How to Learn Songs by Ear on Guitar

How to Learn Songs by Ear on Guitar

1. Stay away from your guitar until you can hum the song along the recording

2. Find out the key of the song

There are two methods of finding the key of songs. First way is to play the following notes with the song you want to learn:

key_guitar

There are two patterns in the picture, and when we find the notes that fits the song, we find out the key.

The second way of finding key is to find the pentatonic scale that “works”. We can use pentatonic position #1 to quickly figure out the key:

key_guitar_2

Starting from the open position, then the first fret, then the second fret… keep trying 0-12 fret(0 is the open position, which is same as the 12th fret), until we find the notes that fit perfectly over the song.

3. Figure out the chord progression of the song

Circle of Fifths

We can use the Circle of Fifths to determine the chord progression.

circle_of_fifths

As shown in the Circle of Fifths, there are 12 keys(12 major & 12 minor). In each key, there are 6 chords, 3 of which are major chords, and the other 3 are minor chords. For example, C major is Am minor, and in C, the chords are:

c_key

Therefore, when we find out the key of the song, we can try the 6 chords in the certain key and determine the chord progression.

Note that sometimes we can borrow chords from parallel keys. For example, for the E major key, we can borrow the chords from Em minor key. Besides, the E major key is also the C#m minor key, so we can also borrow the chords from Db major key.

CAGED System

caged_system

There are five movable shapes, i.e., C shape, A-shape, G-shape, E-shape and D-shape.

For each of these shapes, we should know where the root is located.

  • For C-shape and A-shape, the root is on the A-string.

  • For G-shape and E-shape, the root is on the low E-string.

  • For D-shape, the root is on the D-string.

Knowing the root of each shape is important. For example, if we want to play the B major chord, we can firstly find the root on the low E-string. Then we can use G-shape or E-shape to play the B major chord:

caged_system_2

Similarly, if we want to play the E major chord, we can firstly find the root on the A-string, then we can use the C-shape and A-shape to play the E major chord:

caged_system_3

And if we want to play the A major chord, we can firstly find the root on the D-string, then we can use the D-shape to play the A major chord:

caged_system_4

We should also understand that the shapes always “move” in the same order, i.e., C-A-G-E-D-C-A-G…

For example, we can play C major chord in five shapes:

caged_system_5

Another thing we should know is that each shape only contains 3 notes. For example, C major chords only contains C, E and G, and A major chord only contains A, C# and E:

caged_system_6

Now we begin to make the minor chords. As we know, the formula of major chord is R - 3 - 5, and the formula of minor chord is R - b3 - 5. Therefore, major chords become minor by lowering the 3rd by 1/2 step(1 fret). For example, for each shape of C major chord, we can find the corresponding minor chord(i.e., Cm):

caged_system_7

Typical Chord Progressions

There are several typical chord progressions:

  1. pachelbel’s cannon progression: I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V.

  2. 4-chord song progression: I-V-vi-IV or I-vi-IV-V or IV-I-V-vi or V-vi-IV-I or vi-IV-I-V. Songs that start with I or V sound happy. Songs Starts with vi sound sad.

  3. 4-5-3-6 progression: IV-V-iii-vi or IV-V-iii-vi-ii-V-I

4. Choose the accompaniment pattern and style.