Playing Along To Music To Play It By Ear On Guitar

You’ve heard people say, just play along to music to get better at the guitar…. Well it’s not that easy. As I’ll show you in this article.

There’s some things you must do, or you’ll fall off the wagon, so to speak. Cause it’s easy to get side tracked, if you do what they say, when they say: “Play along to music on your guitar, to that which is on the radio, or YouTube.”

Which you should do what they say. And anyone playing the guitar that does what they say, eventually finds out what happens. Or some of you don’t even notice what happens at all…..

“Play along to music on your guitar, to that which is on the radio, or YouTube.”

YES! The old “PLAY ALONG TO MUSIC” line huh?  What I mean by that is….

To play your guitar to a song, a hit, your favorite songs, YouTube videos that have songs in them etc.

By doing this you WILL get good, they say. And if you play along to songs on the guitar, imitating the songs, you WILL get good. BUT therein lies the problem….. I’ll explain…..

What Happens When You Play Along To Music?

You have your guitar in hand, ready to play it. And not only play it, you’re going to play along to music on it. So, you’re getting ready to JAM!  “YEAH!…. I’m getting ready to play!” You say.

And as you’re playing it, every things going along REAL good but only for a minute. All of a sudden you stop… and if your friends are around, they are wondering why you stopped, but you just play it off, acting like nothing happened.

And like most people, you have to find out what the problem is, or more than likely, what the problems are.

Because your problems are….. “I don’t know if I should play only the root section of the chords in the song…. or should I just play power chords only, to the song I’m playing, until I get good.”

“Or maybe I should play the song and leave out the techniques in the song?”

“No?….. Or maybe I should just stick to playing open chords ONLY!”  Or maybe you say, “I’m to much of a beginner, to where I have to play only open chords to the song I’m playing along to, at least for now,”  you say to yourself. “Or should I only play barre chords for now?”

So we have 5 problem’s already which are:

1. Should I play only the roots of the chord?
2. Should I play only the power chords?
3. Should I play only the song and leave out the techniques?
4. Should I play only open chords?
5. Should I play only barre chords?

And there are LOTS more problems that can emerge ALL because we wanted to play along to songs. A LOT you say? Yes…. trust me there’s quite a bit more.

I’ve been playing guitar for a long time and I’ve had all this happen to me. And I’ve seen it happen to others also. If you don’t believe me, let’s state some more problems.

The single string approach: Don’t get me wrong, this approach works. Lot’s of guitar teachers have taught this. I’ve taught this. And ALSO Jimmy Hendrix taught this to himself by playing on ONE string only …

What this allows musicians to do is to get a feel for when the music is going up or down in the keys of the song. And all you gotta do is play it all from one string. And match the keys of the song.

And this is all played on different frets of the guitar but on one string. (For example, play the 6th string, which is the E string and it is located on the top of the guitar neck) And then just play the notes on that string one at a time. And start it on the 1st fret…. then the 2nd fret….. then the third fret and then the 4th fret.

And just keep going up and down these fret areas ONLY. And as you do, just match what the song is doing….when you hear the song go up, you play the upper registers of those frets…

When you hear the song go down, you play the lower registers of those frets. And of course it won’t be the exact key of the song but it will give you a feel for when the song is going up or down in those frets. Of course this won’t be the FULL CHORDS, the songs key is in, but it’s a starting point, to get you on to playing chords.

But the single notes is one of the problem’s musicians have. Even beginning musicians have this problem. As well as those who have been playing for YEARS have.

And the problem occurs when they begin to play the guitar. They question, “Should I really only play from one string only?”…. “Or, “Should I play other ways also?” And it’s hard to make up your mind all of the things you want to do, when playing the guitar along to music.

Should I only play the solos? Another thing that happens when you’re playing the guitar along to music is…. should I play only the solos in the song? Because you just worry about playing solo’s ONLY.

Or you may be twisted in your mind of asking…. “Am I more of a solo guitarist?”…. “Or a rhythm guitarist?”…..And because you can’t make up your mind, this leads to conflict.

Should I only play the rhythm? You ask yourself, “Should I play only the rhythm section of the song?”

And then after a while you also think, “Should I worry about playing the solo section of the song?”….. You see when you’re playing along to music, you’re trying to figure out, “Should I ignore EVERYTHING in the song?” “Like techniques and solos and concentrate only on rhythm?” This is all going on in your mind.

Should I play everything on the guitar? Ahh, therein lies the problem. If you go this route, then you’re gonna have to deal with being able to handle doing EVERYTHING, that is…..when you play along to music.

You’re going to have to play everything, all the way down to single notes, ….the rhythm of the song,……the chords,….. the solo,….the barre chords,….the techniques etc.

And that’s hard on a beginner guitarist. And also well established musicians. Because even they can be of the sort that doesn’t play to music, when they are playing guitar.

What this causes when we try to play everything on the guitar is hesitation. Hesitation sets in, which causes us not to nail everything on the guitar. We miss somethings, or A LOT of things, when playing along to music.

Because we can’t handle being able to play smoothly to music. We have not learned how to match the right chords and the right notes and techniques etc., to the music.

Most People Don’t Even Play Along To Music

You’d be surprised by how many people don’t play along to music. It happens a lot. And if they do, it’s only sporadic, only here and there, which is about 10 percent of the time.

And no I’m not talking about people who play the guitar along to the music that’s going on in their head. Or that they are just jamming out with their band mates playing their own songs. I’m talking about people who don’t play along to songs on the radio, YouTube, etc. on their guitar.

No wonder everyone’s taking a long time to get good at the guitar,….. well not everyone, Greta Van Fleet didn’t take long…. but you know what I mean.

Every great Star out there, worth their salt, has played along to music and quite a lot. How else do you think they are able to emulate their influences? What I mean is, they like the bands they are playing along to, which in turn makes them sound just like them or sound real similar to them.

And surprisingly, when they have played along to their influences, their favorites on the radio and YouTube, they in time start to develop their own sound. And they were able to accomplish that FIRST by playing along to music. Which caused them to to play their own sounds and their own songs.

If you would like to have Bluetooth speaker to play along to music then check out the AXESS Portable Bluetooth Indoor/Outdoor speaker. It sounds great and doesn’t cost much plus you’ll be able to use it as you play your guitar, just check it out on Amazon by clicking here.

What Happened To Eddie Van Halen?

What Happened To Eddie Van Halen? Well I’ll tell you what happened. You thought it was bad. No it is good what happened to him. Well what happened to him was he began to emulate his favorites on the guitar by playing their songs he heard of them on the radio. [But really, back then they were listening to records, cassette tapes and CD’s].

What he found out, that being the genius he is, ….that he became very good at imitating the songs he was hearing on the radio. In fact not only did he do this on the guitar but he also did this on the piano.  

And after fooling his music teacher he could play the piano by reading sheet music, when he was actually, playing it by ear. He also was playing the guitar by ear and doing it very well, so well as such, that the songs he was covering, (copying) that his versions were actually, just as good as the songs or better than the songs he was covering (copying).

Some of which became some of his big time hits. Such as, California Girls, You Really Got Me, (Oh) Pretty Woman, Dancing In The Streets and many more.

These songs I just listed of Van Halen don’t even sound like the original songs he covered.

Usually songs that Super Stars emulate, or copy, or cover, are similar to the songs they covered. But Van Halen’s cover songs didn’t even sound like the songs what so ever. (very little like the songs.)

I remember when I first heard these songs. (The songs I just said above). I didn’t even know they were cover songs. Until years later, that’s how different they are.

Even Van Halen has said: “I tried to make the songs I was covering (imitating, copying) SOUND like the songs, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get them to sound like the songs.” Which is a good thing, I’m glad they don’t sound like the songs because they are GREAT, super songs, that sound real good.

So if you don’t find yourself sounding exactly like the songs you are copying on the radio, don’t sweat, you may be on to something.

Your songs may become great too, one day also, like Van Halen’s. But you should still try to make the songs you are copying sound like the songs on the radio, the best you can.

And also if you can, don’t make it sound to much like the songs, that way you can be like the famous band, “Alien Ant Farm.” When they covered Michael Jackson’s song, “Annie Are You Ok?” also didn’t sound exactly like Michael Jackson’s hit song. Check it out for yourself and see, if you’ve never heard it before.

You Not Playing Along To Music Will Hurt You

You not playing along to music will hurt you, if you’re really wanting to play the guitar by ear. Because everyone wants to have a little fun. And if you’re that type that wants to play the guitar. And you also want to play the songs on the radio, and you don’t start, then you’ll never accomplish what you wanted to do.

Most don’t even realize that they are not accomplishing this one area of their guitar playing of playing along to songs on the radio.

All I’ve seen mostly are people, (musicians) playing power chords…. they are playing solos…. they are playing rhythm, barre chords, open chords, techniques, and all kinds of things. But I don’t hardly ever see them playing to songs on the radio.

Maybe they don’t play along to songs because of they are scared of failing, in that they won’t be able to play the songs to which they are playing along to on the radio, and YouTube, and that in turn, will embarrass them. And make themselves look like a fool to themselves, and others.

But you got to start somewhere. And if it upsets you that you’ll make mistakes in front of people, then just consider playing along to music by yourself on the guitar.

Find a spot and play where no one is. It can be in your room where your door is shut. Or it can be in your basement. Good things come out of basements. (laughing).

Or try closets, don’t laugh, Prince would lock himself in his closet and play his guitar. And wouldn’t come out for like 10 hours sometimes.

Or try any place that has no one around, and get to practicing. And you’ll be like no other. Stay consistent with it, meaning, keep doing it daily, as much as you can, and you’ll be on that road to victory.

The Final Solution to All This

It’s the Final Countdown, No! Not that old great classic song made famous by Jefferson Starship. It’s your countdown that’s going to usher you down to the paths of success.

The Solution to all this is quite simple, you’re going to have to make up your mind which things you’re going to practice on the guitar first. And then, execute them.

And as you choose them, eventually you will be playing all the right chords… the power chords…. the barre chords, open chords, as well as solos and techniques. You’ll be playing them because you will hear them in the songs you are listening to. And you will find them ALL on the guitar.

Related Questions

Do people still buy music CD’s ? Yes people still buy CD’s but it is not relied as much as in the past. But consumers still purchase them from concerts, which in turn gives income to many musicians who sell the CD’s. But many store outlets are considering dropping them from their stores.

How many people listen to music on YouTube? 1.3 billion people in the world listen to music on YouTube. Which makes up 85% of YouTube users who go there to listen to music. It is the top listening video hosting site in the world.

What songs should you learn on guitar? While It is always recommended by musicians to play songs that you like, it is also recommended a lot to play classic songs like, Hotel California by the Eagles, Nothing else Matters by Metallica, etc., as a good foundation to learn guitar.

Photo credits:

Van Halen photo credit to: Anirudh Koul https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eddie_Van_Halen_2007-11-10.jpg