Piano Guidance
Piano Guidance
Photo: Charlotte May
It can be a bit overwhelming to learn chords by ear, but learning really isn't as 'impossible' as some guitar players feel it is. Just like figuring out riffs or melodies by ear, learning chords by ear is not some innate ability that you either have or don't have.
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Read More »You might already be able to transcribe melodies, riffs and solos. But for many guitar players, figuring out multiple notes at the same time is much more challenging. Let's dive straight in and figure out a song by ear right now! Don't worry, I'll take you through it step by step, chord by chord. Start by listening to the first 20 seconds of this Nick Cave song. Try to pay extra attention to the bass guitar. Keep repeating these five steps and you’ll be able to figure out the most common chord progressions. You’re basically ‘trying out’ the most common possibilities. Of course, after a while you’ll come to know these sounds better and better, making your ‘guesses’ more and more educated. You'll start to recognise common progressions. If you found a major or minor chord in step 4 (i.e. not one of the exceptions I mentioned), the sound might still be a bit different. This is most likely because the chord has one or more additional notes that give it a richer sound. The first options to check: a. dominant chord b. major seven chord c. minor seven chord d. major minor seven chord If these 'standard' major and minor chords sound wrong, you might’ve run into a chord that’s constructed a bit differently. If you know how chords are constructed, I highly recommend using the detective approach I've laid out below. You can also check if one these chord types sounds better: a. half diminished chord b. diminished chord c. augmented chord d. sus chord (sus2, sus4, or both) e. a slash chord (i.e. a chord where the bass isn't playing the root note, but probably the third or fifth) Say you found the first root note is G. Try playing a G major chord and a G minor. Listen to which one sounds correct. Roughly speaking, you can say that major chords sound happy, and minor chords sound sad. In time, you won't have to try both, because you'll hear immediately if a chord is major or minor. But figuring out chords like this is the best way I know to learn to recognise these sounds. The root note is the 'letter' we use to name a chord. So the root note for a B minor chord is B. Think of it as the foundation of a chord. The next step is to listen to the bass line and figure out which note is the root. The bass line won't usually play the root note all the time, but it will emphasise it. For example, listen to which note the bass plays on 'the 1' (i.e. the start of a new measure). Listen to which note the bass plays the longest. On which note does the bass sound the most 'at rest'? Whenever the harmony seems to change, you'll notice that the bass is emphasising a different note. Next, figure out what the bass is playing, note for note. It might be a single note that is repeated or it might be a more melodic line. This process is pretty similar to learning riffs and melodies by ear (click here to scroll to that section). Most importantly: make sure you've got the bass line in your head and that you can sing or hum it first. Next, figure it out one note at a time, until you've found the first five to ten seconds of the song. If you're using a program like iTunes or VLC media player you can try boosting the bass frequencies using the equaliser. This can make it a bit easier to tune into the sound. It really depends on the recording, but generally speaking it should help to boost anywhere from 60 up to 400 hertz. So look around that area until you find a setting that makes the bass easier to hear. Also, keep in mind that earbuds or laptop speakers often don't have the most powerful low end. So trying a different pair of headphones or speakers might also make it easier to tune into the bass. The lowest note in music determines how all the other notes above it will sound. Harmony always starts with the bass note. So, the first thing you want to do, is listen closely and tune into the bass line. This may take some practice, because we're used to listening to melodies that are easy to hear. You're probably also wondering: do I need to know music theory to learn chords by ear? If you know hardly any theory but know your chords, you can still get started using the guide to learning harmonies by ear below. However, theory really does make learning chords by ear much easier, because you'll roughly know what to expect. You'll know which chords are 'normal'. I'll show you which theory is helpful, right after this step-by-step approach to learning chords by ear. Side note: to learn all the open chords along with a couple dozen song examples, check out Guitar Chord Bootcamp: Open Chords . If you want to be able to play all the songs in level 2 and level 3, check out my course Guitar Chord Bootcamp: Barre and Beyond . You'll cement the 96 most used chords into your brain, from major and minor chords to dominant, major seven, minor seven, diminished and half-diminished chords.
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Read More »For transcribing chords and chord progressions, this is a bit different. You need to know how to play the chords that you're trying to figure out. So, obviously, the more chords you can play, the better. But to make this guide simple and actionable for everyone, I'll provide a list of songs you can get started with in three 'levels': To learn a melody by ear, you don’t need any theoretical knowledge. After all, you really just need to match a pitch you hear to a fret on your guitar neck. Of course, knowing theory can make playing by ear easier at some point, but you definitely don’t need it to get started. Figuring out a song by ear ingrains the sound in your ‘musical system’ in a way that’s much deeper than when you’re just copying a tab. You'll deepen your understanding of what’s going on in the music. Having more insight into harmony is the key to writing more compelling songs and playing more meaningful solos. Harmony is the emotional tapestry of music that can make or break a song. When you figure out songs by ear, your relationship to sound changes. You’re not trying to match a bunch of symbols (whether tab or notes) to sound. You’re listening to the sound first, processing it, and figuring out a way to reproduce it. And that skill of reproducing a sound that you hear in your head forms the core of your musicianship. This section will give you a step-by-step guide that shows you exactly what to do. I'll also show you how you can use music theory to make the process of learning chords and harmonies by ear easier. Lastly, I'll list some suggestions for different songs you can learn by ear, grouped by difficulty level. Just like figuring out riffs or melodies by ear, learning chords by ear is not some innate ability that you either have or don't have. Recognising chords by ear is a skill you'll learn with practice. All you need to do is stay calm, don’t panic, and go at this one step at a time. It makes sense. Figuring out a single note is simply easier than hearing and recognising a collection of notes. It can be a bit overwhelming to learn chords by ear, but learning really isn't as 'impossible' as some guitar players feel it is. Note that I’ve added ‘repeat’ to the second bar. This means you need to fill in the same chord as in the previous bar. Take another listen, and try to really focus on the bass guitar. Notice that up until 0:18 it only plays two different notes. It starts at 0:04 with one note, then switches to the second at 0:11, before returning to the first note at 0:15. Find those two notes, and you’ve found the two chords in this song! The chords you can pick from are: E, A and D. Fill out and check your answers below. If you enjoyed this exercise, be sure to check out my course Make Your Ears Awesome: Chord Progressions. It takes you through a total of 57 songs, so you get better and better at figuring out songs by ear. It's part of your membership if you're a StringKick All Access Member of course. Not a member yet? You can check out the first couple of songs for free. Enroll in the sample course by clicking the button below! "You can get as many or as few hints as you want. It's almost like working with a teacher. I really like it."
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Read More »The step-by-step plan I've outlined above is the place I'd recommend anyone start when they want to figure out chord progressions by ear. It's vital that you pick up the skill of listening to a recording and finding those sounds on your fretboard. After you're reasonably comfortable doing that, it also makes sense to start using music theory to make more sense of the sounds you're hearing. That's what the following two approaches are all about! (Don't know a lot about theory yet? Check out Music Theory From Scratch.)
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