Music Lessons, Little Rock
3 tips to learning any rock song....
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Is learning a rock tune really that hard?
The answer is, "sometimes".
To make the job easier, you must have the right approach. Today, I'm going to go through three steps to help you start picking out the tunes you really want to play. We're hoping you'll try to do this by ear and not take the quick route and pull tab off the net. However, we won't cry too much if you use tab.
Step 1 - Memorize the tune
The first thing you need to do is listen to the tune over and over.
"I'm already doing that", you say? Well, do it like this...
Listen to the tune several times as a whole, listening to everything as a complete song. This is how we normally listen to songs. Do this until you are really familiar with the overall sound of the song.
Next, listen to just the guitar parts. This includes the main rhythm guitar and fills, variations on the main rhythm and the solo. Listen and note changes in tempo, dynamics, effects (ex. going from clean chorus to dirty lead). Since this will be your main focus, spend most of your time here.
Next, listen to the bass player. The bassist will be outlining the chord progression for you. So even if the guitar player is going crazy with the cheeze whiz, you should still be able to hear the root movement from the bass line.
Finally, listen to the drummer. He should be knocking on your door by now with the double cheese pepperoni pizza you ordered. Seriously though, listen for any fills or queues that the drummer may give as they change from section to section. This will help as you move into step 2.
Step 2 - Break the tune into sections
Standard sections in a rock song are the intro, verse, chorus, bridge, and guitar solo. These sections will repeat throughout the song in a predictable pattern.
A simple song structure might look something like....
Intro - Verse - Chorus - Verse - Chorus - Solo - Bridge - Chorus
When identifying the sections, the introduction may simply be the verse section without lyrics. The chorus, or the hook, will likely be in the same key, and possibly use the same chords as the verse, but just in a different order. The solo section will use the verse section as the chord progression ....
See where we're going here?
The sections will repeat throughout the song, it will be up to you to map them out and identify how many measures each section lasts (hint - think 8 measures).
Step 3 - Start learning the "easiest" section first
At this point, you know the song pretty well from listening to it in step 1. You will have an idea of what sounds like the easy sections and what sounds like the monster sections.
When you've lined out the order in which you will tackle the song, listen close to the rhythm and be able to hum how it goes to yourself. If the part is long you might want to divide it into subsections. After you can hum this to yourself, try finding the root note on the guitar. The bass line will help here. The way to do this is to run your finger up and down the 5th and 6th string until you find the note. Once you do, then form a power chord and play it at the same time they hit the chord on the CD.
Follow this format for all the chords in the section. Now, play it with the CD and match the rhythm. Make sure you can do this at full speed with no mistakes. Using power chords will help you play the harmony of the song without worrying about whether the chord is major or minor. As your ear develops, you will be able to tell major from minor. But for now, hit those power chords with the right rhythm and tempo and you'll sound very close to the song. Beside, most rock tunes are made up mostly of power chords.
Do the same thing with each section of the song and then put them in order. You'll then be ready to tackle the solo.
On the solo section, use your major scale and minor pentatonic scale to "slowly" work out the notes. This probably will take you the most time, especially if the solo is a fast one. We recommend slow gold
on this task. Slow Gold will take the songs and slow it down without changing pitch. This will give you more time between notes to map out the phrases in the solo.
Keep in mind that many rock solos rely on repeating patterns as they ascend or descend the neck. Having a good grasp of your different scale patterns will help tremendously in this section.
Check out this book by Tobias Hurwitz on Transcribing on Guitar if you want to brush up your transcribing skills.
One last bit of advice...
Go slow! Don't move on until you have each part nailed. Have perseverance and stick it out until you can play the song completely, not just a bit here and a part there.
It may be frustrating at first, but it gets easier with consistent practice.
Good luck!
guitar guitar lessons learning songs by ear transcribing guitar lessons in little rock little rock guitar lessons power chords major scale pentatonic scale guitar chords
Is learning a rock tune really that hard? The answer is, "sometimes".
To make the job easier, you must have the right approach. Today, I'm going to go through three steps to help you start picking out the tunes you really want to play. We're hoping you'll try to do this by ear and not take the quick route and pull tab off the net. However, we won't cry too much if you use tab.
Step 1 - Memorize the tune
The first thing you need to do is listen to the tune over and over.
"I'm already doing that", you say? Well, do it like this...
Listen to the tune several times as a whole, listening to everything as a complete song. This is how we normally listen to songs. Do this until you are really familiar with the overall sound of the song.
Next, listen to just the guitar parts. This includes the main rhythm guitar and fills, variations on the main rhythm and the solo. Listen and note changes in tempo, dynamics, effects (ex. going from clean chorus to dirty lead). Since this will be your main focus, spend most of your time here.
Next, listen to the bass player. The bassist will be outlining the chord progression for you. So even if the guitar player is going crazy with the cheeze whiz, you should still be able to hear the root movement from the bass line.
Finally, listen to the drummer. He should be knocking on your door by now with the double cheese pepperoni pizza you ordered. Seriously though, listen for any fills or queues that the drummer may give as they change from section to section. This will help as you move into step 2.
Step 2 - Break the tune into sections
Standard sections in a rock song are the intro, verse, chorus, bridge, and guitar solo. These sections will repeat throughout the song in a predictable pattern.
A simple song structure might look something like....
Intro - Verse - Chorus - Verse - Chorus - Solo - Bridge - Chorus
When identifying the sections, the introduction may simply be the verse section without lyrics. The chorus, or the hook, will likely be in the same key, and possibly use the same chords as the verse, but just in a different order. The solo section will use the verse section as the chord progression ....
See where we're going here?
The sections will repeat throughout the song, it will be up to you to map them out and identify how many measures each section lasts (hint - think 8 measures).
Step 3 - Start learning the "easiest" section first
At this point, you know the song pretty well from listening to it in step 1. You will have an idea of what sounds like the easy sections and what sounds like the monster sections.
When you've lined out the order in which you will tackle the song, listen close to the rhythm and be able to hum how it goes to yourself. If the part is long you might want to divide it into subsections. After you can hum this to yourself, try finding the root note on the guitar. The bass line will help here. The way to do this is to run your finger up and down the 5th and 6th string until you find the note. Once you do, then form a power chord and play it at the same time they hit the chord on the CD.
Follow this format for all the chords in the section. Now, play it with the CD and match the rhythm. Make sure you can do this at full speed with no mistakes. Using power chords will help you play the harmony of the song without worrying about whether the chord is major or minor. As your ear develops, you will be able to tell major from minor. But for now, hit those power chords with the right rhythm and tempo and you'll sound very close to the song. Beside, most rock tunes are made up mostly of power chords.
Do the same thing with each section of the song and then put them in order. You'll then be ready to tackle the solo.
On the solo section, use your major scale and minor pentatonic scale to "slowly" work out the notes. This probably will take you the most time, especially if the solo is a fast one. We recommend slow gold
on this task. Slow Gold will take the songs and slow it down without changing pitch. This will give you more time between notes to map out the phrases in the solo. Keep in mind that many rock solos rely on repeating patterns as they ascend or descend the neck. Having a good grasp of your different scale patterns will help tremendously in this section.
Check out this book by Tobias Hurwitz on Transcribing on Guitar if you want to brush up your transcribing skills.
One last bit of advice...
Go slow! Don't move on until you have each part nailed. Have perseverance and stick it out until you can play the song completely, not just a bit here and a part there.
It may be frustrating at first, but it gets easier with consistent practice.
Good luck!
guitar guitar lessons learning songs by ear transcribing guitar lessons in little rock little rock guitar lessons power chords major scale pentatonic scale guitar chords
Maybe someday you will post tips for other songs like ballad. I not really rock songs fanatic but there are some that I appreciate a lot.
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I really like the idea of this. I've tried to learn a new rock song and I can't seem to get my head around it. Thanks for this, it will really improve my learning experience.
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