Learning new songs

Absolutely! You got this – and your bandmates will love you for keeping the rhythm over trying to get too fancy. Bass players have absolutely been fired for hotdogging it outside of the beat :smiley:

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This drives me completely nuts. I can’t track something automatically changing behind my glance. +1 to print or Bluetooth pedal page turning music sheets.

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I don’t use any apps like whatever that is you use. I print out (or create) the score a work on it in parts.
First I nail the intro, then the first verse, then the chorus. I’ve found If I can nail those, the rest of the song falls into place.
Difficult parts I practice over and over at slower speed, gradually speeding up until muscle memory takes over.
No matter your technique, breaking it into parts is essential.

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This is a cool idea, will look into it. Hitting “r” over and over to record can get annoying.

Agreed , this is the only way I know how to learn a song :slight_smile:

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For me, I do a few things to learn a song.

  1. Become familiar with the song. It is easier to learn a song you are familiar with and can hum along to.

  2. Learn it in pieces. I will usually use something like Songsterr (paid version) where I can loop specific sections of the song.

  3. Slow it down at first. I find it easier to slow a song down to start with and then slowly speed it up as I master it. Another thing you can do in Songsterr (paid version)

  4. Simplify the song. If the song is just too hard for your current ability, then simplify it. Maybe play 1/8ths instead of 1/16ths or maybe ignore some crazy fill and just play the groove instead.

  5. Memorize it. Not for everyone, but the more you memorize, the more you can concentrate on other things besides the sheet music / tab.

Hope that helps. I know you can do it!

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Interesting. I wasn’t aware they could do that.

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for those tricky bits, I slow down that bit, but then work on the bar or two ahead going into the tricky bit. The transition from the base bassline to a fill or riff always seems to catch me by surprise. If you not only practice the fill/riff but a bit prior and then slowly speed that up it takes the ‘surprise’ out of the riff approaching.

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@chordsykat

I agree 100%! I’ve posted something similar on another thread- that is one aspect of the bass I absolutely love: you do not have to play the song exactly as recorded.

(Especially if you have an opportunity to play with other people) I consider myself very mediocre at this point, but as long as my timing is good and I can stay in sync with the drummer even just with root notes and 5ths thrown in there- everyone is happy!

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I wanna learn Spirit in the Sky with my sister (she has an electric twanger) but I know the tabs I can rely on are few in number. As such I’m taking an underdeveloped step in learning the bassline by ear. Correct me if I’m wrong but it’s mostly a string cross between the E and A strings? I can always tap around to see which frets are the right ones, but I’m going to take a stab in the dark now and say it starts off on the 5th fret of the E. What I’m especially curious about, though, is the brighter sounding fills that follow the steady rhythm parts. It’s hard to describe but I think it goes like “duh duh duh duh-duh duh” like a “one and two and” moment. Anyways, I’m accepting the challenge and feel pretty confident having caught on to “Super Freak” and “Back in Black” rather quickly. Of course I know those songs are “easy” but still :sweat_smile:

Yes. The pedals basically simulate a key input. So if you have shortcuts programmed for the recording function (for example the Enter key) and set your pedal to mimic an Enter key, it’ll do just that

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It absolutely does as @chordsykat has said.
It’s just taken me a week of at least two hours a day to get a section of a song I’m learning to get the timing anywhere near and to realise that I was adding notes :zipper_mouth_face:

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I agree with what you two are saying. However, I just wanted to clarify that this depends a bit on how dominant the bass part is in the song (or that part of the song). For example, if you take something like “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes and just play roots and 5ths over it, it is going to sound like a completely different song. That is because the bass is the driving force in that song and effectively the melody. Same with “Money” by Pink Floyd.

However, in the vast majority of songs what you are saying is true. As long as you are in the same key it will usually sound alright. Obviously the less you deviate usually the better it will sound, if someone is expecting the original.

I find when I’m just having a mess around with a play-through of a song, it’s not unusual for there to be fairly consistent and predictable bass lines, but then have some crazy transition from section to section of the song. I usually just keep the same pattern and don’t play those crazy transitions unless I really want to play the song perfect OR that transition is something people will recognize, like a slide or something.

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@Mac

So true.

I know a lot of non musicians that think a Bass/Guitar player can just pick any song and play it. Maybe some can but most can’t.
I worked for three weeks to learn ‘City of New Orleans’ by Arlo Guthrie.

Another thing I don’t think has been mentioned is the repetition of chord progressions.
So once you have learned one verse of a song all you have to do is use the same chord progression (usually) in the next verse and so on.
Same with the chorus.

Want something simple to remember play a 12 bar blues in A or E.
Only three chords over 12 bars.
Here’s link on YouTube for a simple 12 Bar Blues tutorial and play along

Again, as has been said by many, by breaking a song down, and slowing it down if necessary, it makes it less frustrating and makes it easier to learn.

As they say nothing is as constant as change and in music just when you think you have figured something out some son-of-a-gun comes along and throws you a curveball.
One curveball that comes to mind is when a song changes key part way through and then goes back to the original key later on.

I teach free ukulele lessons locally and the one thing I hate students saying is that they can’t do something. My answer to them is always the same. You can do it but how badly do you want to play the song and lastly if you really believe you cannot do it don’t even bother wasting your time trying because you have already defeated yourself.

Before Covid I would jam with a group of people every week in a 2 hour session. We had selected about 12 songs for the session the week before and that gave us time to practice before we played, and make sure everybody had the same music. There were some songs that I just did not like so I would just take a break during them and give my fingers a rest.

In the end it is all fun and if you are not having fun you might as well move on to something else.

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This is a really good question and really useful to see everyone’s answers as well. I think it’s easy to compare your practise with other people’s finished results and get disheartened. It has taken me about three months of playing for at least an hour every day this year to get good at playing my own (pretty simple) songs. This week I decided to try playing with a pick instead of my fingers, just for versatility in the future, and it was like being back at square one. It just felt so unnatural to me! But, the longer I try and the more I practise, the easier it becomes. That’s the best part of learning anything really, going from ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘whoa, I’m doing it!’ and knowing it’s because you were patient and you worked hard. Best feeling in the world! :slight_smile:

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Thanks, @Mac . . . :slight_smile:

Now I’m sure I’m not the only one struggling like that around here!

Cheers
Joe

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That’s for sure! I started sincerely playing ‘I Want You Back’ this week and there’s no getting around that opening bar. And you inspire another another great point for @locket and I guess, anyone in general: I want to play that song soooo bad, that I know it’s gonna be worth the days of practice that surely are ahead. When you have the itch to challenge yourself, that becomes fun, too. :slight_smile:

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This is one of my most favorite songs on the planet, and I so want to play it, but, it is still a bit too hard for me. If something seems too hard, i keep trying to come back to it and see if as I improve I can nail it. Have not tried in a while. Do you have a good tab for it?

Maybe I can revisit and record it.

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I had same issues and sometimes still do when new stuff comes up. Not because I dont know how, but because my fingers are not used to do it quickly. Start slow, slow down the track until you can play it. Let your fingers get used to positions, and start speeding it up to there.

Also if you have fingering issues Id suggest often practicing with those Joshes 5 levels finger excercises, scales, spider walking, untill you can play them fast with clean tones. It helped me for sure.

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I do, but not handy since I’m on a limited connection as I’m travelling. Look up ‘I Want You Back bass tab’ on Youtube. There are quite a few – A lot with tabs on-screen to follow along. :smiley:

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I love Daft Punks basslines, ma man Nathan East shreds it. For a while I wanted to learn bassline for “Instant Crush” but it was also hard with pops and hammerons and pulloffs combined.
But then I thought to myself, when it will become easy if I dont do it. Then I started slowly even If i could only play 3 tones of whole bassline. With each pass I was getting it better. Even though at start I wasnt pulling off fancy pops, hammer ons and pull off. Second day day I started learning how to do those and third day I was shredding it at full speed.

Learned so many new techniques from that bassline.

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