How to learn a song's rhythm by ear?

I have several lessons that will help you. Those lessons helped me. A lot. I'll give you a link to each and a brief explanation.


You know certain licks. You know this licks sound good. Develop the idea proposed by that lick, i.e. play variations of that lick. When you do this, you reinforce a musical idea/motif. Join about three lick ideas and create a solo with them.

This video got me to the other side! I felt just like you and the guy in the video: I was just "randomly" playing notes. Yeah, they weren't completely random, I was playing everything on scale, with a few off-scale notes, but it was weak and without any idea. When I focused on developing a few ideas, BAM! Everything changed.


An easy and great exercise. You make a melody note by note. Play 3 notes. Add a note. Play the four notes. Add other note. Play the five notes. Add another note. Play the five notes. Repeat. This exercise will help you with intervals (how do they even sound to each other?), creating melodies, exploring ideas and memorizing phrases. An excellent game.


Create a musical phrase. Anything will do. Did it sound cool? Well, maybe. But to make it great, you have to go back and do it again. Do it again and again until it makes you feel cool. You can achieve this by i) exaggerating notes, ii) adding natural effects, iii) exploring the pitch range (think about the Stairway to Heaven solo, where it begins? where it ends? it covered a whole lot of range, don't you think?), iv) changing notes that sucked.


  • Have a Guitar Hero

My guitar hero is Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen. Do you have a cherished guitarist? Would you like to play like a particular guitarist? I totally recommend having it. It gives a direction to all your practice, learning and playing. Look for lessons about that guitarist. Style lessons, solo/riff/song tutorials, or even lessons by the guitarist himself. You are aiming to absorb the style of the player, for this you have to learn songs and analyze the style.


This lesson is about a gigantic milestone: Intervals. The relative relationship between a root note and any other note. For example, minor thirds are dramatic. If you reach them in a certain way, it will increase the emotional effect. Roots release tension. If you reach them in a certain way, tons of tension will be released. So, go on and explore how each interval sounds, how to approach them, etc.


Music is more that notes (pitches). It's also comprised of the duration of those notes. Several players look over and over for "new notes to sound cool", without realizing that there are only twelve -formal- notes. They go on and on in octaves and change pitch a little, but are the same. How about looking for new rhythms? Where can you get them? Well, just listen to the songs you already like, there's rhythm going on there! If you want to practice your rhythm even more, interchange phrases with a drummer/percussionist!


The vocal line offers pitch spots you can use to your advantage. Get the vocal line of the song you're playing. Find those pitch spots. Reinforce them in your solo and add phrases in between. You can play more than the same note the vocalist is singing, you can harmonize to give even more texture to the song (and bring variety to the solo).


I hope this helps you. Keep on rockin'!I have several lessons that will help you. Those lessons helped me. A lot. I'll give you a link to each and a brief explanation.


You know certain licks. You know this licks sound good. Develop the idea proposed by that lick, i.e. play variations of that lick. When you do this, you reinforce a musical idea/motif. Join about three lick ideas and create a solo with them.

This video got me to the other side! I felt just like you and the guy in the video: I was just "randomly" playing notes. Yeah, they weren't completely random, I was playing everything on scale, with a few off-scale notes, but it was weak and without any idea. When I focused on developing a few ideas, BAM! Everything changed.


An easy and great exercise. You make a melody note by note. Play 3 notes. Add a note. Play the four notes. Add other note. Play the five notes. Add another note. Play the five notes. Repeat. This exercise will help you with intervals (how do they even sound to each other?), creating melodies, exploring ideas and memorizing phrases. An excellent game.


Create a musical phrase. Anything will do. Did it sound cool? Well, maybe. But to make it great, you have to go back and do it again. Do it again and again until it makes you feel cool. You can achieve this by i) exaggerating notes, ii) adding natural effects, iii) exploring the pitch range (think about the Stairway to Heaven solo, where it begins? where it ends? it covered a whole lot of range, don't you think?), iv) changing notes that sucked.


  • Have a Guitar Hero

My guitar hero is Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen. Do you have a cherished guitarist? Would you like to play like a particular guitarist? I totally recommend having it. It gives a direction to all your practice, learning and playing. Look for lessons about that guitarist. Style lessons, solo/riff/song tutorials, or even lessons by the guitarist himself. You are aiming to absorb the style of the player, for this you have to learn songs and analyze the style.


This lesson is about a gigantic milestone: Intervals. The relative relationship between a root note and any other note. For example, minor thirds are dramatic. If you reach them in a certain way, it will increase the emotional effect. Roots release tension. If you reach them in a certain way, tons of tension will be released. So, go on and explore how each interval sounds, how to approach them, etc.


Music is more that notes (pitches). It's also comprised of the duration of those notes. Several players look over and over for "new notes to sound cool", without realizing that there are only twelve -formal- notes. They go on and on in octaves and change pitch a little, but are the same. How about looking for new rhythms? Where can you get them? Well, just listen to the songs you already like, there's rhythm going on there! If you want to practice your rhythm even more, interchange phrases with a drummer/percussionist!


The vocal line offers pitch spots you can use to your advantage. Get the vocal line of the song you're playing. Find those pitch spots. Reinforce them in your solo and add phrases in between. You can play more than the same note the vocalist is singing, you can harmonize to give even more texture to the song (and bring variety to the solo).


I hope this helps you. Keep on rockin'!

/r/Guitar Thread