....play it without analyzing it - assuming you know the first note, and the melody really well from listening and singing along.

For years - I've been wanting to do this....and I still can't - and I'm finally thinking it may be largely due to a lack of natural ability making it harder for me than others - or the wrong approach....I have tried and done some ear training, but not stuck with it....but on that topic, ear training is boring as hell and very, very, very hard for me - for those of you that can do what I described, did you learn through traditional ear training ? - or are there other ways. My very experienced guitar teacher hears a chord and the voicing - and his fingers find it almost immediatley - but then again, he is a full-time professional musician with exceptional talent....

Another thing I've noticed about my inability to do this - is that I've never really been able to hear and figure out bass lines easily - a teacher I went to recently felt that he is able to do what I described by hearing the bass lines, knowing the interval between them - and then deciding on whether the chord is major, minor, or dominant...

I've learned my songs by rote memory, with an understanding of their function, and memorizing the sequence by playing it over and over again and developing muscle memory in my hands/fingers to help - lately, I've been trying to hear the bass lines better, and be able to play and sing the song only with the bass line (or root notes on the guitar) - then adding the chords, which is more similar to the approach the teacher I mentioned above uses. I'm also trying to learn the bass line with numbers in addition to note names (something new for me). Again - really hard for me.

Now - maybe I just haven't played enough in my life, or done the ear training with programs enough - like I've been told....or maybe there are some other ways to practice and learn this that aren't as boring as the ear training ? I have limited time to play - and I really like the idea of knowing and memorizing songs as I develop this skill. Right now - I'm working on 4 Cat Stevens classics (aside - who likes the Cat ? - and don't bring his religion into this lol):

1.) Father and Son G
2.) Morning Has Broken - starts in D - a few little modulations in the intro progression, and in the entire verse/chorus
3.) Peace Train
4.) Wild World

No matter how well I know the melody and review the chords - my fingers never seem to get to the next chord easily and natrually - almost always a really long, rote process that doesn't carry over to figuring out the next song.

Thanks for listening.

Best,
Joe V.

Last edited by Joe V; 01/20/19 07:28 AM.