I can hear a tune but can't play it

Hi
So last night I thought up a pretty good jazz tune. I could hear all the different parts and all the instruments and Icould actually hear it in my head. This happens quite a bit, so every time it does I pick up wich ever instrument is closest (Paino, Clarinet or Guitar) and try and play it...but I never can actually get it down. There are lots of instruments but wich part do I write first? How do I know what note it is?

Any help?

Thanks,
Sophie

well thats just your ear, you need to develop it more so that when you here a note you know what it is. Unfortunately there are no "tricks" for this that I know of. Since it is in your head you are the only one who can figure it out.

Try humming it that might help. But ultimately it is your ear which is gonna do the work there.

As for which instrument to record first it shouldn't matter to much if you can hear every part in your head. I would try and figure out which one is laying down the base of the song and record that first. the one that is in the back mostly, holding everything together, that will make it easier to record the other instruments over it which might be dropping in and out.

But yeah one of the best things you can do as a musician is train your ear, it should happen over time anyway but actively training it can speed up the process.

I write music the same way, hear it in my head fist then get it down. Easiest way is to break it down bar by bar and record it into a sequencer. When it's all in there you can then work out how to play it fluidly and get it up to the desired speed. A good way of developing this ability is to record yourself whistling, humming or singing the part you want to play - then loop each section you are working on. Then it's just a matter of training your ear over time to pick out the notes on the fretboard.

Start with something very familiar, like a nursery rhyme or something like that. Most of those really basic nursery rhymes have a lot of really good musical theory behind them so don't shrug them off so quickly. Anyway, as you know the tune really well you can hum/whistle the main bit and then see how that relates to each of the 3 instruments you have. Like Superhuman said, try to record the basic melody on something so that you can play it back in a loop. With the 3 instruments you have, I would most likely play the bass track with the clarinet, the rhythm with the guitar and the melody with the piano. If you do use a sequencer to record the clarinet, you could even lower its pitch a smidgeon to really emphasise the bass frequencies of the instrument.

If you get stuck at any point, you can always cheat by finding the actual notes or chords for the song. Don't just use it to play the song though, analyse which chords are being played and why those chords work. Look at the notes in the chords, then look at the notes in the melody.. there will be a symmetry of the two.. as well as the bass line..

Anyway.. the point is to use a very familiar tune to start with.. like "bah bah black sheep" or something like that..

When I was first learning I always used to pick out the bass notes first. They were the easiest to figure out and once you know what the main bass note is, you can pretty much figure out what chord it is because you already have the root note. From there, it's usually just a matter of figuring out whether it's a major or minor chord.

All of these are great suggests. I might add also, not to limit yourself to picking out the rythme, lead, licks, etc. for guitar. Practice trying to pick out the other instruments in song, such as, trumpet, piano, etc. using the guitar. These parts of the song have to be played as well for it to sound right.

As for the tune in your head. The first thing I would do is to record yourself humming or singing it. In time you will forget it and it could be a master piece lost forever.

The same goes for lyric lines that come to you from a deep sleep or talking with someone.

Record it and then work on it.