Here is my tip for beginner players. If you know a good player, or you see one in session, ask him (or her) to tape his favourite tunes on a c-cassette. I'm sure most of the musicians think it's honour to be asked help by newcomers, so they'll do it with delight.
Of course it's easier to learn if the tunes are played in slow or moderate tempo, but even if they are fast it's still quite easy because there is no accompniment and harmonies that misleads your ear. And the best part is that you get "right lift" and accents right away, and also good suggestion for ornamentation.
I think this is most natural way to learn tunes, of course unless you don't have friends patient enough to teach you all those 6000 reels&jigs.
Great advice....
A variation on the above tip.... pick up one of those little "dictation
recorders", the kind often used for recording oral presentations.
They use 'micro-cassettes' which can record up to 30/60 minutes each side.
They have two recording speeds, and two playback speeds. The sound quality is... well, not good. But it does give you the option to record at the faster speed, and playback at half speed, which
makes it easier to work out some of those quick little notes. At half speed the pitch is reduced by one octave, but still is in the original key (with minor tuning adjustments).
One can even use the recorder to pick up tunes off of other recordings, etc. An added advantage, is that they are small enough to fit into a pocket, or into a violin case, for example, and they are relatively inexpensive, compared to a higher quality recorder.
You can even record your snoring spouse at high speed and play it back at half speed, or vice versa. Neither course of action is recommended, however as it leads to severe head pain. 8^ )
The shareware Transcribe! provides an excellent way to get very slowed down playing without pitch change for digital music files such as mp3s or wavs. If you have field recordings from sessions you can digitize them easily by playing them into the Windows sound recorder program (or other better software), after plugging your tape recorder directly into the mic input of your sound card. Then Transcribe! can slow them down for your studious contemplation. http://www.seventhstring.demon.co.uk/xscribe/ is the url.
If somebody is recording tunes for you to learn,
the best thing is to get them to play the tune first slowly and then at normal speed. In this way, first you get to hear every note accurately (which is not easy at full speed) then you can hear the tune played at its 'natural' pace with all its lift and accents.
Slowgold is another useful tool for slowing down (or altering the pitch) of a tune recorded into your pc. It also chops the tune into managable "learn size" chunks.
Learning by ear (once again)
Learning by ear (once again)
Here is my tip for beginner players. If you know a good player, or you see one in session, ask him (or her) to tape his favourite tunes on a c-cassette. I'm sure most of the musicians think it's honour to be asked help by newcomers, so they'll do it with delight.
Of course it's easier to learn if the tunes are played in slow or moderate tempo, but even if they are fast it's still quite easy because there is no accompniment and harmonies that misleads your ear. And the best part is that you get "right lift" and accents right away, and also good suggestion for ornamentation.
I think this is most natural way to learn tunes, of course unless you don't have friends patient enough to teach you all those 6000 reels&jigs.
# Posted on September 24th 2002 by Jani
Re: Learning by ear (once again)
Top tip
# Posted on September 24th 2002 by llig leahcim
Re: Learning by ear (once again)
Great advice....
A variation on the above tip.... pick up one of those little "dictation
recorders", the kind often used for recording oral presentations.
They use 'micro-cassettes' which can record up to 30/60 minutes each side.
They have two recording speeds, and two playback speeds. The sound quality is... well, not good. But it does give you the option to record at the faster speed, and playback at half speed, which
makes it easier to work out some of those quick little notes. At half speed the pitch is reduced by one octave, but still is in the original key (with minor tuning adjustments).
One can even use the recorder to pick up tunes off of other recordings, etc. An added advantage, is that they are small enough to fit into a pocket, or into a violin case, for example, and they are relatively inexpensive, compared to a higher quality recorder.
You can even record your snoring spouse at high speed and play it back at half speed, or vice versa. Neither course of action is recommended, however as it leads to severe head pain. 8^ )
# Posted on September 25th 2002 by scottythefiddler
Re: Learning by ear (once again)
The shareware Transcribe! provides an excellent way to get very slowed down playing without pitch change for digital music files such as mp3s or wavs. If you have field recordings from sessions you can digitize them easily by playing them into the Windows sound recorder program (or other better software), after plugging your tape recorder directly into the mic input of your sound card. Then Transcribe! can slow them down for your studious contemplation.
http://www.seventhstring.demon.co.uk/xscribe/ is the url.
# Posted on September 25th 2002 by daveb
Re: Learning by ear (once again)
If somebody is recording tunes for you to learn,
the best thing is to get them to play the tune first slowly and then at normal speed. In this way, first you get to hear every note accurately (which is not easy at full speed) then you can hear the tune played at its 'natural' pace with all its lift and accents.
# Posted on September 27th 2002 by granama
Re: Learning by ear (once again)
Slowgold is another useful tool for slowing down (or altering the pitch) of a tune recorded into your pc. It also chops the tune into managable "learn size" chunks.
# Posted on September 29th 2002 by len