name your first tune u learnt and how ear or tab

tready · July 2nd, 2009, 04:56 PM

hi folks would love to here what was your first song tune you ever learnt and how you learnt it by ear or tab.mine was apache by the shadows that tune is what started me learning guitar.took me months to figuer it out no tabs bk then had to do it by ear.im intrested to see if any of you younger players do it by ear.

8upss · July 2nd, 2009, 05:23 PM

My first tune on the guitar was "The Wildwood Flower", learned by ear (actually by sight, watching my friend), no tab way back when!

YouTube - The Carter Family - Wildwood Flower

'Course, my version wasn't NEAR this good!

furtherfan · July 2nd, 2009, 05:35 PM

wow... i really can't remember....

first complete song i learned was "girl from ipanema"..... i was getting jazz lessons first :P... now i do nothing in that sort of music..

but before that.. probably something Hendrix.. Hey Joe.. or an attempt at blues

tready · July 2nd, 2009, 05:52 PM

i should of put i was unawear of tab way bk then when i got a guitar in 78ish i didnt no or had even hurd of tab wether it was around i dont no.

eyerish · July 2nd, 2009, 06:59 PM

first guitar tune was "skip to my lou" taught to me by another,so by sight and ear I guess. after that "you are my sunshine by ear,hey it was the 60's after all. first bass guitar was in the 70's by ear and it was Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain"

bowhunter · July 2nd, 2009, 10:47 PM

I think one of the first songs I learned was,, Down by the river,,Neil Young,,No tab back then,,I burnt up alot of needles on my turntable back then!!!Burnt up alot of 8 track tapes too!! Anyone remember the old 8 track players???

tready · July 2nd, 2009, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowhunter

I think one of the first songs I learned was,, Down by the river,,Neil Young,,No tab back then,,I burnt up alot of needles on my turntable back then!!!Burnt up alot of 8 track tapes too!! Anyone remember the old 8 track players???

yeah see my point im trying to make were all in our 40s no tabs you will be a better player learning by ear dump the tab get out the cds lol

StratmanNick · July 3rd, 2009, 01:46 AM

It was from Bert Weedon's "Play In A Day" tutorial back in '59.

The song was Bobby Shafto. I'm sure my rendition sounded nothing like it should have

That Carter Family footage is interesting. Of a time when many/most guitars were big and often 'f' holed. No wonder Fender took the guitar world by storm.

johnreardon · July 3rd, 2009, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StratmanNick

It was from Bert Weedon's "Play In A Day" tutorial back in '59.

The song was Bobby Shafto. I'm sure my rendition sounded nothing like it should have

That Carter Family footage is interesting. Of a time when many/most guitars were big and often 'f' holed. No wonder Fender took the guitar world by storm.

Having bought the same book, then that was probably my first attempt. Soon 'progressed' to amazing instrumentals such as Apache and Walk Don't Run.

Learnt every thing by ear back then and now

CandyAppleHead · July 3rd, 2009, 02:12 AM

Learning by ear is definitely the way to go. It's even easier today than it used to be since you can easily pause a CD using a remote and jump back to hear the bit again. Much better than getting up, lifting the stylus off the record or rewinding a cassette and guessing where you needed to get back to to hear it again. Despite this, everyone seems to want tabs.

First thing I learnt was the riff to Interstellar Overdrive by Pink Floyd. I remember sitting on my bed working it out on my crappy nylon string guitar. After I learnt some chords, I managed to figure out Heroin by the Velvet Underground (D-G all the way through!).

StratmanNick · July 3rd, 2009, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnreardon

Having bought the same book, then that was probably my first attempt. Soon 'progressed' to amazing instrumentals such as Apache and Walk Don't Run.

Learnt every thing by ear back then and now

+1.

Gave up on that book sooner than I should. Likewise, went on to learn by ear. Much easier.

Did anyone ever buy Sheet Music of a favourite song only to find it was in a crazy key that didn't relate to the record? I did, so gave up with that too.

Much later heard that the people working for the music publishers often wrote the sheet music info on a piano and ignored the actual key the song was originally recorded in. Wonder if this was actually true

CandyAppleHead · July 3rd, 2009, 02:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StratmanNick

+1.

Did anyone ever buy Sheet Music of a favourite song only to find it was in a crazy key that didn't relate to the record? I did, so gave up with that too.

Much later heard that the people working for the music publishers often wrote the sheet music info on a piano and ignored the actual key the song was originally recorded in. Wonder if this was actually true

Yes I recall this happening all the time. I bought a book of Who songs and it had My Generation in F or something ridiculous.

ThreeHands · July 3rd, 2009, 02:50 AM

Yeah, I too picked up the guitar in the good old vinyl days. my family had a "His Masters Voice" record player that I wore out by the time I was about 13. listening to the two ablums I had a "Johnny Lee Hooker" and "Derick and the Dominos".
I Think "Mad Man Blues" by JLH was the first full song I worked out.

but the very first thing I every played on a guitar was the Peter Gunn theme.

ThreeHands · July 3rd, 2009, 02:58 AM

My old record player ran a little slow. So I would tune my guitar to the lowest note I heard in the song I wanted to learn. I think for around four years or so I was tuned down by about a tone and 3/4's. until I got a tuning fork.
So when it came to writing down the songs I've learn for my friends I would out 2 tone flat. Some of my mates just stopped asked me to work out songs for them around that time. (Grin)

moondance360 · July 3rd, 2009, 05:05 AM

"Don't Let The Rain Come Down" - A version by the Brothers Four

The first tunes I learned bass lines to were "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "Daytripper". Learned both in the same session and of course, I learned these by ear.

Like McCartney, I had this job thrust upon me when my friends and I could not find a bassist. Since I already shared lead vocal duties with one of the other guys, I just kept on singin. Nowadays, I think it's strange when I meet other bass players that can't or won't sing while playing.

Strat-Man-Do · July 3rd, 2009, 06:24 AM

I can't remember the exact first, but I remember playing with the band back then and doing covers like Sunshine of your Love, Birthday, Foxey Lady, Hello I Love You. I know the first song I ever played live was Yellow Submarine.

And yes, we learned them all by ear back then. Which is exactly what I still do. I hear something I want to play and I just work it till its right.

johnreardon · July 3rd, 2009, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StratmanNick

+1.

Gave up on that book sooner than I should. Likewise, went on to learn by ear. Much easier.

Did anyone ever buy Sheet Music of a favourite song only to find it was in a crazy key that didn't relate to the record? I did, so gave up with that too.

Much later heard that the people working for the music publishers often wrote the sheet music info on a piano and ignored the actual key the song was originally recorded in. Wonder if this was actually true

I did it once Nick, back in the 60's, more for the words than the chords. Found out it was piano sheet which, I think, is in C

kraigeyroxx · July 3rd, 2009, 10:47 AM

First tune i learnt was 'Smoke On The Water' I was shown by a friend of my fathers.
Still love that song!

gliderider22 · July 3rd, 2009, 11:43 AM

Eye of the Tiger by Surivor. I was 8 years old with a guitar teacher, it was 1983 and I was totally into the Rocky Movie. If the Star Wars or Superman themes were easier I probably would have wanted to learn that one too.

JHRIII · July 3rd, 2009, 11:04 PM

Walk this Way and Crazy Train were some of the firsts. Still pull them out every so often.

illinoisboy · July 3rd, 2009, 11:47 PM

Mine was Hey Joe, my dad tought me when I was eleven.

intoflatlines · July 4th, 2009, 09:31 AM

Mine was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a tiny nylon string acoustic when I was like six or seven. Played 100% on the high E string, learned it all by myself!

ArlenBucy · July 4th, 2009, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 8upss

My first tune on the guitar was "The Wildwood Flower", learned by ear (actually by sight, watching my friend), no tab way back when!

YouTube - The Carter Family - Wildwood Flower

'Course, my version wasn't NEAR this good!

Thats quite a song to learn first man. Mother Maybelle was a great player IMO. I am a huge Carter fan. I think my first song I learned was just a simple blues progression. I took lessons and my teacher made me learn the blues first and I'm glad he did.

hedegaardo1 · July 4th, 2009, 10:32 AM

The first song I tabbed out was John Frusciante - Before the beginning

gaddis · July 4th, 2009, 08:53 PM

I can't remember exactly what the first tune was, but Apache was definitely one of the early ones. Along with Wipeout, the Batman theme, and the Ballad of the Green Berets. They were all learned by ear, with my older brother probably coaching me.

Lobotomy Boy · July 5th, 2009, 08:10 PM

Back in the '70s I learned "Stairway to Heaven" up to the part where the chords start, not because I loved the song, but because my cousin stole the guitar music from his band class and gave it to me. I learned it by notes, not tabs. Back then I played trumpet and read music. I probably still could, but when I started playing again last winter I discovered tabs and that made so much more sense to me.

Since then I've been taking lessons and have learned a lot of simple three- and four-chord and finger-picking songs, but I've only learned the lead and rythym parts of one song completely through from start to finish: Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Although that's only partly true--I have a hard time with one of the arpeggio parts in the solo. I know parts of a lot of songs, but I need to learn a few more from start to finish to make practice more interesting.

E of R · July 5th, 2009, 08:37 PM

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd - slowly, very slowly by ear

CHEEZFREEK57 · July 6th, 2009, 02:03 PM

I don't remember the first song I learned...Good Riddance by Greenday and Dammit by Blink182 were two of the earlier ones. I learned them using tabs, but have since learned to pick stuff up by ear.

Teleblooz · July 15th, 2009, 07:21 PM

Something by Creedence Clearwater Revival - might've been Proud Mary or Who'll Stop the Rain. I learned it from a "CCR Complete Works" chord book, on a guitar my Dad had brought back from a trip to Mexico to use as a wall decoration.

timegoesback · July 24th, 2009, 03:13 AM

I think the first that I worked out the bridge of Praan by Gary Schyman. Worked out most of the parts and put em together in Guitar Pro and it sounds pretty good...I could never work out the guitar part in the intro though....I didn't know there was a capo lol