When you learn practical music theory and play lots of songs, something else happens. For example, when you understand the number sequence used to play chord progressions, you can listen to a brand new song on the radio and say, “Oh, that’s 1-4-5.” When you get to know the scale patterns used to play guitar solos, you can listen to a guitar solo for the first time and think, “That’s the minor pentatonic scale.” When it comes to recognizing what you hear in music, knowing is half the battle. Getting to know a bit of music theory improves how you hear things too. They recognize what they hear because they have played it many times before. They get so used to the sound of the songs they play that they quickly pick up on similar songs when they hear them. This is why guitarists who have a lot of experience playing in bands can play by ear so well. Perhaps you’ve never considered this, but the more you play songs, the more you train your ear, even when no particular emphasis is put on training your ear.

For this reason, the best way to train your ear is to play songs and get to know how music theory works on the fretboard. If your goal is to be a better guitar player, then you need to focus on playing. While there is some value to this type of ear training, time spent on it is not likely to produce the results most guitarists are seeking. In these exercises, you play games that require you to listen to tones, name notes, and so on. Most ear training exercises aim to improve how well you identify music pitches and intervals. However, I think most guitarists have the wrong idea about how ear training should work. Guitarists want to get good, and they believe ear training exercises will help them become a better player. When you can translate ideas you hear in your head to the guitar fretboard, you can be creative more easily.įor these reasons, it’s not hard to see why so many guitarists are interested in ear training. When you realize what other musicians around you are playing, you play with others better.

When you’re able to recognize what’s happening in the music you hear, you pick up on songs faster. If you want to get good at playing music, naturally, you need to “have a good ear” as they say.

Ear practice music