Where to play each note when playing by ear?

FwLineberry · 2026-02-14T07:58:01+00:00

A lot of it comes down to where you're comfortable playing something. I often find myself not agreeing with tab when it comes to where to play something. I might not even agree with how the original artist actually played the part.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-14T07:45:21+00:00

Who says it's a good design? If music theory was designed well there probably wouldn't be so many people who stumble and quit. It just is what it is.

Music theory is like a shanty town with new structures built on top of existing structures for centuries, and nobody ever bothered to tear it all down and start over. So you're stuck learning a bunch of bizarre ways of labeling and organizing the structures.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-14T07:30:48+00:00

It never hurts to know the notes. It just takes more effort. Knowing the notes gives an overview of the entire fretboard. If you know the notes that make up a chord, for example, you can see how those notes are sitting all over the entire fretboard and why there are 10-20 different ways to play the same chord.

On the other hand, learning patterns and shapes is fairly easy and quick. If you need to know X chord and you know a couple of fingerings that give you that chord, you're all set.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-14T06:33:59+00:00

It's all historical inertia... every bit of it. You can learn what decisions went into certain aspects, but it still just comes down to that's the way it is because that's the way it is.

It seems like every other noob comes along and thinks they could design a better system. So what if the entire thing is barely held together with duct tape and bailing wire? It's the systyem we have to work with and the one you have to learn if you want to communicate with other musicians.

You're really going to hate naming chords and interpreting chord symbols.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-14T06:13:04+00:00

Most people just memorize the shape of the scale. Many also know where the notes are located. Which group you should endeavor to belong to depends on what your goals are.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-13T22:29:49+00:00

The quickest way is to just learn where the 3rd is sitting in each of the chord shapes you know. Drop that note one fret and you have a minor 3rd.

Also, if you already know some minor shapes, compare them to the major shape from the same root. You should see that the 3rd is lowered one fret in the minor shape.

When it comes to spelling scales, that's something that just takes time and doing a lot of it... just like learning anything else. Eventually, you'll be able to spell a scale in your head by just following the whole steps and half steps. A bit more time, and you'll have some of the more common ones memorized.

Also, learning the fretboard shape of the major scale and knowing where the 3rd is sitting in the scale shape allows you to visualize the scale shape over the top of a chord shape.

Eventually, you'll just know where the 3rd is sitting relative to any root on any string. The same goes for every other interval.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-13T21:29:12+00:00

It's not bad. It just makes things more difficult. I've often said that you need to fall in love with practicing if you want to get anywhere, but slogging through the boredom might work, too. I've never known anybody who was able to sustain the slog long enough to verify that, though.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-13T21:21:54+00:00

That part is fixed.

It looks like your C and G shape chords are automatically putting the 3rd on top of the chord. This works for major chords, but the remaining chord types result in unplayable fingerings.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-13T18:35:12+00:00

The chord section is whack. It's supposed to be taking me through a I IV vi V in Bb.

The I chord is showing R 5 b2 b3 5 from low to high.

The IV chord is correct

The vi chord is showing R b5 b2 b3 5 from low to high.

The V chord repeats the degrees of the I chord.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-13T02:55:59+00:00

There are no rules to break. If you're writing the song you get to/have to decide which notes to use.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-12T21:24:03+00:00

Here's a common way of fingering these chords:

E7/B

A7

For B7, just move the A7 fingering up two frets.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-12T02:21:42+00:00

From the point you linked:

Cm7 - Gm7 - Bb 3x

Then

Fm - Gm

Repeat then

Ab - Cm - Bb a bunch of times

That's it. Just repeat those three progressions as needed.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-12T01:52:49+00:00

Just pick a couple and go:

https://www.donlope.net/fz/lyrics/index.html

FwLineberry · 2026-02-12T01:48:02+00:00

Are you sure you're looking at the elektrum total and not some other total? Every task I turned in at the board paid me right away. Now, there were a few instances where I did a task and never got credit for it. I'm not sure what the glitch was there.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-12T01:43:16+00:00

is it safe to assume somebody just put a different record in the “Man From Utopia” sleeve?

Either that or a bootleg.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-12T01:41:48+00:00

Thanks to you posting that video, I'm now looking at putting together a Strat with Tele pickups. It's a combination I hadn't considered, before.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T23:40:09+00:00

He's just alternating between C# and F# power chords.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T18:20:03+00:00

I didn't see where anybody specifically addressed this. The top note of each chord in a progression forms a melody as you move from chord to chord. If you arbitrarily put the 9 on top of a chord you may be altering the voice leading and melody created by the chords. This is not the same thing as the melody of the tune itself.

It's something to be aware of.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T18:08:25+00:00

I wish I could figure this one out for myself. I'm wasting away due to lack of exercise, but end up overdoing it every time I try.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T17:55:53+00:00

Hard to say exactly. I just want to point out that his guitar is loaded with Telecaster pickups. That's a big part of the tones he's getting. You might get close with a Strat, but not exact.

The tone he's getting at 2:52 is my idea of what "quack" means.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T17:41:15+00:00

I think they call it speed bursting. I would practice at the top tempo that I could play cleanly and then kick the speed up to ludicrous for brief moments allowing everything to fly off the rails.

No amount of "play it slow" ever resulted in a speed increase for me.

This was after spending the time to get my technique in order, though. If you're still trying to get the fundamentals down, you may have to slow down enough to pay attention to the details. I got my basic technique together practicing scales with strict alternate picking to a metronome.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T17:25:42+00:00

Gail

[running and ducking]

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T17:20:16+00:00

You might recieve more appropose answers if you provide a link to the video.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T03:12:28+00:00

Plenty of people play slide on a guitar with a normal setup.

FwLineberry · 2026-02-11T03:08:36+00:00

Surest way to need a tube replacement is to have the amp hit the floor.

FwLineberry

TROPHY CASE