I know there was just a thread on this, but it had more to do with learning fast solos than anything else.
Apart from slowing down what you're trying to learn or looking up tab, what do you do when you can't seem to figure out which chords to play? I usually try to find the root note and build off of that, but sometimes it isn't clear what the root is, or the guitar is pushed far enough back in the recording that it's not much different from a percussion instrument (this seems to apply to acoustic parts most of the time). I try to find the root from the bass notes too, but that doesn't work all the time either.
Thanks
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#6
Learning by ear takes practice, the more you do it, the better you will get at it. You are already doing the right thing, listen to the bass. This is a little more difficult today with the super-low tunings. It is hard to distinquish really low bass notes.
Something I learned early that helps is to know that most (not all) songs use the Major and Relative Minor chords. So if a song is in the key of C, the major chords used will probably be C, F, and G and the relative minor chords will probably be Am, Dm, and Em (or E7). A lot of times these chords are altered just for color, so they might use an Am9 instead of an Am chord, or a G7 instead of the regular G.
There are exceptions to this general rule. In Rock, the flatted 3rd chord and the flatted 7th chord are very popular. So a song in the key of A will likely have a C (b3) or a G (b7).
So use your ear and follow the bass line. Try to tell if a chord sounds happy (major), sad (minor) or bluesy or jazzy (7th type chords).
Just stay at it and it will become easier over time.
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
