It’s easy to spend most of your practice time thinking about what your hands are doing: scales, chords, reading, technique, and exercises. But musicianship also grows by listening closely to music and noticing what is actually happening. In this lesson, we’ll look at active listening, what to listen for, and a few simple ways to … Read more

Playing by ear means listening to a piece of music and finding the notes, rhythm, or chords on your instrument without relying on tabs or sheet music. In this lesson, we’ll break that process into smaller steps: listen for one clear part, sing or hum it back, find it on your guitar, then compare what … Read more

Ear training helps you connect a sound you hear with a note, rhythm, or chord you can recognize and play. In this lesson, we’ll start with the most basic part of that process: matching a pitch. From there, we’ll look at intervals, keys, chords, transcription, and rhythm as different ways to strengthen what you hear. … Read more