I know many guitarists learned to play "by ear" and I'd really like to start figuring out songs by ear but I can't ever seem to hear the guitar parts through all the drums, bass, singing, ect.
Any advice on learning how to play by ear without the use of computer programs or anything? I know the most important part is listening (of course) but how can I listen through all the effects of the song that are unrelated to the guitar? I just end up trying and giving up soon after.
David Hodge has written some excellent lessons on this topic..
Located here
My advice, start with simple songs, Listen for what the bass is playing. The bass gives a good guide to what the root notes of the chords are...
This is a long journey... dedicate say, 20 minutes to work on a song.. if you get frustrated (you will :wink: ) put your guitar down and try again tomorrow for another 20 minutes... frustration is frustrating, but quitting makes YOU a quitter..
maybe have a reliable Tab nearby, but FORCE yourself not to look at it until you've dedicated at least some time to trying it on your own. Cheaters never prosper.. I'm full of cliche's today..
Good Luck
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Insert random quote here
David Hodge has written some excellent lessons on this topic..
Located here
My advice, start with simple songs, Listen for what the bass is playing. The bass gives a good guide to what the root notes of the chords are...
This is a long journey... dedicate say, 20 minutes to work on a song.. if you get frustrated (you will :wink: ) put your guitar down and try again tomorrow for another 20 minutes... frustration is frustrating, but quitting makes YOU a quitter..
maybe have a reliable Tab nearby, but FORCE yourself not to look at it until you've dedicated at least some time to trying it on your own. Cheaters never prosper.. I'm full of cliche's today..
Good Luck
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Ah, I had looked at those lessons a while back but never really tried anything seriously. I'll definitely check them out again. I should have checked the guitarnoise lessons before posting too, hm. :oops:
But yes, I'll definitely try a little every day and hopefully one day, it'll get better.
I should probably have tried learning by ear instead of jumping all over tabs but hey, better late than never, right? Had to add a cliche as well. ;)
try some simple acoustic recordings first. get a little used to it before trying to tackle harder stuff.
with full band recordings, listen repeatedly until you can separate all the different instruments, and know what's coming. there's no rush. i've been working on it for a decade. listen for a certain tone and follow it until you can pinpoint the instrument. do this with each individual instrument. vocals and drums are always pretty distinct. there may be two or more guitars, so you'll have to figure that out by their different rhythmic patterns and tones. bass can be harder to follow, especially on bad speakers or recordings.
good speakers or headphones are essential at first, or you'll just get frustrated.
the guitar has a distinct range. the bass and kick drum can get mixed up easily if the bass isn't very distinct, but the guitar(s) should stand out a bit more, unless they're both heavily distorted or copying each other. then it's a bit tougher.
most important thing to do: find the root note. everything else follows from that.
Jason brings up a good point about seperate instruments being hard to define on crappy equipment... on MP3's especially, with their lower quality recordings, can make things sound a bit muddy down low.
I listen through some nice gear at home where i practice so the bass stands out like dogs balls... just turn it up a bit and the bassline just SCREAMS the root notes at you...
Insert random quote here
yeah. once you can hear the bass use your low E string to follow along.
then you have that root note so you can figure the chord. most times the chords are right there and not too complex. sometimes the voicings are complex but tahat's a different story.
once you can follow the song by chords you are almost home. within the chord is the scale. within the scale is the melody.
tajke it a piece at a time.
I use CDs and play along using the stereo speakers.
sometimes songs have good separation, so by listening to just one channel (left or right) you can really hear things clearly.
