Gaano kayo kabilis sumifra? Share ur stories!

[Indie_Boy]

Gaano kayo kabilis sumifra?

i started playing guitar wayback 90's pero sa keyboard talaga ako nag simula nung elementary pa ko. i just discovered that i'm capable of making sifra without the help of tablatures and i thank the lord for that.. Meron ba dito na mas grabe ang talas ng tenga? like kayang sabihin kung anong key ang lahat ng marining na tunog? even utot? Share ur stories!

[Indie_Boy]

anyone?.. tips?

[abyssinianson]

anyone?.. tips?

here is how i do it: i listen to the bassline, work that out with my bass and then play around with the melody on the piano. My foundation is in the keyboards and the drums so I focus a lot on the foundation of the song before moving on to its embellishments.

[cryingfreeman]

Gano ka bilis? Sira na ung Play, Rewind, Pause ko di ko pa nabubuo ung kanta.. hehe 

[Chito]

Well, we have a gig on March 13, backing up a Top 20 Canadian Idol from last year who is releasing his CD. We will be playing 10 songs from the CD, none of which I know or heard before.  I got contacted about this last Saturday. So pretty much 4 weeks from now. We'll probably have a couple or so rehearsals with him. I've already been told there's no transcription or music sheet. I have not figured out the songs yet but should be able to play at least half (5) of the songs when the band starts rehearsing the tunes on Tuesday.

Hope that gives you an idea.

[Indie_Boy]

Well, we have a gig on March 13, backing up a Top 20 Canadian Idol from last year who is releasing his CD. We will be playing 10 songs from the CD, none of which I know or heard before.  I got contacted about this last Saturday. So pretty much 4 weeks from now. We'll probably have a couple or so rehearsals with him. I've already been told there's no transcription or music sheet. I have not figured out the songs yet but should be able to play at least half (5) of the songs when the band starts rehearsing the tunes on Tuesday.

Hope that gives you an idea.

whoa!!! ur a very gifted man! 

[Chito]

Well, we have a gig on March 13, backing up a Top 20 Canadian Idol from last year who is releasing his CD. We will be playing 10 songs from the CD, none of which I know or heard before.  I got contacted about this last Saturday. So pretty much 4 weeks from now. We'll probably have a couple or so rehearsals with him. I've already been told there's no transcription or music sheet. I have not figured out the songs yet but should be able to play at least half (5) of the songs when the band starts rehearsing the tunes on Tuesday.

Hope that gives you an idea.

whoa!!! ur a very gifted man! 

Not really, more like I'm a HACK! hehehehe

[jakobspiral]

Depends on how complicated the song is.

Most songs on the radio, I can learn while the song's being played. Sometimes by ear (Usually pag nasa bus. e.g. I did this with the song that goes "sasakay ako sa aking pangarap, basta's ang kasama ko'y ikaw... may liwanag", without a guitar in hand. I dunno the title though.)

Pero pag Jazz, I need the rewind button.

How do you learn?

SIFRA EVERY DAY. Probably by the 5th year of doing this, you'll be able to sifra most radio songs by ear (w/o an instrument)... depends on how fast you learn though.

It took me 10.

Way back then, in church, I hear a song for the first time when I arrive an hour or two before the service starts, then I play it during the service, but that takes LOTS of practice.

And you can do that by SIFRAing a song every day.

[sonnyrayvaughn]

depende sa kanta...

pag contemporary pops songs, madali lang...
prog rock and jazz medyo mas matagal depende pa rin of course sa complexity ng kanta.

another point is..kelangan mo bang siprahin note for note yung song? or ok na yung makuha mo lang yung feel at groove tapos self improv na?

[catherine_wheel]

pwede rin as long as pasok yung improvisation but u can't hide from critics. you know. 

[Indie_Boy]

oo nga! jok! 

[Chito]

Of course it depends on the songs. Like with this gig we're having, no one has heard the CD so we can pretty much do whatever, as long as we are tight and provide him the backup he needs to do his thing.

[soulshifter]

ako what i do (given that i have a little luxury of time) pag medyo complikado ung kanta,.. i listen to it over and over without even deciphering the parts. once kumabit na ung song sa utak ko,.. mas madali na kumapa. hindi pa masyado nakakagas gas ng rewind play button. 

unless needed i stick with the basic melody and main parts of a song,..tapos improv na ng konti from there.

may kilala ko alam nya agad ung chord pag narinig nya ung kanta,.. yun medyo perfect pitch ung tenga. pati ung bahista ng band ko ngayon sobrang bilis pumick up,..minsan sinasabayan na lang nya kahit medyo komplikado ung mga linya...

all in all ang importante sa pag sipra,..critical listening bro. un lang makuha nating lahat panalo na.. 

[Indie_Boy]

it's nice to have bandmates with gifted talents like those.. lalo na kung pare pareho kayo ng pagkka sipra.. 

[soulshifter]

yup,..laking tulong. lalo na kung wala kayong luxury of time. minsan pag kailangan inuupuan namin talaga ung song para pakinggan,... tapos sabay kapa ng major melodies and patterns,... usually ung solos,.. improv using some of the major key elements nung solo lalo na kung melodic and integral part sya nung song.

[Indie_Boy]

i stand corrected.. it's spelled as cifra pala.. thanks!

[changedmynametojimi]

cifra...galing ba yan sa salitang cipher?

kabisado ko muna kanta..tapos solo improv lng...hirap mag note for note..ehehhee 

[Indie_Boy]

cifra...galing ba yan sa salitang cipher?

kabisado ko muna kanta..tapos solo improv lng...hirap mag note for note..ehehhee 

yep it's cifra.. i saw it on another thread

[Extremist777]

Yung rhythm parts ng kanta madali ko makuha.. I usually start by figuring out the basslines...then pagnakuha ko na yun.. madali na lahat.

Sa lead parts naman... napansin ko na pag pinipilit ko at minamadali kapain mas hirap na hirap ako ma figure-out yung solos/lead parts.. pero when I just listen to it after giving up sa pagkapa nung solo/lead parts... and just fool around with the guitar.. napapansin ko na nakukuha ko agad. So I guess.. mas relax ka mas madali mo ma figure-out yung songs.

[ubersam]

  uhh... I've never heard of the term sifra or cifra... what does it stand for?

[Jaco D]

Yeah, during my time the term to use was "kapa" as in "kapain mo".

Well, maybe that term didn't sound politically correct. 

[nathanmanansala]

pag pop songs that dont sound like they're shifting keys, i usually play along and get it in about 3 tries. madalas yung bass line ang nagbibigay ng hint sa key. like if its got a C, Am, G, F and Em, its probably in C, Am or G7. from there i work out the chord colors by ear na lang. tas i write my own little cheat sheet with no keys, relationships lang for each song section. usually takes around 5 to 10 minutes.

example, jessie's girl, IIRC (fun song to play, kahit na riddled with 80s cheese )
A (meaning section A, usually intro or verse)
I V vi -- IV V I (meaning major root, major 5th, minor 6th...)
V
B (chorus in this case)
I - V vi V vi

writing it down this way makes it easier to transpose in case the song was played half a step down (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) and the chord fingerings dont make sense. pagdating sa practice, tsaka nyo na lang pagtalunan kung transpose half a step up or down to make the chord fingerings easier.

for the solos, if its not really a memorable one, like sa joss stone's super duper love, i just improvise it live. if it is and its tough to improvise over it and still make it feel like the original, like my sharona (more 80s cheese) or jump or bohemian rhapsody, that usually takes me a few more minutes. i usually put it in my mp3 player para mas madali mag scan ng sections you missed.

tas before moving on to the next song, i have to be able to play through the whole thing at least thrice without mucking up or stopping.

[bluejem]

Gaano kayo kabilis sumifra?

i started playing guitar wayback 90's pero sa keyboard talaga ako nag simula nung elementary pa ko. i just discovered that i'm capable of making sifra without the help of tablatures and i thank the lord for that.. Meron ba dito na mas grabe ang talas ng tenga? like kayang sabihin kung anong key ang lahat ng marining na tunog? even utot? Share ur stories!

Kng ang isang musician ay may perfect pitch,ang pgcifra sa kanila ay instant right on the spot mismo.1 example is my 1st music teacher,he or any of us will play any music,right there and then,he can name all the chords,the notes on the melody and harmony and he can even write it down on the spot as a musical score or piece.There are some others that I know who can do that too other than my 1st teacher.

[fuzzylogic]

uhm more like music theory yata tawag dun, hindi perfect pitch

[aya_yuson]

Stories kamo?

Well...

Nung una kong nakatugtog si Arthur Manuntag (the best male jazz singer in the Philippines, bar none), di ko alam mga 70% ng pondo niya.

Unang ikot ng kanta, sinisipra ko ang takbo ng chords.

Pagtapos ng unang ikot, solohan na. Eh, ako halos lagi ang unang solo... so after one round of the song form, kailangan alam ko na yung kanta.

Puro instant sifra.

I must've learned around 20 songs on the bandstand in one night... each night... every gig... for a couple of weeks.

Out of those 20 songs, sa mga tatlo o apat na kanta lang ako na-stump. Took more than one pass to learn the songs by ear. Siguro mga dalawa o tatlong ikot. Habang sumosolo yung pianista o si Arthur, dinadale ko yung mga section na di ko nakuha nung mga naunang ikot.

Ayun.

Nung una rin akong sumampa sa Freeverse, di alam mga 80% ng pondo nila. Sinipra ko rin sa entablado.

Pati nung sumampa ako bilang sesyonista sa Elements, ganon din.

Pero yung pinaka-wild na sipra experience ko nangyari sa bahay ng isang kaibigan ko. Dun kami di natulog. Tamang sipra kami/ako non. Sinipra ko lahat ng album na pinatugtog niya.

Sinipra ko album ni Robben Ford, isang video ni Sting, dalawang kanta ni John Mayer, karamihan ng kanta sa 2nd album ni Cynthia Alexander, Yellowjackets, at marami pang iba.

Tas sobrang trip ko nang sumipra nang sumipra, pati yung mga togs sa TV, pati yung mga commercial, sinipra ko.

... hanggang umabot na sa point na psychic sipra na.

Bago pumasok yung tono ng commercial o ng theme song sa tv, huhulaan ko yung key o yung unang chord...

At ang wild... nadadale ko! 

Pagtapos non, kinabukasan, may ensayo kami sa Praktistasyon (isang rehearsal studio sa makati). Maaga kami dumating don. Kami yung pinaka-maaga.

So habang hinihintay namin yung mga kabanda namin, sinipra ko na rin yung mga kanta ng ibang bandang nag-eensayo sa kabilang kwarto.

He he he....

At ang kwela, psychic sipra pa rin! Hinuhulaan ko yung key (o unang chord) ng susunod na kanta bago pa man nila tugtugin. And eight out of ten times, i'd be right!