ear guitarists

[tomtele]

I've been trying to figure out songs off cds and stuff since I started playing not too long ago. Do a lot players use programs to slow things down. I feel a little dependent on slowing things down. Some simple licks I can distinguish. However, I talk to one guitarist who learned Page's solo on Heartbreaker with no help.

 

So do you just listen to a solo/chords/licks...several thousand times and it should get easier to decipher?

 

Also after actually figuring out a chord progression, solo, riff, etc. what do you do from there? I tried moving it around in a different key but not sure if that helps any. thanks again this forum has been an awesome resource.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

However, I talk to one guitarist who learned Page's solo on Heartbreaker with no help.

 

Like every other skill in the world, people have different degrees of ability.

So do you just listen to a solo/chords/licks...several thousand times and it should get easier to decipher?

 

No, I listen to it with my guitar in hand and work it out as it's playing.

 

Of course, I need to repeat the track several times until I work it out, but that's not really "thousands" of times.

 

Actually, as your ear improves, you develop a sense of what the guy in the record is trying to do, you notice the chord changes and overall progression and so on. It becomes a bit like the way you can sometimes finish off other people's sentences or suggest a word they can't find. You understand the solo's musical context and you get a feel for what's likely to happen next.

 

You also learn your way around the fretboard and the notes produced and, sometimes, you can know how to play the solo without actually working it out.

 

 

Also after actually figuring out a chord progression, solo, riff, etc. what do you do from there? I tried moving it around in a different key but not sure if that helps any. thanks again this forum has been an awesome resource.

 

Now, THIS bit I don't understand. Why do you want to do something with a solo, riff, etc that you've learnt? You can play it with others, and/or before an audience but ultimately, learning a solo is its own reward. You learnt to reproduce and understand a piece of music that you liked.

 

What else would you like to do with it?

[A String]

I used to struggle with learning new songs when I first started. I think everyone does. Keep at it. Eventually, it gets easier. I'm at a point now, where I can learn a song, as it's playing.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

Nothing wrong with slowing down the music. Eventually, you'll be able to keep it at the normal speed for some things. Slowing down music is how a lot of professional transcribers do it, otherwise you'll miss notes...important if you're doing a "Play It Like It Is " book.

 

I went from slowing the record to 16 RPM, to recording on a reel to reel tape and slowing that down. Now I use Cool Edit.

 

Listening to different chord types will improve your ability. I used to figure Jazz tunes out which had more sophisticated chords. It made learning Rock a lot easier.

 

I remember a GP in '76 with David Bromberg on the cover. He said there is no trick to figuring out licks. If the note you find is not the one played, the note you need to find is either higher or lower. You just keep at it until you find the note.

 

It will get easier the more you do it. Good luck.

[Strategery]

Yeah, you just have to break it down bit by bit.

 

Find the root chord or key, then the rest of the chords will fall into place.

 

Leads can be worked up the same way, providing they're not too far out of your present level of expertese.

 

Myself? I don't even try shredding. :grin:

 

You also have to be happy with the talent that we're all born with.

Some have more, some have less.

Yes, we can all improve.

But if you can't accept your level of talent, it can really depress you and make you bitter.

Myself...I just enjoy playing what I can play, and I'm happy with that.

We all have our own little fields of expertese and talents.

 

Randy

 

[Squ]

This program "Transcribe!" is sooooo helpful. It can do anything you would ever want to do to help you learn a song. I highly recommend it.

 

http://www.seventhstring.com/

[mdrs]

Nothing wrong with using those Tascam CD guitar trainers to slow things down.

 

I've learned all of what I know mostly like Vince....playing along with the record or CD.

 

After many years of playing, I'll sometimes hear a song on the radio in my car, and just know where he's playing it, and what he's playing. Then I can't wait to get home to play it. Sometimes this happens with songs I've heard hundreds of times but never bothered to figure out. For some reason a lick will catch the "guitar lobe" of my brain, and I just know how to play it.

 

All the hard work early on in your learning may eventually get you to the same place. KEEP AT IT!!

 

And, WELCOME TO OUR FORUM TomTele

[Zuben]

I've been trying to figure out songs off cds and stuff since I started playing not too long ago. Do a lot players use programs to slow things down. I feel a little dependent on slowing things down. Some simple licks I can distinguish. However, I talk to one guitarist who learned Page's solo on Heartbreaker with no help.

 

So do you just listen to a solo/chords/licks...several thousand times and it should get easier to decipher?

 

Also after actually figuring out a chord progression, solo, riff, etc. what do you do from there? I tried moving it around in a different key but not sure if that helps any. thanks again this forum has been an awesome resource.

 

When I 1st started and dirt was young, that was the only way. I remember listeing and taping WABC in New York as often as I could. It was in the days when some radio stations would get a release before it was for sale. Kept the band on top of the heap. Lots of Beatle stuff.

 

Everything was learned that way. Quality, even the records, was not the greatest so you had your work cut out for you.

 

Funning thing is there wuld be daysI could sit at the keys or on the guitar and nail a song the 1st listen Others, I would give up and a week later it would all come to me.

 

Everyone I know who has stuck it out will tell you it gets better. I wish they had those recorders that slow everything down and keep the pitch when I was young. The hours on some leads it would have saved me would have paid for it!

 

Peace

[Guitar55]

"The Amazing Slow Downer" software is just that - amazing! I find that slowing down a song while retaining its pitch really helps you to isolate subtleties in what is being played.

 

[Eric VB]

I wish they had those recorders that slow everything down and keep the pitch when I was young. The hours on some leads it would have saved me would have paid for it!

Yeah, but where would your needle-drop and rewind/stop/play skills be today?

 

It does get easier. One thing that will help is learning a little theory. You can DIY or take lessons; up to you, but lessons should make it easier.

 

For example, it's amazing how much classic rock can be explained in terms of the minor pentatonic scale, or the closely related minor blues scale. Or just a plain major scale.