The Learn "How To Play" A Song By Video

[Jodez]

Would any of you guys be willing to make a "how to play" video for learners? By which you show and tell viewers how to play a song?????? I used one once before and i learnt how to play the song straight away. i thought it might be helpful for people who are learning, and if people have spare time they might wanna do this.

[Bec]

It might help if you say which instrument you want to learn. :) I'm not good enough at any instrument to make a tutorial video but there's some good stuff already out there.

If you're wanting guitar then there's a tutorial dvd that Chris made with a few songs on it, you might be able to track one down on ebay or something.

There's also probably a few tutorials floating around on youtube for various instruments

[WHITE FALCON]

i really wanna see that DVD! a bit off topic but has anyone got it or seen it?

as if bec, if you've tabbed up those songs on bass you must be good enough to take a short video :D coz your tabs have a legendary status :p

[Jodez]

Well i was gonna say guitar, but i thought other people may want different instruments. But i know mostly it will be guitar.

But yeah, it makes things easier when someone actually shows you, rahter than always trying to figure the tricky stuff on tabs. You should make one hehe. And i havent heard of that dvd.

[WHITE FALCON]

what would be one the you would request and ill tell you if i can play it or not :D

[Jodez]

hehe not quite

[WHITE FALCON]

what do you mean not quite?

[KillingInTheNameOf]

Josh Freese foot cam!

[WHITE FALCON]

is that some kind of drummers speak :p

[KillingInTheNameOf]

Sort of.

Josh Freese (The drummer from The Vandals and A Perfect Circle) created a dvd of him drumming live with one of his bands, and in the bottom right corner (i think it was) there's a little box thingy that shows what his feet are doing

*edit*
"In 2003, The Vandals released a live DVD as part of Kung Fu Records' The Show Must Go Off series. The DVD is of particular interest to Josh Freese fans thanks to the inclusion of the Josh Freese-cam, a camera focused on Freese for the entire duration of the show, also including a picture-in-picture of Freese's kick drum pedal."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Freese#Current_Work

[Julia]

i really wanna see that DVD! a bit off topic but has anyone got it or seen it?

I have that, and unfortunately, it's not a DVD, just a computer thingy. It's really not that helpful unless you already have a pretty good knowledge of guitar, I got it when I'd just started and it completely freaked me out, but looking at it recently was quite helpful. There was a video of it released aaages ago I think, then the CD turned up in the online store a few years back.

[Jodez]

my computer is a piece of shit, so it wouldnt play it. So is anyone willing to make a vid of a song if ot got requested?

[WHITE FALCON]

yeah i said i would!

[Jodez]

^Wicked...Can i request a song then? :)

[Fritz]

I would but i dont have a camera sorry

[WHITE FALCON]

yeah? what song?

i'll tell you if i can pay it.

[Jodez]

All Torn Down, or Waiting (Green Day)

[WHITE FALCON]

lol all torn down i can do. but i play a my version which is pretty much the live at the chapel one but a little easier. i'll see what i can do but in terms of video camera stuff.

[Jodez]

alright thats cool. If it sounds like it, well thats all i care about, and i think the easier the better haha

[WHITE FALCON]

well my band is jammin on sunday so we are gonna see if we can borrow a cam and record what my fingers on the guitar

but yeah we have a dodgey setup lol but it works :D

bass DI through sterio+speakers. and vox through surround sound. the vioce is the hardest to hear but we'll put the camera infront of where the voice comes out of :D

anways we'll see. if we dont ill just play it and they can record me playing it.

[Jodez]

ok sounds good. All i can say is "Have fun and good luck" :)

[Bec]

i really wanna see that DVD! a bit off topic but has anyone got it or seen it?

as if bec, if you've tabbed up those songs on bass you must be good enough to take a short video :D coz your tabs have a legendary status :p

Thanks but there's a difference between working out what to play and actually being able to play it well.

[WHITE FALCON]

hahah thats true. i wanna see your stufff but!

[mel_bound]

Thanks but there's a difference between working out what to play and actually being able to play it well.

Yeah, Bec totally sucks at bass, trust me, I've seen it ;) :p

[Bec]

hahah thats true. i wanna see your stufff but!
Nah, I'll just let you keep believing that I'm amazingly talented.

[Jodez]

oh
cmon you musnt be that bad if you can figure out i typed this

[Sammas]

Thanks but there's a difference between working out what to play and actually being able to play it well.


Heh :D

I think developing good pitch preception is crucial... particularly those who want to jump into Jazz.


Here is a cool site with some video and pdf lessons for quite a few instruments

http://www.berkleeshares.com/

[Strider]

Heh :D

I think developing good pitch preception is crucial...

I agree with Sammas. If you wanna excel u have to figure out songs by ear.

[Jodez]

^Then why are there such things as "Music Teachers"? People can learn well with others and excel in what they do. :)

[Jawn]

That's a pretty silly argument.

You learn ANYTHING by being taught, whether its music, maths, english. You got to start somewhere, and one of the most effective ways of learning is to have a teacher. Thats why you go to school and not just read maths texts on your own.

Same with guitar. People go to teachers to help them improve not only their skills on the guitar, but also the music theory side and ear training. Sure, you may develop the skills needed to play every TLE song ever, but if you don't have the ear training or the theory side well practised and developed, you aren't going to get anywhere with your guitar. It bugs me when people say they can play all these songs, but they really have no idea of what is in the song, how it was constructed, what key it is in, etc. You haven't really learnt the song otherwise. Just being able to play what some guitar tab says doesn't really impress me much.

EDIT: (I thought of more things)
It is also extremley important to have some kind of ear when playing songs. At the very least, you got to recognise when the chord changes take place on the song so you can change on the guitar as well. Tabs usually don't tell you when to change chords. Also, if you are doing a jam with a bunch of other musicians, and you aren't really familiar with the song, its essential to have a good ear so you can pick the key out, which helps you a lot in playing the song.

Of course, this really matters if you are intending to be a bedroom hobby performer, or be serious about it. If you are just playing for a bit of fun and have no ambitions with it, you would get by just fine learning guitar tabs note by note, chord by chord. A little bit of ear training so you can help recognise the notes and chords in the song helps you figure out when to play the notes and chords on a tab. Also, if there is no tab available, you can use your ear to learn the song yourself. If you are aiming to be a successful (well, considering jazz muso's don't get paid much, lets say respected) jazz guitar virtuouso, you would want to have an amazing ear and know a hell of a lot of theory as well as having the skills on the guitar.

[mel_bound]

People learn differently too. The way I learn, you play it for me once and I'll probably be able to work it out, I copy people. Others need it to be written down, you know, lots of different ways for lots of different people!

Nice arguement Jawn :)

[Jawn]

I don't learn songs. at all. I just make up my own stuff. This way I can be uber pretentious and say Im void of all influences and am a revolutionary as I don't learn songs and techniques from other guitarists.

Of course, if I was to tell you the truth, its just that I prefer the "eehh to lazy. Tell me the key and i'll noodle over it, lead guitarists get more chicks anyway" approach.

[Jodez]

I love you Jawn :p I agree with you. Each to thier own.

[worry_rock]

My brother's a muso. He plays double bass, bass guitar, used to play trumpet, and dabbles in piano, guitar and percussion.

It really annoys me that he can just listen to a song and pick it up with ease. I'm unbelievably hopeless. He tried teaching me things on guitar once and just told me to play around and hear which note was right. I JUST CAN'T DO IT. I can't even sing (well). It sucks.

[Jodez]

If someone was to say "listen by ear", i wouldnt pick up on one thing. Its probably diff if you have been playin a long time or had a teacher, or had incrediably good listening, but i dont know how people can do that.

[Jawn]

by practise! your ear can be trained to do that with some hard work.

[Sammas]

by practise! your ear can be trained to do that with some hard work.

Uh-huh. And once you learn how to do it things become so simple... singing in tune, harmonizing melodies, identifying intervals and chord types, putting music to paper without having to hear it first...

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but stamping your feet and citing "I can't do it" isn't a valid excuse. Very few people are born with the gift of good pitch recognition...(the Acoustic Society Of America actually discovered that perfect pitch is a genetic abnormality, its a genetic addition to the left temporal lobe of the brain - people with perfect pitch really are freaks of nature :D) Thats not to say relative pitch can't be developed to a similar level as those born with perfect pitch...

[Bec]

Wow, I wanna be a freak of nature :D

I used to learn piano when I was about 7 or something and I was taught all by ear so that's probably why I don't find it hard to work out stuff. My teacher would cover her hand so I couldn't see what she was doing and play something, and then I'd have to play it back to her. I suck at reading music but I'm working on that.

But at the same time I'm not one of those people who can hear a whole song and play it back instantly, my memory isn't good enough for that which is usually why I tab stuff out.

So yeah basically if you want to have a better ear, it helps to work out music yourself. Start with some easy songs and work your way up to harder songs. You can always ask someone or look up a tab if there's a bit you can't work out.

[WHITE FALCON]

^agree's with pretty much everything everyone has said. i have a friend with perfect pitch. i can just go to his house and play something and he'll be like you guitar is out of tune. and i'll be like dude i just tuned it with your tuner. and he'll still tell me its out. and he's also a conductor for some orchestra or something. he's like 40 something. but when i go to his place to jam he'll put on like a metallica song and be able to tell me everything about it.

in regards to training your ear. i did the same thing as bec. i found out i had a really good ear when playing piano when my teachers would play me a song and i'de remember the main melody and play it back to her. exept she'd get really pissed off when i made a mistake and then fiddled around looking for the right note coz the music was right infront of me :p

I dont really think music teachers are essential. i mean they deffinatley help but at the end of the lesson they are just gonna give you a tab with what your tried to learn while listening to him and say here go home and learn this. thats how i see it anyway. but one thing a teacher is good for is picking up what is physically wrong with your playing, technique etc.