Can You Play The Guitar By Ear?

When I first started playing guitar I always wondered… “Can I play the guitar by ear?” So after A LOT of research and experimenting, I finally found the answer. And so I can save you the time of trying to figure it out yourself, that is, if you could figure it out….. because there are people out there who won’t tell you……

1. One is because they don’t want to…… 

2. Is so they can keep making money off of you, by you always having to buy their books, tabs, YouTube video courses, etc.

So can you play the guitar by ear? Yes, you can if you’re willing to put the time and effort into it. If you can whistle or hum or sing a song, you can play the guitar by ear. You just have to have the desire…just like everyone desires to whistle and hum and sing songs, you too can play the guitar by ear.

Everyone has asked, CAN I play the guitar by ear? But there is actually a lot more to it than just picking up the guitar and INSTANTLY! You can do it. There’s a lot more to it, than that.

Everyone has asked, CAN I play the guitar by ear? But there is actually a lot more to it than just picking up the guitar and INSTANTLY! You can do it. There’s a lot more to it, than that.

Yes You Too Can Play Guitar By Ear

Yes, you can play the guitar by ear. Especially if you have a strong desire too. That desire is going to push you to do what it takes to learn the guitar. And not only learn the guitar, but to also play the guitar by ear. And also ANY song you can think of, that you want to play. You can do it, if you commit to it and apply yourself. YOU CAN DO IT! IF YOU WORK FOR IT!

In a world of naysayers and negativity, it can be hard to think that you can play the guitar. Or even MORE hard if you think you can play that guitar by ear. You would say to yourself,  “You can’t!….

Or maybe you hear from your ears,…. the good and flashy side of life,…. Your ears hear,…. go, go, go!…. rah, rah, rah!… From everyone!….. People who believe you CAN!, do it….. Well, if that’s you, then that’s cool too…. You can also continue to read on these pages. Because you can help those who believe they can’t.

So whether you think you CAN eventually play the guitar by ear. Or your asking yourself, CAN I play the guitar by ear?….. We can all work with each other to help others play the guitar.

It’s funny how we think that we can’t do something and then at the same time, say, we’ll he or she can do it. Like, I can’t be an actor, but my best friend can.

Or I can’t sing, but Justin Bieber can. Which means we can all help each other to start playing guitar because the person who thinks he can’t play, can help others to play because he always thinks others can play. And the person who DOES think he can play, can help those who think they can’t play.

How To Build Your Confidence To Play By Ear

This won’t take long to explain but you basically just need to get to the point where, when you’re practicing the guitar it doesn’t sound bad, (which you will if you’re just starting to play the guitar by ear.)

And it will at some point, start to sound good. And once you reach this point, you will have ALL KINDS of confidence……. of course there are ALL KINDS of ways to build confidence playing by ear, but we’ll just leave it at that.

How Jimi Hendrix Gave Himself Confidence To Play By Ear

This is going to be the short version of this story, but Jimi Hendrix gave himself more confidence by learning how the guitar worked. Whether it was a right handed guitar turned upside down (which he did).

Or whether it was turned the normal way. He knew he must learn how the guitar was going to SOUND, as he was playing it. This in turn gave him confidence.

For the full story of this, click here! How Jimi Hendrix Gave Himself Confidence To Play The Guitar By Ear.

You Can Know You Can Play The Guitar By Ear

You can know you can play the guitar by ear by studying the guitar. And after you study the guitar…get more INTENSE, with studying the guitar…

What this is going to do is make you more better at the guitar. It will cause you to become so much better, because your interest will soar.

It will make you want to play the guitar more, because it will make you get into it more than the average person. Which in time, it will make you get BETTER, than the average person.

And in even more time, get better than intermediate players. And then better than Semi Pro players. And then, if you’re willing to go to the next echelon, get to the (high level), THE PRO LEVEL!

You can know you can play the guitar by ear by studying the guitar. And after you study the guitar…get more INTENSE, with studying the guitar…

Getting into it causes you to become better than the ordinary, average person. Have you noticed how Tom Brady in the NFL is so good? Because he’s into it, you can see it in his eyes, you can see it in his throwing the football. You can see it when he’s calling plays, etc.

He’s playing Pro Football …and you applying this principle of, GETTING INTO IT!  Will cause you to get WAY better.  THINK ABOUT IT!   Anyone you seen, that is real good at what they do, they are always INTO IT !

Denzel Washington, Michael Jackson RIP, NICKELBACK (The Pro Rock Band) or them Good ole, AC-DC (Hard Rock group,) etc. THEY ALL ARE INTO IT! So yes, you CAN PLAY THE GUITAR BY EAR…

By getting better at the guitar, it causes you to know, you can play the guitar by ear.

How Rejection May Cause You To Think You Can’t Play By Ear

Maybe after you asked yourself… “Can I play the guitar by ear?”…. The thoughts of rejection came to you. And to make it worse, it was after you picked up the guitar and tried to make it sound like sweet music, but all that came out, was sour, sour, sounding music. Now you asked yourself AGAIN! “CAN I PLAY THE GUITAR BY EAR?”

It’s a sad thought, but one that can be overcome by changing your mindset…. By asking for help….. By reading books, that deal with playing by ear, (if there is one.)….. And asking people on the streets and watching YouTube videos. And maybe they gave you a little piece of the puzzle, (to playing by ear.) But not the full deal.

So rejection causes you to sink so low, you give up.  Guitar doesn’t get picked up,   no attempt at trying to play the guitar by ear. “I’ll just play it by sheet music,” you say….. “Or tab music,” “everyone seems to be doing that.”

…. “And also, YouTube.” … “I’ll watch YouTube videos to have someone show me how to play it,” “so I don’t have to play it by ear,” you say…

So the itch comes back from time to time to LEARN THE GUITAR BY EAR, but no! You already tried…..

But maybe you became real good at playing the guitar, but friends say, “come jam with us.” And then you say, “let me go get sheet music, tabs, or watch a YouTube video, so I can play first.” Not having the attitude, I can play by ear…..

FIRST!,…. you have to know you can play it first. So whether you can’t even play it by ear, yeah, by NOT even looking at sheet music and YouTube.

Or you CAN play the guitar by looking at a YouTube video of someone showing you how to play songs.

You have to get to where, when the thought comes into your mind again, “Can you play the guitar by ear?” It must be met with YES! 

Because YES, causes all doubt to leave your mind. And it gives you a clear view that causes you to say, I CAN!

So case in point, gather up ALL your negative thoughts, toss them aside.

Because we all know that,……. “As a man thinketh, So is he.”…. So in order to know you CAN play the guitar by ear, you MUST! Become that person, who CAN PLAY THE GUITAR BY EAR!

So case in point, gather up ALL your negative thoughts, toss them aside. Because we all know that,……. “As a man thinketh, So is he.”…. So in order to know you CAN play the guitar by ear, you MUST! Become that person, who CAN PLAY THE GUITAR BY EAR!

Conclusion

So now that you have read all this you will now be able to know you CAN play the guitar by ear. If you continue to gather up more information.

And as you do, you will notice the more information you get, the BETTER you will get at playing the guitar by ear.

People will notice, YOU, will notice yourself getting better. And then you’ll notice,  HEY!   I can play the guitar by ear, when you learn it.

Related Questions

What will happen if I play the guitar by ear? You will notice the enjoyment you will get, when what you play will immediately be, being played by you for your enjoyment and others too, who hear you. You will be boosted. Especially when you hears songs on the radio and you say, “Hey!” I can play that.

What is it called when you can play music by ear? You are able to reproduce music you have heard on your instrument, without having seen another musician play it or having seen sheet music or tab music. And play exactly what they played.

How can you get others to play guitar by ear? If it’s a Music Teacher at school, then it’s going to be an uphill battle. They often only want to play by reading sheet music. To get people to play by ear, convince them, that it’s more easier to play than just looking at sheet music and that it’s fun.

How many people can play music by ear? After looking for the answer for this I noticed that there are no exact number of how many people play music by ear. If I had to guess, it would be very little, because most people I’ve seen, don’t play by ear. So I would say about, if I had to guess, 20 percent.

Photo credits: 

Jimmy Hendrix photo provided by uihere.com. A real great photo image website.