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I started a thread based on my frustrations learning songs yesterday and it was recommended I learn simple melodies. SO my question is: what are considered simple melodies to you? And how do you go about learning melodies? by ear? tabs found on the computer? I find it difficult to listen to a melody and try to figure it out on my guitar....
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04-13-2016 04:05 PM
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One lazy afternoon I sat down and figured out the majority of Herb Alperts "Music To Watch Girls Go By" album after watching Homer Simpson butcher "Spanish Flea".
I don't know if it was time well spent, but I was in a great mood afterwards. all done by ear and fairly straightforward.
Several years later and a bit more confident in my ear training I tried to do the same with Charlie Byrd/Stan Getz' "Jazz Samba" and stopped playing for two weeks. Even with the sheet music in front of me Byrd's chord knowledge on that album is astounding. (the Getz parts were pretty straightforward though).
So, yeah, just cram your fingers down on the guitar until you find the right note, and eventually the whole melody. Ear training is a muscle you have to strengthen.
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I would begin with 2-5 in all keys ...but you can try blue bossa it has a very simple yet effective melody not hard to learn by ear
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Melodies become simple, largely by knowing the neck well. Know how the intervals work on the neck, know the note names. Some tunes have a simple phrase that repeats with variations: Girl from Ipanema for example. All of Me.
But you gotta know the notes, and read music to some extent. I think you need a good teacher who can lay out a program for you (I know you've tried some; frankly I don't think they've been much good).
Start by learning a default position -- for me that's fifth position. Learn all the notes in frets 5 thru 9, and play everything there for a while (you might need to reach outside for a few notes).
Learning by ear, same thing. Put in 5th position by default. You also need slow-downer software. Play back a small phrase (3 or 4 notes) slowly. Again. Hum it. Try to find on neck, and adjust as needed.
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Satin Doll, Autumn Leaves and How High the Moon are real common first tunes.
All of Me was mentioned above, and thinking back, that was one of the first tunes I learned, too.
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All Blues, Freddie Freeloader, Blue Train heads are pretty simple too.
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Quote (Nate Miller)
"Satin Doll, Autumn Leaves and How High the Moon are real common first tunes."
Satin Doll is interesting in that, both Jimmy Bruno and Robert Conti use it as their first tune.
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You want to stay away from tabs. Having good ears is essential to play jazz competently. And it's never too early to train them. Tabs really inhibit that (coming from a guy who started out learning guitar on tabs).
One thing that really helps learning a new song is seeing the form of the song, structure between the chord progression and the melody. It's really hard to see that based on tabs. It's much easier to hear it or see it in a chart with notes if you can read it.
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Sing the melody first. Break it down smaller and smaller until you can nail it, even if you shrink it to one note. Sing that note, make sure it is correct and in your head. Then find that note on the guitar.
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I'm just some dick on the Internet who can barely string a jazz line together, but one thing that I do that my old teacher recommended is to start each practice session by playing a melody, by ear and from my head, in every position on the neck.
It can be anything... a standard, a TV jingle you just heard, a Radiohead song you've had going through your head, whatever. Just make it different every time you pick up the guitar. It only takes a few minutes, and once you get decent at it, about a minute.
This does incredible things for your ear.
Another, related thing he told me (and I think was in our very first lesson) was, "Never memorize anything." And I think what he meant was, don't learn how to play arrangements, learn how to make what is in your ear come out of your guitar. I'm nowhere near able to do that, but the above exercise is Step 1.
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"Honey Suckle Rose", Sweet And Lovely, Am I Blue, In general I believe the tunes from the 20s and early 30s tend to be easier. It's my understanding a lot of them were written knowing there would be a market selling sheet music to people playing piano at home.
It seems to me a lot of the tunes written for the Hollywood Movies in the 40s started to get more complex.
I sing the tunes with lyrics. I read the music and also listen to several vocal renditions. I find it easier to learn a melody when the notes are connected with lyrics.
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Happy Birthday! Who said they need to be jazz tunes. I have heard amazing jazz guitarists do Happy Birthday. Then do songs you already know. It may sound dumb, but do songs you already know even if it's a rock melody. DO that for a while and you'll feel more comfortable when you try to tackle jazz tunes
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I've been told "if you can sing it you can play it".....thanks a bunch
Originally Posted by DanielleOM
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1. There are lists of beginner jazz tunes - both on this site and elsewhere on the Internet.
2. Pick a song or two you like from those lists. Find several recordings of that song and add to your playlist.
3. Learn the lyrics - I cannot stress this enough. Sing it in the shower or driving to work. Sing it to your kids. Sing it to your grandmother. Then you'll never forget it. And you'll train your ear and voice at the same time.
3. Get the sheet music for the song. There's a free PDF book on the Web if you search "557 Jazz Standards Valdez Engraving"
4. Learn the melody from the sheet music. Do NOT use tablature: It's the worst kind of crutch and it will hold you back. Guitarists are infamous for their inability to read music. Don't be one of them!
4a. Reading will be slow and painful at first, but with consistent effort you'll learn quickly.
If you really have no idea how to read music, there are plenty of short, easy "how to read music for guitarists" books out there. And probably some more free help on the Web.
5. Realize that melodies are just sequences. How do you learn sequences of anything? Slow and steady repetition. Take small bites, just the first few notes of the melody until it's memorized. Then play it from the beginning and add on the next few notes until that's all memorized. Then add on the next few notes. Helps me to break down melodies into "phrases" and then just keep adding those phrases in sequence.
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Thank you all for all the feedback. This site simply rocks and makes it easy for me to stick with it....being so self conscience...
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Here's a list of riff blues from one of David Baker's books:
riff blues:
1. "Bag's Groove"
2, "Blue and Boogie"
3. "Birk's Works"
4. "Blue Bird"
5. "Blue Monk"
6. "Blues in Bebop"
7. "Blues in the Closet"
8. "Blues Walk"
9. "Buzzy"
10. "Cool Bluesv
11. "Emanon"
12. " Jumpin' with Symphony Sid"
13. " Misterioso"
14. "Now's the Time"
15. "Red Top"
16. "Sack 0' Woe"
17. "Sandu"
18. "The Skunk"
19. " Sonnymoon for Two"
20. "The Squirrel"
21. "Things Ain't What They Used to Be"
22. "Tenor Madness"
23. "Filthy McNasty"
24. "Wee Dot"
25. "Kentucky Oysters"
26. "Mr. P.C."
27. "Bessie's Blues"
28. "Vierd Blues"
29. "K.C. Blues"
30. "The Champ"
31. "Unit 7"
32. "Naptown Blues"
33. "Night Train"
34. "Tear It Down"
35. "Scotch and Water"
36. "This Here"
37. "Blue Seven"
38. "Laird Baird"
39. "Blues By Five"
40. "The Breakthrough"
41. "By Accident"
42. "Clarence's Place"
43. "The Jody Grind"
44. "Some Other Blues"
45. "West Coast Blues"
46. "7 Up"
47. "Dahomey Dance"
48. "Bockanal"
49. "Cool"
50. "Morpo"
51. "Popo"
52. "Bud's Blues"
53. "Eleven Sixty"
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Hey Chancho,
I have been focusing on Jazz Blues only these days although I miss the swelling tension and resolution of the 2-5-1 progression.
I am working with Richie Zellon's course.
My plan has been to be able to improvise over a rather basic Jazz Blues progression, and then slowly reach the point to where I stick some 2-5s in the progression.
So far so good.
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