Learning songs by ear

Learning a song by ear is a process, not a talent. You find the home note, work out the roots of the chords, and then test your guesses against the chords that belong in the key. This lesson gives you a method you can repeat on any song.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Find the key of a song by locating its home note.
• Work out the roots of the chords and name them with Roman numerals.
• Check your answer against the diatonic chords of the key.

Working out a song by ear is a sequence of small decisions, not one big act of hearing. Each step narrows the possibilities.

1. Find the home note. Play the song (or sing it) and hum a note that feels like home. It is usually the last note of the song, and the note the melody keeps returning to. That is the tonic. Find it on the guitar. Now you know the key.

2. Find the chord roots. Slow the recording down and loop one short section. At each chord change, sing the bass note: it is usually the chord's root. Find it on the 6th or 5th string and name it.

3. Use the key as a menu. You know the key, so you know the seven diatonic chords: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi. Most songs use only three or four. For each root, pick the chord from the key that has that root.

4. Test and fix. Play your guess along with the recording. If a chord clashes, try the other quality (major instead of minor, or the reverse), or the next chord in the key.

5. Write it down. Use Roman numerals so you can play it in any key.

You will make mistakes. That is the process: each wrong guess tells you what the right one is not.

The method as a flow:

1. Hum the home note and find it. Key.
2. Loop a section and sing the bass notes. Roots.
3. Write the key's seven chords. Menu.
4. Play along and swap any chord that clashes. Test.
5. Write the progression in numerals. Record.

An example. Suppose you hum the home note of a song and find it is G. The key is G major.

1. You loop the first section and sing the bass notes: G, then D, then E, then C.
2. Look at the menu for G: G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em. G, D, E and C are roots of G, D, Em and C.
3. Try G, D, Em, C along with the recording: it fits. In numerals: I V vi IV.

If E had sounded wrong as E major, the other quality (E minor) is the one the key suggests, which turned out right. That is why the menu helps.

Do these in order. Each one is small. Tick the ones you have practised.

• 1.Find the home note

  5 min

  1. Choose a simple song you know well.
  2. Play the recording (or sing the song) and hum a note that feels like home.
  3. Find that note on the guitar. It is probably the tonic of the key.
  4. Check: play it at the end of the song. It should feel finished.

  You have it when

  • You found a note that feels like home and that sounds right at the end.
  I practised this one

• 2.Find the chord roots

  5 min

  1. Play the first section of the song again, looping it.
  2. For each chord change, hum or sing the bass note.
  3. Find that note on the 6th or 5th string, and name it.
  4. Write down the root of each chord and its Roman numeral in the key you found.

  You have it when

  • You have a list of roots for the section and their numerals.
  I practised this one

• 3.Test with the key's chords

  5 min

  1. Write the diatonic chords of the key (I ii iii IV V vi).
  2. For each root you found, choose the diatonic chord with that root.
  3. Play the guessed chords along with the recording and fix any that clash.
  4. Play the section from memory.

  You have it when

  • You can play the section of the song along with the recording, with chords that fit.
  I practised this one

Slow the recording down if you can (many players and apps offer half speed). Work on one short section at a time and loop it. Patience matters more than speed.

• Trying to hear everything at once. Work in layers: key first, then bass notes, then chord quality.
• Guessing chords at random. Use the key's diatonic chords as a short menu: most songs use only a few.
• Working at full speed. Slow the recording down and loop short sections.

Take any song with simple chords, from the library or from your own favourites, and apply this method. Compare your result with a published chart afterwards. The differences show you what to listen for next time.

Short version (10 minutes)

Find the home note of three different songs, five minutes in total.

Standard version (about 30 minutes)

Do all three exercises on a song of your choice, then compare your chords with a published chart.

• Find the home note first.
• Then the bass note of each chord.
• Use the diatonic chords of the key as a menu.
• Slow down and loop short sections.

You are ready to move on when you can honestly say:

• I can find the home note of a simple song.
• I can work out the roots of its chords and name them with numerals.
• I can play the first section by ear along with the recording.