are there any good resources or any insider knowledge here on how you learn to play things by ear?

i've been wanting to learn a few songs for a while but the extent of information about them online is just chords, and that doesn't help me with finger picking patterns at all so i was wondering if you had any good tips on getting started with it because i have no idea where i'd even begin. (i know i can just google "how to learn to play by ear" (and i am doing that as well) but i like to ask here as well because it's nice to hear directly frmo real people)

plus i think playing by ear is a really good skill to have in general so i don't have to rely on tabs and youtube videos to learn songs.

  • Madcat [any]
    hexagon
    ·
    4 years ago

    thank you so much, i've got wagon wheel on the list now. do you know any other songs that'd be good to practice this with? the ones i've been trying with recently are way too fast for my smoothbrain lol and i'm having trouble keeping up. i feel like i've got alright technical skill but my ear might as well not exist. thank you again

    • LaikaComeHome [they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      No worries! My two favorites are probably country roads (another crowd favorite) and sink Florida sink by against me. Nice simple songs that aren’t too fast and sound very satisfying once you get the hang of them. Once you’ve got the chords dialed in, pay attention to the strumming pattern and rhythm too, that’s a big part of why these really simple songs sound so great