I Stopped Using Guitar Tabs And THIS Happened!

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For years, I couldn't play without guitar tabs. I didn't know how to play guitar by ear and it was very frustrating. But then I decided to stop relying on tablatures. What happened after completely changed my guitar playing. I was able to play guitar solos and improvise by ear.
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[@joeym.delgado7144]

I learned this technique from you David several years ago and it's still the primary way I learn licks and riffs from my favorite musicians. You are right, the more I did it, the quicker I found the notes. Ultimately, I don't play those riffs or licks like those artists, I tweak them here and there to make them my own. Thank you🤘

[@BobHiltner]

Your focus on pulling out the inner musicianship skills is so on-point. I try to do this, and it depends somewhat on whether I'm working to improve my listening skills or if I'm trying to look up a quick answer because my focus is on a different goal. Quick answer is quick. Thinking it through is better. Seeing how fast those who've worked to develop and hone this skill can do this makes me a believer. Their ability seems magical, but your videos focus on how we develop that magic. Thank you.

[@99MrJ99]

I got into guitar when I was around 30. I just wanted to play along to some Korn songs lol. So I only learned how to play by ear because I would just listen to it and find the place on the guitar where the sound would come from. Now I can mess around with any song with a beat and I can usually find the key or chord or whatever and freestyle it. I played extremely sporadically for years like maybe picking it up for a bit like 10 times a year. It sat on the wall for the last 2 years but this month I actually started playing regularly and its helped a ton to play regularly.

[@deanandthebeans857]

A really good way to train your ear is to use Solfa/Solfege - you know, Do Re Mi from Sound Of Music. It's used in music education all over the world, including Berklee College on their Rock course. Once you get the hang of it, it will help everything in your musical life, improvisation, ear playing, composition, score reading...

[@eddiedoyle3607]

Hi David, I like guitar tabs but only for reference, just the other day I came across a tab book from about 20 years ago, and in it was a guitar solo I wrote for a song back in the day, so I only went over the tabs a few times, and after that I was playing that solo I wrote , which I haven't thought about all this time, so tabs have their purpose

[@ronsnyder4300]

For years I’ve been trying to figure out Wild blue yonder by the screaming blue messiahs. I just can’t nail it . I’m 54 and been playing since I was 15 just can’t nail it . I’ve tried every angle just can’t get that opening riff as a starting point.LOL

[@suriakumarsupra7091]

Bro, you are looking good, probably doing some exercise and keeping yourself fit. Good on you.

[@Wallimann]

Thanks a lot!

[@tomlloyd7122]

A good skill to have is to be able to recognise intervals once you showed me the first note was C I knew the lick was in C major as I recognized the major 3rd interval. Having a ball park of what scale used and also the steps between the pitches quickens everything up

[@gerrylocke3050]

This is exactly how I learned to play about 40 years ago. Back then there weren't computers. I had to go back and forward on a record player. I was unemployed at the time, so I had lots of time to just sit and go back and forward, back and forward trying to match pitches and rhythms. When computers became more common, and then I discovered tabs things became a lot easier, but I still use this method if I can't find a tab, or if the tab I have found is not accurate

[@bkbinj6320]

My guitar tutor does this with every song I want to learn. I guess it’s time for me to work on doing it for myself.

[@nandakumarkulandaivelu8967]

Salute..Dear David Walliman..You have ventured..to touch a TOPIC,,which no one ever..think of Touching..OVERTAKING the sight by EAR ..some times..the RETURNS..by remarks and OPINIONS..can be shattering,,by handling such..TOPICS,,then what..EAR..MUST WIN,,,,,NOT eulogy..but i,know..SO many..who follow..your directives..simply are ..aducted by..TRUE..skill..which..NO.ONE ..dares to touch..With Gratitude and Love...DrNanda..TamilNadu..INDIA..I,remain

[@billbankes-jones6034]

Exciting. Stalled. Hoping it's a bump start.

[@MrPeter924]

Awesome great playing guitar 🎸. So sound great audio 🤘🤘

[@MustafaBaabad]

Good lesson to teach us to be independence. Thank you Chief!

[@joseiiitabios3896]

Good one brother!

[@pixels1497]

Hi David, is there a part two to this? Thanks

[@dogzillamonster]

Cool finger-point flames :) Nicely visual. I play by ear but knowing just pentatonic patterns 5, 1, and the top of 2 makes it all easy.

[@zishaankhan9830]

The only thing I've been able to figure out by ear on my guitar was Another One Bites The Dust using my low E lol

[@Kipperbob]

I never had the patience for Tab, or sheet music, I know kinda how it works but I think poor eyesight and good ears made me fake that I knew what I was doing and just play what I thought sounded close enough to fool anyone who wasn't a guitarist, which let's face it is 99.9%of any potential audience.

[@davorbrijacak]

Is that Private Investigation by Dire Straits during detective segment on 4:40?

[@Wallimann]

Haha! Yes! I thought someone would catch that! It’s one of my all times favorites!

[@eddieneal9920]

I don't really have trouble learning lead melodies by ear, it's the chord progressions I have a harder time with. Straight out Barre chords, most single note riffs and power chords, usually pretty easy. Thats not what you had going on there, so for me not so easy to learn.

[@ronwhitehead4753]

what about useing notation. it has so much information when learning a tune.

[@mithii7123]

Is it really a bad thing if I can only play by tabs when I'm not trying to be a professional and just play as a hobby

[@micheldindaine8403]

music is an aural skill.

[@guitarista666]

Come on, David. You can't play guitar without using your ears, tabs or no tabs. And, yes, you can develop your listening skills and still use tabs from time to time.

[@Wallimann]

Totally agree with you!

[@hanskung3278]

If your ear is bad then work on it, if you don't know theory then learn it.

[@contactusece7769]

Didn’t he say he made this song huh?

[@starexplorers1202]

Agree to disagree. Tabs show you all patterns in seconds. If you have to listen to every song all the way through you just wasted 4 minutes of your life trying to emulate someone else's thoughts. Tabs are great for seeing what patterns you like. Every 5 years there is a kind of "echo chamber" with songs being emulated by all guitar players. Eddie Van Halen had his patterns, and guitar players repeated what he did, and added to it. Eddie came back a few years later and even emulated some of those players as well. Yes, you heard me correctly!! Even the best of the best listens to what others have played and feedback off of it to some degree. That is what music is all about. Tabs speed things up. I can go through an entire career of RUSH songs and see every progressive chord Alex Lifeson has played and see how he changed and grew over 30 years. HOWEVER, music is EMOTION in MOTION. Once you see the patterns you do have to feel the music. Otherwise, you are just a computer playing patterns. That is where the magic really lies...

[@Wallimann]

Agree to disagree! :) You do have good points I agree with!

[@starexplorers1202]

@@Wallimann I can relate to that. Indeed. You do have valid arguments. Can't deny that...

[@ElectrickSoundz]

🎉❤😂😢😮😅