A question for roentgen and WatchingYou

Discussion in 'Tamil Guitar Tabs - Submit or Request' started by cibhin, Oct 26, 2012.

  1. cibhin

    cibhin Member

    Hi,
    i just wanna ask you some thing, how can you find these chords for any song?
    For how many years are you into music? what are the criteria that i should acquire to find the chords?

    Thanks in advance. :D
     
  2. WatchingYou

    WatchingYou New Member

    I've been into music right from my Grade 1. And I can't really find chords for any song. Still in the learning process! I think it's something you learn through practice and experience. It's not just about listening to the chords being played, in my opinion it's also about understanding the overall structure of the song, together with all the instruments which complement the chords (or vice versa). I guess being a keyboardist helps you understand music easier than being a guitarist, I'm not really sure.
     
  3. cibhin

    cibhin Member

    Thanks for your reply Guru, Really gave an idea about it.
     
  4. roentgen

    roentgen Well-Known Member

    Picking out chords can easy or hard depending on the kind of hearing ability an individual has.
    Although this can be somewhat improved with practice, most of it is probably inborn.
    There are 2 interesting abilities called 'Relative pitch' and 'Absolute pitch'.
    Relative pitch is a more common talent and as the name says, is 'relative'. That is, the person can immediately identify whether a particular note is higher or lower than the preceeding or following note but cannot say what actual note (like C#, F or G etc) it is. He can also hold on to it in his mind or by humming and identify it with the help of a guitar or keyboard.
    He or she can also say whether a chord sounds like a minor or major or 7th or M7th chord but cannot say whether its a Dm or D major or C7 or GM7.
    On the other hand, someone with an Absolute pitch can say the exact note or chord played.
    This is considered a rare talent which cannot usually be learnt.
    Relative pitch hearing ability is what many good chord transcribers have. As I said, this can be learnt by training your ears, but not all get it.

    The extreme low end of this ability is being 'Tone deaf'. This doesn't mean the person can't hear. They just cannot differentiate one note from the other. An F and D# note would be no different them. Such individuals are usually terrible singers and can for all purposes forget transcribing chords. By terrible singers, I don't mean their voice quality, but their ability to sing a tune accurately (even with a bad voice!).

    Headphones and my PC are what I use to listen to music.
    As I've mentioned on some of my earlier posts, picking out the bass note is very important. This mostly gives away the chord. Sometimes the bass is played like an arpeggio, but the notes played are generally within the chord. For eg, bass notes played for C chord could be C, E and G. But the first bass note at the beginning of the bar is almost always the root note (C in this eg).

    Try to hear other notes in the bar including the melody. Any note will help. Usually there are strings, flute or other notes being played in the back ground. Listen to that particular segment again and again by dragging the 'progress bar' of the media player you use.
    Once you get 2 notes you will generally arrive at the chord. Google to find out what the constituent notes for each chord are. For eg, D bass and A note for melody could be D major or minor. Try both chords and you should be able to pick the right one. An A bass note and G# note within the same bar usually indicates AM7.
    You don't have to (you seldom will!) hear all notes that make up the chord.

    It is unlikely we'll ever transcribe a song 100% accurately but we should try and get close.

    Have fun!


    Rajesh :music:
     
  5. WatchingYou

    WatchingYou New Member

    Very, very nice post Rajesh! :)

    I have the opinion that people trained simultaneously in carnatic music have a much higher chance of having relative pitch. Carnatic music imprints upon the mind the concept of intervals - any person who can sing swaras at will (and not from memory or habit) is an expert at relative pitching! They will find that they can excel iin the Ear Test in the musical grade exams very easily. Thus far, almost everyone I have known, from my friends who can transcribe chords to my teachers have been familiar with carnatic music. Just a hypothesis, which I will take to be true until proven false :)

    What you said about relative pitching being inborn - is it really? It definitely appears to be so, but it could also depend upon, perhaps, the kind of musical exposure that a person receives as a child. When you keep listening to powerful, complicated music from your childhood, maybe that tunes your mind permanently to frequencies. Just a guess. In any case, there is no easy answer for "how do you tell notes by ear?" It's always a thought-provoking discussion, though.
     
  6. SATHYA167

    SATHYA167 New Member

    A very good discussion, I would say. Though some people have in-born talent to identify the chords, it is not necessary that someone should know carnatic music to identify the chord.

    Regular listening to music, identifying the variations in melody, pitches and the things described by Rajesh can make you to master this in the long run. Again, one should have patience and desire to improve the hearing ability....... Sathya
     
  7. vs.suresh

    vs.suresh Active Member

    Wow.. Thanks Rajesh for your detailed...... explanation.
     
  8. WatchingYou

    WatchingYou New Member

    Not at all!! But from what I've observed and experienced, it helps :)
     
  9. rajeshguitar

    rajeshguitar New Member

    Immensely useful thread.
    Thank you,
    Rajesh
     
  10. cibhin

    cibhin Member

    Wow.Thanks a ton Rajesh....! It really helped :D
     
  11. Guitarsen

    Guitarsen New Member

    Thanks Rajesh for the detail explanation once again. I get confused when to use the chords having 4 notes or more. For eg.,

    Major6 R 3 5 6
    Minor6 R b3 5 6
    7 R 3 5 b7
    7sus4 R 4 5 b7
    Minor7 R b3 5 b7
    Minor7(9) (R) b3 (5) b7 9
    Minor7(9,11) (R) b3 (5) b7 9 11
    Major7 R 3 5 7
    Major7(9) (R) 3 (5) 7 9
    Major7(#11) (R) 3 (5) 7 9 #11
    Major7(13) (R) 3 (5) 7 13
    Major7(9,13) (R) 3 (5) 7 9 13
    Major7#5 R 3 #5 7
    Major7#5(9) (R) 3 #5 7 9
    MinMaj7 R b3 5 7
    MinMaj7(9) (R) b3 (5) 7 9
    7b5 R 3 b5 b7
    Minor7b5 R b3 b5 b7
    Aug7 R 3 #5 b7
    Dim7 R b3 b5 6
    Add9 R 3 5 9
    MinorAdd9 R b3 5 9
    Major6(9) (R) 3 (5) 6 9
    Minor6(9) (R) b3 (5) 6 9

    Admin/Moderator should make this post as a sticky thread. This will be a standard question and answers for many years.
     
  12. vs.suresh

    vs.suresh Active Member

    Recapping.. :) Clean explanation...
     
    roentgen likes this.

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