Learning New Songs - Youtube?

[Marco Polo]

I am not one of those special people blessed with a perfect ear and timing. I've played with people who can hear something once...then regurgitate it note for note no matter how intricate. I love playing with those people as I learn so much, but I am definitely not one of them. Being mostly self taught (I've taken about one year of lessons most recently), I am constantly challenged when I learn new songs, chord progressions, voicing, etc. and I need to continually work hard and practice, practice, practice. It does not come 'easy', but it is worth it in the end.

I play exclusively acoustic. When learning a new song, I generally need tab/chords to get myself up and running. I want to play the song exactly as I hear it on the album, the reason I love the song to begin with. I will surf Youtube to see how the original artist plays the song live (always looking for acoustic versions) and sometimes I'll watch other people who play the same song. (What did we ever do before Youtube?)

Now, some 'youtubers' are phenomenal, while others play out of tune, timing, and sometimes even the notes/chords/progression/key are completely wrong.

Does this latter category represent people taking 'artist freedom' to a new level or do people just want to see themselves on the internet?

Just curious on your own experiences.

Apologies if this thread is in the wrong section.

[Silly Moustache]

Hi, I'm a "You-Tuber" and you can see some of my stuff there.

Over the (many) years, I have learnt a few things that enable me to work out chord progressions, not least learning "Harmonising the Scale" - which shows you all the chords in any key that are likely to be used. You then start seeing the same patterns over and over again.

I emplore you NOT to attempt to replicate the original versions - that way madness lies, because unless you are an excellent mimic you will never achieve it.

Remember that many of those were the result of a few days in a high tech studio, session musicians, and lots of editing.
Better by far is to take a song use the basic chords and lyrics (although even these can be changed) and work to sound like you.

Hear a song, like it, seek out the chords online is now often easy, and if not, search out a video, to "watch" the chords, but even better , play along and learn the chords ....this is my prefernce.

Write/type the lyrics, leaving room above for chords, then write them down when/where they change.

Tablature, is no use to me but if you need it - and you can decipher it ...fine, but I feel that it pushes you down the line of copying, rather than interpreting the song.

Hope this helps, ask more questions.

[HAPPYDAN]

Wow, Silly Moustache, that was an excellent dissertation. Sorry to gush, but I must compliment a true artist. Myself, I have to "feel" the essence of a piece, before I can attempt to reproduce it. Utube recordings do provide an excellent starting point, as do web sites that provide lyrics and chords, although some turn out to be just flat wrong. When I do attempt to reproduce a piece, it is usually my version, somewhat loosely akin to a recorded version. Kudos on pointing out recording studio "tricks", often near impossible to recreate live.

[L20A]

I actually use Youtube to see differing styles of a song that I like.
My band likes to change things up when we preform.

We use bluegrass instruments and add folk flavor to our songs.
Watching a lot of different Youtube videos gives us an idea of how we may want to change a song to fit our style.

As far as do people post on Youtube to see themselves.
Of course they do.
They also want others to see them and tell them that they like what they see.
In this respect, it is no different than playing to a live audience.

[markrj]

I have a couple of piano playing videos on YouTube and Vimeo. I haven't done a guitar video. Yet. Still working on the actual music. lol

I use various sites for chords, lyrics, try to double check for correctness, etc. I have a pretty good ear, or so I'm told.

I have always wanted to learn Pink Floyd's Brain Damage / Eclipse from Dark Side of the Moon.

So, two evenings ago, and 24 hours prior to this recording, I downloaded the chords, printed out the lyrics and just basically had a lot of fun learning the song, remembering how it flows, finding a correct tempo for the click track, transitions and even reinforcing a chord or two that isn't a usual one, etc.

https://soundcloud.com/marks-recordi...-damageeclipse

I do not profess to being any sort of "level" of musician, I was just born making music and hopefully I will be making music when I die.

I don't do this for a living or have any delusions. My voice is my voice, untrained and not practiced near enough. lol This was essentially a live performance. The guitar and voice were recorded together as one take, the only overdub was the keyboard.

I had fun, and hope maybe you will have fun listening. It's not a replica from the album just me, my interpretation and timing from a lifetime memory of listening to this song, a chord list, lyrics, my Larrivee acoustic using an iRig mic, into a Digitech RP500 (Gilmour setting), RealPiano Pro2 for the organ part, and a Zoom H6 with a couple of AT4040s to capture the pure acoustic sound. I multi-tracked everything in the Zoom H6. "Mixed" it in Cubase 9 LE which came bundled with the Zoom H6. That's a whole other discipline, mixing, sound engineering. I'm still in the infancy stage of understanding the mixing process. This thing we call music is a lifetime pursuit. So many things to learn. Not enough time.

Just have fun!

[gfa]

Just a ramble here, hopefully in the direction you were looking for, OP. I think the internet is an incredible resource for figuring out songs. Hear a song you like, go to YT and listen to the original, go to UG and find some lyrics and tab, and off you go. Sure, often the lyrics and tab need some correction, but what a head start it is! Sometimes you'll find a tutorial on YT, and some of those tutorials are "right." I like to cruise around YT and find covers of songs. Professional, amateur, good, not so good, it's all informative and often entertaining. I am in the Silly Mustache camp; don't try to recreate the original exactly. It's more interesting to hear individual expressions of a song. Of course, my modest skill set wouldn't often be up to the task of recreating an original, but still ...

Below is one of my favorite not-at-all-like-the-original-and-great-in-its-own-way discoveries of late.

[rokdog49]

I am one who is all for "making a song yours" so I will say I liked the arrangement. I guess I'm too Springsteenized to get along with the vocals. Anyway, no one cares, it's just my opinion.

[Marley]

I use youtube to figure out songs from time to time. Here's my experience: sometimes it takes putting together a few videos to get the whole song correct.

sometimes the person you least expect to have it 100% as the band played it is not who you'd expect. Meaning I'll watch a few paid guys working for guitar sites etc.. and they may be close but I find a 14 year old kid in his bedroom who's got it down perfect. Not always but I never pass those kids up when looking.

Many times I have to watch a few videos to put together all of parts I want to play. I'm the only guitarist in my band so If we are playing say a Pearl Jam tune or a Guns n Roses tune, I have figure out what parts I want to learn to play the song on one guitar.

Most times I learn the song by just watching a guy play his cover version of it. Meaning it's not a "how to play_______on guitar"

Bottom line: I love the youtube videos. I love youtube. The amount of great music on there is endless. Heck I even have an Atmosphere how to play guitar video but I haven't posted anything in about 8 years.

[CycleBob]

I think YouTube is a good learning resource. I do not look to play song exactly like the original recording and even after I’ve learnt it pretty well may look up different versions (sometimes on YouTube sometimes on a music streaming service) especially if I feel like I’m not connecting with the song very well. Ultimately I always end up playing the song my own way regardless of how many versions I’ve seen—you gotta play the way you feel it...

[gfa]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

I am one who is all for "making a song yours" so I will say I liked the arrangement. I guess I'm too Springsteenized to get along with the vocals. Anyway, no one cares, it's just my opinion.

I enjoyed it precisely because it was so different from the original, and htought he really delivered the vocal. Hey, opinions are almost all we have here, and we're all entitled!

[Johnny.guitar]

I remember getting a cassette tape when joining a band....and spending hours & hours pressing stop, rewind, play-stop, rewind play......rhythm was relatively easy but figuring out leads ....good god you worked for it lol!

I Love YouTube, even if I can easily figure a song out I like to see what others have done with it. Especially since going acoustic.
Ortopilot has some good covers. I've used a few of them that go over great.
Sweet Dreams & Mr Brightside to name a few.

[Johnny.guitar]

https://youtu.be/1pjOMYpLX4g

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Marco Polo

I am not one of those special people blessed with a perfect ear and timing. I've played with people who can hear something once...then regurgitate it note for note no matter how intricate. I love playing with those people as I learn so much, but I am definitely not one of them. Being mostly self taught (I've taken about one year of lessons most recently), I am constantly challenged when I learn new songs, chord progressions, voicing, etc. and I need to continually work hard and practice, practice, practice. It does not come 'easy', but it is worth it in the end.

I play exclusively acoustic. When learning a new song, I generally need tab/chords to get myself up and running. I want to play the song exactly as I hear it on the album, the reason I love the song to begin with. I will surf Youtube to see how the original artist plays the song live (always looking for acoustic versions) and sometimes I'll watch other people who play the same song. (What did we ever do before Youtube?)

Now, some 'youtubers' are phenomenal, while others play out of tune, timing, and sometimes even the notes/chords/progression/key are completely wrong.

Does this latter category represent people taking 'artist freedom' to a new level or do people just want to see themselves on the internet?

Just curious on your own experiences.

Apologies if this thread is in the wrong section.

I'm like you in that I generally need the tab to learn a song. Finger style tunes can be very intricate and I'd rather spend my time learning the actual tune, than going back to the old days and do the listen, repeat, find on fretboard, listen, repeat, find on fretboard routine

To me the challenge is not only to learn and play the song, but get it as close to the original recording as possible, and then do my own thing with it to a degree.

As far as what youtubes I watch, generally I like to watch someone whose skills are equal to or beyond my own. It's hard for me to watch/listen someone chop a song up, even though I've been there myself. It's good for the person to gain the confidence in themselves by recording video and using it as a teaching tool, but some things shouldn't see the light of day . Regardless of the lack of skills of some youtubers we should always be encouraging to struggling guitarists. I'm sure we look similar to them to those beyond our level.

[Marco Polo]

Wow...what great replies...thank you all for the well-thought advice to help me become a better player.

As others have stated above, I am also one that needs to 'feel' the music before I can 'make it my own'. I need the connection to the music through my emotions before I set out to learn a new song. Sometimes it gets frustrating finding the correct voice for certain parts, but after watching *many* different people on Youtube, certain parts of songs can be correctly derived. Just watching someone's fingerings and position can help with transitions. This is not innate to me. Sometimes watching a video reinforces to my ears how not to do a riff

IMO - Alternate arrangements work as long as the artist keeps the feeling/progression of the song....like the Bruce song above. The video keeps the spirit of the song and sounds great. It sounds like the song and it is not 'hacked-up as I've heard in other song renditions.

I will continue strive to play a song the way I hear and feel it, the way originally recorded even if there are some effects I can't copy. Sometimes close is good enough. Again, many thinks for the excellent advice above. I am always learning.

...and Mark...Brain Damage? That was awesome - thanks for sharing. I think I just found my next song! Too bad I can't sing

@Barry (TBman)...Spot-on!

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by Marco Polo

Now, some 'youtubers' are phenomenal, while others play out of tune, timing, and sometimes even the notes/chords/progression/key are completely wrong.

Does this latter category represent people taking 'artist freedom' to a new level or do people just want to see themselves on the internet?

You may also note that sometimes Tabs are posted that are quite wrong (or you may not notice?!) Often I see things wrong - C major shown when it's an A minor, or missing the 'major 7th'.
"Artist Freedom' - maybe, but more often its because the person doesn't know the correct way to play the song.