Learning new songs - What's your process?

FrankNoCal

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
196
Reaction score
2
Location
Martinez, CA
I'm interested in hearing how other people go about learning a new song on the uke. I'm sure everyone has a different way to learn and I'm still trying to figure out what's best for me. Thought I'd ask you guys. So, when learning a new song, do you just start from the beginning and keep playing till you get it down completely? Do you work on different parts at a time and then put it all together at the end? Do you play along with the recorded version? Also, do you only work on one song at a time or do you have a few you might be learning and go back and forth depending on what kind of mood you're in and what feels good at the time? Thanks for any info and advice you can give.
 
It depends on what the song is.

For songs with identifiable riffs or licks, I'll need to figure out exactly what the riff is, and then see if it can be translated to the uke.

This method requires that I sit down and work out each section of the tune until it sounds right.

Sometimes it won't be able to be translated, like that Mayer tune, "Stop this Train," that someone requested. It just can't be done, at least not in any way that I can figure out.

For a tune like "Time in a Bottle," which translated very nicely, I used this method. I worked out each part until they were good, and then I played the whole song through a few times until I got it down.

For songs with just chords, I just figure out what the chords are and play it. This method's easiest. For these, I'll Google the chords first. I'll listen to the song, and play along to see if the chords are right. If they're not, I'll make adjustments.

Sometimes, the chords I find on the internet aren't even close. Sometimes they're right on. It's hit or miss.

I'm usually working on a few at a time. Right now I'm working on, "Just a Gigolo," "For the Love of Money," and some originals.
 
For songs with riffs and/or links in them, it really helps if there's a good tab of it somewhere, or even better, if there's a Guitar Pro file floating around. I'll check gprotab.net for those.
 
i usually hear an old song on the radio while driving, go home and hit up www.ultimate-guitar.com for tabs. then practice several songs at once. i never really get through to playing one song perfectly before moving on to another. i like instant gratification, so a few verses and choruses here and there are enough for me. i'm lazy like that...
 
i usually hear an old song on the radio while driving, go home and hit up www.ultimate-guitar.com for tabs. then practice several songs at once. i never really get through to playing one song perfectly before moving on to another. i like instant gratification, so a few verses and choruses here and there are enough for me. i'm lazy like that...

Sorry Russ, for using your reply . . . just edited a few things but that's exactly what I do.

I usually hear an old song playing (hawaiian or otherwise), I'll go home and hit up on Tropical Storm Hawaii or Huapala for lyrics and chords, then practice the enunciation and phrasing of the Hawaiian words. I never really get through to playing one song perfectly before moving on to another. I like instant gratification, so a few verses and choruses here and there are enough for me. I'm lazy like that... I also refer to a songbook titled He Mele Aloha.
 
It depends on how I'm learning it and what it is.

If it's an instrumental from tabs, I take it one part at a time. Like, if it has three sections I'll learn section 1 and play it until it's at least almost down. Then do the same for part 2, then start playing right through 1 and 2 for a bit. I add part three the same way.

If it's just chords and lyrics it's usually a song that I'm at least familiar with so, unless it has some really finger-twisting chord passages, I just print it out and play it from the sheets until I get it.

Lately I've been doing a lot of mucking about with which position I play the chords out of. I have tunes -- of the just plain lyrics and chords type -- where I'll play some chords in several positions, depending on where they fall in the song. I feel it makes for a more interesting accompaniment.

Right now I'm working on, "Just a Gigolo,"

Oddly, Just A Gigolo is one of those tunes. The F chord gets played in a couple different ways. It also has a real terror chord passage in it... at least for me.

It goes F (2010) "There will", F7b5 (2312) "come a", F7 (2313) "day", Bbmaj7 (2211) "when youth will pass away." The first two chords are only one beat each, two beats for the third chord... and grabbing that F7b5 can be a bear. Definitely time for the well-trained pinky.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. And Seeso, when you get that "For The Love Of Money" down, I'll be waiting for the video on You Tube! Thanks again!
 
Thanks for all the help guys. And Seeso, when you get that "For The Love Of Money" down, I'll be waiting for the video on You Tube! Thanks again!

I don't know if it's gonna work out after all. We shall see.
 
I do ok figuring out what the chords are in general, but I get really stuck when I'm identifying if it's major 7th, 9th, diminished... all that fancy stuff. Like I might be able to say, "oh, it's a G" But I won't be able to tell if it's a G or a G7 or a G#dim...

Anyone have any tips for that?
 
I'm interested in hearing how other people go about learning a new song on the uke.

I am fairly new to the Uke, probably only a few months, but i am not as new to music. while i am not traditionally trained, i have played the piano for many years. the way i learn a new song is the good old steamroller method.

practice practice practice. if you make a mistake, start over and go again. play what you know of the song when you can, take breaks, but keep at it. repetition works for me- just play it till you hum it in the shower.

with help from people like seeso and guting, and aldrine, ive managed more than a few songs in a short time with this method

get out there, and play, bruddah ^_^
 
I am playing the Uke for about three months now. Haven't played any instruments before so I basically had to learn everything from scratch. After practicing some chord fingerings I picked out songs, preferably those who included an Uke (I can only recomment Beirut on that matter :music:) and started practicing those. It's so sweet that the basic chords are so easy on the Uke. Makes getting hooked so much fun...
After I had a couple of songs down (more or less) I started practicing with tabs or even better guitarpro files cause with these it's much easier to get the timing right. Those were usually a little more difficult songs (at least for my standard). I practice all the parts of the songs one after the other.

From there on it's mostly practice, practice and practice. It's cool when your pinky goes from totally numb to starting to be able to move seperately from the index finger. Same goes for bar chords. They are a pain in the ass but become less so every day (or week). But my hands are far from being as flexible as I would like them to be.

Luckily most of the time it's pure fun.

Almost forgot to mention that the lessons here on UU and IamHawaii.com together with cool and helpful people here on the board (the name Seeso springs to mind) helped me alot too. :)
 
Last edited:
break the song up into parts, and practise the first part until you think its good enough, then next etc.. :D

i've done dragon.. except i need the strumming pattern at the end perfect... everything else is well done and ill put up a vid asap
 
Ive had a major problem with finishing the songs that i've started.
I always end up finding a catchy tune then learning it.... AND thats it!! I wont bother to learn the rest of it.

But usually when im pretty focused about learning a whole song, i usually get the catchy tune out of the way first..
Picking and ghost notes are also watched carefully. When i know i can play it with my eyes closed and to the beat ill move on to the next section.
I always leave the strumming till last.
Speaking of strumming, I've learned While my guitar gently weeps already when i first started... (probably under a year a go) and still cant strum to the end part.

lol

but ill learn that after i do this piece that im working on =]
 
If it's tabbed, I just start from beginning to end over and over; although, I almost never remember it without the tab--I just get faster at reading it because of muscle memory.

If it has lyrics, I'll never remember the 2nd+ verses.

I feel like I have A.D.D. when I get tired of playing a song before it's even over.
 
Sorry Russ, for using your reply . . . just edited a few things but that's exactly what I do.

I usually hear an old song playing (hawaiian or otherwise), I'll go home and hit up on Tropical Storm Hawaii or Huapala for lyrics and chords, then practice the enunciation and phrasing of the Hawaiian words. I never really get through to playing one song perfectly before moving on to another. I like instant gratification, so a few verses and choruses here and there are enough for me. I'm lazy like that... I also refer to a songbook titled He Mele Aloha.

I have to agree with Russ and Kanaka916. I tend to look up songs, learn a few chords, some choruses, and then move on. As a result, I never really learn anything new. All the stuff I've posted are either super simple or ones that I've learned before. Re-learning is much easier than learning something new.

When I took classical piano lessons as a kid, my teacher had me practice 2-3 songs at a time and I wasn't done with these songs until I had memorized them. That got really boring, but I can still play a few of those songs today. Infact, those are probably the only songs that I can play on the piano. ;)

I always wonder, though, when the pro's are playing a song did they memorize the chord changes or do they come up with the chords as they play along? I have a feeling it's a combination of the two. They know the framework, and play the rest by ear.

So, maybe somehow incorporating ear training might be the best way to learn. Thoughts?
 
whatev

i go to sites like scorpex.net/uke or any of those sites with uke song chords like alligatorboogaloo or ukulelesongs. i learn the songs i know on those sites.

when there is a different song i want to learn, i look up the guitar chords for that song and play it on uke. sometimes a chord wont sound right when playing it on the uke, so i switch that chord with something that sounds better.

hope this helped.
 
When i'm learning a song, i like to get it down on the guitar 1st, only because its easier to get guitar tab than uke tab,, i get most my tabs from www.ultimate-guitar.com ,, have found this site to be user freindly and great archives,,,Once i got it on guitar,, i then transcribe to uke,
I go about learning a song using a 3 step program,,
Learn the bits that come ezy first, get them outa the way,youll find that most songs have ezy chord pattern with the allowance of a quick change, bridge or solo,,,
2nd, learn the bits your hav'n trouble with,,, stay focus'd on the price,,
3rd, learn it all the way through from strart to finish,, and play it over like crazy,,, i always put singing last,,not much of a singer anyway, but give it a go all the same,,,
Try to choose songs with in your capability level,, dont go thrwing yourself in the deep end and finding that the song is just to hard,, keep it simple,, some of the simplest of tunes have become very great songs,
Stay focus'd and the prize is being able to entertain a room full of people or even a computer screen full of people across the world,,
 
I'll learn the chords/main basis of the song by google. Find a good strum, trying to match the beat with chunking. Practice it until it flows well. Find guitar tab for the solos, and transpose it to the uke. Not as hard as it seems. If no tabs, I'll do my best by ear.

Wasn't always the case though. I used to just look up chords, don't even practice, and turn on the ol' web cam and mic, and on to youtube it went. Haha.. shameful. Now I have about 50 crap videos that I don't really want to delete, because they show my progression as a musician. But boy do some of them suck.
 
Last edited:
One of the things I have learned over the years is (at least for me) working on one song exclusively eventually starts to reach a point of diminishing returns. Variety helps and putting the instrument (guitar or ukulele) down for a while also helps. Many times I think I am never going to get something and I stop for a while. When I pick up the instrument again muscle memory takes hold and the difficult parts are much easier. I also rarely play anything exactly the same twice (that's a fault not a suggestion).
 
Top Bottom