How do you learn to pick the melody out?

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

How did you learn to pick the basic song melody. I want to be more of an "ear player" and less dependant on tab.

I am having trouble on my own.

Any suggustions besides "just do it"? Where do you start? What is your method?

[rsgars]

I'm not sure if this will help, because my first inclination is to say, "Just start." I guess you don't want to hear that, though.

If there is a process, I would say it begins with figuring out what key the song is in. Now, different artists might play the same song in different keys. If I have a recording of the song I play that and search around for notes that sound right. When I feel I'm in the ballpark I start picking out the melody note by note. It helps (a little) that I am a singer (sort of). When I'm stuck I will sing the melody and that helps me to play through it.

I find this much easier than figuring out the chords for a song.

I hope that is some help.

[Ted Eschliman]

Rob has started you down the right path. Finding the key the song is in, as well as the most rudimentary theory will take you a long way. Say you decide it's in the key of G. Knowing where "G" is should be pretty easy, but then knowing the other two pitches (and fingerings) of the G chord, B (3rd) and D (5th) will get you most of the way there.

From there, it's a matter of the "higher or lower" game. Even though you'll have other chords, if you're playing Bluegrass or other folk music, you aren't far way from the G chord, or at least the G "tonality" in that song (or whatever other key you are in.) Fluency in the scale will help you too. That gets you familiar with the sound, the fingering, and the intellectual concept of where you are within the tonality.

I apologize if this is more elementary than you are asking.

[Walter Newton]

If you're interested in learning licks and solos by ear, I find sound editing software (I use a free program called "Audacity") to be a huge help - you can use it to do things like slow the song down (without changing pitch), isolate a small snippet of the tune and loop it endlessly (even one note at a time, if need be), etc.

[kww]

I find that it really doesn't matter much what key it is in to get started, because one of the problems I have in playing along by ear is that I can only detect relative pitch reliably. I try to get the intervals worked out on for one key phrase (like the horn intro in "Ring of Fire", which I am working on now). Once I get one key phrase worked out, I tend to be able work forward and backwards of that phrase and get a decent little snippet of the music (maybe 12-16 measures). From that, you usually can figure out the key (i.e. if you are playing most notes in natural, but every F is sharp, you are probably in the key of G major, etc). Once I have that, I get out the CD and try to match the absolute pitch of that snippet when it goes by. Transpose the snippet to the real key, and then you can work expanding your snippet into the whole song.

If that fails, I call my mother, and she can tell me how the whole song goes after hearing it once.

[F5G WIZ]

Downloaded that Audacity program and messed with it for about 15 min. Can't hardly make heads or tails out of it. Loaded a song into it and it blast through it in about 1/10th of a second. Tried slowing down the rate and it doesn't sound anything like the song I loaded. Any quick suggestions?

[Walter Newton]

Hmm...well it does have a lot of settings and features...but first things first, if you just open a sound file and don't mess with anything at all, just press "Play", it should play the file - does that not happen?

(If you say it plays for just 1/10 of a second you might have a very short segment of the song selected, if you clicked on the main waveform view and moved the mouse just a bit???)

[JGWoods]

Learning to pick songs out-
Listen repeatedly until you always know what the next note you want to hear is.

Keep your instrument tuned to standard pitch all the time- so you are in tune with most music out there.

Then sit down and try to copycat the song from a recording.
I don't have any slower downer stuff, well I do, but I don't like how it sounds. I have a footpedal hooked up so I can pause the recording by tapping my foot. I let a phrase or two go by and find a few of the notes, then pause and flesh it out. Review to see if I got it right and go onward phrase by phrase. I can get most songs down once or twice in 10-20 minutes.

Smoothing them out and making them stick in my memory may take another week or two of playing during practice times.

[John Flynn]

There is a good DVD I have called "Understanding the Formula of Music" by Dan Huckabee. It teaches basic theory and ear training. It is a good start in recognizing intervals, which is how you figure out tunes. If you buy it, it is good to have a some kind of a musical keyboard to go through it, even if it is a cheap kid's digital keyboard. It is for any instrument, but he has you go through some useful exercises on a keyboard. He also has a DVD called, "How to Figure Out Music from Recordings," which I don't have yet, but will soon. It is more on point, but my guess is it would work better if you had the first DVD down pat. #

A couple other hints: First try picking out tunes you really know well, like "Three Blind Mice," etc. It gets your "ear learning circuits" going for more difficult stuff. Also, learn to sing the tunes you want to learn, even if it is just in nonsense sylables, like "Da-da-da" etc. An old saying is that "if you can sing it, you can learn to play it." The saying is pretty much true.

[cpelz]

Regarding Audacity, provided you're not playing a 1/10 of a second song, the program may not have the proper codec to play the format. I'm having a similar problem with the .flac format though .mp3s play fine.

[mandohubris]

I just started working through a 2-CD set by Brad Davis, called Ear-Training for Mandolin (I think)...Anyway, I don't know if it will work yet, but I like his approach. 1st, you hum the lick until its memorized (not worrying about the key yet) and then find it on the Mandolin. Then you can transpose it to whatever key.

The 1st CD goes through several short licks in different keys. The 2nd CD has longer, more difficult licks and includes things like double stops.

If you are interested, Mel Bay publishes it.

For some reason though, the ear training method didn't come with any sheet music

[John Flynn]

I have the Brad Davis "Ear Training..." set. Basicially all it is him drilling you through learning to sing one mandolin lick after another, so that you can (hopefully) translate those licks to the instrument later. But he isn't so clear about how the "translation" part happens. I found it very tedious. I made it through the first CD, but I'm still not sure if I got anything useful from it. I just couldn't bring myself to tackle the second!

[Tighthead]

I do what some of the others have mentioned: I figure out what key the song is first, then that gives me a scale to work with. I try to find the notes just by picking one--was that note higher or lower than the one I'm hearing in the song? I just work my way through, jotting down the song as I go.

I'm pretty new, so I have trouble figuring out the keys sometimes. I have even used my Korg CA-30 to see if it picks up the first note of the song, or failing that I try to pick up the key from the singer. I know it's not perfect, but I've started with some pretty clear melodies and that method gives me a start.

Then, when I have a melody at least partially picked out, I sit down with my instructor and work through any tough parts--another good reason to be taking lessons!

[mandocrucian]

Just hum the damn tune! Play the CD over and #over until you can hum or sung it. #It's not really in your head unless you can manage to do that. #

Then, find the notes on the instrument and plunk out the tune. #

Playing music is not just what is in your fingers! It's also what is in your head/ear. "Playing" is just "singing on an instrument".

Niles H

[Avi Ziv]

Right on Niles!

Except that I don't talk as loudly as you

That's how I do it for all the Irish Trad music that I play. Yes - I can read standard notation very well, but there is nothing as good (for me) as total immersion in the tune until I can sing it (and I do - in the car all the time). The distance from my head to the fretboard is shorter and of higher quality than the "distance" from the eyes/sheet to the fretboard, if that makes any sense.

Avi

[250sc]

Everyone is saying basicly the same thing, though Miles is saying it louder ;-).

You have to have it in your head before it will come out of your instrument. The good news is that once it's in your head you should be able to find it on any instrument with a little time.

[F5G WIZ]

NO it's like playing the whole song in 1/10th of a sec. Just a burst of sound.

[gnelson651]

Here is how I pick out a melody for a song I don't know being played in a BG jam.

As I chop along, I listen to the singer and get the song in my head (already suggested and its right on).

(Since I know what key I'm in...) I use the pentatonic scales to flesh out the melody. If its in the key of G, I use the G pentatonic throughout the whole song without worrying about chord changes within the song. (Since your reading "Mandolin Master Class" you have Laird's pentatonic box-it works because I use it all the time)

Once I find most or all of the melody, I fill in with all the scale notes and arpeggios (that fit) #and try to add licks (this is the hard part for me) to get the melody down. When its my turn for a break, I hear the song in my head and play along as best as I can. If I hit a klinker, I'll try a save by sliding up a fret to cover my tracks. For parts of the meldody I can't quite find, I just play pentatonic scales around it.

Now if I'm sitting at home listening to a CD (or the music in my head) and I don't know the key, I'll just play around on the fretboard in open position until I hear I'm playing the right notes. Then I can figure out the key based on the scale I'm playing...and do the same thing as in a jam session (see above).

Don't get too bogged down on learning to play something perfectly, note for note. Just flesh out the basic melody and then work on it at home composing a facsmile of what you heard. Music is an aural thing and the reason you hear different variations of the same tune is that someone heard it and interperted as their own.

Have fun with it and it will come.

[Shana Aisenberg]

If you can't pick out fiddle tunes (or Charlie Parker bebop licks) by ear, start with really simple melodies. She'll be Coming Round the Mountain, Clementine, Oh Susannah, This Land is Your Land, etc. One tune at a time. The more familiar tunes you pick out the easier it'll get to try tunes that you don't already know. And, to repeat what Niles said. Sing them! If you can sing it, you'll be able to play it.

Seth

[Dan Margolis]

"If you can't pick out fiddle tunes (or Charlie Parker bebop licks) by ear, start with really simple melodies."

Yes. No tune is too simple if you cannot play it. Dan

[rsgars]

NO it's like playing the whole song in 1/10th of a sec. #Just a burst of sound.

I think you are running into copy protection here. Or, the song is in a format (or uses a codec) that your software doesn't recognize. Start by checking the format of the song you are trying to play.

[Bob DeVellis]

If you're not a singer, being told to "just hum the damn tune" is like being told to "just play the damn tune." The point is, you're likely to hum it incorrectly. The essence of some tunes is that they defy expectation in certain places, have passing tones not in the key, etc. If you "wing it," you may miss those details and the tune can sound wrong. I know this isn't a problem for some people and the advice to sing or hum the tune will work for many, especially those who were brought up singing. But for the rest of us, it's like telling someone who forgot their camera to just sketch the image in front of them -- not necessarily easy.

When I get a tune in my head (which I agree is an important first step), it's usually not a note-for-note "recording" of the original with every grace note and accent incorporated. It's the basic outline of the tune. Although it helps, it's often not a reliable basis for finding all of the correct notes.

I find that slowing down the tune, finding "landmark" notes first, and making a written record of the notes as I find them are critical for me. First, slowing down the tune helps you to hear what happened, in greater detail, between point A and point B. Did that sequence just ascend from A to B, or was there a lower note in there as part of that ascending sequence? Second, finding "landmark" notes early on, that is, notes that are easy to identify and important to the shape of the melody, is also useful. This is especially true if you hear intervals rather than pitches. If one note goes astray, you may have different parts of the tune internally correct but each part a half-step off from the others (for example), because you misheard a C as a C# somewhere. If you establish landmarks, you know if something isn't right when the notes leading up to that landmark don't "land" on it, so to speak. Third, unless your auditory memeory is really good, you need to preserve the identity of the notes as you identify them, either in tab, notation, playing them into a tape recorder and naming the string and fret, or some other means. Otherwise, you'll forget an earlier section as you figure out a later one.

Finally, although it can be a good challenge to figure out a tune note-for-note, if you have a good overall sense of the tune's feel (that early, getting-it-into-your-head stuff), you may find ways of accomplishing the same musical goals that are different from the recorded source. You may chart a slightly different but equally successful path from point A to point B somewhere in the melody. If those variations work for you, it may not be necessary to perfectly re-create the original note sequence. It may not even be desirable.

Just one man's thoughts.

[kww]

I've got to agree with Bobd on this. Relying on my singing is a good way to make sure I get the song wrong.

[mandocrucian]

How did you learn to pick the basic song melody.

We not talking Coltrane solos. He's not even talking embellished fiddle tunes, but the basic song melody.

But for the rest of us, it's like telling someone who forgot their camera to just sketch the image in front of them -- not necessarily easy. #

That's the problem - everybody wants the so-called "easy shortcut". I'm sorry, but if you want to get in shape, you've got to do your pushups. #crunches etc. #Nobody else can do them for you, or graduate you from the 2nd to 3rd grade just for attendance.

A teacher can only show you a doorway - it's on you whether you walk through it or not.

It doesn't make any difference to me if you don't want to work through it to be able to mentally lock onto pitch by translating it into (correct) audible vocal sound. If you think it's too much trouble, too hard, or just too goofy, I'm sure Steve K. will be more than happy to keep offering you tabbed out arrangements (for $$$) indefinitely.

Niles H.

<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>"(well) I know, I know, you'll probably scream and cry That your little world won't let you go.....
......So-uh, are you experienced?" #("Are You Experienced?" - Jimi Hendrix Experience)</span>

[Scotti Adams]

..my dad taught me early on...if you can hum it or whistle a melody it should come out through your fingers....fortanantly for me Ive been able to do that...I realize it doesnt come as easy for others. I know you have to learn your fingerboard...you have to know what notes are where. When I was in junior high I got the bright idea I was going to take violin lessons...well I could never master the art of reading music..still cant. The teacher would sit us in a semi circle...with two other players on both sides of me. Try as I may I could never read or get a grip on reading music. BUT...by the time the two players on either side of me would read and play their passage I could play it by ear...this sort of threw the teacher for a loop...he would constantly hound me about reading the notes. This went on for a few weeks...he ended up thinking I was actually learing to read. Well about 6 weeks of this I had the teacher buffaloed to say the least....well it came time for my passage to be played...he would play along on the piano...I should point out he was an excellent player...an old black man..who would have Lipton cup of soup handy and his packs of smokes. Could play a mean jazz violin. Any way....as I was playing this passage..a big grin came upon his face...he walked towards me...as I finished he gave me a compliment of how proud he was of me...until he looked down at my instruction book on my music stand....I had placed it upside down on purpose to prove a point..I could play just as well or #better than my classmates by ear...well...that was my last day in his class...he kicked me out. I guess he enjoyed all he could stand of me.