slashadler Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Hey, I was just wondering what is the best way to learn songs. By ear, tabs, videos, etc. I've had so much problems with tabs because most of them are wrong....Please help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I do rely on tabs but I'm trying to break the habit and get back to how I learned to play guitar...EAR. I like to listen first and if its not too complicated chip the song into bits. I listen on my ipod to the same 30 seconds again and again 'till I have the right chord or set of notes. If it seems a little more complicated I will watch a LIVE recording and look at the artist in action. I will pause and look at the location of his fingers on the fretboard to get an idea of where about the original artist is. If it don't sound right when I mimic maybe it's the tuning. Tab sites can tell you if its a funny tuning. If the tab is wrong but the consensus says the song is half step then half step might be right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliangirl Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 And if you're trying to develop your ear, remember that you can slow the song down in Windows Media Player until you can hear each note. It will not change the pitch of the song. All you have to do is make sure the song is saved to your hard drive, then click on VIEW, then ENHANCEMENTS, then PLAY SPEED SETTINGS. I'm still in WMP 9 because I prefer that version, but it should still work similarly in the newer versions. I find this feature really helpful for (1) writing out the words and (2) hearing individual notes/solos/picking etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I gotta hear something. I think that's unfortunate for me since there are folks who can sightread and play immediately better than I can read a good sci fi novel. Once upon a time I hadda learn the whole scoring for guitar for Man of La Mancha in about 8-12 hours. A nearby college's annual big musical had a guitar player that got really sick and I'd done news features on the director (who had been Johnny Cash's roommate in the military in Germany when JC was teaching himself guitar) and... he hollered for help for the pit orchestra. I darned near wore out the poor innocent disk of vinyl. It wasn't that hard to play in spite of all being like in Aflat, Bflat and Eflat as I recall. But I didn't know the music. Yeah, it was actually just listening and using the tabs and chord names for reference. Even played the thing over and over as I slept. Still, the whole thing was over in a week - two work nights of listening and figuring fingerings, a dress rehearsal and three performances with sheet music in front of me. Couldn't play it now if my life depended on it. Don't even remember the tunes. Darn it. Some stuff is ... interesting. Karen's right about the neat potential of computer aided listening. <grin> Some stuff frankly I don't care to learn the original arrangement and simply invent my own. It's memorizing words that's been the harder thing for me. I still need cheat sheets. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 And if you're trying to develop your ear' date=' remember that you can slow the song down in Windows Media Player until you can hear each note. [/quote'] OMG, HI! I had no idea you could do this on wmp. This is going to help LOADS, tytytyty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I play by ear and don't rely much on tabs. Play along with the song, it'll help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 OMG' date=' HI! I had no idea you could do this on wmp. This is going to help LOADS, tytytyty[/quote'] Nor I. Thanks GG. Tab is fine for helping with certain chords or phrases in a song. But like has been said, they are frequently inaccuate. I always try to learn by ear which is where a good working knowledge of scales and intervals will really help. My favourite method is to ask a mate who is better than me - there are many! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slashadler Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 Thanks so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAS44 Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Get a TAB (if you want) see what you agree with see what you dont. Modify said tab to your opinion/ liking. Though doin it by ear is always fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slashadler Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 Get a TAB (if you want) see what you agree with see what you dont. Modify said tab to your opinion/ liking. Though doin it by ear is always fun. I feel like I have accomplished more when I learn a lick or riff by ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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