How do you guys learn music?

Probs not the correct location to post this, but :S I couldn't think of anywhere else
Pls move it if there's a better section.

So how do you learn songs?
By ear? Sheet music? Tabs? Do you only play original material?

I can't read sheet music and I really can't do anything by ear, so I have to rely on tabs (guitarpro tabs mostly).
It sucks because I know learning to be able to pick out the key and scales and such and learn by ear would open up a lot of new possibilities when it comes to learning songs.

You don't necessarily need to know keys or scales to learn by ear (hell I don't) but I'm not going to deny it doesn't help.

I can't read sheet music either, but I use normal tabs or guitar pro. I learned normal tabs before I had guitar pro

Guitar bro is the shit.

lol Freudian slip

I use Guitar Pro, but I'll figure it out by ear sometimes too. I need to start using my ears more.

Glad to know i'm not the only one that primarily uses tabs/guitar pro
I almost felt like a lesser being.

I'm mostly just too lazy to learn how to read music and learn theory.

I tried learning theory before but lol nope.
Not really something i'd like to pour that much time into.

It's near the bottom of list of fucks to give. I've written songs without it, I think I'll be fine for now.

I know some theory, and I use it to write more interesting chord progressions. All in all though, it's more about me just knowing more chords.

Closest I do google what chord progressions = what key and work from there. I usually only need like 3 chords out of those to get an idea

I can't post links, but there's a chord progression tool on the all-guitar-chords website.

I might look that up. I like writing in minor keys because I'm a lvl 17 emo kid on the inside.

I usually write everything in C Maj/A Min then transpose because of the open chords. I'm more of a lvl. 14 emo kid. I did write an emo song the other day though.

I'm not sure what key I write in the most, but I can kind of tell I end up using certain chord progressions too much.

I don't really use certain chord progressions over and over, but I use chord progression "tools" over and over. Like the old Beatles' trick of the IV-iv-I. (I don't know how much theory you know. If you want an example of what that sounds like, play F Maj, F min, C Maj.)

I usually like dot dot half step, or backwards. (if you think about it, you know what I'm talking about)

Yeah, I get it. Like 3-5-6.

Sure

I've never heard of doing it like that before. I mostly use theory to improvise. I play a lot of jazz.

That's part of why I think theory would be cool to know.
Improvisation is really cool, and it's really pretty impossible to play bass along with jazz without knowing at least a fair bit.

Jazz bass is best bass.

nastyn8 wrote:I've never heard of doing it like that before. I mostly use theory to improvise. I play a lot of jazz.

I just taught myself errything so I was trying to come up with ways to remember what goes with what.

Jazz bass is bomb.
I really want to buy a jazz bass.

Grungie wrote:

nastyn8 wrote:I've never heard of doing it like that before. I mostly use theory to improvise. I play a lot of jazz.

I just taught myself errything so I was trying to come up with ways to remember what goes with what.

That's better than just doing what everyone else does. You're original.