How do u learn to hear the notes before u play them ???

[Death (Chuck)]

Hi everyone!
One of my main goals is to hear the notes before i play them, especially on high speed. So i actually played every single note on the guitar over and over again. No i am playing easy licks like this one i posted. In this case just a and c. And i think its getting better and better. What have u done to develop your head ( not your ears) hearing the notes? Do u have any suggestions or commends?




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[GuitarSoul24]

Well, I found that trying to figure out songs or chords by ear is important for devloping your ear. I first started out by figuring out simple melody lines usually the notes the vocalist sings, like the stairway to heaven vocal line plant sings, then simple stuff like the national anthem, then the godfather theme, etc. Then I moved on to riffs, solos, chords. And checked online to see if I was right. Practicing scales and improv is important to developing your ear too, when soloing you should know how the next note you play is going to sound like. This is good for figuring other peoples solos too. I got the following exercises from an article by Steve Vai. Playing a chord then singing a simple 3-4 note melody then playing it on the guitar, singing the notes are really useful, if you could sing it, you could play it. Another good exercise is to play a couple of chords in random order and record it. Then later on listen to it and try to figure out what chords your playing. First start off with all Major, then throw in some minor chords, then min7, Maj7, dominant, etc. These exercises are far more important than any finger exerise and I believe a good ear is a muscians best friend because it will let them put the music in their head and put it into reality in their instruments.

[Death (Chuck)]

Well i am not really talking about hearing the notes. I am quite happy with my ears :D . I am talking about hearing the music before u play them, especially fast solos. I think this is absolutly necessery for playing melodic and not only fast.

[GuitarSoul24]

Is there a difference? With a great ear, you could hear the note your gonna play before playing it. If you have a terrible ear, your not going to hear it before playing the note.

[GuitarSoul24]

Regardless of speed, when figuring out melodies by ear on a musical instrument. As you figure out more and more melodies by trial and error, you will eventually start to recognize some of the more common intervals. This goes for fast solos and slow solos. Practicing scales and making melodies, you can make new ideas. The Steve Vai exercise I gave about singing the notes and then playing it, the more you assoicate what you hear in your and the notes in the instrument, it allows you to hear notes before you play them.

[Los Boleros]

The advise given is very sound advise and addresses your concerns directly. Learn to play the lines that are sung in songs and learn to sing lines that you play. As you practice your scales, sing your notes at the same time. Try to predict the next note. Do it with patterns and riffs.

[Death (Chuck)]

yes, but i already did this and i am still doing this. I have no problems hearing the cords or notes. I just want to develop my head hearing them before i play them. If this is the only advice it seems that my way is correct i will become superior and invincible G* :D

[Los Boleros]

yes, but i already did this and i am still doing this. I have no problems hearing the cords or notes. I just want to develop my head hearing them before i play them. If this is the only advice it seems that my way is correct i will become superior and invincible G* :DOf course you do realise that this is not something you do just once. As with everything else, you need to do it alot before you see improvements. Try it twice a week for a few months.

[Jeansen]

hi,Chuck: i used to have that question too..believe me!! what all people say in this thread is true!! i can hear and even play fast stuff melody in my head and can directly throw it to my guitar...

two advice from me..
1 ) Can you play fast? Have you make your own fast lick and then use it in your own solo? cause, if you used to do all of that stuff and you have great ears ( n great interval knowledge ) .. this problem won't give you much trouble..

2 ) Jam a lot!! and when you jamming, try to use your ear, don't think too much!! hear what you have in your mind...then throw it to your guitar...if you do this more often, it will help you a lot on improvising..

tips: be patient....it takes time.. ;)

believe me, i've been there...hope this help you too...anyway, this is from my experience..and it works very well..thx

[mac220]

As mentioned by another person Steve Vai spent a lot of time doing this, one method which will really help is Solfege, see Thom Masons books. This takes you though all the intervals them applies them to many chord progressions, different scales. the method used can then be applied to any scale you can think of.
His second book also included rhythms as well as harmonic/melodic ideas. The aim of the book is to be able to hear chord progressions in your head, or be able to hear a chord progression when reading a lead sheet or know what pregression is being used in a song, then be able to hear a line than works over the chord progression in your head and finally be able to tranfers that line onto your instrument. Solfege is a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

Regards,

Mac

[Death (Chuck)]

thx to all for your help.

so i will keep on pushing and pushing. I will tell u in three month, if i am satisfied or not :D

[Jeansen]

good luck

[satch_master]

I suppose singing the notes out aloud isn't really "metal" and you might not enjoy doing that but it would prove benifical. The only difference between a fast solo and a slow one is that there are more notes per bar. If you know your scales, the notes that make them up all over the fretboard then just experiment with what notes sound good at certain times or in certain patterns. Also arpeggies are a good way to hear the notes in a solo, you know how an A chord sounds so how about sweeping it, you should know the notes already because it is one of the staple chords every guitarits starts out with.

[Death (Chuck)]

I suppose singing the notes out aloud isn't really "metal" and you might not enjoy doing that .

Well yes u are right, but on the other hand it would be funny thinging songs like hammer smashed face or lack of comprehension:D G*
I am sure it will develop, but right now i am just playing alice in hell (annihilator) because the song rulllezzzzz. I am going completly nuts.:D

[PeterS]

Hey... all the advice before is good stuff. To add to the advice: If you think something in your head... "Sing the phrase" (therefore you are not listening to notes that are played on the guitar) ... then "play it" (you have just played what you were thinking) and you will be doing what you are seeking. I hope this helped. Good Luck.. Peter