“I don't even really know where all the notes of the guitar are because I learned to play by ear”: Why Tim Henson believes that “learning everything by ear” is the best thing aspiring guitarists can do

Tim Henson has emerged as one of the most authoritative voices in the contemporary guitar scene. The virtuoso sparked up a debate a couple of years back when he made a throwaway comment saying he prefers to avoid “boomer-ish” bends, which even led to Kirk Hammett giving his two cents about the whole ordeal.

Now, the Polyphia guitarist is sharing his thoughts on the best thing young guitarists – or those just starting to learn the instrument – should do: “learn everything you can by ear.”

“We sell our tablature. It's one of the things that helps us pay our bills, and I think it's a great tool and a great helper,” he tells Music Zoo's Tommy Colletti. “But for the young guitar players who want to play guitar, learn it by ear. Just learn everything that you can by ear.

“And if you want to get the tab afterwards to double check and maybe, if there's something that you were struggling with that you couldn't just quite get, sure, do it, but learn it by ear. That is going to be the most important thing for any musician is to just be able to hear it and to play it.”

Henson's advice is informed by his own experience switching from violin to guitar and learning guitar by ear, which he saw as an “escape” from the rigid confines of classical music.

Tim Henson on F1, Writing, Spirituality, Staying Positive & Being a Guitar Hero of a New Generation - YouTube

Watch On

“I started playing violin. Before I started playing guitar, I started playing at the age of three. I can sight-read violin pretty well. When it comes to reading sheet music for guitar, I don't even really know where all the notes of the guitar are because I learned to play by ear, and because, for me, violin was so rigid, and it kind of killed any sort of love for music.

“It made me hate music,” he continues, “because, especially in classical music, you're essentially just doing cover songs all the time. There's no room for creativity. And when I picked up the guitar at 10, I saw it as an escape from that.”

A guitar luminary who might not necessarily agree with Henson's advice is Cory Wong, who, just a couple of months ago, asserted that players can’t call themselves advanced guitarists unless they can ace one specific test: knowing where all the notes on a guitar are.