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Picking out basslines by ear


Jam
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I was playing some Mario with the other half last night and fancied trying to work out some of the bass to some of the songs - Nintendo games generally have some pretty interesting arrangements and they tend to get stuck in your head if you have to keep replaying the levels...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6MfnbeilTY[/media]

I sat down and tried to work out the above note for note, but have struggled a little. I can pick out a fair bit of it but struggled to get everything perfect. I'm enjoying myself doing it, I'm using it as ear training so am trying to avoid transcriptions but would appreciate any advice from people who often work out basslines/key signatures by ear. Am starting by picking out the root notes and fleshing out the rest with some pausing and repeating.

I have a fairly rudimentary knowledge of theory and suspect more knowledge of key signatures and chord progressions would be useful!

Edited by Jam
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[quote name='Jam' timestamp='1493111191' post='3285612']
I was playing some Mario with the other half last night and fancied trying to work out some of the bass to some of the songs - Nintendo games generally have some pretty interesting arrangements and they tend to get stuck in your head if you have to keep replaying the levels...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6MfnbeilTY[/media]

I sat down and tried to work out the above note for note, but have struggled a little. I can pick out a fair bit of it but struggled to get everything perfect. I'm enjoying myself doing it, I'm using it as ear training so am trying to avoid transcriptions but would appreciate any advice from people who often work out basslines/key signatures by ear. Am starting by picking out the root notes and fleshing out the rest with some pausing and repeating.

I have a fairly rudimentary knowledge of theory and suspect more knowledge of key signatures and chord progressions would be useful!
[/quote]


Haha...I know this theme inside out. My oldest Boy transcribed the whole above score over a couple of days - Constant playing and rewinding drove me mad !!!
Then not long after he found this site (below). Loads of those Mario game themes and tunes written out in Condensed Piano Score.

I know this is an 'Ear' thread, but this might be useful for the above Mario Theme 'Shifty Boo Mansion'.
Again, It's a reduced Piano Score, but the Bass line is written down with the Piano Bass notes. All good for sight reading practise for playing along with the YouTube Videos.
[attachment=244064:Shifty Boo Mansion.pdf]


(Mario charts below in the link - On the left hand side there are other game titles). They are in PDF, MuseScore and Midi File format (on the right hand side of the page for download - Just right click on the icons).
[url="http://www.ninsheetmusic.org/browse/series/SuperMario"]http://www.ninsheetm...ries/SuperMario[/url]

[b]EDIT[/b]: If you download the PDF file, you will have to change the file extension from ipb to pdf. I believe it is something to do with the forum software.

Edited by lowdown
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Guest bassman7755

Well the fact that your prepared to try at all is the main thing as it is not some sort of black art that your are born with but an eminently learnable skill, and you only learn it by trying it.

The usual tips apply: attack it in small chuncks ideally using some sort of phrase trainer app/device to loop and slow down the part, try to sing/hum the part before you play it on the instrument.

Edited by bassman7755
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Guest bassman7755

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imj7FniRzyY[/media]

I like how she emphasises listening and singing before playing.

Edited by bassman7755
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Every player has their way of working something out. I find it to be a really great way of getting to know the fretboard by ear.

I usually start with the root note. Find the first or second note in a line and work from there. I use my ear and listen for chord tonality, so I can check the nearby chord tones and then start working on any 'outside' notes once I've been through the obvious stuff. It's not much help for Mario stuff as it's written on keys, but a lot of bass stuff is played with the next note in easy reach of the last.

I really think that singing a part can help you to make sense of it. Any tricky parts, just sing them back to yourself. This will quickly get you on track.

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