Hi folks! It's been a little while I know and I apologize. I have been a little bit busy with some other things that's why.
Anyway, if you are trying to learn songs by ear already then this article will help you.
You need to have your guitar with you, a piece of paper and pencil, audio player, and if you have access to simple equipment or software that can slow playback without affecting the pitch (such as Windows Media Player) then so much the better.
Another thing that will be of great help is a good knowledge in chord progression. If you don't know anything about it yet, you can read my previous article. You can purely use your ears too but this will take you longer to figure out the chords.
Key
You need to be able to determine the key of the song and use your knowledge in chord progression to find out the rest of the chords that belong to such key.
Almost all the time, simple songs are played in one key. There are songs that involve key changes and in music theory it is termed as 'modulation'. But don't worry so much about this for now. Also almost all the time the song's key is the same as the very first chord of that song.
Try to emulate the lowest or the bass note and determine what note it is. And then determine whether the harmonies over the bass note played is major or minor. You can do this by trial and error. But as a guide, a major chord/harmony is generally happy,bright and positive-sounding. A minor chord/harmony is sad, dark and negative-sounding.
If you find it hard to locate which string and fret that bass note would be played on the guitar, at least try to hum or sing it until you can hear it correctly in your mind. And then just find where it lies on your guitar.
Trial and Error
Having determined the key of the song, write down on paper the list of chords that belong to that key. Now you have seven choices of chords to choose from and try out every time a chord changes.
So just try each chord from the very beginning to the end and the write it down on paper as soon as you have been able to check it against the recording by ear.
Writing the down the outline or structure of the song is also a good idea:
What are the intro chords
What are the stanza chords
What are the chorus chords, etc.
By writing it on paper, there's no risk of you forgetting the chords that you have figured out. Otherwise it can be very much time-consuming and frustrating.
Mind you, it's going to take you a deal of time and effort at first but it's well worth it as far as ear-training is concerned-- a must for every guitar player!
PS - Any guitar-related problems or questions concerning this article, PM me or simply comment below
