JFRocks Ear Training 101 Problem page                                                     Copyright © 2005-2006 JFRocks

This page contains no tabs.  This is a page that contains an Audio lesson in mp3 format that contains a riff or solo for you to try to figure out using the tips that Jeff gives you as a guideline.  If this is an older problem and already has an answer page there will be no opportunity for you to submit a tab of how you think this problem is played.  If however it is a new problem and has no answer posted as of yet you will be able to anonymously submit a tab of how you think Jeff is playing the problem.  Be warned these are designed to help your ear and are designed to fool you most of the time.  Please don't cheat and do the answers too fast if they are available.  You are only depriving yourself of a great learning opportunity if you do that. 

All content on this page is protected by US copyright and is owned by JFRocks or is used by special permission.  Reproduction or redistribution of any kind free or otherwise is prohibited.  JFRocks content must remain on JFRocks.com and is the property of JFRocks.

Be sure to listen to the whole audio file.  The answer to this problem will have a video and detailed lesson.

Audio

Contains the problem riff or solo to be figured out

Think you know how this problem riff or solo is played ? Or even what effects may or may not have been used.

Problem Tips: 

This problem is on Single note Hooks.  These are the riffs that usually open a song that draw you in.  Led Zep's Heartbreaker opening / main riff from Zep II was always one of my favorites for this.  It's a single note pattern that just hooks you right into the song.  There are of course Thousands and Thousands of hooks out there.

Funny thing is many people learn them wrong and play them wrong for years and years.  Or, the riff never sounds right because they play them in the wrong position, which isn't a big deal other than sometimes it can be the reason you never thought your amp sounded good.  I've seen a lot of guys go out and buy new guitars and amps because they couldn't get a certain sound a player was getting in a riff and the problem really was that the player was playing the riff on lower strings or thicker strings than they were. 

Good example of this is V. H..'s Unchained.  Thousands of people play that riff starting with an open D chord thanks to txt tabs all over the internet that have it tabbed that way.  In reality it's a drop D tuning with a D chord in the 5th position.  It's not played with open string chords at all.  That's a simple example and most of you might be like "who's playing it that way?"  But I actually know people that do and have been correcting them for years. 

Right from the get go with these problems I've been trying to help you spot the notes or come close anyway.  I always say it doesn't matter what position you play something in, it's about getting the pitches.  And this is true.  HOWEVER, if you're playing something and it matches the CD when you play along with the CD but when you turn off the CD your version of the riff sounds like crap.  Before you throw your amp away, remember that for any riff there are many different positions you can play it in.  Each position will give it either a thicker or thinner sound or more twangy sound etc. 

I always say, I don't care what position a given player played something in.  I care about the pitches and where they sound good on my equipment.  I don't go out and buy equipment to sound like someone else.  I make what I have sound like what I want it to.  If that means I have to move a riff then so be it. 

For this problem I encourage everyone to learn the pitches, then try to figure out the position I'm playing it in.  It's all single notes, no double stops or chords etc.  Some of the notes used will be dead give aways but others will not be.  You will need to apply some logic to figure out this riff.  Ultimately though, worry only about the pitches to start with.

Then, and only then try to nail the positioning.  I don't think that anyone will get my positioning right for this problem, I already know that and I don't care about that, nor should you.  When I say to you, try to nail the positioning I mean nail it so it sounds good through your amp.  Is my sound thick, or is it thin, am I using wound strings or am I playing some of this riff on non wound strings.  ALL of these things you need to listen for.  It's about making the riff sound good.  If it ends up sounding good and you match the positioning I did too, then whoo hooo for you.  That's just an added bonus.  But you really have no way at all of knowing what position or positions I'm playing the riff in so don't worry about that.  Just listen to it and work off what you hear and make it sound good.  In actuality when you view the video for the answer you'll probably be surprised at how the riff is played.  What may surprise you even more is that it may not sound good on your equipment for you to play it like I am.  It may sound better your way, which is why you learned it that way in the first place. 

These little skills of learning things in positions that sound good to us and playing what we hear are what help us to build a style of our own, which I think is very important.  Even if you learn something wrong, you can still learn from that or you may find something else that sounds cool while you're tinkering and trying to figure out what ever it is you're working on.