Ys: The Oath in Felghana - Steeling the Will to Fight

auriplane

Joined: Sep 06 2008

Your ear isn't bad here. Most of the notes are right. I'll try to give some tips, though it's kind of hard to teach ear training online. At the bottom of this post, I'll also give a few tips on writing tabs in different positions.

The notes that you've gotten wrong *harmonize* with the correct note. For example:

e|-----------------------------|--15--13------12~-------------------------------|
B|--15----15----------------17-|----------15--------12--15--13~---12------------|
G|-----14----16-17-16-17-14----|--------------------------------------13--14~---|
D|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|

The first three notes are wrong--they're a perfect fourth too high. That means they harmonize with the original note, but they're not the same. It should look like this:

e|-----------------------------|--15--13------12~-------------------------------|
B|-----------------------15-17-|----------15--------12--15--13~---12------------|
G|--14----14-16-17-16-17-------|--------------------------------------13--14~---|
D|-----14----------------------|------------------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|

Okay, so I changed four notes there. Let's focus on the first three, for a moment.

If you're off by a fret or two, it sounds pretty bad, right? That's because harmonically, that interval is pretty far from the original note. But let's say you get the notes right, but in the wrong octave. It still sounds *almost* right, doesn't it? That's because an octave harmonizes perfectly with the original note.

Those first three notes are off by a "perfect fourth". (That's 5 frets apart, if you're playing on the same string.) A perfect fourth is almost as close as an octave, harmonically speaking--it sounds nice with the original note, even though it's NOT the original note.

So if you just played these three notes along with the original, it would harmonize, rather than sound awful. That makes this sort of error harder to find! Well, what other ways can you use your ear? You can hear whether notes go up or down, right? The first three notes clearly go "high, low, high". Down, up. You got that right. But what if you look at the first *four* notes? It's down, up, up. Your notes go down, up, down. That's a hint that the notes might not be right.

What else? How about singing? Can you sing the notes when you hear them? If you can't, you should learn to--playing guitar is like singing, and it'll help your ear a lot.

What if we listen to the intervals? Not just "down, up", but down how much? Up how much? You got that part right, for the first three notes. It goes down a perfect fourth, back up to the original note, but then it goes up a major second (two frets). If you can hear the intervals, and you can find a note you're sure of, you can do the rest relative to that note.

e|------------------------------------------12--13--15------------------------|
B|---------12--13--15----12--13--15--12-----------------12-----13--12---------|
G|---14~---------------------------------------------------------------14-----|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------------14-|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

The eighth note here is a major third (four frets' worth) too high. It should look like this:

e|------------------------------------------12--13--15------------------------|
B|---------12--13--15----12--13--15---------------------12-----13--12---------|
G|---14~-----------------------------12--------------------------------14-----|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------------14-|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

You got all the up/down stuff fine, and a major third harmonizes, so it doesn't sound dissonant when you play it with the original. What if you highlight JUST that part of the song in a program like Audacity, and hit loop? What happens?

The answer is, you're not much better off, if you couldn't hear it before. The note you play on your guitar still harmonizes, and now you don't have any context. So instead of listening for the harmony between the MP3 and your guitar, try listening for the *intervals* between notes. Listen to a larger section, something you can sing along with, like the first eight notes of this bar.

Okay, we're on the first note, the 14 on G. That's an A. Sing it with me: A, B C D. (It's in A minor, so there's no sharps or flats.) So far, so good. What chord is playing? F major.

Now the chord changes for the next four notes. It's playing G major now, and the melody continues B, C, D, G. Hear when it hits that G? Feels like home, doesn't it? It's the root of the chord, which gives it that "home" feeling. Does your note (B) sound bad? No, G and B are both notes in the G major chord, it harmonizes with the original, and it preserves the same up/down pattern as the original song. If you were recording a cover without the original playing in the background, 99% of listeners wouldn't know you got the note wrong, because it sounds fine.

All of that makes it harder to find :-) But it also means you're really close.

In this part, make the last note a 15 (doesn't go to 17 until the next part):

e|-----------------------------|--15--13------12~----------------------------------------------------------|
B|--15----15----------------17-|----------15--------12--15--13~---12~------12-----------12~--12~---17------|
G|-----14----16-17-16-17-14----|----------------------------------------14----14-13~-----------------------|
D|-----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Change this part:

e|-----------------------------------------13b-13-12---------------------|
B|--17--15-----12-13-15----12-13-15-12---------------15-----13-12--------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------14-----|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------14--|
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|

to this:

e|-----------------------------------------13b15r13-12---------------------|
B|--17--15--------12-13----12-13-15--------------------15-----13-12--------|
G|-------------14-------------------12------------------------------14-----|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------------14--|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Note that I wrote in how far to bend, which is pretty important.

The last part:

e|-----------------------------------------------------17~~---|
B|--------------12--13--12--13--15--13---12-13-12~------------|
G|----------14------------------------------------------------|
D|-14-15~-----------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------------|

I changed it to this:

e|-----------------------------------------------------17~~---|
B|------------------13--12--13--15--12---13-12----------------|
G|----------12--14-----------------------------14~------------|
D|-14-15~-----------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------------|

Again, listen for the intervals. Like, you can hear that 14 to 17 at the end is an octave, right? You can tell they're both As. You got the second A right, so if you can hear the interval, you can get the first one right, too.

Here's a little constructive criticism: try to find patterns in the song. You'll notice most songs have some repetition, and often parts will be repeated exactly. If you play a repeated part the same way each time, you'll be taking advantage of muscle memory, and you'll have less to memorize. Here's the question to ask yourself: is there a reason to play it differently? If so, then write it differently. (For example, if it makes the next part tricky, you might write the last couple notes of a phrase differently the second time.) But if you have no reason, make sure you write it the same way.

Here's an example:

e|-------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------8-5-------------------------|
G|---------------4-5-5-----7----------4-5-5-7-4~---|
D|--10-9-7~----7--------------------7--------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|

e|----------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------8-5-3----4-5---3---------|
G|---------------4-5-5--------------4---5-2~----|
D|--10-9-7~----7--------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------|

That 7 on the G string is the same as the 3 on the B string. (Remember, the difference between those two strings is four fret's worth, or a "major third".) Now, did you decide to play it differently so you'd be in position for the next part? That would imply you made a conscious decision to play the next part lower on the neck. If so, that's fine. It *looks* like you transcribed that part twice, and wrote it two different ways without realizing they were the same.

Here's how I'd write it, staying in 4th position:

e|------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------8-5-------------------------|
G|--5-4---------4-5-5-----7----------4-5-5-7-4~---|
D|------7~----7--------------------7--------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|

e|---------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------8-5------4-5-------------|
G|--5-4---------4-5-5-----7--------4-7-5-------|
D|------7~----7--------------------------7~----|
A|---------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------|

When I play the same note twice in a phrase, I try to play it on the same string each time. There's nothing that says you have to do this, but personally, I think it feels more natural than changing position there.

Here's another example:

e|----------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------10--10--12--13--12~-------------------|
G|--10~------9--10---------------------------14-16-14-13~---|
D|-------12-------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|

What position do you start in? ("Position" is defined by where your middle finger is, so if your middle finger is on 10, you're in 9th position. That's because your index finger can reach up another fret without changing positions.) You start in 9th, which gives you roughly frets 8-13 available without moving your hand. But at the end, you change to 13th position. Why? If you're changing position, you should have a reason (even if you aren't thinking about it while you're playing, you should be able to explain why afterwards).

In this case, you can already reach all four notes without moving your hand, and you just played all four as part of the first nine notes! So I'd write it like this:

e|----------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------10--10--12--13--12~----10-12-10-9~----|
G|--10~------9--10------------------------------------------|
D|-------12-------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|

But it's my tendency to play on thinner strings in general, and I'd play the next part up a string. Maybe you had a reason, like you wanted to lead up to the next part, which is further up the neck. In that case, I'd suggest you *still* don't need to change positions there. Why not? Because you can move the first part up:

e|----------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------12--13--12~-------------------|
G|--------------------14--14-----------------14-16-14-13~---|
D|--15~--12--14-15------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|

Okay, now it's all in one position. What about the rest of the song? How does this fit in? Well, before this part, you were in 12th position, and afterwards, you're in 14th. So, it actually fits into the song better this way. Should you write it this way? I don't know--how does it sound to you? Do you like the way it sounds on these strings?

It's up to you, of course. You decide where on the neck to play everything. You have a lot of options open to you. I suggest that whenever you change positions in a tab, you do so because it sounds better or makes it easier to play.

Anyway, that's about all I can come up with :-)

BacardiBreezer

My life is a chip in your pile. Ante up!

Location: NE Ohio

Joined: Aug 16 2010

Ok, I made the corrections and arranged it as you suggested. Sounds great now! Thanks for all the help...should I post it in submissions or just leave it here?

Steeling the Will to Fight

BacardiBreezer

My life is a chip in your pile. Ante up!

Location: NE Ohio

Joined: Aug 16 2010

Cool, time to finish memorizing it then! :)