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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Musician »

Permalink The Best way for learning new tunes.

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Any suggestions on the best way to learn new tunes? How do you do it?

  1. Get song in digital format.
  2. Load song into audio software editor that allows looping and slowing down parts without changing the pitch.
  3. Find a small section of song.
  4. Slow it down to 1/2 speed without changing pitch
  5. Put it on a loop.
  6. Try to figure it out over and over and over again.
  7. Try different fretboard positions
  8. Write this part down once you've got it (tab it out)
  9. Move on to next bit

Do this with headphones or you will drive other people in your house crazy.

This really builds up your ear training. After doing this for a month or two you won't need to rely on tab as much. It does take a lot of time and work though.

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

I've only ever tried learning songs at full speed, which isn't always feasible for some stuff. Brian, what do you use to slow tunes down?

The Mystery Men?
El Capitan and The Reluctant Sadists
SSS Agent #31

.

Last edited: Mar 01, 2020 11:40:40

Riffstation is incredible. Demo available.
It includes extensive chord detection and useful band-mute/isolation tools.

I download videos, those solo ones from Madeira's Ivan and Slacktone's Dave are especially useful, and play them at 1/4 speed with VLC. When I stop crying I grab a guitar.

I often do as I did when I was 14yo - play the same damm thing over and over for weeks. Get to know something so intimately, that it is as if you wrote it yourself. Then forget about it, then re-discover it, this time gettin even deeper. And repeat.

+1 for Riffstation. You can get a lot of mileage out of the demo version, but I liked it well enough to buy it. The chord detection really helps me to figure out a tune.

-Tim
MyYouTubeChannel
My Classic Instrumental Surf Music Timeline
SSS Agent #777

Listen to the song many, many times to internalize it before you even pick up an instrument. Be able to sing the melody (out loud or in your head), listen for when the chords/harmony changes, know how many different sections there are, and determine what scale it is similar sounding to (blues, pentatonic, major, minor, byzantine, etc). Listening is a big step than many seem to rush through to get to the tab. Eventually you can even get to the point where you can figure out a song without even touching an instrument.

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

Last edited: Jan 16, 2017 13:17:52

DreadInBabylon wrote:

Riffstation is incredible. Demo available.
It includes extensive chord detection and useful band-mute/isolation tools.

I download videos, those solo ones from Madeira's Ivan and Slacktone's Dave are especially useful, and play them at 1/4 speed with VLC. When I stop crying I grab a guitar.

I often do as I did when I was 14yo - play the same damm thing over and over for weeks. Get to know something so intimately, that it is as if you wrote it yourself. Then forget about it, then re-discover it, this time gettin even deeper. And repeat.

Hi Dread
Thanks for that info. What is VLC?
Cheers Phil

Thanks. Great tips and ways of doing it. I have slways worked on up to speed by ear but want to try some new ways. So these are helpful.

I wrote play, but meant listen (press play) Smile
VLC media player. +- and ↑↓ on your keyboard scale the playrate very accessibly.

Last edited: Jan 16, 2017 14:00:13

DreadInBabylon wrote:

I wrote play, but meant listen (press play) Smile
VLC media player. +- and ↑↓ on your keyboard scale the playrate very accessibly.

I haven't used anything to slow it down. But must try it. I know jazz friends who learnt by slowing records. But the music slways ended up not in pitch. Not sure how they did it.

I use Transcribe! and really like it. Learning the chords first is essential for me.

-Pierre
The Obsidians! (Ottawa surf)
The Obsidians debut EP

image

Get one of these. You still have to put the music on a CD, but hey I'm a little tech savvy and a little bit Old School...

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Old school fellas, play along with the record(or CD)!!! Sheesh!!!----

What Brian said above, exactly. That way you're all set when you learn it and rip your new-found knowledge to a backing track in the same software, mix it & be justly proud of the effort.

After the next one, go back & run through the first one again (sometimes this stuff is perishable). Rinse, repeat.
Smile

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

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