[dogleg]

I have been 'playing ' guitar for a while but mainly alone just for the fun of it. I would like to learn some simple but interesting runs to fit into songs that I play. Mainly pop and country. Where do you suggest I start ? Thanks.

[Kirk Lorange]

I'd say start by listening to the ones you like on your favorite CD's and learn them by ear. That would be the most productive way in the long run, not as easy as reading them from tab or notation, but much better for your overall musical knowhow. Getting your ear trained to hear these things is the most valuable practice you can put in.

here's a tip: always always know what's going on chord wise when doing this. So first train your ear to hear the chord, then look for the run. The best way to figure the chords out are to listen hard or the bass note. It'll be the lowest in pitch, naturally, so it's easier than it sounds. Locate that note by trial and error on the bass strings of you guitar. 9 times out of 10, that note will be the root, the note that the chord is named after. Then see if the chord is a major or minor of that note name. Do that by ear by playing along. You should quickly be able to hear which is which. How? The right one will blend in to the track and sort of disappear; the wrong one will stick out like a sore thumb. Major/minor will take care of a good 80% of possibilities.

The run you're trying to figure out will use many of the notes in that chord, or, if the run straddles a couple of different chords, it will use many notes from each, so you can use the chord as a framework around which you can locate the notes form the run.

This is how we old farts did it long before the Internet or tab or the amazing wealth of info we can access today. Figuring it out for yourself, by ear, is the best way by far, because when you do it often enough you can listen to anything and know what it is and where it is, instantly.

[X4StringDrive]

Welcome

[scorpius]

Hello and Welcome.

[knight46]

Hello there, welcome to the forum.

[coldethyl]

Hi dogleg.

[dogleg]

I know that learning by ear is the best way for me and it has the most staying power. However, unless one has a really good ear it's sometimes hard to pick up on the runs and chord patterns especially when listening to really skilled musicians like Glen Campbell for example. I found a website for banjo by Jeff Howatt ,I believe ,and it was easy to follow so I thought I would look for one like it for guitar. Maybe using both the videos and the copy by ear method I can get somewhere. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks to all.