I'm trying really hard to not rely on tabs at all anymore, but I'm having trouble (duh!).
I've realised that lots of guitarists are fairly lazy and so keys of C, F#, G give me some hints. Lots of riffs and solos are around patterns so there's that shortcut too - but, despite that I'm still having trouble.
Two things particularly jump out at me:
- I spent half an hour trying to play 'I want You' by Kiss until I realised it was in Eb instead of E standard tuning!
- My riffs are often a 5th or 4th away from the actual (so if the riff was B/C#/E, I'd end up playing E/F#/A)
I can't seem to find a way out of this particular mess - any thoughts?
Comments
I used (and still do) a site called MusicTheory.net to help me identify intervals and stuff like that, by using the training exercises.
I usually try improvising along with the tune, until I hit what sounds like the right key. Normally doesn't take me very long to do that, but then getting a melody down exactly is still something I struggle with.
I do find using software to slow things down is useful, and having a sense of what the player is doing (conceptually), e.g. that it's a major blues in F, or whatever, can also help.
I did this by playing along to ads on TV when I was a kid..
you have just a few mins to find the key and then pick out the tune
at first I was shite.. but I got better quite quickly
TV ads are great cos they're short.. and any instrument..
so you're not getting bent out of shape trying to figure out all the technique stuff as well as the notes..
they tend to be short and simple
the additional bonus is that it pisses off everyone else in the room..
Sing intervals - 3rds, 4th, 5ths etc...
Arpeggios - triads (maj, min, dim, aug)
7ths (maj7, dom7, m7, m7b5)
Scales - major scale, maj and minor Pentatonic, start step-wise and maybe introduce sequences later.
Sing the root movement of chord progressions you play.
Sing the riffs/solos of songs you can play.
Make a mental note of where these sounds are on the instrument, that’s really important. Do this with and without the instrument.
Nursery rhymes are another good option for trying this stuff out with too.
That’s a lot of work and it’ll take time, but combined with a lot of the good advice above, you’ll start seeing results sooner than you realise if you’re consistent with it.
Chords are much more difficult to transcribe by ear than Melody lines so start by transcribing solos & melody licks. Slow it down as much as you need to to get it right. You have to train your ear to hear intervals played separately in single lines before you can hear them all played together in a chord.