Hi Everyone!!

[sahanmaddumage34280]

Hey Guys!!
I'm 19 years old, from New Zealand and have been playing guitar on and off for about 10 years now, mostly fingerstyle with a bit of occasional strumming songs, Whilst im nowhere near proficient at any of these, I do thoroughly enjoy playing the guitar, espescially some fingerstyle peices as it sounds to me like the guitar is singing , which makes up for my lack of a singable voice hahah.
I saw there was a deal online for a coupon for the megapack and thought i might try it out first and hopefully itl all go well.
I started of playing classical guitar and had lessons and tuition for about 3 years before i got a bit bored of it without progressing much beyond a certain point, whilst i went to lessons however my education in theory was very limited and aside from reading music i dont think i learnt much in this segment of music..
Afterwards I just played a bit of acoustic guitar primarily in finger-style following tabs found online (although i can read music too).
I've just come to a point where i am again a bit bored without getting much progress as I am able to play music provided the notes or tab is provided for me. HOWEVER i lack alot of understanding behind it and am just playing what i see.

Id love to be able to one day play the songs by ear and maybe even compose some of my own music, and i understand this can take me a very very long time, but im hoping with my background itl be a bit easier. I'd just love to know if you guys have any tips on how to improve my ear and get better at playing songs by ear. Any advice at all is really appreciated.
I would just love to be able to hear a peice and understand it a bit and be able to convey it onto the guitar, I understand that I'll need to train my ear before i can even begin to do that however and was hoping for advice on how i can better train my ear aswell.

I'm currently a medical student at university so i dont have truckloads of time during semester time, however it is now the summer holidays and i have 2 - 3 months that I'd like to put to optimal use in betterring my ear.

Thank you for any advice at all
Sahan

[neverfoundthetime]

Welcome Sahan, nice intro, nice to have another member from NZ here. Our official Oldest Member, Chas is from NZ but he maybe having a nap somewhere right now, happens in really old age like that :laugh:
I hope you have some serious fun here and get that er of yours trained up soon. Maybe a good start to just sit down with your guitar a try to strum along to a few songs you like and see if you can pick out a few chords. Its not so far off then to pick up the whole sequence once you get used to the typical chord progressions out there.... you probably already know that so just get strumming and see what your ear can identify. You already read music so that's a good start, I'm the opposite to you, all ear and no savy of the written notes... I get by.

I am sure other folks will be along soon to give you some more inputs.

Greetings from Switzerland
Chris

[dottmcse85630]

Welcome Sahan, I've been a member here starting into my second year now. Been playing for almost 3 years and after joining T.G. my abilities really accelerated.
You will find many cool lessons here as well as a very friendly forum for questions and answers.
Its a really great community here.

Welcome

Dennis

[michelew]

Howdy neighboour! a big hello from sunny Sydney.

It sounds like you've got some great skills and experience. I think you'll find a heap of stuff here at TG to help you grow into the musician you want to become. Neil and a Vanessa are amazing musicians and seriously talented teachers. We don't call them our gurus for nothin'.

Jump into the TG library candy store and you'll see just how much more is on offer. That includes a bunch of ear training. Neil has even posted some segments that might give you some inspiration to start tackling your goal of composing your own pieces. He's inspired many of us to give it a go. It's great fun and once you get started I think you'll find that you've already got many, most or all of the skills you need to write your own material. Give it a go and come and share it with us on the forum. TG is a very appreciative audience and extremely supportive of people's efforts to stretch their wings and try new things.

Personally, I've found that The more you get involved in the community, the more fun you'll have. Post videos, post questions, comment on threads and other people's offerings, share your progress and challenges.

Have fun and I hope we see you jumping in boots and all.

Michele

[sahanmaddumage34280]

Hey guys!
Thanks for all your lovely replies, I cannot wait for my ear to actually improve hahaha, but i feel like thatsl take a bit of practice, have given Neils ear training videos a listen and hopefully if i stick it out itl all prove to be very fruitful . went through his guitar geography lessons and found they were very well structured and it was easy to follow through without any boring parts!

Cant wait to be a more active member of this forum, time to get stuck into some more ear training!

[TGNesh]

I very much enjoyed your introduction Sahan and welcome to TG!

I could point out a lot I suppose, but for now to get you through this ear training road, I would say, learn about the five common guitar keys first. CAGED. In particular, which chords are in every key. At least start with the three major chords in those keys. Then pick out a few songs which involve those three chords and try to hear where the chord changes are and to which chord that is. Look at them in numbers too, as in Chord I, Chord IV and Chord V.

Then add the three minor chords. Again pick a few songs and try to hear how the progression goes.

As for I, IV, V songs, I would listen to for example 'Brown Eyed Girl', 'Sugar Sugar', 'Leaving On A Jetplane', 'Helpless', 'Blowin' In The Wind', to just name a few on top of my head. From there listen to 'Let It Be', 'Country Roads', 'Wonderful Tonight', 'Knocking On A Heavens Door' and many more to also get those few minor chords in.

All in all, establish the key (listen to which chord feels like 'home', usually that's chord I) and listen to which chords the progression goes. That way you have more of a theoretical platform to fall back on. Ear training involves the ear, but also a lot of theory. Once you know in which direction you need to go (the key), or what you need to listen for (at least the three major and three minor chords in a key), then you got a good start to hear the little details too. Of course music always has exceptions, but at least you'll know immediately that a chord you hear is an exception, when it doesn't fit the chords in a key.

Well I could go on and on, but I hope this helps for now. Keep in mind, it's baby steps, but before you know it, it'll be way bigger steps. Just start simple.

All the best and good luck. Never hesitate to jump on the forums for any questions or comments you might have.

Vanessa (from The Netherlands)