Members mobass Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 Does anyone have any tips on learning songs by ear? I'll figure one out everynow and then, but it usually takes forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Captain Fathead Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 The more you do it the better you get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Emprov Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 The more you do it the better you get. Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hotblack Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 The more you do it the better you get. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fran da Man Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 You guys coming up nowadays are lucky with your crystal clear CD's, MP3's, and what not...you should try by ear with only a wrapped scratched up vinyl LP and static AM radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mobass Posted October 3, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 When you guys listen to a song, can you listen to a note and know that is's an A, Gb, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fiery Furnace Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 The other guys are correct, you just have to do it to get good at it. Find a song that isn't too fast, and has a clear bassline you want to learn. Play it on a digital source (computer) so you can jump easily. Play the first note and just keep hitting notes on your bass until you find it. That's half the battle, because you know there's a logical next note: listen, play in the box, find the second note, etc. It gets easier as you find more notes. As a transition, use a tab to find the first note, then explore on your own (most tabs on the internet are incorrect anyway). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackcheez Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 When you guys listen to a song, can you listen to a note and know that is's an A, Gb, etc?That would be absolute pitch. I'm good, but not that good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitargod0dmw Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 +1 with everything that has been stated. The more you do it, the better you'll get...just like anything. As far as knowing what note it is just by hearing it, sometimes. I need to think about it a lot. Sometimes I'm right on, sometimes I'm dead wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackcheez Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 If you google "ear training" a lot of stuff comes up. I don't know how good any of it is, but there's a lot of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fiery Furnace Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 When you guys listen to a song, can you listen to a note and know that is's an A, Gb, etc? No. Some guys can, of course. But you can tell where it's being played on the fretboard and generally narrow it down to 3 - 4 notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marcher5877 Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 I cant listen to a song and say "Thats in Gb" or "thats in A" but if I have my guitar in front of me, I can usally figure it out. Just play a bunch of notes. the notes that fit, keep playing. Dont play the notes that dont fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted October 3, 2007 Moderators Share Posted October 3, 2007 When you guys listen to a song, can you listen to a note and know that is's an A, Gb, etc? Not without a reference pitch. Once I have one note as reference I can usually get it on the first or second try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Captain Fathead Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 I've been transposing a lot of classical music onto the bass as of late. It's a great ear training and fingering exercise. Try listening to some Bach, then working it out. Most rock seems so easy after that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members picker13 Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 As far as the key or the note of the first root, either ask someone or figure it out by trial and error. After playing bass for a while, and figuring out songs by ear, two things happen. First, you learn the common patterns, which are really applied scales, that are in the different styles of music. Secondly, by figuring out songs, you slowly learn to hear intervals, or the musical distance between notes, and can almost automatically play what you hear. It's like anything else, either you're a savant, or you need to practice, practice, practice.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members georgestrings Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 When you guys listen to a song, can you listen to a note and know that is's an A, Gb, etc? I usually can for E,A,D,G, and C - and their minors - others not so consistantly... - georgestrings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rummy Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 Get a notepad and a pen. Start writing down all you can. Once you figure out the chords, it makes things easier, imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members georgestrings Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 The more you do it the better you get. Pretty much - sometimes when I've covered my set lists as well as I can, and still want to play - I'll play random songs that come up on the radio... of course, a few come up that I know, and that gives me a mental "break" - but the rest are an excellent exercise in ear training... - georgestrings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fran da Man Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 Or you could always Google "ears" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thumper Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 The more you do it the better you get. Yep. Listen to what the drummer is doing on the track, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slapthefunkyfour Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 What everyone else says. Practice. That is the only way. Perfect pitch? Yes, I can. I'm pretty lucky I guess. I've never had to work at it, it just comes naturally. My parents said I was born with it. From what I've heard, you are either born with it or you have to work extremely hard to be able to do it. Practice, practice, practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members justinbass Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 Perfect pitch? Yes, I can. I'm pretty lucky I guess. That is more than pretty lucky. I have a good ear, and it came from years of learning songs by ear. Randomly I'll be able to identify a note correctly when I hear it. Other times I will incorrectly identify a simple interval. It takes work. Blah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ender_rpm Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 As far as the key or the note of the first root, either ask someone or figure it out by trial and error. After playing bass for a while, and figuring out songs by ear, two things happen. First, you learn the common patterns, which are really applied scales, that are in the different styles of music. Secondly, by figuring out songs, you slowly learn to hear intervals, or the musical distance between notes, and can almost automatically play what you hear. It's like anything else, either you're a savant, or you need to practice, practice, practice.... that's pretty much how I learned too. Just gotta try it. Once you have a song or 2 worked out, check it against a tab or pro transcription and see how close you are. That works well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rob Martinez Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 Make sure your bass and what you are listening to are standard tuned. Then you know everyone is on the same map. You need to train your ears to hear certain things, and not necessarily the bass. Can you recognize a major chord from a minor chord in a song? Are you familiar with different bass playing styles, ie blues, metal, funk? Can you hear the role the bass is playing in relation to other instruments? I am not trying to be a smart ass with these questions, it is just that there is a lot of natural musical ability mixed with PRACTICE that makes learning by ear possible. I am pretty good at it, but even I struggle with some stuff, and in that instance I just approximate the part, and compose my own bass line in that style. My brother has perfect pitch, meaning I can play a note in one room and in the other room he can just call it out, even #s and flats. I am ALMOST that good, but not quite! But perfect pitch is not needed to learn songs by ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Slats Posted October 3, 2007 Members Share Posted October 3, 2007 Yep, all the responses are correct.... the only thing I'd like to add is to make sure you have a basic understanding of music theory. It's not brain surgery....but a basic understanding will help you limit how many notes you've got to try to see if they sound right. And sometimes when the note is not real clear or disappears in a drum beat or sumpin..... you have a note that fits just fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.