How To Play What You Hear In Your Head
By Dylan Andrews
Playing what you hear in your head is a skill all guitar players need to have. It will help every aspect of your playing, such as:
- Learning songs faster
- Playing better solos
- Write better songs
- Being a better rhythm player
- Making the guitar sound the way you want it to
- And so on
Unfortunately, most guitar players don’t know how to train their ear to play what they hear in their head. Today, I give you four ear training exercises that will train you on how to play what you hear in your head.
Ear training exercise #1: Start small
A common mistake most guitarists make is taking on too much when they practice ear training.
This happens to players so often because we all want instant gratification.
And I totally get it, I would love to master everything I practice right away.
But ear training doesn’t work this way.
Taking on too much at once is a sure-fire way to learn slowly.
Practicing ear training works best when you start small.
Start by hearing one note in your head as if you're playing it on the guitar.
Listen to this note a few times, and then sing it.
Singing is one of the most powerful ear training exercises.
When you sing, it helps your brain memorize the note.
After you sing the note, pick up your guitar and find it.
This will train your ear to find notes on the guitar quickly.
Even if you find this easy, do not skip this step. Do every step to train your ear in the fastest way possible.
Once you find the note, do this again with another note.
Then with two notes, then three notes, and so on.
This will train you to know exactly how to play what you hear in your head.
Ear training exercise #2: Finish a melody
All you need to do is play a short melody on the guitar but leave out the last note.
This can be a melody you know or something you have made up.
All you do is, instead of playing the last note, you sing it.
This exercise will train your ability to quickly play notes you hear in your head on the guitar.
Ear training exercise #3: Transcribe simple melodies
Take a simple melody and try to transcribe it by ear.
Listen to it a few times, and then play it in your head.
Focus on the first note and try to find it on the guitar.
Once you have the first note, go on to the second, the third, and so on until you have the entire melody.
This ear training exercise is another way to get you to the point where you hear something in your head, and you already know how to play it on guitar.
Happy Birthday, Ode to Joy, Marry Had A Little Lamb, and 7 Nation Army, a great place to start.
Most of these melodies are not super exciting to play, but they are a great starting place.
Ear training exercise #4: Sing as you play
This ear training exercise is one of the best ways to train your ear.
If you can't play what you hear in your head right away, this means your brain doesn't recognize where those notes are on the guitar.
So you need to consistently train your brain to identify these notes.
And one of the best ways to train your ear to do this is by singing as you play.
This ear training exercise is effective because you don't have to put aside extra practice time.
Play and practice as you usually would but spend 5-10 minutes singing as you play.
To get more help with your ear training, I invite you to join my online ear training course. This is an online ear training course that will teach you the most powerful ear training exercises so you can learn fast and have more fun playing the guitar.