t want no part of it.

Man holding guitar on shoulder.
Which guy am I?

Well if you don’t know which guy you are then ask yourself this…. “Am I willing to play the guitar by ear? Whether it’s hard or not?” If you can answer yes, then you know you can.

And if you can answer no, then you know you can’t. BUT NOT SO FAST! Just cause you think it’s hard, doesn’t mean NO you can’t do it. Because, look at all the others in the world, that had it hard, and it didn’t stop them.

Look at Abraham Lincoln, he had it HARD UP! For 11 times in his life. But yet he STILL accomplished Presidency.

Or Eddie Van Halen of the SUPER rock group named after him, had it hard. Everyone in the music industry turned him down because they said it’s not good enough. But he had a friend, or a person who noticed him, by the name of no other than GENE SIMMONS, of the FAMOUS rock group, KISS!

SO, having it HARD, CAN STILL, cause you to be propelled to play guitar by ear.

Ahh Learning The Guitar By Ear Was Never Hard For You

Well, if you asked yourself…. “Am I willing to play the guitar by ear?” And you THOUGHT it was going to be easy, and IT WAS! Then you probably were conditioned to have it easy for you. By a heart of steel. A heart of NO quit!

 Like Rocky would say. You had HARD times, but you OVERCAME! As they say… you propelled yourself around GOOD men. Men who could play the guitar.

And not only that, they also could play by ear. So it rubbed off on you. You had no choice. You had to show the world, others, how good you had become.

ALL because of what you went through in life. You had it easy! The question of, “is it easy to play the guitar by ear?” Was a resounding YES for you.

So Which One Do You Fall Under? Easy Or Hard? When It Comes To Playing The Guitar By Ear?

Well honestly, you’ll never know until you try. Because some have it hard, and come out smelling like a rose, and have it easy playing by ear. But also some who have it hard STILL have a hard time learning it……….

YET some have it easy in life and it’s hard for them to learn how to play by ear. And then some who have it easy, it’s STILL easy for them…….

So you’ll never know if you can play the guitar by ear, until you try. Unless you’re one of those people who know themselves real good. And are able to see themselves having a easy time. Other than that, you’ll never know if it’s gonna be EASY or HARD.

Some Are Freaks Of Nature And Have A Easy Time At Playing By Ear

Man real excited holding guitar and one fist in the air.

Some people are just freaks and are able to just explode with SUPER guitar capability REAL quick at the guitar. They never really have it hard. They excel quick!

There’s people like that. Look at Prince, he learned it quick. AND he could play it all by ear. And not only that, but A LOT of other instruments as well.

He was known to go up to his band members and play their instruments for them. And would often say, “I don’t know how people don’t know how to do this,” meaning how can you not know how to play your instruments by ear? And Prince started playing instruments at age 7. And the guitar at age 13.

Or look at Eric Clapton, exploded early in life. And was known to never stay with a band for more than 2 years, because his music taste kept changing.

He got so good that they started calling him God, for a short time. He also was self taught, and could play by ear. He was known to keep practicing chord progressions on recordings, until he got it right. When he first started out playing guitar.

Related Questions

Whats the point of playing the guitar by ear if it’s just gonna be hard?  You’re gonna have to see the benefits it rewards you, like people liking that you’re playing everything by ear, of the songs that they request you to play. And by hearing quality songs come out of your guitar.

Is it better to read music or play by ear? It is easier to play by ear because you can instantly play songs on the guitar or other instruments, without having to wait on getting written sheet music, which waste time and looks very unprofessional on stage, reading music.