Learning a short solo by ear

Copying a phrase from a player you admire is the fastest way to expand your vocabulary. You do it by ear, in tiny pieces, using what you know: the key, the position and the intervals. This lesson gives you a method for learning two bars of a solo.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Choose a short phrase and loop it at a slower speed.
• Find the notes one at a time using the key and a likely position.
• Play the phrase with the recording, including its rhythm and ornaments.

You can learn a phrase from a recording by ear, using what you already know. The method has four steps.

1. Choose a short, slow phrase. Two bars is enough. A slow blues or rock solo is a better starting point than a fast one. Slow the recording down to half speed (most players and apps do this), and loop the phrase.

2. Sing it. If you cannot sing it, you cannot find it. Hum the phrase until you know it without the recording.

3. Find it note by note. Work out the home note first (the key). Then guess a likely position: a minor pentatonic box is very likely. Find the first note, then each next note by the interval from the last. Write down the notes in tab, with bends, slides and hammer-ons marked.

4. Play along. Play your tab with the slowed recording, then speed it up in small steps. Notice where your rhythm differs from the original and fix one difference at a time.

The reward is that you learn how the player thinks. A single phrase, learned thoroughly, can teach you more than a page of exercises.

The process as a loop:

1. Slow and loop two bars.
2. Sing it.
3. Find the first note, then the rest.
4. Write the tab with ornaments.
5. Play with the recording, then faster.

An example of the thinking.

Suppose a slow blues phrase starts on a note you hum as A, so the key is A. The phrase sounds bluesy, so you guess box 1 at fret 5.

1. You find the first note: the 6th string, fret 5 (A).
2. The next note sounds higher by a small step. You try the next note in the box (6th string fret 8, C). It matches.
3. The third note bends. You hear it start at D and rise: you try the 3rd string, fret 7, and bend it up. It matches the recording.
4. Write: 6:5, 6:8, 3:7 with a bend. Play it along with the half-speed recording.

Notice how few guesses were needed, because the key and the position narrowed the choices.

Do these in order. Each one is small. Tick the ones you have practised.

• 1.Choose and loop

  4 min

  1. Pick a slow blues or rock solo you like. Choose a phrase of two bars at most.
  2. Slow it down and loop it.
  3. Hum the phrase until you can sing it without the recording.

  You have it when

  • You can sing the phrase from memory.
  I practised this one

• 2.Find it note by note

  5 min

  1. Work out the key (home note) and a likely position, such as a minor pentatonic box.
  2. Find the first note. Then find each next note by its interval from the last.
  3. Write the notes in tab and mark any bends, slides or hammer-ons you hear.

  You have it when

  • You have a written tab of the phrase that sounds right when played slowly.
  I practised this one

• 3.Play with the recording

  4 min

  1. Play your tab along with the slowed recording.
  2. Raise the speed in small steps.
  3. Compare your rhythm and ornaments with the original and fix one difference.

  You have it when

  • You can play the phrase with the recording at the original speed, or within 10 BPM.
  I practised this one

Slow the recording to half speed if you can. You are working on accuracy of notes and rhythm first, and the full tempo is the last step.

• Choosing too long a phrase. Two bars is plenty. One good phrase learned fully beats a whole solo learned badly.
• Guessing notes without checking the key. Find the home note first. It narrows the choice of notes to a handful.
• Ignoring bends and slides. They are part of the phrase. Listen for them and write them down.

Every phrase you learn becomes part of your own vocabulary. Take the best idea from it and use it in your own improvisation over a 12-bar blues.

Short version (10 minutes)

Choose a two-bar phrase and loop it, humming it for five minutes.

Standard version (about 30 minutes)

Do all three exercises and then use one idea from the phrase in an improvisation of your own.

• Choose a short phrase and slow it down.
• Sing it, then find it note by note.
• Write it down and play along.
• Reuse the best idea in your own playing.

You are ready to move on when you can honestly say:

• I can work out a two-bar phrase by ear.
• I can write it in tab, with ornaments.
• I can play it with the recording.