When you're learning to play guitar these days, it is very easy to become very focused on videos and tabs as ways of improving your playing. You can search for almost any song on YouTube or Ultimate-Guitar and somebody, somewhere has saved you a bunch of effort and time by working it out for you. You learn the song more quickly and that's really good, right?
Hmm...yes and no.
What if all that work you have been saved is where the real learning is? The video or tab may give the mechanical chops but does it develop your ear? What if the listening and transcribing is the important bit?
It is really important to learn new music with your ears not your eyes.
If you want to be able to make the guitar talk, you have to use your ears. All three of them - left, right and inner. It's about connecting the sounds in your ears with the notes your fingers play. If you don't then, just like mine, your playing can end up dominated by patterns, licks and tricks that you've learned by rote and which bypass your ears. It can sound great, but does it sound like you? It is a bit like learning lots of individual Spanish words but not being able to string them together and speak the language.
This is where I got to. And here's a few ideas that I tried to give my ears a workout and get out of the boxes.
1. Learn to sing scales. Can you sing the major scale? In different octaves and keys? Without playing a reference not on guitar? WHOA! Are we talking about perfect pitch? No. But I am talking about using notes from songs I know well. The opening notes of 'You Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC are so ingrained in my memory that I can sing them at will. One of them is a D. Using this I can sing the D major scale.
Now I've got that down, I'm learning to shift keys and octaves. And singing the minor scale. I'm finding it really tough but it is definitely helping. I'm going to move on to pentatonics next. My wife and kids are finding it hilarious.
2. Play a melody you have never played before. Can you get it right first time? You'll need to go really slow. played. Justin Sandercoe did a video on this. www.justinguitar.com . Try playing the melody to Happy Birthday, Ding Dong Merrily On High or just some pop tune on the radio. I was amazed at how little I could play with out the need for trail and error, or relying on visual patterns.
3. Sing and jam. Put on a backing track. Sing a lead phrase and then play the same phrase. Can you match it? Recording this is hilarious and revealing.
None of this is about being a great singer. It is completely about being to play the sounds in your head. I was surprised how bad I was at this, having played for so long.
Do you play with your eyes or your ears?
Hmm...yes and no.
What if all that work you have been saved is where the real learning is? The video or tab may give the mechanical chops but does it develop your ear? What if the listening and transcribing is the important bit?
It is really important to learn new music with your ears not your eyes.
If you want to be able to make the guitar talk, you have to use your ears. All three of them - left, right and inner. It's about connecting the sounds in your ears with the notes your fingers play. If you don't then, just like mine, your playing can end up dominated by patterns, licks and tricks that you've learned by rote and which bypass your ears. It can sound great, but does it sound like you? It is a bit like learning lots of individual Spanish words but not being able to string them together and speak the language.
This is where I got to. And here's a few ideas that I tried to give my ears a workout and get out of the boxes.
1. Learn to sing scales. Can you sing the major scale? In different octaves and keys? Without playing a reference not on guitar? WHOA! Are we talking about perfect pitch? No. But I am talking about using notes from songs I know well. The opening notes of 'You Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC are so ingrained in my memory that I can sing them at will. One of them is a D. Using this I can sing the D major scale.
Now I've got that down, I'm learning to shift keys and octaves. And singing the minor scale. I'm finding it really tough but it is definitely helping. I'm going to move on to pentatonics next. My wife and kids are finding it hilarious.
2. Play a melody you have never played before. Can you get it right first time? You'll need to go really slow. played. Justin Sandercoe did a video on this. www.justinguitar.com . Try playing the melody to Happy Birthday, Ding Dong Merrily On High or just some pop tune on the radio. I was amazed at how little I could play with out the need for trail and error, or relying on visual patterns.
3. Sing and jam. Put on a backing track. Sing a lead phrase and then play the same phrase. Can you match it? Recording this is hilarious and revealing.
None of this is about being a great singer. It is completely about being to play the sounds in your head. I was surprised how bad I was at this, having played for so long.
Do you play with your eyes or your ears?
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