Beginning violin and fiddle Video Lesson: Playing by Ear - Part 2

Now, let's talk about picking out a tune from your head.

So, when you're learning a tune just out of your head...It's a tune that you've sung your whole life. You know it really well in your head. You just want to figure out how to play it on your instrument.

The tricky part with doing it that way is knowing what note to start on. That's probably the biggest obstacle of playing a tune by ear from your head. Because if you just start on some random pitch, you could end up in a really weird key.

Kind of like when I sang the interval of the major third. I just picked a note out of my head and I sang a major third above it, and I ended up with B and D sharp. So, I was in some sharp key.

So what you need to do is just start, and learn the first phrase on your instrument, and then stop and ask yourself "Am I able to play any open strings in this. Or, do I feel like every note is flat, has a flat sign by it? Or, do I feel like I have to sharp every note?"

Are you in weird finger patterns, or does it feel pretty normal to other pieces that you've played? That's pretty basic, but you'll know. If you're in a crazy key, you'll know.

The general rule of thumb is you want to be able to play open strings if you choose to. If there's no open strings in any of the notes that you're playing, you're probably in a weird key. And, if you find that you're in a weird key, you're going to have to shift what you're hearing in your head by a half step and try starting a half step higher or a half step lower.

Or, just try starting the tune on an open string - sometimes that can help - or on just a really common note like a third finger, one of your ringy third fingers. Just try starting on a really normal, comfortable note and change key in your head.

That can be a little difficult after you've been hearing it in one key, so here's what I'd do. Pick a new pitch. If you were starting 'Happy Birthday' on...let's say you started it on second finger... And, it's feeling really weird but you can't help it. That's how you hear it. And, If you start on this note, you can't hear 'Happy Birthday.'

So, what you'd do to change keys is play this note and then sing it. That'll help you change keys in your head. And then...

That's still an awkward key. I can think of a better key that I could play that in. You'll get better and better at isolating and figuring out whether you're in a good key or not in a good key. It just takes practice and, unfortunately, trial and error.

Okay, I don't know of a better way. If anyone out there knows a better way of settling on a beginning key, please share with us.

One other way that you could help yourself to start on a good note is to listen to a common recording, preferably one of fiddle. Because if you listen to trumpet, or clarinet, or saxophone, or some other instrument playing your piece, it's likely that it's going to be in a key that's comfortable for that instrument, not so much for the violin.

If you can, find a violin recording and just get your starting note. And then, you can play it. You can figure it out from your head from there.

So, with that in mind, there's been a song that I have been wanting to learn for a while. I took a long drive to Flagstaff and back listening to it, studying it, kind of doing my ear training thing. I've sort of got it in my head. The rough draft is in my head.

I don't have perfect pitch, so I have no idea what key Dixie Chicks play this tune. But, I'm just going to go based on what feels comfortable on the violin. And I'll try to pick a good key, and then, I'll go back to the recording and compare and see how I did.

Okay, the song is 'Ready to Run.' It's just one I wanted to learn for a while, so I started it. This is cold turkey.

Okay, I know it's something like that. When you're figuring out a tune, try to find the beat and let the beat guide you.

You can sort of tell I'm kind of faking it, because I haven't really listened carefully to all the specific notes. I'm just trying to get the skeletal structure there with the main beats meeting on the right notes. That's the beginning part with fiddle and whistle.

There's a surprise note in there that throws me off every time. I'll show you where it is.

Right here. It's just odd. It's going to take some practicing for me to get used to that. That's why I keep hesitating every time I'm on that note. It's just surprising to me every time.

Okay, so that's the fiddle whistle. Then, the singer comes in. If I'm in that key she comes in. Ready, ready, ready.

Then, there's that...The main singer holds this, and the upper harmony goes...

Okay. Let me go listen to the recording really quick. We'll see how I did and what key they're actually playing it in.

Okay, so, violinistically, I had the fingers correct because I know what's comfortable on the violin. I just had it on the wrong string. I should've known that, because it was too high for that vocalist to have sung that comfortably. I should've known that I was in a key that was too high. They were in this key.

It's the same fingers. It's just a string off.

All right. Most of my work is done. I just have to move it over a string.

That's the basic approach to learning a tune from your head. Like I said, the hardest part is settling on what key you're going to be in, which translates to what your starting note is. Because your starting note will determine what key you're in.

Save yourself some trouble and listen to a recording and start on a good solid beginning note. Or, if you want to go through the pains of trial and error, you know what? You'll learn a lot from doing it that way as well.

All right. Next video we'll talk about learning from a recording, and learning to copy and imitate that recording. I'll see you there.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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