How to learn a song by ear with loops and slow playback
Learning a part by ear goes much faster when you stop listening to the whole song and work on one short phrase at a time, slowly, over and over. This article describes a method that works for solos, riffs, and chord parts.
Why loops and slow playback help
A fast phrase goes past before you can follow it. A two-bar sixteenth-note lick at 140 BPM is 9.3 notes a second and lasts only 3.4 seconds. At 50% it becomes 4.7 notes a second over 6.9 seconds — slow enough to hear each note.
Slowing a recording down the old way (a slower tape or record) also lowers the pitch, so the notes no longer match your instrument. A time-stretching player like Loop Trainer keeps the pitch, so you can find the notes on the fretboard at the speed you can follow.
A loop removes the time spent rewinding. Each pass gives you one more chance to hear the same notes, and you can play along on every pass.
The method, step by step
- Listen to the whole section first. Get the shape of it: where it goes up, where it rests, where it repeats.
- Loop one short phrase. One or two bars, or one musical sentence. With “Snap to bar starts” on, drag over the bars you want and the loop lands exactly on the bar lines.
- Slow it down until every note is clear. Start at 70%; go to 60% or 50% for fast passages.
- Sing or hum it. If you can sing it, you have heard it. If you cannot, loop an even shorter part.
- Find the first note and the last note on your instrument, then fill in between. Notes that land on the beat are easiest; the ticks under the waveform show where the beats are.
- Play along with the loop. When it sounds the same, save the loop with a name (“Solo, bar 1–2”) and move on to the next phrase.
- Join the phrases into a longer loop, then build the speed back up. “Speed up on every loop” does this automatically: for example from 70% to 100% in steps of 2%.
How slow is slow enough?
Slow enough that you can follow every note, and no slower. Very slow playback stretches the sound and makes the attack of each note less clear.
| Speed | Good for |
|---|---|
| 90–100% | Checking a part you have nearly learned; getting the feel back |
| 70–80% | Most riffs and chord parts; practising a phrase until it is reliable |
| 50–60% | Fast solos, sixteenth-note lines, ornaments and slides |
Below 50% the sound breaks up too much to be useful, which is why the app stops there.
Tips for hard-to-hear parts
- Bass lines: raising the key by a few semitones and listening on headphones can make low notes easier to hear. Change it back before you play along.
- Fast ornaments: zoom in on the waveform (pinch, or Ctrl + wheel) and set a loop around just the ornament.
- Chords: listen for the bass note first, then the top note. Together they usually tell you the chord.
- Songs in an unusual tuning: if everything sounds a semitone off, the recording may be tuned down. See changing the key.
- Take breaks. After a while every version starts to sound right. Come back later with fresh ears.
Common mistakes
- Looping too much at once. A whole solo in one loop is too much to remember. Two bars at a time is plenty.
- Staying slow forever. The goal is to play it at the real tempo. Raise the speed as soon as a phrase is reliable.
- Ignoring the rhythm. The right notes in the wrong rhythm do not sound like the record. Count along, or turn on the count-in.