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Learning new tunes -- techniques, advice?


Josh Paxton

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The recent "book on learning" thread reminded me of a question I've been meaning to ask here forever. But since that thread deals with drills and exercises, I thought I'd make this a separate one...

 

Quite a while back, someone on this board posted something about learning new tunes, and someone wrote a reply that included something like, "that is, assuming you actually know how to go about learning new tunes (which most people don't)."

 

Naturally, now I can't find the thread or remember who said that. But I remember thinking, "Well, if there's just a chart for it, I play through it until I think I've got it down. If there's a recording and a chart, I listen to it and play along with it a few times, then play it a few times by myself until I think I've got it down. Is there more to it than that?"

 

I suspect there is. Anyone got any other tips or techniques to share?

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Some songs are about more than just following the chord changes. Of course it depends on the genre, but a simple chord-chart will not suffice for certain kinds of tunes. There are signature phrases, lead lines, and sometimes transitions between parts that need to be executed precisely to come off as convincing. For that, you can get sheet music notation (not always available)... or just do it the old school way: play the recording, practice it, rewind, rinse & repeat. Having a "trained musical ear" will always help... it gets you through the learning process faster. With a really GOOD trained musical ear, you may be able to learn most songs BY EAR, without any charts or sheet music assistance.

 

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To me it is mostly about pattern recognition. Like chess tactics. You get old and play a lot of songs there are more patterns stored in you memory banks. A lot of stuff I can chart out by the numbers without touching a Keyboard.

 

Newish Pop tune by Karmin called Brokenhearted ..... learned it in 4 minutes ... It was basically Stand By Me (I vi IV V). More you do it the easier it is. My teacher made me sing because he felt it strengthen the mind's ability to relate what you hear to what you play. Not sure if he was right on that or not.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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But I remember thinking, "Well, if there's just a chart for it, I play through it until I think I've got it down. If there's a recording and a chart, I listen to it and play along with it a few times, then play it a few times by myself until I think I've got it down. Is there more to it than that?"

Nope. :D

 

Of course, playing tune(s) in an unfamiliar style, key or time signature might take some practice.

 

Otherwise, learning to play music really comes down to being able to "hear" and/or "feel" it. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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To me it is mostly about pattern recognition. Like chess tactics. You get old and play a lot of songs there are more patterns stored in you memory banks. A lot of stuff I can chart out by the numbers without touching a Keyboard.

 

Newish Pop tune by Karmin called Brokenhearted ..... learned it in 4 minutes ... It was basically Stand By Me (I vi IV V). More you do it the easier it is. My teacher made me sing because he felt it strengthen the mind's ability to relate what you hear to what you play. Not sure if he was right on that or not.

 

CEB I think your teacher was right on the money. Related to topic, but some here might differ

As I age, I am noticing real sloppiness in playing what I hear.

I am thinking the fact that when young I used to sing in a chorus. Now I do not. I think singing helped me play more accurately.

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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I have been learning a LOT of tunes the last year or so; mostly Blues now.

I would mention this psychological aspect. Do you like the song or are you indifferent to it?

If you like it, you listen to it a great deal, and a lot of listening gives you big advantage.

It is when you do not listen too much ( maybe you are not crazy about this tune ) that you are in another space.

i succumb to writing little charts.

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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The way I was taught to learn jazz tunes (standards):

- bass & melody

- bass & voicings

- voicings & melody

 

For me, I have to have the big picture first before I can start learning anything (tunes, transcriptions, or whatever). I know a lot of great players advocate learning things by ear and not writing it down but personally I need the roadmap.

 

Learning by ear or transcribing a tune, I'll go through just listening to the harmony (mostly bass). Then I'll go through and listen for any particular licks or phrases that are really important. Then I'll go through and double-check everything (invariably I've gotten something wrong). By that point I know the tune intimately so any further problems are either technical or just brain farts.

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I never thought about it that much but before the internet it was a lot harder. In my opinion some people just get it better than others because they have natural instincts that will help align themselves with if they have learned an instrument proficiently.

 

I never played "Little Pink Houses" or "Night Moves" but last Saturday someone that opened for my band asked me to sit int that was playing acoustic guitar. I was not that nervous because I knew the style. I pulled them off because of hearing it and knowing where the chords moved. You have to develop that. I think a lot of musicians learn things too clinically a lot of the time instead of developing instincts.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

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I listen to it as much as I can before I sit down to learn it. Put a group of songs I have to work on in a playlist and let them repeat while I'm doing some other mundane task.

 

Then I'll pick apart the sections of the songs and map out the arrangement in notepad on my computer. Then I fine tune all the little things.

 

I typically build my patches for the song as I go along and hear different parts I need to cover.

 

Difficult sections I'll loop in Sonar so I can listen to one passage over and over and pick out the notes/rhythms.

 

By the time I'm done I don't need any music/charts/cheat sheets as I've played thru it several times and have listened to the song so much that it's committed to memory.

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I never played "Little Pink Houses" or "Night Moves" but last Saturday someone that opened for my band asked me to sit int that was playing acoustic guitar. I was not that nervous because I knew the style. I pulled them off because of hearing it and knowing where the chords moved.

 

Funny you mention that. When I joined a cover band years ago, there were a couple tunes they called that I had never played and hadn't heard in years, but that I pulled off without a hitch just from having heard them so many times back in the day. "Pink Houses" was one of them.

 

The internet has definitely made things easier. For simple pop tunes, it's now pretty routine for me to download a song as I walk to the car for a gig, listen to it on repeat a few times on the drive, and be ready to play it by the time I get there.

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About 10 years ago I got a call from a band that wanted me to audition. My schedule was tight due to my day job and other commitments that month. The said I could come a gig they had and check them out.

 

I told them what if bring a rig and just play along and if I start to suck I will sit down and that can be my audition. The guy I was talking to knew some of my past bands and went for it. The other guys didn't know who I was. They thought I either had huge brass balls or was crazy. The truth lied in the middle.

 

Some obscure material I didn't know but it was mostly blues based classic rock and I spent 65% of my time on Hammond and 30% on AP patches and 5% on EPs and Clavs. I put in no prep time but the guitar player gave me a list of some of tune. Trower, Trout, SRV, Allman Bros. etc.... I pretty much nailed it because the changes were so predictable. They paid me for the night which I told them up front I expected no pay.

 

If you get the one right pretty much everything else can be a passing tone.

 

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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That's it don't think about notes, think about where the song moves. Kind of a zen concept. Work on developing your instinct and it can save you a lot of trouble and get you out of tough situations.

 

I despise open jams but if I have to do one and don't know the song I think of the basic tone or chord is. If I know that I can build around it while the song is happening. I won't embellish right away till I hear where the song is going either.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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