hello, can you help with this?

Millie111 · #1 06-01-2015, 04:07 PM

im self taught on guitar. For the past year i have been learning fingerstyle. its been hard going... and not knowing what im doing i often taken the long way around, but im doing ok and love it.

I now want to start playing songs i like. But i dont read music and i know very little about the technicalities of music theory. im not bothered. Being in my 40's iv decided i dont want to spend years learning either. Just call me lazy i dont mind

Anyway i need to find a way around this. What i want is someone who will arrange songs for me, into fingerstyle tabs with the bass and melody.

i will obviously pay for this. Is there such a service? Or even anyone who could do this? (not silly money).

want to say hi too. This is my first forum post.

Steve DeRosa · #2 06-01-2015, 04:14 PM

Welcome to the forum - and I think you'll find that many if not most of us belong to the over-40 crowd...

As far as what you're after there's a load of tab websites out there, depending on what style you're interested in, as well as demo videos that you can learn by sight/ear on YouTube - just do a little surfing and you'll probably find something that suits your needs...

DesertTwang · #3 06-01-2015, 04:23 PM

People are for some reason incredibly intimidated of learning to read music, when in reality it takes one weekend, maybe two. Seriously.

I find that of all the demands that learning to play guitar puts upon us, learning to read music is by far the least difficult. Of course there is tab, but the beauty of being able to read music is –in my opinion –twofold: It doesn't limit you in where on the fretboard you play. It is MUCH easier to transpose a song to a different key if it's written in standard notation vs. tab. Also, as you know, there are many ways to play the same note on the fretboard. Tab will only show you one, while standard notation opens up all the options that suit you best. In my experience, tab is a bit of a crutch, while standard notation is the "key" to music. It also makes it much easier to relate what you hear to what you see. I can hear a "B" on my guitar, and I can see it on my music sheet. I cannot "hear" a little number that could denote any note, depending on where it is on the fretboard. I'm not saying you should learn to read music, all I'm saying is I find it very well worth the investment.

Millie111 · #4 06-01-2015, 04:44 PM

thanks for replies

yeah i have looked on you tube and various sites. i have tried to learn a bit of music theory too and i did learn the basics. i can arrange a basic fingerstyle melody from the chords but thats my limit.

i just want to tell someone a song, and they send it to me fully arranged into fingerstyle...
i know this is incredibly lazy but im willing to pay for it.

i did actually find someone on you tube to do it, and the song he sent me back was incredible, with bass, melody and percussion... but the poor guy suddenly died. Im too sad about this to even play the song now.

iv also tried finding software but its hard when i dont really know what im looking for.

oh please universe dont force me to learn music theory. My cat has been through enough with me learning the guitar... hahaha.

Jim Owen · #5 06-01-2015, 04:45 PM

Hi Millie111,

Welcome to the forum. What music do you wish to play?

I'm a self-taught finger picker. I play a mix of folk, blues, and ballads. I've learnt a lot over the years from Homespun and from Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop. You'll find that the Internet has made learning much easier: you can download lessons, print out tab, see exactly how something is played.

ljguitar · #6 06-01-2015, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millie111

im self taught on guitar. For the past year i have been learning fingerstyle. its been hard going... and not knowing what im doing i often taken the long way around, but im doing ok and love it.

I now want to start playing songs i like. But i dont read music and i know very little about the technicalities of music theory. im not bothered. Being in my 40's iv decided i dont want to spend years learning either. Just call me lazy i dont mind

Anyway i need to find a way around this. What i want is someone who will arrange songs for me, into fingerstyle tabs with the bass and melody.

i will obviously pay for this. Is there such a service? Or even anyone who could do this? (not silly money).

want to say hi too. This is my first forum post.

Hi Millie…

Lots of DVD instructional song learning. I like Fred Sakolow…probably has more DVDs out there than anyone.

Go to Amazon dot com and put his name followed by DVD and see what shows up…and they are good too!

David M123 · #7 06-01-2015, 05:42 PM

Hi Millie,

Welcome to the forum. I have a couple of thoughts for you:

First of all, don't feel like you have to learn music theory or notation if you truly don't want to. You're focused on making music and that's the end result anyway! However, you can learn to read music at a basic level without too much work. You won't be able to read like a studio musician, but you can get to the point where you can puzzle stuff out with a little effort. That's mostly the point I'm at and I'm not in a hurry to improve.

As some folks have said, there are a lot of sources for pre-made tabs of varying quality. I'd check these out before paying someone to make custom tabs.

However, if you cannot find what you want, yes there are people who do make custom tabs. I'm sure you can find a few with a simple internet search. Music schools like Berklee tend to have people who will do this for extra income. Just bear in mind, though, that you are essentially asking a professional to perform a service that will likely take a couple of hours of his/her time. Expect to pay accordingly.

Hope this helps,

Dave

charles Tauber · #8 06-01-2015, 07:48 PM

Gerhard Gshossmann has made quite a few arrangements of a variety of popular tunes. He has tab and music available for all/most of them. He might be willing to arrange specific pieces for you.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnI...aaQvZPXQfgtNYQ

fumei · #9 06-01-2015, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

People are for some reason incredibly intimidated of learning to read music, when in reality it takes one weekend, maybe two. Seriously.

.

With all due respect DesertTwang, this is nonsense. I have tried for 50 years. My mother, with a Masters degree in music, despaired of my failures. I have a very good ear and could play music with her, but actually read music? I still can not.

I have taken courses, both in person and online. It goes into my brain and immediately drools out. My mother, who did not stop touring as a professional singer until her late 70's, gave me one on one lessons....into my brain and immediately drooling out.

One weekend, maybe two? I think not. For some, maybe even most people, perhaps. However as a hard fast statement, I think not.

Is this a massive failure on my part? Yes. There it is though. I have tried, and practiced, but it just drools out.

devellis · #10 06-02-2015, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fumei

With all due respect DesertTwang, this is nonsense. I have tried for 50 years. My mother, with a Masters degree in music, despaired of my failures. I have a very good ear and could play music with her, but actually read music? I still can not.

I have taken courses, both in person and online. It goes into my brain and immediately drools out. My mother, who did not stop touring as a professional singer until her late 70's, gave me one on one lessons....into my brain and immediately drooling out.

One weekend, maybe two? I think not. For some, maybe even most people, perhaps. However as a hard fast statement, I think not.

Is this a massive failure on my part? Yes. There it is though. I have tried, and practiced, but it just drools out.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "read music." I certainly can't read complex arrangements with notated chords but I learned how to read a simple melody line in an afternoon. Depending on what you want to play, there's a lot of music out there with the lyrics, melody notated, and chord diagrams (or names, at least) provided. That's certainly something that most people could manage in a fairly short time -- a matter of hours or perhaps days. You might not be sight reading at performance speed after that, but it will suffice for learning how to play a song, finding the melody and the chords that go with it. Once I have the melody, I put the notation aside anyway.

Earl49 · #11 06-02-2015, 09:22 AM

You don't really need to learn to read music to play, but it helps -- eventually. (You'll probably hear otherwise in strident terms around here very soon). Reading tablature is probably more useful and important for fingerstyle anyway. I've been playing fingerstyle for over 35 years and have a pretty good command of music theory, but I still barely read notation. I certainly get where you are coming from. I too was self-taught, working out of tab books and LP's (yes that long ago).

I highly suggest Happy Traum's "Easy Steps to Fingerpicking" DVD's from Homepsun Tapes. He breaks it down systematically for you, and does a good job. FWIW, it is much harder to learn someone else's arrangement by rote than it is to build your own. Start with the chord sequence and a basic fingerpicking pattern, then add the melody notes when you can. Most of the time the melody notes are within fairly easy reach, or require you lifting up a finger that you were holding down as part of the chord. Noodle around until the song gels for you. But it takes a while to get to that point.

Amite · #12 06-02-2015, 03:01 PM

I don't know of any such service but maybe Toby Walker can point you to somebody. He is a member here and sells lessons. He may already have some arrangements of songs you like.

Backpocketnj · #13 06-02-2015, 03:14 PM

http://www.kellyvalleau.com/ - Subscription website with lots of arrangements of pop tunes. A lot of current stuff but tunes from the past as well.

There are some good free ones on youtube as well.

Fred · #14 06-02-2015, 05:00 PM

Google the name of the song you want to learn...you may find tabs readily available for free or for sale. I often do that.

scuzbucket · #15 06-02-2015, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millie111

thanks for replies

i did actually find someone on you tube to do it, and the song he sent me back was incredible, with bass, melody and percussion... but the poor guy suddenly died. Im too sad about this to even play the song now.

iv also tried finding software but its hard when i dont really know what im looking for.

I would do it for you but I'm a bit scared that I might die suddenly.

What song did the previous guy work out for you?