Though you may not have the most beautiful singing voice in the world, singing will help to improve your ear.  Your voice forms an important line between your instrument and the music you hear in your mind. If you can sing the intervals and chords of the song accurately, you will have an easier time identifying and playing them by ear. If you aren’t used to singing out loud, record yourself as you play a note on your instrument and then try to match your voice to it. Slide up or down on the scale until you can locate the note with your singing voice. Continue to do this with several other notes. Try to match the pitch of the note in your mind before singing it out loud. Don’t worry about notes that are too low or too high for you to sing well. Test your ear training by playing a note and then trying to sing it correctly. String several notes or sections of the song together and then try to play and sing it at the same time as one consistent melody. You can do this exercise alone or with a teacher or peer.  Your teacher or peer will play a section of the song. You can also record yourself playing a section of the song. You will then repeat the section of the song by listening to the person play or the recording of your playing. Your teacher will listen to your response and give you feedback to improve your playing. Keep doing call and response until you can play a section or sections of the song. Playing around or “noodling” on your instrument allows you to find sounds and patterns you like, especially when you’re just starting to learn how to play your instrument.  This will allow you to build an alphabet of fingering sequences, which are the building blocks of musical phrases and melodies. After enough “noodling”, you may be able to link together several fingering sequences and locate a tone you want to play in a sequence. While most music teachers may disapprove of playing around on your instrument, it is a great way to become familiar with tones and chords by ear, which you can then also recognize in popular songs and try to learn based on what your ear recognizes.
Sing a section of the melody. Use call and response training. “Noodle” around on your instrument to improve your ear.