Developing a good ear is a skill that many guitar players don’t pay much attention to, unfortunately. One easy way you can do this is by playing along with your favorite songs.
It doesn’t matter how good you are or how long you’ve been playing. Even if you are just beginning to learn guitar, you should start trying to play along with songs. If all you can do is try to pick out some notes of the melody, do it. It may be slow at first, and you may not be sure if you’re getting it right. Don’t worry about that. The only way to get better is by doing it.
When I was first learning to play, I tried to figure out all of my favorite songs. I couldn’t play a lot of the music I was listening to, but it definitely helped me grow as a musician. It challenged me and pushed me to do more with my guitar. As a result, I not only developed a better ear, I also found that I was capable of doing more with the guitar than I thought.
For example, when I began studying music in college, I found that I had a better ear than many people who had been playing music longer. Amazingly, they had never developed their ear in this way.
Many great musicians (especially great improvisers like Miles Davis and John Coltrane) learned from playing along with their favorite artists. The lesson: don’t underestimate how much you can learn by incorporating this into your playing.
