tab or no tab?

[gomez799]

Alright so i have been practicing for about a month and a half now intensively (5-8hours a day). I've learned a few simple chords, scales, and some simple songs. Just recently i was trying to learn "europa" from a online tab, and have learned about 2/10th of it. But today while i was practicing the song i realized that i had no idea what i was playing. So, i went online and read a lot of articles regarding tabs. Some articles suggested not to play off tab becuase your not learning anything unless your just trying to impress your friends and family.

Reading further, it suggested that i should be practicing in learning how to identify notes/chords by ear, and that this would definately help me know what im playing.

Should i be focusing on ear training?

How long does it take to develop a real good ear?

is ear training part of music theory?

how do i get started in learning to develop a good ear?

Can i learn songs faster than tab by developing a good ear?

and, what should i do in the meantime? (ex. chords, scales, licks)



Sorry for asking so much questions, but this has been bugging me
thanks, much help appreciated!

[Chim_Chim]

All you need is the Major Scale,an understanding of chord construction,the major and minor pentatonic and blues scales and your ears and you can start learning songs yourself by ear and then start learning lots of easy songs in as many styles as you can.

In lieu of that try learning every chord you can and know that you can play the notes in any chord all over the fretboard while that chord is sounding and you won't play any wrong notes.Additional notes may be either wrong notes or good notes so use your ears to help you choose any additional notes.

Tab is okay to learn some new techniques or to learn a song that you just can't figure out yourself by ear.Tab is bad if you never ever learn songs by ear yourself and you never learn any theory - etc.

Listen to as much music as you can and to as many styles as you can and pick up anything you can from each.I wouldn't focus on any one style too hard until you are comfortable with that first.And I wouldn't learn much more theory than the above either until you have it down and are learning lots of easy songs in lots of different styles of music.

You should atleast be able to learn licks and riffs and techniques from all sorts of different songs in different styles.Tab can come in handy here.And tabs are completely okay while you are starting out although alot of internet tabs may be kind of goofy but some may atleast put you in the ballpark.Tab is okay you just don't want to only learn from tabs.You need to know how to read chord and scale diagrams of all different sorts.Also there are alot of different names and symbols for things and you should learn them all so that when you encounter them you aren't stupified.If you run across strange symbols or names for things that are different from the ones that you may already know then just ask about them and someone will fill you in.

[gomez799]

why is it only the major scale how about the minor?

thanks for reply!