music sense, strumming pattern?

[jensen_toh]

hi there.. i need help. someone please tell me how i can improve my hearing/music sense. I have friends who can tab songs after hearing the songs once. I dunno whether they just memorise the sound of every chord, note.. or izzit just music talent,... which cannot be developed.. also I have problems figuring out strumming patterns. please tell me how I can improve in this areas. :confused:

[Willdridge]

Ear training is something almost anyone can do, but it's easier for some than others.

This sounds obvious, but the key to developing your ear is to listen...(bare with me here, the advice will get better, I swear!) You're trying to pick out a particular instrument or voice in a "wall of sound". One of the easiest one's to find is a vocal harmony. Earphones can really help you as a lot of songs have the melody and harmony panned to different speakers, (assuming you can listen in stereo!) Once you've developed the ability, you can apply to any and all instruments, (guitars, bass, drums, mandolins, violins, cellos, trumpets, harmonicas...I'll stop there before I get carried away...)

Listen to 'Space Oddity' by David Bowie with both ear phones in, then listen with just the left, followed by just the right seperately. Once you know how each side goes, see if you can pick out one or the other when you listen to it normally. When you're learning, it's useful to actually know what you're trying to listen for!

As for strumming patterns, do you mean you have problems actually playing them, or just hearing what the rhythm is when you listen to a song?

Hope that's of some use!

[jensen_toh]

yep, figuring out the rhythm when listening to a song. like when to up strum, down strum.. miss a strum, etc

[PonyOne]

well, basically, every time you hear the note get hit, it's either getting hit.

whether it's up or down generally depends on the order it's being played... i.e. if you hear

A A A C A A A G

you could play it

A A A C A A A G
d d d d d d d d

or you could play it

A A A C A A A G
d u d u d u d u

(d= downstroke, u = upstroke)

it takes awhile to get used to strumming well, because it requires your hand to be firm enough to move in the right direction and hit the right point, but loose enough to go either direction at the right speed... it can be tough. But learn it early on, you'll be glad you did later!

Ear training is tough, and I still suck at it for the most part :( I know what sounds right, and I know the difference between notes, but to me they're just the notes, they're what they are; I find it easier to associate a color with em than a letter...