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Douglas Showalter
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 09/15/08
Posts: 817
Douglas Showalter
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 09/15/08
Posts: 817
02/05/2010 11:18 pm
Originally Posted by: carminemarottaWhat about doing a lesson on how to listening a song in order to transcribe it? Not, of course, related to the software you are discussing but general technique on how to acquire the skill.

Thanks
Carmine


The key to being able to learn songs quickly is simply a matter of ear training. Also, it really helps to have "somewhat" of a knowledge of how to write a simple chart. Whenever I have to learn a song for a gig (which is nearly every day of my life), here is the process I go through:

1. LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN!
- nothing beats listening to the songs over and over and over. This is more important than actually playing it I feel. This puts the song in your head to where when it's time to pick up the instrument; it is just a matter of finding the notes.

2. WRITE OUT THE FORM:
- once I have listened to the song enough, I write out the form in a shorthand chart. This further puts the song info in my brain and now I can see it visually.

3. BEGIN LEARNING CHORDS AND SONG
- One I have listened a ton and have written out the songform; than it's time to piece it all together. I try not to get too caught up in all the details as I honestly just want the basic chords. If you try and learn every little spec of a song you can drive yourself nuts; and often times you can play the song convincingly without learning every little thing about it. Just get the basic chords down, and whatever riffs or particular rhythms that are specific to the song.

For me, this process has come together after many, many years of learning songs for both business and pleasure. I have to learn songs every day and honestly to get really good at this it just takes a ton of practice and years of experience. I would say take an educated approach and be organized about your approach to it. Again, I listen, write out the song form, get the basic chords, and than polish it off with any fine details.

There isn't too much on the site for this type of thing, so perhaps it is worth looking into and doing a tutorial on how to better learn songs. We shall see.
:)
Douglas Showalter