Playing by ear.....help a fool

[ColdBeerGoCubs]

Alright, I said I wasn't going to do this, I was going to figure it out on my own, but so be it. With the wealth of talent here I figure I might as well exploit it.

I've been listening to different tunes over and over trying to figure them out by ear. I decided that "dirty old town" would be easy enough for me to do. I'm using the Pogues version. I think I have it, maybe, probably not though.

So if anyones willing, could they post how they would do it, just the very beginning.

Next rounds on me, thanks.

[Barry Wilson]

if I can't figure a tune by ear, I check youtube for how to play.... almost every song I have ever looked for has been covered by instruction.

[Ivan Kelsall]

You could do worse than listen to the original sung by the writer, Ewan McColl & his wife, Peggy Seeger.The pics. in the YouTube clip were pretty representative of the area of Salford where he was born,hence the title - http://youtu.be/4Wj7xZf8xm8
If it were me,i'd simply work it out by ear & use tremolo all the way through,using heavier or lighter tremolo to represent the voice parts - after all,that's pretty much what you'd need to do anyway.After working it out in the first position (lower frets) i'd then explore higher up the fingerboar & learn the tune there.After that you can interweave the f/board positions where you play the tune for added 'light & shade',
Ivan

[neil argonaut]

Although the song is sung in the key of G (in the pogues version), the intro is in D and the solo in the middle is in C; more or less the same chord sequence but transposed. If i'm playing on my own I'll try and play on the mandolin a rough version of the harmonica solo intro, but filling it out with bits of the chords; If i'm playing with my mate playing guitar, i'll just strum the chords to the intro while he picks the harmonica solo, then vice versa for the solo in the middle of the song, I sometimes use tremolo for that.
I normally start the intro with the A at 2nd fret, G string, then open D string 2nd fret D string, 4th fret D string for the first 4 notes (the 4th being the one you hold longer);

Hope that's of some help.

[neil argonaut]

Thought it would be easier to show you what I mean; I've played the intro, then sung just one verse to demonstrate going from one into the other, the key change, then done the solo; It's still morning and my voice is a bit rough though;

In the pogues version the structure goes Intro[d]Verse1[g]Verse2[g]solo[c]verse3[g]verse4[g]repeat verse 1 with last line doubled as far as i remember.
As Ivan said, the original is well worth checking out too, though 95% of folk will know it from the pogues version or think it's by them originally; there's also a good version on youtube with luke kelly from the dubliners singing it very enthusiastically.
Hope that's been of some help anyway.

[ColdBeerGoCubs]

I had looked at Ewans version, but the pogues version stuck in my head much better.

Neil, thanks for that. I wasn't close, but close enough to make me happy. Nice playing also.

[Bigtuna]

Very nice Neil!

[GDAE]

I quite like Michael Fracasso's version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmo-FFNJjVs

[SincereCorgi]

Awesome, Neil. Wish I had a proper accent for miserablist Northern pub songs.

[Bertram Henze]

there's also a good version on youtube with luke kelly from the dubliners singing it very enthusiastically.

That's the one I have learned this from - it lives and dies all with Luke's vocal power. The Pogues' is just a cover version of that to me.
Yours is a much more practical approach for mandolinists, though

[neil argonaut]

Awesome, Neil. Wish I had a proper accent for miserablist Northern pub songs.

cheers, never know I might record a full version one day.