The purpose of this lesson is to prepare you for learning how to figure out a song on your guitar by ear. The goal here is to learn how to listen and understand what is going on in the song. By getting a clear mental picture of what the guitar is doing, and how it fits into the scheme of the song, you will eventually begin to get a sense of how to play it.

This lesson will take a week to go through properly. You will not need your guitar for the first five days. We must first learn how to listen before we can learn how to play. Avoid the temptation to play along with the song during this time. The initial exercises are designed to deepen your appreciation of the music, and to make your mind process the the song without relying solely on your guitar. You will apply what you’ve discovered to your guitar on the last two days.

Over time, you will be able to listen attentively to any song, and focus on what the guitar is doing. You will be able to visualize how the guitar player is playing the song, and you will be able to narrow down the chords and notes when you go to figure it out on your instrument. This skill will give you a major advantage in learning new songs quickly and efficiently on your own.

To begin:

• Choose 1 song that you really like. It should be one that you have on CD or as an mp3 on your computer or iPod.

• You will listen to the song at least once a day for 7 straight days. Each day you will have different activities to complete.

• Listening to the song and completing the activity should take around 15 minutes, depending on the length of the song.

Day 1

• Listen to the song and try to identify what it is about it that appeals to you. Answer these questions on a piece of paper:

What type of music is this? (i.e. Country, Classic Rock, etc.)

Why do you like it? (I can dance to it, I like the melody, the guitar is cool sounding, it’s popular, etc.)

Is this song similar to other songs that you like?

Would you like to be able to play this on guitar?

Why would you like to learn how to play it? What will you get out of it?

• Keep a journal of your observations.

Day 2

Often, we focus on the vocals of a song, not paying much attention to what else is going on in the music. Today, try to hear all of the elements of the song, instead of concentrating on a single aspect.

• Listen to the song and list all the instruments that you hear playing during the course of the entire song. Be specific (Are there background vocals in addition to the main vocals? Are there several different guitars playing different parts? Are electric or acoustic guitars being used?)

• Add your observations to your journal.

Day 3

Songs are comprised of repeated sections of music. The structure of the song is how these sections are organized and linked together. Here is a guide to labeling different song parts:

Intro: an opening riff or kick off to the song that may be used again later or may only occur at the very beginning.

Verse: the main body of the song where the “story” is told.

Chorus or Refrain: this is a repetitive section where the lyrics are usually the same in each subsequent return to this section. It typically contains the songs title and sums up the main idea or story of the song.

Bridge: a completely different sounding section of the song that often takes the music into a brand new area.

Solo: an instrument plays a solo over either a brand new rhythm or over one of the previously used rhythms.

These are the most common parts, but a song can have others as well, or may not include all them. Try to come up with a consistent naming convention to make it easier for you to label the sections.

• List the parts that make up the song. Write a complete outline of the song’s structure.

Ex. Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus-Solo-Verse-Chorus, etc.

Day 4

Now, you will elaborate on the previous day’s exercise. You will count out the number of times each part is played. In other words, how many times does the rhythm repeat during a particular section of the song.

You will find that most songs are organized into even number repetitions of rhythms, such as 4 or 8. This makes it easier to remember, rather than randomly playing the verse say five times, the chorus twice, then the next verse three times. Consistent, even numbers are the key to keeping things simple to remember.

• Count the number of times each part is played in the song. Combine this with the chart you made on Day 4.

Ex. Intro (2x)-Verse (4x)-Chorus (4x)-Verse (4x)-Bridge (2x)- Solo (8x), etc.

Day 5

Today, concentrate solely on the guitar playing, after all, this is what you really want to learn how to play. The previous days were preparation for listening to the guitar, and getting a handle on it’s role in the song. If there is a guitar solo, don’t worry about that yet. Just focus on the primary guitar rhythms.

• You may need to listen to the song a couple of times today to really get what the guitar is doing. Be patient. This is practice, and with practice it will get easier over time.

• Concentrate on the guitar(s). Identify if it’s strumming chords, picking notes, whether it has distortion and effects, or if it is clean.

• If it’s strumming chords, how many different ones can you hear?

• Are the chords very full sounding or do they sound like they have only a few notes in them?

• Is the rhythm steady or does it have pauses or abrupt changes?

• If it’s picking single notes, do they sound low or high or both?

• Does the guitar part follow the vocals or is it completely independent?

• Write down everything you notice about the guitar playing.

Day 6

By now you are probably anxious to actually play your guitar. You’ve internalized a lot of information about the song over the past five days, so it’s time to relate that to your instrument, but we’re not going to figure out the exact guitar parts just yet. Instead, you’re going to play along with the song, relating you and your playing to what is happening in the music. You may wish to play with the song several times to really find your place in it.

• Make an effort to not figure out the rhythms or riffs of the song. Just try to accent the music by adding your own contributions.

• Try mimicking the vocals.

• If there is a fill or solo lick, make a musical response to it. In other words, create a conversation musically where you interact with the recorded music.

• Notice what notes, chords, and scales you find yourself using while playing along with the song.

• Write down any ideas you get while playing along. This can be a great way to develop your own songs or arrangements.

Day 7

Okay, it’s the moment of truth at last. Today you will bring all of your observations together to help you to figure out how to play the actual parts of the song. By this point, you should practically have the song memorized in terms of it’s structure, what the guitar(s) are doing, etc. You also should have a good idea of what key the song is in, and what scales the guitar playing is drawing from in creating the riffs and solo’s.

• Play along with the song, making an effort to match what the guitar player is doing. Go through the whole song without stopping. This is just a warm up.

• If you found a particular part of the song to be easier or that you were able to pick up on right away, use it as your starting point to figuring out the rest. Don’t feel like you have to start at the beginning, and work through to the end. Find the best place for you, and move outward from there.

• Tab out each part of the song as you figure it out. Once you have everything down, you can go back and rewrite it in the correct order.

• For solo’s, try to isolate them into short phrases. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with an entire solo, especially a fast one. Play the phrase and pause the recording. If you have the capability on your computer or mp3 player, loop the phrase so that it plays just that part over and over again until you get it. You can do this in programs like Audacity, which is free for both PC and Macintosh.

• Take note of what isn’t right or what doesn’t work. By eliminating what’s incorrect, you will be that much closer to finding what is right.

• Remember to be patient with yourself as you go through this process. You may not be able to get everything in one sitting. Take a break if you need to, and come back to it later.

All of the exercises in this lesson aren’t necessary every time you want to figure out a new song. They are meant to open up your perspective on learning; to give you a deeper appreciation for the elements that comprise music; and to help you discover how to internalize and relate to the music in order to learn and play it more effortlessly.

Keep an open mind, keep practicing, and keep going, and you will improve.