I'm about to lose my mind over this. I didn't know where else to post this, so I put it here, because it seems I'm a beginner at this. I have this problem, and it's nearly driven me to giving up music -- the one thing that makes me feel safe.
I can't get what's in my head, onto my guitar. I hear it in my head, and I go to play the first note/chord on my guitar (almost always wrong), and as soon as I do, whatever I had in my head shatters. The actual physical sound of the note overpowers whatever I'm hearing inside my head. So I'm stuck with some note or chord I never intended to play in the first place. I can't seem to compare what's in my head and what sound my guitar's making.
I've been writing music for about three of the seven years I've played, but in a very specific and unsatisfactory way. I play around on my guitar, playing random chords and notes until I find some that go together, and then form them into some sort of song. In the beginning the results were really interesting -- even pleasing -- but after fumbling around in the dark for three years with no idea what I'm doing, I'm sick of it.
Everything I write in this way now sounds cluttered and messy; like it wants to be something, but isn't quite actualized. I don't care about anything I write anymore. It's like trying to spell without actually knowing any letters. It's gotten to the point where I've deleted all of my recordings from the last three years (literally around 200 including clips and ideas).
I've tried learning relative pitch, and even perfect pitch, but for some reason, my mind can't seem to remember the sound of a particular interval, whether it be a fourth, fifth... whatever. I've spent hours and weeks, but I can't seem to get it. This is affecting every part of my life, and in an extremely negative way; everything seems so futile now.
I'm extremely creative, and I have no problem hearing and creating music in my head, but I just can't fucking get it out.
I know part of the problem is diligence, but I hate admitting it, because then it just seems like I don't really care enough, or that I'm not really trying. I feel like I've lost my passion and I'll never again be able to find it. I need help; please.
http://myspace.com/luminaireband | What can I say? Decide for yourself.
Either get busy living, or get busy dying. -Andy Dufresne
Set up a tape recorder, and SING the line you have in your head. That'll give you a reference that won't change as you start to figure it out on the guitar.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
I feel like an idiot.
http://myspace.com/luminaireband | What can I say? Decide for yourself.
Either get busy living, or get busy dying. -Andy Dufresne
Don't.
Everybody has plenty of those head-slapping moments over things that are obvious in retrospect. I've been teaching guitar for almost 30 years now, and I'm finally down to about two a month.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
I know exactly how you feel, this is how I came over it:
Forget about perfect pitch. Only wankers care about that so they can brag about it to their non-musical friends. Relative pitch IS vital, but there are many ways to learn it. One of the key things for me was associating each interval with the opening notes of a tune I know well. For example, the first two notes of 'I wish you a merry christmas' (the 'I' and 'wish' notes) are a perfect fourth interval. Sing it. Play a note on your guitar and use that as the first note, then sing the second note. Play the first then sing and play the second. Take a different first note, on another string, and repeat. Take your time, don't get frustrated.
If it works, take another song. The national anthem, nursery rhymes, the more 'burned into your soul' the better. Focus on the intervals of the major scale first. Associate all of them with songs. Learn to sing all intervals. Learn to play all intervals. This will take months, be prepared for that. Take ONE interval every week. As soon as you got two intervals down go to http://www.musictheory.net and open the interval ear trainer. Select only the intervals you've practiced. Have it play an interval and think which of the two songs it is. Practice it 30 min every day, even if you think you know it by heart. Start by using intervals that are very different, like an octave and a major second. Slowly fill in the gaps and don't rush it. Your ears will need time to really differentiate between it all, your auditory cortex needs time to develop. When this is done you'll have mastered melodic intervals. Take your time, this is the #1 music skill you need to learn and unlike most other things there is no shortcut at all. None.
After that you need to learn harmonic intervals, two intervals played at the same time. Don't bother trying it now, it's hell to do if you haven't mastered melodic intervals. This will take more months, and will be very slow again. After that comes chords, first melodic then harmonic. After a year of daily practice you should be able to identify intervals and most chords, both harmonically and melodically, with about 90% accuracy.
Remember, what you want consists of multiple parts:
1) hearing music in your head (you seem to have that down already, feel proud!)
2) understanding the intervals (you have trouble here, this takes a lot of structured practice)
3) understanding where those notes are on a guitar (physical practice).
If you're 'kinda good' at the final two steps the result will suck. You need to be good at both, and it'll take time. Don't be too hard on yourself: before I tried it this way I just ran ear trainer programs and got frustrated like hell because it just didn't work, I scored no better then an ape randomly guessing. Trust me when I say that's bad for your self-esteem.
I'm really grateful for your help. I don't know why I didn't think of these things sooner, but what's done is done.
Thank you very much.
http://myspace.com/luminaireband | What can I say? Decide for yourself.
Either get busy living, or get busy dying. -Andy Dufresne
Set up a tape recorder, and SING the line you have in your head. That'll give you a reference that won't change as you start to figure it out on the guitar.
Soon as I read this - I thought to myself - sing and record....
I've got a load of stuff I've got to put to music and that's the method I will use...
Good luck sethric - don't give up...
Rock on!
D 8)
I'm nowhere near Chicago. I've got six string, 8 fingers, two thumbs, it's dark 'cos I'm wearing sunglasses - Hit it!
"Often the backing I think of early on never comes off. With "Tomorrow Never Knows" I'd imagined in my head that in the background you would hear thousands of monks chanting. That was impractical of course, and we did something different. I should have tried to get near my original idea, the monks singing. I realise now that was what it wanted."
That quote comes from John Lennon - if he couldn't get the ideas in his head on tape the way he wanted, what hope is there for the rest of us?
I have songs dating back over twenty years that I have never tried to record - part of that is, they've been in my head so long and I know them so well, that recording them would shatter the perfection - they sound great in my mind! Another part is, my musical skills aren't quite developed to the stage where I can do the songs justice.....I know what I WANT them to sound like, but I'm not that good yet.
The other thing is, my voice NEVER cracks in my head - but when I start reaching for those high notes in the real world, I'm all over the place. So I generally have to record a song in a different key to how I originally envisaged it, which leads to all sorts of problems......
All I can suggest is pretty much a summing up of what's already been said - record the vocals. Nick mentioned something recently about taking a pocket recorder everywhere.....seems a good idea to me. Get the vocals in the right key, and the rest will follow. It may be harder than you thought - that song you thought you'd do in G Em C and D might have to be recorded in Bb Gm Eb and F......but hey, that's why capos were invented!
One of these days I'll find out what the black keys on my keyboard are for - watch out world, and move over Elton!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
I second the idea of using songs to learn intervals - "Music Theory For Guitarists" by Tom Kolb has a list of these. For example, The first two notes of the "Jaws" theme are a minor 2nd interval. I'm going to make my own list since it's critical to use songs you know really well.
I've personally been playing piano and keyboards (badly) for 20 years and still can't recognize most of the intervals, so there's nothing obvious or easy about it. I think it takes a deliberate effort like anything else.
As for getting your idea onto paper... recording your voice works great, that's what I've been doing for a while. I usually just use the microphone on my laptop since it's handy. Also I don't know if you play anything else, but I end up working out things on a keyboard since I'm a beginner on the guitar.
Whatever you do, consider yourself lucky that you "have no problem hearing and creating music in your head" - I personally can't do that very often, I usually have to sit down at an instrument to create anything.
dont worry about the music write your lyics first then write the music thats the way I write my songs. I hope my advise was helpful good luck
Wow I just found this site and this was the first post I read. And it helped me a lot.
Don't quit man You may be a great voice we will never hear if you do.
So I went to the interval trainer. I understand how to tell if it is a second, third, fourth etc by counting the lines and spaces. I don't understand how to tell if it is minor ,major, perfect, diminished or augmented.
Intervals, like most things described in musical terms, use the major scale as the foundation. We've any number of articles here at Guitar Noise that can help you out with this. "Perfect" usually only refers to the fourth and fifth of the major scale. "Augmented" means raise the tone a half step. Diminished or minor is to lower it a half step. Major means just like in the major scale.
Hope this helps and welcome to Guitar Noise, by the bye.
Peace
Thanks ! I'm doing a bit better on the interval trainer now. I need to know intervals by ear for a test for a music endorsement on my teaching certificate.
