A lot of people don’t know and I mean A LOT of people don’t know that there are DIFFERENT ways of playing the guitar by ear. So after many years of trying to figure it out, I didn’t realize that there is more than one way to play the guitar by ear, there are quite a few, and we will go over the different ways of playing the guitar by ear.
So what are the different ways of playing the guitar by ear? One is where you use scales, another is where you use chords, another is where you use melodies and the last is the D chord method. Use techniques with these and you’ll see the different ways of playing the guitar by ear.
We will explore the different ways of playing the guitar by ear. If you’re a novice or a beginner, you will find things that you’ve never heard of before.
If you’re a pro you’ll already know all this, BUT you probably have never heard of the D chord method I just mentioned and NO! I’m not talking about the Drop D tuning that some guitarist do.
The Different Ways Of Playing Guitar By Ear Methods
Yes! There are different ways of playing the guitar by ear, let’s dive into them.
In the scale method, it uses the notes of the scale in order to play by ear, and in so doing gives you the formula to play by ear.
This method takes longer to do, to play the guitar by ear. But when you get real good at this method, it will only take you about 1 to 2 minutes to play any song by ear.
In the chord method it is quite easier to do because you probably already used the scale method to do it, so you’re one step closer to playing by ear.
Which leads us to the melody method, which is based on the scale method believe it or not because the scale method is basically based on numbers, but of course, musicians have to have there letters too, which is what makes you know where you are on the guitar fretboard better.
So before I get to the ways of playing the guitar using the D chord method, (not to be confused with the Drop D tuning method.)
Lets see how these methods I just mentioned, often interact with each other. I won’t go into much detail here in this section of article but I will later on, on this page.
But they basically need to have a combination of scales, chords and melodies. Yes, you’re basically going to need to mix ALL these up, in order to make it work, so you can play by ear. Which makes you, whether you’re a pro or not, (a beginner) an ordinary person….
Because EVERYONE who does play by ear uses these methods, or a combination of them. Which in this way makes you an ordinary person. But being an ordinary person is not a BAD thing, BUT there IS a better way AND a faster way. Now, what way is that?….
Introducing the D Chord method. The D chord method deserves a category ALL to it self, it’s that good, um great, which I will discuss coming up on this page, but it’s basically what it’s called, as it’s name implies, it uses D chords.
The Scale Method
So in the Scale Method, you’re going to have to SCALE you’re way outta here, as they say in Hollywood movies, when they are climbing buildings or mountains. Well all kidding aside but it’s true, scales on the guitar are the same way because all it is, is going up and down the scale.
So when you play a scale, you’re going to start at, (down) at the 1st interval and end up on the (up) 8th interval. And then it starts all over again.
Because in music you’re going to want to usually start over at the 8th interval. (Yes, I know it goes higher than that, but for the sake of simplicity of this article, I will keep at the 8th interval).
You’re going to need intervals so that you can know where you are on the guitar…. so I hear you ask, WHAT ARE INTERVALS? Well intervals are the distance between one note to the other. Which leads us to the Melody Method.
The Scale Method Meets The Melody Method For Intervals
So I was talking about intervals and then I suddenly switched to talking about melodies. Well, you’re going to need to use both of them.
Although some musicians don’t even worry about melodies. I know I didn’t for a number of years. And got away with it, until I was jamming with some musicians who yelled out to me, “Play these notes!” And then I realized I actually needed to know melody.
You see, you need melodies to know where you are playing on the guitar also, BUT you can get away with playing ONLY intervals or ONLY melodies on the guitar, BUT to become a well rounded musician you need to know both.
Especially if you ever what to be a pro at playing guitar.
Now I hear you say, “WHAT ARE MELODIES?” Well Melodies are the distance of one note to the other notes.
Technically speaking, it involves ALL the notes on the guitar. But if you break it down to just scales, it becomes a WHOLE lot easier to play.
Imagine trying to take on ALL the notes on the guitar, your mind would explode. But that’s what some people teach on YouTube and the internet. No wonder people who are barely learning the guitar, run quick from the guitar.
NOW I’m going to try to make this EASY for you if I can, without any charts and graphs. So let’s start with learning ALL the scales and melodies and intervals together.
Hear we go…they all intertwine with each other . The scales with their numbers, the melodies with their letters, all have intervals with them, because it’s just the distance of one note to the other.
So in the A minor scale it will look like this 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. In the A minor melody, it will look like this A B C D E F G A. In between the numbers and letters that you see, are the intervals.
The distance between the numbers and letters are intervals. Which is why when you play guitar or any musical instrument, There is a distance between each note that you see.
Go look at a guitar or piano or any wind instrument and you will see the distance between the keys on the instrument you are looking at.
Did you notice on the trumpet there is only 3 valves on top? That is the distance between those valves you’re looking at, I’d say about one inch apart from each other……..
On the piano you can see the distance of the keys from each other, which is a small space.
And on the guitar you can see the distance of the notes from each other, although harder to tell if you don’t know what frets are, you’ll see that they also have a distance between them.
How Chords Work With Intervals
Real quick I will explain this section, but every time you play ANY chord on the guitar, you are incorporating intervals in your playing because it is just the distance between notes on the guitar to put it simply.
And Finally The D Chord Method How Intervals Work With It
The D Chord Method works with intervals like this, to put it simply (I can explain it WAY more complicated that this, which will help you REAL GREAT!
But I will save that for another post on this site later. But just look for it when I post it later. Yes, to put it simply, you play all the D chords up and down the guitar fretboard.
AND at the open chord area of the guitar. And as you do you’ll notice the intervals, (the distance) between where the D chords are from each other, because there are over 4, D chords on the guitar fretboard.
Conclusion
So now you have a little bit more knowledge of the guitar. And you know what they say about a little…. a little becomes a lot, when you mix it with what you already know.
Now you know a little about scales, melodies, intervals and D chords……. Now you know the different ways of playing the guitar by ear, the methods.
Now I know some of the beginners on this site won’t understand everything I wrote in this article. But in time you will see, as you use this site and study the guitar.
Related Questions
Do you have to know the guitar fretboard in order to know intervals? Yes, you must know the guitar fretboard in order to know how intervals work. Because without them you won’t know where you are on the guitar.
Should I study scales? Yes you should have a fairly good knowledge of them. But it’s not as complicated to learn them, if you incorporate learning barre chords and open chords and power chords into them with your playing.
How many pro musicians know about intervals? Virtually all professional musicians know about intervals. They may not call it intervals, they may call it distances. (The distance between notes or any other type of thing they want to call it.) But every professional will use it.
