So I haven't really seen one of these around so I figured I would start it up.

I was really curious to see what people play and if they know how to read sheet music, they play by ear, or if they read tabs, or even something else.

I play Guitar (mainly classical style) a little bit of piano.
I use sheet music when I can to help myself be able to sight-read faster, but if it's not possible I use tabs.

I've been playing gutiar for 6 years.

Mandolin for 6 months
Violin for 3 months
Piano on and off for a year or so (i don't play often)

I play by ear usually. I can read tabs of course but I just play by ear.

Damn, nice.
I've only been playing guitar for about a year seriously, but before that I messed around with it for years.

I am actually going to be starting to play Violin in about 4 months from now as well lol. Hope the transition isn't too bad.

Percussions for ages
Bassoon for 4 years


Played piano for around 6 years.

The transition from guitar to violin is nothing alike.

You use a bow instead of a pick or fingers. A violin is fretless, making it alot harder to play and find each note.

Ive been playing it for 3 months and I still can't find every note right.

Yeah that's what I figured. It's gonna be some work = /

Worth it though.

i didnt know a violin was fretless...

thats pr[etty wild

most stringed instruments are fretless...in fact there are fretless guitars and basses too

are you being serious? or just trolling me?

i seriously can't tell lol

I've been playing for ~7 months.

I play my strat almost exclusively. I have an Ibanez acoustic but it's got some fret buzz problem that I can't figure out/can't afford to fix. I think the neck might be bent, but I'm not that into acoustic guitar anyway.

I normally play from tabs, but I know a decent amount about reading sheet music for a beginner (took a music theory class in high school a few years ago) so I've been trying to teach myself that too. Playing by ear is too hard for me at this point, but since I've started playing I've noticed that I can hear certain chords, detect some changes in tone, hear slight changes in effects, etc. Lately I've been practicing listening to a song and then trying to guess where the guitarist is playing on the fretboard as the song goes. I figure that's a good way to help train my ear a little faster.

I've also found myself trying to figure out a song through tabs and then realizing that the tabs are wrong and sometimes I'm able to make changes that sound closer to the correct notes. Playing by ear is frustrating, but knowing that it takes time keeps me from getting too frustrated with it.

Question. For those of you who can play by ear, how long did it take you to get good at it (how good at it are you?) and what are some tips for someone who's trying to learn? I've had people tell me that when learning guitar I shouldn't use tabs or sheet music, but only learn by ear. I think that's stupid because if they are using chords in the song that I don't know then there's no way to play it from ear. Thoughts?

This post was edited by Phisherman on May 9 2011 03:36pm