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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

What is the best way to analyze a song?

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mike_lmike_l Frets: 5698
edited September 2013 in Theory

Chords first?

scales used first?

Depends on what song/band?

Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • Handsome_ChrisHandsome_Chris Frets: 4759
    May I just say that the forum home page misleadingly retitles this thread.

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  • frankusfrankus Frets: 4719
    with a glass of wine.
    A sig-nat-eur? What am I meant to use this for ffs?! Is this thing recording?
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33263
    With a pen and paper.
    James Richmond

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  • frankusfrankus Frets: 4719
    not a pencil? you might need to correct something.. it could get messy.
    A sig-nat-eur? What am I meant to use this for ffs?! Is this thing recording?
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33263
    frankus said:
    not a pencil? you might need to correct something.. it could get messy.
    Not if you do it right the first time. ;)

    Definitely a pencil if you're transcribing.
    James Richmond

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  • geepers0677geepers0677 Frets: 119
    Handsome_Chris said:
    May I just say that the forum home page misleadingly retitles this thread.

    I just took a screenshot but was beaten to it! haha!

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  • randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
    I would always start with the chords.  The chordal structure give you the answers - or at least enormous clues as to every other element.  The scales used are only relevant when you understand what is going on in the chordal bed and narrow your search down dramatically.
    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5698
    @randomhandclaps ; Thanks that's what I was looking for, although I've learned songs, I've never really analysed them in any depth at all.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • ClarkyClarky Frets: 3260
    start with the song's "form" [structure]
    then you essentially have a map through all of the sections
    listen for the orchestration / instrumentation so you can get an idea of how many individual parts there are
    note the types of sounds / timbres being used

    then take a look at the chord progressions in each section
    from this in conjunction with the melody lines you can determine the tonality [key / scales / modes etc being used]

    once you have these fundamentals, start trying to find points of interest in the details..


    play every note as if it were your first
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5698
    @Clarky ; thanks. I shall use this info.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9107
    How about a pie chart showing the things that Meatloaf would or wouldn't do for love?
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
    edited September 2013
    HAL9000 said:
    How about a pie chart showing the things that Meatloaf would or wouldn't do for love?

    Already on it -

    http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a579/imadray/That_zps3d12f210.jpg

    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 15603
    Quite pleased with myself that I was going to say start with the structure and Clarky had already said it.
    Depends a bit on the music but structure first means you are listening to how the song works as a whole, easy starting point as you probably won't need to work anything hard out as such ( intro, verse , verse, chorus, solo over verse, verse, chorus,etc, etc)and you find out how much there is to learn ( intro phrase, verse riff, chorus riff, solo,etc ).for idiots like me working out the lyrics isn't a bad thing to do early on either ( assuming it has words). This goes hand in hand with working out the structure and what the song is trying to achieve and being familiar with the lyrics gives you signposts when focussing on sub sections later on and if you want to learn the entire song (know the lyrics or count the bars). These are like doing the edge pieces on a jigsaw first. In a live context they also mean you know when to come back in after a screw up. Oh, that just me then... X_X
    I’ll handle this Violet, you take your three hour break. 
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