Re: i am AWFUL at playing songs by ear!!
that's it. Just need to know what each interval sounds like, and then you'll be able to "guess" at what the player is using in each song.
To help memorize the intervals, you can pick a song for each interval. For example: the octave - is "Somewhere over the rainbow" - the first two notes, are an octave. And a minor 2nd is - Jaws theme. etc etc
+1....on ear-training. you don't need to be able to know what the exact note is. you really just need to focus on relationships. if you can figure out ONE NOTE of a song, you can use intervals or distances to figure out the rest. you want your ear to progress... try doing this:
1) stop using tabs. the faster you break your dependence on tabs the faster your hearing will develop. challenge yourself to do everything by ear and your only choice will be to get better. initially it'll be like taking a step back but ultimately you will benefit.
2) like Frantic said, make interval associations to songs you know. to add to his suggestions:
a) minor 2nd....... jaws theme.
b) Major 2nd........"SI--LENT night, holy night"
c) minor 3rd........ the first two notes of the "Smoke On The Water" riff.
d) Major 3rd........ your standard doorbell (backwards)
e) Perfect 4th...... "HERE--COMES the bride"
f) 4#/ 5Flat (tritone).... the first two notes of "Purple Haze" intro riff
g) Perfect 5th....... any power chord. (this and octave are the easiest)
h) minor 6th......... first two notes of "In My Life" intro riff (Beatles)
i) Major 6th......... first two notes of the NBC jingle
j) minor 7th.......... guitar notes 5 and 6 from Metallica's "One" intro
.......... first two notes from original Star Trek theme.
k) Major 7th......... "in A--WORLD of pure imagination" (Willy Wonka)
l) Octave............. "SOME--WHERE over the rainbow"
3) practice your intervals with your instrument. make sure you know where the intervals are in relation to the reference note. because it doesn't help if you can't find them on the fret board.
4) hum the intervals and the associated song parts in your head when you're not doing anything. if you know your major scale, hum the major scale in your head or the pentatonic. better yet, hum the chromatic. you don't have to do it out loud. but you don't have to have an instrument necessarily on you person to practice these.
5) this is an exercise that I do.. it helps a lot. downtune your G-string by a whole step. then, somewhere between the 9th and 12th fret, root your hand on a note and slowly bend up a half step, try to get that perfect minor 2nd. release the bend and then check for accuracy by playing the next highest note on the fret board. then do it for a Major 2nd (whole step bend) and check by playing the note a whole step higher. Keep doing this in increments of half steps till you can't bend any higher. I tell you to downtune to make the strings more limber so you can bend higher, as well as perform it between the 9th and 12th fret because again the strings are more limber there. but then again i play .12 strings so that's half the reason I downtune to do this. This exercise will get your ear in accurate and precise if you are serious about it and do it regularly. I usually stop at a Perfect 4th. by then there's no more room left to bend any higher. lol.
dang, i really didn't mean to type this much. I was supposed to be studying for a test. that's what I get for taking adderall in the middle of the night. lol. no one's probably gonna read this but whatever, i'll save it to my computer later for future benefit. goodluck, I gotta go take a test.
