Cliff Burton Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Firstly I thought this would be the best place to post this topic if not I appologise. My musical ear for notes is absoulutely appauling, it may be because the bass is hardly audible within the music I listen to or I just don't have a very good ear. I know it will come over time but does anyone have any tips to speed up the process? I hate cheating off tab as i'm doing a music course i'm feeling a little left behind. Can anyone give me any simple metal, rock or blues songs to decifer by ear. Thanks. Cliff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Can't tell you anything specific, but try and listen to anything where the bass is prominent and try learning them, even if it's not something you're particularly keen on. At the end of the day, it's about training your ear at this point. The more you do it, the easier it'll become. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickThomas Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 [quote name='Cliff Burton' post='115072' date='Jan 6 2008, 10:59 PM']Can anyone give me any simple metal, rock or blues songs to decifer by ear. Thanks. Cliff.[/quote] Try having a listen through "Badge" (Cream song) . Got a very prominent bassline and nice to play too . Good luck, Nick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickThomas Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Whoa! we both said prominent after 11 at night on a Sunday ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 [quote name='NickThomas' post='115078' date='Jan 6 2008, 11:06 PM']Whoa! we both said prominent after 11 at night on a Sunday ![/quote] Great minds think alike. Love your signature by the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 I'd try something very riff-based and repetitive, like Black Night by Deep Purple, Sunshine of Your Love by Cream, almost anything by Free. In fact if you get the Free Live album the bass is so prominent it's amazing the rest of the band didn't strike in protest. For blues/rock, Red House by Jimi Hendrix, Crossroads by Cream, Long Grey Mare by Gary Moore, Stormy Monday by Leslie West. Any version of Johnny B Goode and Mustang Sally. For all of these you ought to be able to work out something that fits, even if it's not exactly what's on the track. Another thing you could do is download a copy of Guitarpro software, which you can try free for 15 days, and download some gp tab files from the related site. The great thing about that is you can adjust the bass volume in relation the other instruments, hear the bass only, or mute the bass. You can also watch the drum track, for example, rather than the bass, so you're not tempted to cheat. Most of the transcriptions are pretty good, though you'll find a few bad ones (and correcting those is a good exercise). [url="http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php"]http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php[/url] [url="http://www.gprotab.net/index.php"]http://www.gprotab.net/index.php[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Burton Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 [quote name='NickThomas' post='115076' date='Jan 6 2008, 11:05 PM']Try having a listen through "Badge" (Cream song) . Got a very prominent bassline and nice to play too . Good luck, Nick.[/quote] I don't have the song i'll try and find it on youtube. I learnt sunshine of your love by ear a while ago, a lot of fun to play at the time. Thanks Nick Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Burton Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 Thanks guys i'll check out those tunes tomorrow after college, but keep 'em coming, I'll check out Guitar pro as well. Thanks. Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cantdosleepy Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Ultimate Ear Training for Guitar and Bass by Gary Willis is worth a punt, too: [url="http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Ear-Training-Guitar-Bass/dp/0793581567"]http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Ear-Trainin...s/dp/0793581567[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalmaniac Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 What i do i pick an album, and learn it, without ever looking at tab, or watching vids. It may take ages. But eventually youll get it. And you'll get better at articulating notes. Start off with easy songs. Then progressively get harder. I started with real simple stuff like easy RATM, and now I play opeth and megadeth on bass and guitar w/o ever looking at the tab. Only once Im sure ive got as precise as I can do I check how a songs actually played, And correct myself. I think there are 2 benefits to this as youll train your ear, and have the ability to jam out like a mofo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalmaniac Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 BTW Cliff Burton was a brilliant bassist. Orion is my favourite song Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seymourfluid Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 The bass on a recording is usually there but gets lost on most HiFis and personal stereos with poor headphones. I have a good quality PS with GOOD quality headphones and the bass lines are in your face. I also find the my car CD player with the bass turned up is good for this. Seymour Fluid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Check this site out - very useful: [url="http://www.musictheory.net/"]http://www.musictheory.net/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithless Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 (edited) [quote name='metalmaniac' post='115177' date='Jan 7 2008, 03:49 AM']BTW Cliff Burton was a brilliant bassist. Orion is my favourite song[/quote] Cheers, dude, +1 for the Orion epos. But I have to add he was even better composer than a bass player ( of course, for that time, he was good at bass) - just look at Master of Puppets, Call of Ktulu, and the same Orion... Brilliant Edited January 7, 2008 by Faithless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 [quote name='Machines' post='115218' date='Jan 7 2008, 08:42 AM']Check this site out - very useful: [url="http://www.musictheory.net/"]http://www.musictheory.net/[/url][/quote] Good post......very good site that. Very well explained an simplified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 My ear will sit, fetch and play dead but I still can't get it to fetch my slippers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hit&Run Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 One of [url="http://www.tascam.com/details;8,21,17.html"]these[/url] may help you to learn parts of recordings where the bass is quite difficult to distinguish. I picked one up locally second hand for £60 with a PSU, though you can probably get one new for about £70 now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Hit&Run' post='115599' date='Jan 7 2008, 05:23 PM']One of [url="http://www.tascam.com/details;8,21,17.html"]these[/url] may help you to learn parts of recordings where the bass is quite difficult to distinguish. I picked one up locally second hand for £60 with a PSU, though you can probably get one new for about £70 now![/quote] Aah...that reminded me of some software I use now and again, and does pretty much the same thing.....but with MP3/WAV files as well as CDs. Free software, and it's worked a treat for me. [url="http://www.tucows.com/preview/371954"]Download BestPractice software[/url] Edited January 7, 2008 by Thunderthumbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesemt Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 (edited) I've used a Bass trainer for the last 6 months - it's not just highlighting the bass, but easily looping it (in my case looping for about an hour, Steve Harris basslines are maybe a bit too ambitious for me ). Just got the MP3 version, and the bass effects are FAR superior to the BT1MK2. Couple of easy ones to get you going (I've worked them out, and I've only been playing bass about 7 months) Billie Jean by Michael Jackson (there's only really one riff to work out) Have a nice day by Bon Jovi In another lifetime I used to play guitar (15 years ago) and it shocks me the amount of people these days that don't try and learn stuff by ear. I always found tabs harder and inaccurate... The secret is to set yourself a goal of learning a song or part of a song in a pratice session (and not give up until you've got it, even if it's only half a verse or something). With more complicated stuff, REALLY know the song. If you can hum the bass line, you can work it out so much easier. Livin On A Prayer (Bon Jovi) is a classic for this, and the bass line is such a huge part of the song. Edited January 9, 2008 by Jamesemt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 [quote name='Jamesemt' post='116848' date='Jan 9 2008, 10:29 AM']The secret is to set yourself a goal of learning a song or part of a song in a pratice session (and not give up until you've got it, even if it's only half a verse or something).[/quote] I persevered with something for about 2 hours that I thought at first was very simple.....the bass line along to the guitar solo in "Are You Gonna Go My Way" by Lenny Kravitz. No problems with the rest of it, just the guitar solo bass. Tabs were inaccurate. Used BestPractice software, looped that part, slowed it down, worked it out by ear in "bit by bit" parts, and cracked it. I always liken songs to jigsaws. You just have to break the song into lots of smaller pieces, and then finally put it all together. No point constantly looping a full song, as it could be 3-4 minutes before you get back to the part you got wrong initially, and will have forgotten it anyway by the time you reach it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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