Instantly absorbing tunes

[misterstormalong]

Music camps are a far bigger experience than just the tuition of course, but that can be counterproductive if you're struggling to keep up. Sore Fingers is packed with activities but if you elect to do everything you don't have any time to absorb the lessons, so I think I'll give the scratchband experience a miss next time in order to give myself some elbow room.

[JeffD]

I have a friend who plays violin. He has an amazing ability.

First time through a tune he doesn't know, he will sit there, violin on his lap, eyes semi closed, just listening. When I first saw this it was a jam that I host, and I felt a little bad, like he was disgruntled and not even going to try a tune unfamiliar to him.

Second time through, he's got the fiddle under his chin and has the tune down. OMG. It is a real phenomenon. If you didn't know better (and I do because I have talked with him about this), you might think he knew the tune all along and it just took one time through to recognize it.

The lesson, I think, is the importance of listening un-distracted by premature attempts to play the tune.

[David L]

The tune that you are learning makes a great difference. Some tunes have repetitious measures or phrases with a little variety at the end, or the "B" section ends the same as the "A" section. Some use tropes and bits of phrases that you've heard before. Some are mostly scale passages. Those are obviously easier to learn with one listening.

[farmerjones]

I have a friend who plays violin. He has an amazing ability.

First time through a tune he doesn't know, he will sit there, violin on his lap, eyes semi closed, just listening. When I first saw this it was a jam that I host, and I felt a little bad, like he was disgruntled and not even going to try a tune unfamiliar to him.

Second time through, he's got the fiddle under his chin and has the tune down. OMG. It is a real phenomenon. If you didn't know better (and I do because I have talked with him about this), you might think he knew the tune all along and it just took one time through to recognize it.

This is GREAT!
And looking at another's fingerboard/fretboard can fool you as well.

The lesson, I think, is the importance of listening un-distracted by premature attempts to play the tune.

Absolutely! (I'm so guilty of this) It's like joining in a conversation partially equipped. Should we say, "Be cool. Curb your enthusiasm." It does depend on the jam. Some punters get really upset if you don't get the whole thing right. I say, "Remember what you paid to get in this jam. Don't let it cost a friendship to get out."

[MikeZito]

I have a friend who plays violin . . . First time through a tune he doesn't know, he will sit there, violin on his lap, eyes semi closed, just listening . . . . Second time through, he's got the fiddle under his chin and has the tune down. OMG.

I have a friend who does the same type of thing on guitar and pedal steel . . . he will listen for the verses, chorus and bridge, (getting down the necessary components) and then jump in halfway through the song and finish like he has been playing it all his life.

I really hate those people . . . .

[Ivan Kelsall]

Learning to play by ear has another benefit as well - you learn 'how the music should sound'. When myself & 3 of my friends formed our band back in 1964,we all learned our music from the same recordings = we knew 'how' the songs / tunes were played & how they were arranged (''who played what & when''). That gave us a head start. The songs / tunes the way we'd heard them played on recordings,were what we aimed to sound like ourselves,& for most part,we nailed it.

IMHO - to play any genre of music 'as it should be played',requires a lot of understanding,& only by listening to it will you gain that understanding & the 'feel' for it,
Ivan

[Jess L.]

... I really hate those people . . . .

I don't hate them. I study them. I skip past the 'envy' mode and go straight to the "how do they do that" mode. I figure if someone is really super good at something, but I'm not, then if I study how they operate, maybe I'll be able to figure out how they do it, and apply some of that to my own stuff.

If it's a case of someone having 'natural talent', I might not be able to get very far with trying to do what they do, if I don't have their background and 'natural' abilities.

But if it's a series of techniques they use or common training that they've had, that makes it more accessible.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From JL277z - " I skip past the 'envy' mode and go straight to the "how do they do that" mode..." Well,that's at least 2 of us !!!,
Ivan