Playing by ear

[rayc]

There are dozens of ways to start.
If you play nothing but can hum the melody or sing it then you could download Songsmith which allows you to enter a melody via a mic, guitar, keyboard etc & it will generate a backing arrangement with a range of specs you give it. It's a little crude but will give you the chords that you need to accompany your song.
band in a box may help there are a squillion way in.
I know a bloke who couldn't play but developed his own notation system for HIS voice and he successfully wrote, then with the help of friends, arranged and produced 2 or 3 quite successful amateur musicals.
Personally, I don't "Sight Read" but can read music to some degree, (bass clef funnily enough but it takes time & energy for my poor brain to translate into doable stuff), but I also don't have a very good ear so can't play just by sound. I use chords as the basis for building an arrangement & those doz chords I know get a work out.

[Armistice]

Why don't you post your stuff up... easier than talking about it.

The old forgot what you wrote thang... we've all been there.

[chuckduffy]

There are dozens of ways to start.
If you play nothing but can hum the melody or sing it then you could download Songsmith which allows you to enter a melody via a mic, guitar, keyboard etc & it will generate a backing arrangement with a range of specs you give it. It's a little crude but will give you the chords that you need to accompany your song.
band in a box may help there are a squillion way in.

I think the request was a little stranger than that. He said both his playing and music were incredible (i think those were the words), but he doesn't know how to play it anymore and the recording quality is crap. He can't play by ear and doesn't know how to re-create what he previously created, and needs someone to listen and transcribe his own music, so that he can read the notes and re-create the incredible music and playing, this time around with better recording quality.

[grh]

There are dozens of ways to start.
If you play nothing but can hum the melody or sing it then you could download Songsmith which allows you to enter a melody via a mic, guitar, keyboard etc & it will generate a backing arrangement with a range of specs you give it. It's a little crude but will give you the chords that you need to accompany your song.
band in a box may help there are a squillion way in.
I know a bloke who couldn't play but developed his own notation system for HIS voice and he successfully wrote, then with the help of friends, arranged and produced 2 or 3 quite successful amateur musicals.
Personally, I don't "Sight Read" but can read music to some degree, (bass clef funnily enough but it takes time & energy for my poor brain to translate into doable stuff), but I also don't have a very good ear so can't play just by sound. I use chords as the basis for building an arrangement & those doz chords I know get a work out.

I have never used Songsmith nor have I used band in a box. That is interesting that songsmith provides that function. I am still trying to find help from a human being lol. When you do a search for play by ear you get millions of results. You would think there would be someone out there who could help me.

[chuckduffy]

I have never used Songsmith nor have I used band in a box. That is interesting that songsmith provides that function. I am still trying to find help from a human being lol. When you do a search for play by ear you get millions of results. You would think there would be someone out there who could help me.

If my post was right I would post something like the following in a new post to make it clear - "I need someone to listen to a song and transcribe it into sheet music for me".

[grh]

I think the request was a little stranger than that. He said both his playing and music were incredible (i think those were the words), but he doesn't know how to play it anymore and the recording quality is crap. He can't play by ear and doesn't know how to re-create what he previously created, and needs someone to listen and transcribe his own music, so that he can read the notes and re-create the incredible music and playing, this time around with better recording quality.

That is a good description. Thank you for using the word incredible.

[grh]

Why don't you post your stuff up... easier than talking about it.

The old forgot what you wrote thang... we've all been there.

hahaha. Glad I am not the only one. Go ahead and email me sometime, after all you are the son of Yoda lol. ( I am only joking about about Yoda not about you emailing me.)

[grh]

If my post was right I would post something like the following in a new post to make it clear - "I need someone to listen to a song and transcribe it into sheet music for me".

Will they get mad if I start another similar thread?

[chuckduffy]

Will they get mad if I start another similar thread?

I doubt anyone will get mad. I also forgot the word "pay", it can be a powerful incentive :-)

[libertad]

I learn by ear and by sheet music about the same amount of time. When learning by ear I almost always listen for bass/root notes first all the way through the song. Then I go back with those bass notes in mind and try to find the right-hand chords (granted, I usually do this on a piano). The trickiest part for me is knowing the difference between the root note and the upper chord. For example, if the root/bass note is G and the chord in the right hand is a Gmaj, that's easy. But when it's a G in the bass with a Emaj in the right hand, that's where it gets tricky and I just have to go with what sounds best.