I have a question to those who have been playing a while. As a relative novice (8 months) I still have to hunt and peck a bit before I am able to play the correct notes when playing by ear. Once I find the right notes I go over it many times to commit the order to memory, especially if it is a longer tune. I'm not really talking about chord progressions here, just basic one-note-at-a-time sequences. I cant yet just hit the next note without searching for it. Sometimes I'm off by many steps. I am sure you've all been there. My scale work is pretty decent at this point. I have all the diatonic and pentatonic scales down, and practice them every day in various ways. This doesn't mean however that I can pluck out the next note without a bit of trial and error.

Do you eventually get to the point where you can play a note progression by ear, with no sheet music, on the first try? In other words does it ever come as naturally as singing. If so, how long did that take? Not complaining, just asking. :)