Picking up notes

[zeppelin4ever]

My friends and guitar teachers can listen to songs and play along with the songs. However I never seem to recognize what notes to play any suggestions on practicing that skill?

[klp2332]

i never used to be able to do that untill I played lots of repetoires. I just recognise them on the fretboard. I dont know what notes they are but I can play along with the song.
I suggest you listen to more songs and just try anything. Jam anything in. You will get it pretty soon.

[toneboy]

How long have you been playing? It's a skill that some people need to practice more to acquire.

I often find myself playing along with music that's on for shows and commercials.

All you need to is find the first note that fits then expand from here. Start going up and down in 1/2 steps until you find the next note then the next note until you find the key. The more you play the easier it will be hear that intervals are being played. It just takes practice.

[vette6600]

well, since you already have a teacher, you are headed in the right direction. ask them what they think

[Pleuvra]

Most popular music is based around commonly known scales, so if you know all of the modes, and pentatonic scales, all that's left to figure out is the key, the most common ones being C E and A probably. You find the scale and the key, and its pretty easy to work out a guitar solo with experience.

[Sam101]

it's jsut kind of weird with me I'd be messing around then I'd stumble upon something and I'd be like woah that sounds like something off of one song and I start to figure it out...or if you know your fret board it be kind of easy but it's something that took me long to figure out......

[gu1tar]

Originally Posted by vette6600

well, since you already have a teacher, you are headed in the right direction. ask them what they think

+1 Ask your teacher to help you learn to do it but if you are a novice, he may be concentrating on the building blocks...walking before running and such...and realize that it is going to take a lot of time to develop this skill. A good question to ask them is how long they've been playing and compare that to yourself. Some people are really good at it while others aren't. Just one of those things. But the more you practice and know the modes and scales, the better you'll be at it.

As has already been said, you need to learn all the modes and scales and practice the beejeezus out of them. Once you do, it's a matter of picking them and discerning which fits.