How to Learn Any Song by Ear on Guitar Without Tabs or Tutorials

brandon February 22, 2026

Imagine instead being able to listen to a song, pick up your guitar, and start playing it immediately: mapping out chords, riffs, and solos using only your ear and fretboard knowledge. That’s the power of learning songs by ear.

Forget tabs and YouTube tutorials. Learning songs by ear is one of the fastest ways to improve as a guitarist. Instead of relying on tabs or chord sheets, you train your ear, your fretboard knowledge, and your ability to map out riffs, chords, and solos on your own.

Not only does this make learning songs faster, it gives you the freedom to improvise, transpose, and jam with other musicians in any setting. Once you know how to start jamming by ear, you can play almost any style, from pop, to rock, to blues, and possibly jazz (if you know what you’re doing).

This guide walks you through a practical, step-by-step method to develop this skill. Whether you’re tackling chord progressions, riffs, licks, or full solos, you’ll learn to rely on your own musical instincts instead of tabs, unlocking a new level of guitar mastery.

Disclaimer

This guide works for most variations of popular music (rock, blues, metal, etc.) but for up-tempo, complex tunes (like jazz), you may need to consult a lead sheet for reference. Jazz is a beast sometimes.

Step 0: Commit to Learning the Song (Most Important Step)

If you haven’t already, capture your inspiration somehow and commit to learning the song. Write the song or idea down on paper, your practice journal, or a tracking app like Thrive Guitar Pro. This helps you go from an idea to reality, and starts giving it the momentum it needs. Otherwise, let’s face it, you’ll forget all about it a day or two later.

Step 1: Determine the Key of the Song

Start by finding the tonal center. Ask yourself: what note feels like “home”? This is the root note of the song. This doesn’t require any instrument. Just listen and feel it out.

Listen carefully and hum the note, in your mind, or out loud.
Repeat this with different sections of the song, especially endings, as they often reveal the tonal center.

Knowing the key note first makes everything else easier: it helps you select scales, identify chords, and predict note choices.

Step 2: Find the Root Note on Your Guitar

Once you can hear the tonal center note in your mind, locate it on your guitar.

Hum or sing the note and search for it on the fretboard.
Play it along with the recording to confirm it matches.

This root note becomes your anchor for exploring chords, riffs, and solos.

Step 3: Determine Major, Minor, or Mode

Now figure out the character of the song:

Is it bright or happy? Likely major.
Dark or moody? Likely minor, althout emotional songs can be major as well.
More exotic? Consider other modes like Dorian or Mixolydian.

This helps you select appropriate scale patterns and anticipate note choices when improvising.

Step 4: Explore Using Scale Patterns

With the root and chord type identified:

Use known scales (major, minor, pentatonic) to explore the fretboard.
Play around with notes and phrases, checking which ones match the recording.

Step 4.1: Check Your Guitar Tuning

Before you go too far, ensure your guitar is properly tuned. Even slight discrepancies can make transcribing by ear much harder.

Step 4.2: Adjust if Necessary

Some songs require open strings or notes lower than the tonal center. The simplest example of this is a song in the key of E, but uses a lower D chord. Drop D tuning would be the likely tuning of choice.

Consider:

Drop tunings (Drop D, Drop C, etc.)
Capo placement to adjust pitch
Playing octaves for unreachable notes

These adjustments allow you to play comfortably and match the recording. Although you can put your own twist on the song by playing it how you like, it’s probably wise to, at least, determine what worked for the musician who wrote the music.

Sometimes I find out the musician plays the song in an entirely different position on the neck. If you learn how the artist played it, you can choose what works best for you.

Step 5: Start Copying Chords, Notes, and Phrases

Here’s where it gets fun. See if you can determine the chord progression by ear.

Step 5.1: Harmony & Chords

If it’s pop, rock, blues, it’s usuallly some combination of I, IV, V, IV chords.

If it’s jazz, you may need to reference a lead sheet, but not always. Depends on how complex the tune is. For example, “Giant Steps” isn’t a tune you’re going to easily pick up just by ear.

Step 5.2: Melodies, Riffs, & Solos

When you start learning melodic material, break the song into chunks or measures

Memorize small sections one at a time. Measures or phrases are a goog place to start, especially.
Write down notes if there are too many to remember. For this, my blank tab sheets are a great tool — you can jot down riffs, licks, and chord progressions as you go.

Focusing on small sections helps you internalize the song’s structure instead of getting overwhelmed.

Step 6: Don’t Worry About Timing, Yet

At this stage, ignore rhythm and tempo. Concentrate on:

Understanding each phrase.
Playing the correct notes cleanly.
Mapping riffs and licks to the fretboard.

Timing comes later. First, your ear needs to recognize the notes and structure. You can’t play anything fast that you don’t understand.

Step 7: Play Notes in Time at Your Own Pace

Once you’re confident with the notes and phrases:

Start adding rhythm slowly.
Use a metronome at a comfortable speed.
Focus on accuracy before speed.

Slow, clean practice ensures you can later speed up without mistakes.

Step 8: Match the Song’s Tempo

Finally, determine the tempo you need to hit to match the original song.

Start slightly slower if needed. It’s easier to learn at a manageable speed
Gradually increase until you match the recording.
Pay attention to dynamics, accents, and expression.

This stage turns your transcription into a musically complete performance, ready to play along with the song.

Step 9: Internalize and Improvise

Once you can play the song accurately:

Play along with the recording.
Experiment with transpositions or variations.
Use the riffs, licks, and chord progressions as building blocks for improvisation.

Learning songs this way not only helps you replicate them but also develops your musical intuition and ability to create your own arrangements.

Take Your Practice Further

Download my tab sheet pack to start writing and organizing your own transcriptions.

Want to practice even faster and keep everything organized? Try my app for free. Track songs, store riffs and licks, and manage your practice sessions: Start Your Free Trial.

With this method, you’ll rely less on tabs, build your ear, and learn songs quickly and efficiently, all while internalizing the music so you can make it your own.