Learn Morse Code The Right Way. 

The "Do not try to replay in your head what you didn't copy" is the hardest thing to achieve for me so far... Cheers for the vid mate ;)

Morse is not a dying art. It is alive and well. As long as there are communicators that realize the significance of Morse and use it it will be a popular mode. I hear more Morse now than before when testing was required to advance from one level to the next. Many want to learn Morse but don't make the effort to practice. Like learning a language, you don't study once per week then become fluent with the language you don't use every day.

Here's another tip. Once you become fluent with hearing/recognizing the Morse character, like learning to read your language, you want to progress from individual alpha character recognition to words. Practicing 2 letter words, then 3 letter words, then 4 letter words, then 5 letter words will increase your brains vocabulary of not hearing just a single character sound but a word sound. I practice this for the English language. I am sure that it works for other languages, too. 73 KB8AMZ

It's just like learning a new language. Someone says "tete" and you know it means "head." Someone says "Schwartz" and you know it means "back" So when you hear dit-dah you know it means "A". When you hear dah-dit-dit you know it means "D". When you become better at it you're hearing a string of dits and dahs but you're thinking strings of letters that form words. I never progressed beyond that but I had military instructors who could communicate in real time using code without writing anything down - they were at the point where they were actually thinking words instead of individual letters. I think that communicating words was a good bit easier than the meaningless 5 character groups the military often used. An interesting thing I found was that when I got up to around 18wpm I was copying an average of 7 letters behind the code. In other words I'd be writing down the letter I heard 7 characters ago, while at the same time remembering all of the subsequent characters.

I just wanted to learn morse code since I'm very bored because of this quarantine

In the service we learned to copy on a typewriter. Goes right from ears to fingers.

What I think about school ... - - - ...

I just want to learn Morse code to cuss someone out in private

._. no morse code, just a poker face

I appreciate your time and insight Sir. Thank you for making and sharing your video.

Very helpful, thank you! I've started using an app called morse mania. I think it follows these same tips you've suggested. I'll keep with it.

This was absolutely amazing. I've been saying "CW" without thinking. The whiteboard concept is real cool. Thank You.

Great suggestions. A few thoughts: - Practice receiving the kind of texts that you will be receiving in real life. For example, if you're going to do CW as a ham, practice receiving typical QSOs ( G3YWX DE G3QAB G3QAB AR KN). Knowing the context and likely words really helps. "CQ" for example has a rhythm that burns itself into your brain. - When I first learned the code, I started by picturing the letters as dots and dashes ... For example, for U I pictured the two dots at top ends of the letter, and then a long dash as the stroke connecting them. Thus dit - dit - dah. But as soon as possible, I moved to the stage of identifying a sound / rhythm with the letter. I used flashcards with my mother, and she sounded the dit's and dah's. - I hadn't done Morse code for about 50 years. About a month ago, I tried it again and it came back at about 10 WPM. Amazing things, those neural circuits! One reason I think I remembered it is that for years, I amused myself when I was waiting for something, by sounding out in Morse Code the signs and adverts that I saw around me. - Make it fun. For example: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6XHwygN9CKM.html

Excellent video! Thank you fir sharing your knowledge.

Bonjour Gil, your video explains the mental process of learning Morse Code perfectly! (Thank You for ALL your vids - none of us are too old to learn something new.. 73 mon ami)

Thanks for the video Gil. I learned it the wrong way 40 years ago. :) Probably the reason why I haven't taken to Morse.. But I am enthused to learn correct way now.. You explained it very well. Dan

Very informative!! 🙌

Very good information here. Thank you Gil.

Excellent video! I was trying to explain this concept to a friend ...just HEAR the character sound do not associate it with a visual lookup table (dit dah etc) ...for example the letter "G" hear it as G ...forget using the slow (dah dah dit) business!! CW is a language of sounds and rhythm. Learn it by listenng to the sound of the character to build a memory sound association! I too learned and unlearned it the hard way. Yes best to start at the highest speed you can to discern a dit from a dah (~15-20wpm). We all learned our native tongue (language) by listening to our parents speak at 300 wpm! Not 5 wpm!! ...just saying! Nice work, RP!

This video is the best explanation of how and WHY how to learn the code. Thank you.

Gil, thank you. I did not realize I was using a look up table in my head. No wonder I miss the next letter. This is probably the 11th time i have "started over" :) but now I know what I should NOT be doing. I've used the character speed of 25 wpm and 13 wpm. I'll up the 13 to 15-18 wpm. Your video is a big help. I'm still studying it. de n0wdm

Thank you sooo much this was very helpful!

Very helpful tips. Thank you!

The code that Samuel Fairbanks Morse developed was numerical with individual numerical codes for different words. His Code book ran to hundreds of pages. His Engineering Assistant, Alfred Vail developed the letter substitution code which was both simpler and faster to use. Initially the Morse/Vail telegraph code was meant to be read visually. Stylus and later pen registers would make marks on a paper tape as long as the sending key was depressed. The paper tapes of Morse's first message; "What has God wrought" is in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum. It is from these paper tapes that the terms dot and dash came which still haunt us today. The telegraphers quickly discovered that they could read the code from the sounds made by the relay and paper tape register that was used to copy the code. Initially management suppressed receiving by ear for a variety of reasons. One reason that a message received by ear did not provide a durable record of the message as received. But the paper tape registers were expensive to buy, use, and maintain. Especially expensive was the using of the paper tape registers. The telegrapher would read the code from the paper tape aloud and a stenographer would right it down. That takes two people. When receiving by ear the telegrapher could write or later type the message as they heard it. As soon as management realized to degree of economy in operation that reading by ear offered Registers were relegated to the recording of special messages were it was vital to have a durable record of the message exactly as received. Most Registers had been displaced by sounders in the years following the American Civil War. Initially the Morse/Vail code was used in England but as telegraph lines spread over the rest of Europe it was discovered that it was far less suitable for some European languages than it was for English. The code was adapted for use in German by Friedrich Clemens Gerke in 1848. It is Gerke's code that became the standard code in all of Europe including the United Kingdom. It was commonly called the Continental Code. The adoption of the Continental Code in the British Isles was undoubtedly an adaptation to communicating with the rest of Europe. When it came time for Guglielmo Marconi to select which code to use by the Marconi Company: which later became the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company; he chose the Continental Code. During that process all letters that required spaces within a character for intelligibility were altered to sets of sounds with no spaces. That was vital in radio because a space could be caused by atmospherics or interference blocking the sound that actually was sent thus causing the message to be misread. It is Gerke's continental telegraph code that became the radio telegraph code. Following the founding of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) the continental code was permanently adopted as the International Radio Telegraph Code. Morse himself made a brief attempt to convince American telegraphers to adopt the Continental Code as used on the land telegraph lines of Europe after having observed it in use. Strong resistance from american telegraphers; many of whom were paid by the word; and their unions prevented that change. The Morse/Vail code continued in use on North American Telegraph lines right up until it's last commercial users, the american railroads, replaced it with telephones in the late 1950s. Telegraphic signalling for public communication had already been supplanted by Teletypewriter technology that could be used over existing telegraph lines by less skilled operators, and like the early registers, provided a written record of the message as received. The short version is that the Morse/Vail code was never broadly used in radio. Gerke's (Continental) code was what became; with some modification; the radio telegraph code. -- Tom Horne

You can count the dits and dahs to about 10WPM. To get past 10WPM you have to learn the rhythm of the letters as a unit. You can do this up to about 18WPM. To get past 18WPM you need to learn triplets of characters. You will then understand why the 'Q' codes or pro codes, weather data and aviation data like airport identifiers are mostly 3 characters. Learn the code characters at 30WPM. After a while it gets to be an aural language. At high speed you need to use a "mill" or typewriter. I use an editor on my computer.

Yet another "hit out of the ballpark", Gil. Very encouraging, thank you.

Thanks for sharing. Good advice.

I am writing a story where some students need to learn Morse code, and without me even searching for it, this video jumped up in my recommendations. The Internet is getting psychic!

Thank you for this video, i think morse is really helpful especially in emergencies (...---...) you inspired me

Thanks for sharing this very interesting stuff

@Radio Prepper. This is an excellent video and lesson. Thank you for sharing. Merci beaucoup.

This is the way to learn it. All is about the "music" of the characters. Thanks Gil. it is a pleasure to watch your channel.

As an older aged learner, I found this useful. It highlighted some concepts that I’ve been grappling with. For someone without English as a first language you’ve done well with the delivery. As an OCD, I jar with the use of capitals and lower case - RADIO, not RADiO. Problem with decoding though if trying to something which is deliberately non-English, eg 5 letter groups. Lucky we are not at war!

Thanks for the info.

It's been a while since I've used CW but to practice I sound out automobile license plates, signs, tv commercials, etc.into code.

I liked to hear your explanation.

AMAZING video! Thank you very much! This was very helpful for me to start learning!

Great helpful information.....thank you...

Good video and very good advice! I have not mastered high speed CW as of yet, but my experience and observations conclude exactly what is suggested here. Thanks!

When I was in college I took over my cousin's job delivering Telegrams for a Summer break. He had been drafted. It was 1971 and in a small town of only about 10,000. We were lucky to get one every other day, but it was quite nice. There was only one person in the office and she too was filling in for someone. She entertained me with many interesting stories of the 'old days'. I started to learn Morse Code, but my University studies took precedence. There was a time when it played a very major role in this country.

Great Job!

Très judicieux conseils je pense ! Merci

Using the LCWO site now. Just signed on yesterday. MAN I have a lot to learn! I hope if looking at it as I'm learning a new instrument it will help. You know -- guitar, mandolin, Morse code.

Thanks for making this. I am just beginning to learn Morse so finding this video was perfect timing for me. The "Ham Morse" app is expensive, but it looks pretty good so far.

The 5 +- 2 famous psychophysics study refers to "uncorrelated" stimuli and no sequence learning. Here you have sequences over time and letters composing transmissions (including call signs to a lesser extent) show very strong (cross)correlations.

Very good video! When I learned Morse code in 1973 (using a set of vinyl records) nobody told me to go this way. All beginners started with dots and dashes at very slow speed. Btw your first pronunciation of "Koch method" was correct. Koch like Loch (Ness). Ludwig Koch was a german psychologist (not a "Koch" = cook ;-)

Merci I'm beginning morse code and studying for my technician license in the United States. I have made several visits to France while seeving aboard the USS Comte De Grasse sister ship to the Frigate De Grasse. You're right about the ear and brain trying to write the letter, your suggestions will be better. Thank you from Spokane Valley, Washington.

morse code is music to my ear. caveat: do not try to memorize a written code chart, it will only impede your progress. when you hear the sound dit or dah or combination of the two sounds assigned, think of the character. thanks de AH0D _ _ . . . . . . _ _

Your advice about trying to learn to respond to the sounds by seeing the letters rather than the dots and dashes seems brilliant! It made me wonder if that can apply somehow to people who have problems with reading. Thanks!

Really true sir!! I learnt the basic letters at a very low character speed and now, I can't tell the word unless I see the picture of Morse code in my head. It's just too frustrating. Will definitely do as you said now. Thanks a lot!!

Nicely done!

Will have a go at this...great video BTW, many thanks!

Ex Royal Corps of Signals Telegraphist , used to transcribe this stuff at light speed, many characters in arrears, the code had stopped but I was still typing, still had time to drink tea and smoke a cigarette, when it came to figures only it was all just a blur , pretty much ignore the dots completely, 35+ years later and 25 wpm still sounds slow.

Are there audiobooks that teach the code? Seem an ideal medium for learning this.

This is good advice. I originally passed my 13 wpm test by using surrounding letters to find the word.

Thanks. Just getting back into cw after years. I'm going to go 20 wpm to relearn without that detrimental second step you pointed out.

Hello Gil, bonjour. Thanks a lot for this video. At this moment I am teaching 3 collegue hamoperators the noble art of morsecode, using the Koch methode (you pronounced it perfectly) and we are making progress. We are now at a speed of 15 wpm with a 12 wpm interval. So, you have a point in your excellent video, but.......there a more roads that lead to Rome. I , personally, learned morsecode in the 60's when I studied to be a merchant navy radio operator at a nautical college in Amsterdam. We learned it there the slow way. that is: we started en 8 wpm if I remember correctly. And if I say 8 wpm then I mean 8 wpm in both characters and intervals. Later we speeded up to eventually 20 wpm, being the required speed on the exam. After about 9 years of being a professsional radio-operator (5 years merchant navy, 4 years in the Royal Neth. Airforce) I said goodbye to the morsecode in 1976 only to pick it up in 2010 as a hamoperator, just like that. As if I had never left the HF-bands. At first I only used the good old brasspounder, but later on I got used to the paddle. I always adjust my speed to my counterparty, but I feel most comfortable with speeds between 25 and 30 wpm and I can take up to 40 wpm by just listening to it. Those speeds are to speedy for me to write down. Gil 73 de PA5ABW (Albert)

Such good advice.

Got my novice ticket in 1990,( never should have picked up a mic after that ) my learning curve was really accelerating(5 wpm ). Now every few years I try again, but now at 71, I have a big problem with comprehension and memory. I still try to get some code to "stick" in the old noggin. Like your vids..

Thank you

Very good advice

LCWO.com works on Android. Some things I have noticed. Your brain really wants to do real time error correction. Like Gil says, you MUST let that go or it's like suddenly finding your self running down a very steep hill. You will face plant, and fast. I swear it's like some of the things Yoda says to Luke on Dagobah. You must clear your mind and let the code flow through you. And to quote another movie, you don't have time to think. If you think, you're dead.

I AM LOST. BUT THANK YOU FOR THE TIPS

The problem is when starting out is remembering the code for each letter. The second step allows for memory aids, so you can work out what each letter is in morse. I would say its worth learning so you don't need to go around with a piece of paper with the codes and letters on, if your learning in an environment where you always have that then I can see the benefits of you method only. .

TNX FER NC tutorial and advice. I have done most of the mistakes you mentioned while I was studying the code. After learning the basic characters, there is no did and dah, just sound-fonts and rhythm. 73 de sv1onk

Been in ham radio since 1960....mainly using Morse and copy 20 wpm. Have known many others to copy much faster all without writing anything done and still while in conversation with you verbally. Most were excellent with crossword puzzles. But I have found cw the most reliable mode even in poor radio conditions. Like learning a foreign language. BUT I learnt in all the wrong ways that Gil now has shown me. Learning at slow speeds and slowing increasing rates.....all written down and seeing dots and dashes rather then only letters. Learning at 15 wpm from the start makes perfect sense. Speeding up copy speeds then reducing to a lower rate can work for improving copy skills. Gil’s tips and approach super smart and a fine guide for starting the Morse learning process. Also even for a long time Morse user to relearn the process, but now correctly. Thank you Gil. John W7JO

Gil, I know you made this video a while ago but all good points. I learned it first in 1985 and still learning I guess although I can go abt 30 WPM now with misses. Key for me was to practice 20-30 minutes a day to learn. After that for speed I listen faster than i can copy pushing myself. I can’t really copy at 50+ WPM but often my brain does copy and I just know??? Not sure how it does that. Good video and advice.

Correct. Start at 15. 20 is my frontier.

Very good

I agree entirely. It seems easier to learn at a faster letter rate. I started listening to the “tune” of Morse at 20wpm and found it difficult to go back. I reckon listening is the key to sending.

Glad I ran across your tips and pointers. I was given a Morse Code bracelet made with beads, and that is what sparked me to learn Morse Code. Looking forward to the challenge!

I learned Morse code in the fall of 1980 as a kid, from a book and cassette tape from Radio Shack. Five words per minute/wpm. Took about a week at 30 mins a day.1981 Spring, I got my Novice amateur License. Now 5 wpm is slow, but I have very strong foundation of the letters and numbers. I wrote everything down. Even at 20 wpm, I wrote it down. Back then, it only took a couple of months to go from 5 wpm to 13 wpm General class and a couple more months from 13 to 21 wpm Extra Class. The thing about that book from Radio shack, it told you to hear the letters and numbers as dits and dahs, because that is what it sounds like when you hear it over the radio. The book was needed in the beginning so you knew what letter was sounded on the tape. After all the letters were taught, the tape would send words and you had to write them on paper. It was 5 wpm, but it gave you a very strong foundation. I never had any limitations on how fast I could copy. No hurdles. When studying to pass 13 wpm, I listened at 15, 18 wpm listened at 20. 21 listened at 25 wpm. I know some people struggle in getting faster because they do not have a strong foundation. Trying to learn short cuts to try and memorize the letters is not going to help in the long run. Practice is the key. Like a teacher told me in the past, if you rely on short cuts, you do not know it well enough. I know a group of people started learning Morse code. After 4 months of listening at 20/25 wpm, on the final listening. They got nothing. Out of 4 people, not a one got anything. Some complained, it was too fast or too slow. I guess what I am trying to say is, practice slow and fast. If I can copy at 50 wpm I know a lot of others can also. It just takes dedication.

Best Morse educational video on the web.

A slower speed is sometimes needed under bad QRM or QRN conditions where at a faster speed the receiving station loses letters in the noise, too many being lost to make sense of what you do receive. I've worked stations where we're both QRP with reports of 339 and even a couple at 229 each way. No good rattling out fast Morse and losing information. G4GHB.

Thanks Gil!

good job thankks

He’s right. Learn by hearing the sounds and eliminate the extra step of a mental lookup table.

Well done Gil from correcting yourself from dash and dot to dah and dit, that's the CORRECT way :O) Also start by forming the character at 15wpm but leave a long space between words at the start, gradually reducing the gap as you gain proficiency. Also learn iambic keying, it's much easier and the key stays in one place not sliding about on the bench.

Merci beaucoup Gil. J'étudie code Morse et le français. Votre channel est une grande aide.

I am learning Morse Code. My dad put 2 Morse Code apps on my iPad mini device. One is for me to do Morse Code and the other one i use to talk to everyone around the world

What's your thoughts concerning beginners learning with Lambic key? I'm learning now; using straight key; Speeds greater than 15 wpm might be easier on the Lambic? I'm finding 'hearing' appreciably more difficult than sending.

Interesting, since having my stroke back in 2015 my short term memory has gone. So when learning CW again I had to make differences, one of them being that I had to write words down. This proves your point when you say that you are ltd to about 15/16 wpm. Whereas before pre stroke I was 20/25 wpm! However as you say 15 wpm is a good speed to work with. Nice video!

After I got my Novice ticket in '91 I hit a plateau at about 9 WPM. Time to shake off the cobwebs and get back in there.

Thanks

Bonjour Gil, merci pour vos conseils, après deux tentatives, je vais essayer de suivre vos conseils 73,s de 4GMS Bravo

Great video

To get my Amateur Extra License, i had to send & receive at 20 wpm. I practiced at 25 wpm and was able to qso at about 30 before taking the test. I recommend copying random characters at random length at five wpm higher than you need to copy for practice. Learn to hear the sound and have it mean the letter.

Shalom!!!

Yes Sir! People can learn a melody easier that spelling the words!!

Great video, it's very hard to explain what you did there. I try to teach people that the letter has to instantly appear when heard. That connection takes tons of time and practice. Now I have that, the problem is, actually remembering the letters. Sure I can see K C 9 D F C, but 3 seconds later I have forgotten it....! My short term memory only has 2 slots. : (

Good video. I'm using a Kindle app called 'Morse Code Attack'. It's a game but it helps build up recognition of morse in stage levels and speeds.

thanks for great info. i use koch trainer, should i watch the letters appear on computer screen while letter is ' transmitted ? or just ignore screen and only listen?

I need some advice-what is best to start out with the paddle or the straight key? I have a MF J-557 straight key

Excellent video! You Are spot-on. Unfortunately I learned mine at about 7 words a minute to pass the general exam. I wish I would have learned it faster be cuz now when I hear a "G" I think dah-dah-dit and then think "that's a G." Really slows me down. And it's hard to relearn at a faster speed...

Thanks for the nice video. I can headcopy about 8wpm now but you mentioned the recommended lower start speed is 15wpm. Do you think I have to go 15wpm even though I could copy nothing for now? Please advise.

A friend and I want to get touch bracelets (when you touch yours the other persons vibrates, as long as its connected to the internet at least), and we want to communicate through morse. Itll probably be harder since we wont have distinct sounds, but Id really like to learn it.

I learned at Ft. Huachuca in Arizona. The fastest speed I could copy was 24 gpm. I miss copying. My instructors told me di da is Alpha everything is different..

for concept only. My key to learning code is to learn sounds, not combinations of dits and dah. When coping do not speak (moving your lips) or mentally say the letter in your head, "THINK the letter / THINK the sound"; you can not spend time pronouncing the letters (even mentally saying the letter in your head), at higher speeds the letters will go by faster than you can speak it mentally and eventually at even higher speeds the sounds of each character will go by faster than you can think them.

This is the way to do it.

Thanks!