Playing guitar by ear describes the ability of guitarists to be able to simply listen to a song, tune ot guitar solo and then to work out the notes that need to be played. A guitarist playing by ear doesn't need any song sheets or music books. The only thing needed is a recording of the song to listen to.

Some people find that they can play guitar by ear easily. Others have to really work hard at it. Guitarists who can play by ear almost as soon as they take up the instrument often have an ability called perfect pitch. Pefect pitch means the ability to tell what a note is simply by hearing it. This ability is usually gained in early childhood when the brain is setting up new nervous pathways.

Guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Rory Gallagher had superb perfect pitch ability. Jimi was able to work out a whole set of songs for a new band by just hearing the songs once.

If you don't have perfect pitch, but would like the ability then you need to be trained to understand and use it. We recommend the Pure Pitch training course which will develop your skills right from day one. Just think how much your guitar playing would improve if you could hear a song once and then be able to play it! There are plenty of books on ear training if you don't fancy a complete course.

If you are learning guitar or or are looking to learn then you should try the Jamorama course as this has a pitch training section included. You can also use the Jamorama lessons online for free, which is a great bonus! There are of course many books and DVDs on how to play guitar which will match the style you are interested in whether that be Blues, Rock, Jazz, Folk or what ever your gig is. Just take a look at these suggestions.

Jimi Hendrix