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Listen ... Find tunes you enjoy ... Play with others ... Practice ... Play regularly ...
- Bring a notebook to music sessions to keep a list of tunes to learn
- Ask the name of tunes you like
- Make note of name & key (with any special keychanges)
- Notate/tab the notes/licks you do figure out (the reason I learned tab)
- Create Tune Hints book: key, chords & few meaures of each Part
- Listen to (over & over) different versions of the tune
- CDs/Recordings/On-line music samples
- Music transcriptions (music books, on-line sources)
- Ask players for their OK to discreetly record tunes in jams/sessions
- Whistle/Hum the tune regularly during the day/night
- Play along with a recording
- Play the tune everyday, coming back to it often
- Play the notes you find, fill in the next ones as you find them
- Play chords along with recording
- Use slow-down software to play-back tune at slower tempo
- Play along, at your speed, with real-time notation/tab & MIDI
- Play from notation of gif or pdf file, while listening to MIDI of same file
- Watch left-hand fingering of another mandolin (or fiddle) player
- Play the notes you find, filling in the spaces as you learn new notes
- Learn chords to play rhythm backup, while learning the melody
- Watch guitar players to see chords and key changes
- Ask someone to call the chord progressions first time through tune
- Make a list of the tunes you know & practice them regularly
- Practice training your ear to hear what you play & play what you hear
- Hum/sing along, in unison, with the tune while you're playing, to stengthen the hand-ear connection
- Train ears to hear & recognize intervals (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, VII, Octave)
- Ask someone to teach you the tune
- Practice playing the tune: pick it apart - put it together - play it again!
- Play the tune often!
Keepin' tuned ...
Wendy Anthony
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