While I can read the tabs, the Rhythm is challenging. Can some one help me or link me to a place where I can learn to count for this. I am unclear for eg. from the 1st bar how that notes add up to 3 beats in this 3/4 song.
If some can play this and send me the recording, it will be super helpful.
I did try on you tube, but the notes are different on the youtube versions, so I am unable to refer to them.
I suggest just count 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 evenly. Where there are 4 notes then you just have to figure out where to put the &. You could do that by ear or look at the notes on the stave. Say where the 1/8 note is. In bar 3 I’d try 1 2 & 3.
But I may be way wrong.
You can always try to get the notes under the fingers and then experiment till it sounds good, noting the ‘if it sounds good, it is good’ philosophy
I struggled with this sort of thing when learning from TAB, it’s a bit tricky. I found the best solution is to TAB it out with the beats illustrated on the TAB. Here is the 1st line:
Here’s how I did that: first, you have to understand that there are two separate voices written out: the notes with the stems going up and those going down. Each voice has to fill up 3 beats per measure, since we are in 3:4 time. So, in the first measure, the downward stems show a note at the beginning, i.e. on beat 1. There is a second downward stem note. Where to place that in the measure? Well, the first note is a quarter note, which lasts 1 beat. So, that means the second downward note appears on beat 2 (right after the first note). For the upward notes, the first is a half-note, which lasts 2 beats, so the second upward note is placed after that, i.e. on beat 3.
Hopefully you see how this works and can finish tabbing out the piece with timing info. Then it’s just a matter of learning to play it!
Good luck!
EDIT: I realize that you have to know about quarter notes, eighth notes, dotted notes, etc., to do this, so if you don’t know already you’ll have to learn that somewhere, like here: Note value - Wikipedia
Thanks a lot. I know about whole notes, half notes etc… but the two voices in new to me. That’s where I was stuck. Will try to work with this and get back if I am still stuck
You need to read this as two separate parts, albeit played on one guitar. Only then can the note values fit to the 3/4 time signature.
I have created a tab / notation in which the two voices are shown on separate staves. I have also written below each the count. Most of the notes fall on strong beats 1, 2 or 3. Just one note falls on an off-beat (&).
Both Notation and Audio from @Richard_close2u will be super helpful to you Pradeep!
I suggest, once you now know how it technically works and once it’ll be under your fingers, that you focus on how the tune sounds like into your musical imagination and follow that while practicing and playing, without bothering too much about the notes’ values.
Getting stuck at certain changes… I tried to slow down to 40bpm and then was wondering how much lower the time trainer would go… it was 20 bpm … so tried playing at the speed… such a cathartic and meditative experience… each note ringing and slowly fading to zero, I could feel my fingers touching the strings and buzzing between the changes… I think everyone should try at least once to play it painfully slow…it was fun.
I would give the same advice that @Richard_close2u gave in another context: don’t play with the metronome when you are learning to get the piece under your fingers. Learn the piece without the metronome, indeed learn it and memorize it. Then when you can play it at some speed, introduce the metronome to help get faster and also tighten things up.
@jjw thanks. I have taken your advice and started to practice.
Can you also tell me when I am practicing this piece, should I try to place p,i,m,a in their respective strings?
Naturally p goes to the top 3 strings, but G string sometimes I tend to place the p finger.
i,m,a can I leave it to the flow or good to place them as much as the piece allows to their respective strings G,B,E?
For eg in a bar, as below…should I use corresponding finger in the higher strings or can I go with the flow?
So, I think many teachers (I am not one!) advise to allocate the thumb for the lowest (pitch) 3 strings and the index, ring and pinky fingers for the G, B and high-e strings, respectively. I think this is a good idea: you don’t have to think about which finger to use for any given note.
Going with the “flow” might seem more natural, but if you get used to the standard way, you will always have that solid base to work from. You won’t have to re-think it for every piece you learn.
Thanks Richard, I understand. I was asking if we should practice to consistently use i,m,a on G,B,E strings respectively through out the piece, sometimes I tend to use i in the B string and a m in the E string etc.
Is it important to practice strictly with i for G, m for B and a for E right from the start?
This would be a good tune to ‘train your fingers’ according to the conventional method.
In many circumstances, you will want to or need to be willing and able to adapt and use different finger combinations. It is not 100% thumb on E, A, and D then index on G, middle on B and ring on high E.
But that is a good training ground.
Hello All, thanks for all your help. here is a video of me playing
Learnt a lot in this one piece, reading notes for two voices, reading rhythm, and how to learn a piece bar by bar, it was so much fun.
Thanks @jjw and @Richard_close2u Hope my right hand finger position has improved. Could not rest the pinky as you suggested, I am unable to stretch my other fingers.
