[alundra]

there are alot of songs that i want to play with my guitar, but i dont have the notes of them, so i wondering how can i figure out the note of the songs out myself, im interesting in single note of the songs for right now..
lets say the song is the happy birthday song and it started with:
"ha...ppy" "birth....day" "to" "you"
so basically i want to figure out how to play a single note for each of the syllable and word of the song...
thanks

[Fretsource]

Start with the first note. You can start anywhere but keep it simple. The first note of happy birthday could be G (open 3rd string) as it's as good a place as any to start.
So you've got the first part "Ha"
Next you need "ppy". Hum it to yourself and compare the first note to the second "Ha-ppy" Ask yourself "Is the second note higher? or lower? or just the same?"

In fact it's the same. If you can't hear that, then you probably just need a lot of practice.

Then take the next note and compare it with the previous note - This time the 3rd note "birth" is higher - so try playing the string a little higher by one or two frets - sometimes more until you find one that sounds right. (It's actually 2 frets higher).
The whole phrase, "Happy birthday to you" would be GGAGCB - and you can find that just by comparing each note Up down or same - as often as necessary.

If you have some major scale knowledge you can apply that to predict which notes it's likey to use, which narrows down your search and speeds up the process a lot.

Edit: Oh - I forgot. If you want some more ear training practice with some self tests click my lessons forum link below.

[Chris C]

+1 to everything that Fretsource said.

I've found that starting on a single string is often an easy way to start. It also gives you a very clear feel for how far 'apart' the notes are musically as you can actually see the spacing happening up and down the same string.

As you get more experienced you get a feel for where the same notes can be found across nearby strings in a more compact pattern - which is how you eventually want to end up playing it.

Here's a cut and paste of a previous post laying out the process of building up, using the song Happy Birthday, that Fretsource mentioned:

Here it is all on the G string (third thinnest).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Fret positions first (0 means open string) :

0 0 2 0 5 4 ( the notes were: G G A G C B)

0 0 2 0 7 5 (the notes were: G G A G D C)

0 0 12 9 5 4 2 (notes: G G another G an octave higher E C B A )

10 10 9 5 7 5 (notes: F F E C D C)

OK, not so tough. Try singing it two ways - first sing the words you know, but also do it again but singing the notes names instead. "GG A G C B...." etc. It will be a handy way to learn the names and positions. It will also help you build into your brain what the notes should sound like when you sing them.

Once you've nailed that you can move on to Kirk's lesson here:

Kirk's Happy Birthday

It's handy to print out his Tab sheet first.

To start with, don't try and play everything he's written (it's tricky for a beginner, believe me..). Just play the top line of his TAB. So where you see a finger on the 2nd fret of the G string and another on the 3rd fret of the A string, just play the top one (on the G string). You'll be playing the same tune with the same notes as before, but you'll be using 3 strings instead of one (the G, B and high E). Looks much flasher! And it's much more economical in hand and finger movement. So try to use the same "One finger one fret" logic that I explained before.

If you're OK at chords you could also try playing it using the chords he shows on that Tab. Starts easy, and gets trickier at the end. And if you're really feeling adventurous, then you can tackle his whole lesson. But that will be quite a big step up.

Cheers,

Chris

[scott58]

What worked best for me was just running my scales everynight. After a while I just started to know where things were at. That was a cool moment!