I'll echo what most have already said - it feels like singing your favorite song after you've learned all the words and you've memorized all the pauses and brea

I'll echo what most have already said - it feels like singing your favorite song after you've learned all the words and you've memorized all the pauses and breaths and long runs. It feels like driving home after not being there for years; those familiar roads from your childhood never leaving your mind. The intuition will come, after countless hours getting to know your instrument and your music. The easiest way for me to start was to practice with songs that I already knew. It's easier to train your fingers when you aren't worried about training your ears at the same time. Learning a new song on top of a new instrument is double the work for a beginner. I'll also highly recommend trying to learn scales and arpeggios by ear. Scales being your "do re mi fa sol la ti do", and arpeggios being the thirds of those scales. There are lots of youtube videos of musicians playing scales and arpeggios, look those up and try on your own instrument. This will help you build muscle memory and allow your brain to make more intuitive aural decisions. No one LIKES practicing the basics, but there is a reason why they are drilled into musicians at even the highest of level of conservatories. As you play songs you know, you will start to notice things like the "steps" between notes, and what those "steps" sound like. Oh those notes sound just like the notes from that other song, I'll bet this is a 5th too. This melody is just a drawn out descending scale, I know how to play that. Lastly, have fun. It is normal to get frustrated or have "off" days when practicing. Mistakes are NORMAL, and mistakes can be good! Try to push through those moments and end your practice sessions on a high note (heh). Come down off of a particularly difficult practice session by going through scales again, or playing a song that you know. We want POSITIVE associations with music, not grumpy ones. If you are having an off day, don't force it. Come back the next day ready to bang out some tunes.