Were you born with good hearing?

[BobRoss]

So I am starting to get desperate here..

After a few years playing I decided that I wanted to learn a song only using my ears.
No tabs, no notes nothing. This was supposed to make me a better musician but it only made me a more frustrated one instead...

How did you guys develop your hearing? Was it natural for you guys? Did you just hear/feel that  randon chord or note?

I can distinquish the basic cowbow chords from each other, but once we move up the neck I am lost. And dont even get me started about solos..

btw posted this here because somehow I feel the practise room is kind of neglected.  

[thebird55]

I am insanely jealous of people who can identify a note by ear. Well, no, I'm really not. I'm happy for them. But I don't think I'll ever come close to doing it.

[son of gumby]

i've been obsessed with music as far back as i could remember.  i can detect intervals pretty fair, and if i have a moment to recall what an A sounds like, i can count the intervals and tell you the note. but i couldn't do it on the fly.

[BobRoss]

I am insanely jealous of people who can identify a note by ear. Well, no, I'm really not. I'm happy for them. But I don't think I'll ever come close to doing it.

Yeah me too, although now with my VLC player I can slow things down, so that might help identifying songs note for note. I just hope it´s something I can train. If its not, there is no hope haha

i've been obsessed with music as far back as i could remember.  i can detect intervals pretty fair, and if i have a moment to recall what an A sounds like, i can count the intervals and tell you the note. but i couldn't do it on the fly.

Yeah I have been too, I´m basically listening music at least 4 hours a day, (for the people who I hang out with thats alot, don´t know how it is for you guys) so it just bugs me sometimes if I cannot even find out if a blues is played in E or A. Might just be my lack of proper knowledge of music theory too.
Seriously people who can play along with a song only after hearing the first verse should really go "#$%"#. My old guitar teacher can do that, the bastard

[Franky G-String]

After years and years of playing guitar my ears finally caught on.  Learning songs from free tabs on the net helped tune my ear more by having to find all of the errors. 

[GPW]

  Many years ago in High school band class , we were taught to “sing” the intervals ... the old Do Ra Me...  that seemed to help a lot ..  especially when forming chords ...  that and counting on my fingers ... 
  Years and years of playing and practice  just  made it easier ...  like Frank ... 

[FC]

Easy songs like "happy birthday" yes. 

[BobRoss]

First, you don´t want to hear me sing, I don´t even want to hear me sing

second, the tip from RGT is awesome indeed, thinking back a bit I already do that. But (for me) that only means going from the 14th to the 15th fret on the high E string every once in a while. Or sometimes adding a note that wasn´t in the tab in the first place. It´s a good tip nonetheless, but a while back Mushroony linked a song from Paul Gilbert, this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn-wj4pRpIE I decided I wanted to learn that particular song to improve my picking skills: I figured this must be better than playing sweet child O mine all day long

But I will not ever learn this song in the near future without tabs. And to be honest that is what bugs me. It seems the lazy way to learn a song.

But I guess you guys are right, I shouldn´t think I can learn this in a few months. I know this takes years of practising and that it will come in time.

I suppose I just want to know if there is any way to speed up this proces...

[GPW]

   Eat, Sleep ,and  Play  with your guitar ... ALL the time ...  and Jam with your friends as much as possible ...  Just have to put your time in ... unless you’re exceptionally gifted , which most of us are not ... 

    I know a guy here that is a Wonderful guitar player .... he’s a street musician and plays 8 hours a day , every day ...  then he goes home and practices ...    No wonder he’s good ... 

[Baz]

i figured out the piano part to "We Are The Champions" by Queen without needing sheet music or anything else... no idea how i did it, ever since i was a kid i've been able to play by ear, either watching someone else play it and just copying what they play (i learned Fur Elise from my older brother by doing this) or sometimes i'll just fiddle around on the piano and think "hey, that sounds like (song name)" then i'll take it chord by chord and see if i can work out a verse or two that being said, i can't sight read sheet music very well, i wish i could, but it's something i've never been able to get a grasp of, i know how to read it, i could just never read and play at the same time

[thebird55]

First, you don´t want to hear me sing, I don´t even want to hear me sing

second, the tip from RGT is awesome indeed, thinking back a bit I already do that. But (for me) that only means going from the 14th to the 15th fret on the high E string every once in a while. Or sometimes adding a note that wasn´t in the tab in the first place. It´s a good tip nonetheless, but a while back Mushroony linked a song from Paul Gilbert, this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn-wj4pRpIE I decided I wanted to learn that particular song to improve my picking skills: I figured this must be better than playing sweet child O mine all day long

But I will not ever learn this song in the near future without tabs. And to be honest that is what bugs me. It seems the lazy way to learn a song.

But I guess you guys are right, I shouldn´t think I can learn this in a few months. I know this takes years of practising and that it will come in time.

I suppose I just want to know if there is any way to speed up this proces...

I quit.

[darkside]

there is all kinds of audio books and programs to help with relative pitch, most observatories make every music student do it. I know this guy named david lucas birge has a set for relative pitch and perfect pitch ear training. I have heard good things about both of them. as for me I can recognize a lot of notes but im no master at it. learning how to tune my guitar by ear has helped out a lot too.

[thebird55]

Someone here posted a link to some kind of exercises a long time ago. I can't quite remember exactly what it was. Any ideas?

[Gilks]

I'll try and write up as best a guide as I can for you to develop your ear from a basic-intermediate level.

1) Identifying pitches: This is the simplest form of ear training. Bust out a song you like and listen to the FIRST pitch of the MELODY. (DO NOT TRY TO IDENTIFY PITCHES OF ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE MELODY FOR NOW. Hearing what guitars, bass, etc. are doing under a melody is for more advanced musicians, but you will get there.) After you hear that pitch, sing it. Hum it if you're too shy. Now, can you hear that note in your head without singing or playing it? Can you actually hear the note in your head? If not, play it again, sing it, and then try and hear it in your head all over again.

Once you can, try playing it on the guitar. Now obviously you can't just guess and get it right, otherwise there wouldn't be a problem. Just fiddle around and try to find the right pitch. Don't worry about the right octave for now, just find the pitch. If you heard a note and you find out it's a C, perfect, you're done. Don't worry about "Well I found a C on the A string but it's really an octave higher..." not a big deal right now. You found the note! Good job! Now try it all over again for the next note.

You should be able to find the notes faster once you learn to hear how close you are to the note you are aiming for.

2) Identifying pitches in the correct octave: This one is just an add on to the previous exercise. Try and find each note in the proper octave by listening and comparing it to the recording or resource you are working from. It's the right pitch, but is it too high or too low? Maybe spot on? This is also a good way to find out if people are playing in different tunings. You'll play a C on the 3rd fret of the A string and go "Yeah it's a C, but not low enough..." and that's how you know "Oh they must be playing in a drop tuning, like Drop C"

Once you can hear pitches and identify them with relative ease (aim for no more than 10 seconds for now to get the right pitch and octave) you can move on.

3) Identifying intervals: Now we're gonna learn to identify intervals! This isn't as scary as it sounds. There are 13 (technically speaking) basic intervals in music, but you can start off really small and work your way up. There are many websites, smart phone apps and so on that have interval trainers. If you have an iPhone there's many to find on iTunes, or you can go to www.musictheory.net for great exercises. Start out by just setting your application to only play major thirds and minor thirds. You'll slowly be able to identify them. Try adding a new interval on top of those two every day or two, a half hour or so a day will get you mastering intervals in just a month.

4) Identifying chord qualities: Again, using the same applications or the website as before, learn to identify chord qualities by starting with just major and minor on in the settings. Then add diminished, then augmented, then 7 chords in the same order.

After doing all of this you will have a great ear, better than about 50% of musicians just by doing that. Shocking, but sadly true. If you ever get to a point where you want more information on ear training, drop me a line and I'll get you some more advanced stuff, and some better resources. Sorry if this is confusing, I wrote it sort of half-assedly, had a long week so far.

[thebird55]

Re that link I mentioned. I remember now that it was about identifying triads and such. Picking out major sevenths and that kind of thing. Ring any bells?