i hear the basslines in my head...

[Ant]

all the basslines that i think of in my head i would be able to play if i knew them, but i have trouble getting them from my brain to my fingers - but sometimes its easy peasey, any tips on getting them out of myself easier?

[GonzoBass]

You might try singing (or humming) the line to yourself
based on the premise that "if you can say it, you can play it"
or try humming an elusive pitch outloud and then sliding up to it on your fretboard.

I hope this helps!

Is there a specific line you're working on?

[johnnylager]

[quote name='GonzoBass' post='152180' date='Mar 6 2008, 08:51 AM']try humming an elusive pitch outloud and then sliding up to it on your fretboard.[/quote]
+1. Don't listen to the [i]voices[/i] in your head however - it's got me into all sorts of bother over the years.

[jakenewmanbass]

Its about two things, familiarity and relationships. The relationships are between your brain/inner ear and your hands, and to what extent a certain movement produces a predictable result. And familiarity, how many instances of these relationships your brain has memorised and is able to recall at will. If you've done a specific movement before, the higher the chances of accurately repeating that movement, not so easy with things you've never done before. The answer: absorption of enormous amounts of reference material. If you absorb enough you will be able to recall it more easily, and it gets better. The more you absorb the more instances of similarity and pattern emerge, until you reach the point that you are familiar by 'experience' with things that you have not necassarily done in that precise form but is sufficiently close to things that you [i]have done[/i] to be recognisable. depending on your rate of practise and how diligent and talented and energetic you are the above process can take between 2 and 40 yrs to bear fruit (took me 25, I'm a lazy bastard)
If you've read this far, this is broadly (not always) what separates musicians that really take it seriously and those that do it for fun, either is valid in my view, but if you seriously want to play whats in your head to any accomplished extent you've got some work to do. But for me its the most fun work there is.
Jake

[BOD2]

It's sometimes called "ear training" and is the ability to play the notes that you "hear" automatically.

Some information here [url="http://www.bothner.co.za/articles/importantskill.shtml"]bothner.co.za[/url]

[Ant]

thanks for all the replies, ill have to just keep practicing!!

[chris_b]

[quote name='BOD2' post='152230' date='Mar 6 2008, 10:29 AM'].... It's sometimes called "ear training" and is the ability to play the notes that you "hear" automatically....[/quote]
After many years practise and training I have found the best solution is to hear the notes I play.

[The Funk]

I remember someone telling me a long time ago that an easy way to remember what different intervals sound like is to associate them with the first two notes of songs you are familiar with, eg. octave up = Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='The Funk' post='152297' date='Mar 6 2008, 12:01 PM']I remember someone telling me a long time ago that an easy way to remember what different intervals sound like is to associate them with the first two notes of songs you are familiar with, eg. octave up = Somewhere Over The Rainbow.[/quote]
+1
Association is the 'familiar' thing I mentioned in my earlier post

Edited March 6, 2008 by jakesbass

[Doddy]

My only problem with using familier melodies to learn intervals,is that it can become difficult to break away from. If you are improvising a solo for example,and hear a phrase in your head you don't really have time to think of 'over the rainbow' or whatever. I would advise breaking scales up into individual intervals-eg. I-II,I-III,I-IV...etc. That way you are hearing the intervals by themselves as opposed to in a song context.

[The Funk]

[quote name='Doddy' post='152468' date='Mar 6 2008, 04:13 PM']My only problem with using familier melodies to learn intervals,is that it can become difficult to break away from. If you are improvising a solo for example,and hear a phrase in your head you don't really have time to think of 'over the rainbow' or whatever. I would advise breaking scales up into individual intervals-eg. I-II,I-III,I-IV...etc. That way you are hearing the intervals by themselves as opposed to in a song context.[/quote]

If you're still using the song to help you hear the intervals by the time you're up on stage, you haven't had enough practice at home. I was suggesting that when you first start on getting the sound of an octave up into your head (while practising at home), you can use songs you already know as examples.

[urb]

One very important thing a certain Mr Vic Wooten pointed out was that it's important not to "sing what you play" but "PLAY what you SING" - there's a big difference. The first way you will simply be singing along with tones on the bass and falling into the same old patterns etc the second way should - ideally - stretch you away from those familiar patterns.

One interesting thing I have seen demonstrated at a jazz course was the tutor played the piano - laying out one chord then another slowly - and asked a student to sing an improvised melody over the top - nothing complicated, just what came to his mind and ear at the time. Amazingly the student sang a perfectly good improvised melody no trouble at all. So why is that to that on an instrument is so much harder? Well that's where you have to go back to really listening to the way certain notes sound over a chord - from exploring the different intervals in the scale that the chord is derived from. A starting point for this is singing along with the scales and arpeggios that you practice - do them slowly and not only try to sing each note but also visualise its relation to the root of the scale on the neck - and then extract that out to the chord tones root, third, fifth. seventh, ninth, eleventh etc.

Also look at scale intervals - how do they sound played from one note to the next? Try playing a whole tone scale, then just minor thirds, then just major thirds, minor major scales, diminished, augmented etc etc - try and get familiar with the basic differences between major and minor first though! Which is essentially means the sound of a major or minor third, or seventh. When you learn a song - try and look at how laying certain chords next to each other sound - minor to major, etc.

That's just a few tips - it's a huge area and not one to be over looked - getting your ear together is way more valuable than getting loads of speed or fancy techniques - the easiest way to do it start by learning loads of songs - see if you can find some stuff y0ou like that's not too hard to play. Learn the chord sequences then try and learn the melody too - that way you will start to develop a very real sense of how harmony works - it's not rocket science but does require a bit of deeper investigation. However if you stick at it and get confident enough to start writing your own stuff it's a fantastic thing to be able to do.

Hope that helps a bit

Mike

[SJA]

check out this site for examples of intervals, and songs they're in-

[url="http://www.musicalintervalstutor.info/listenpg.html"]http://www.musicalintervalstutor.info/listenpg.html[/url]

major 7th, I remember from Devo's "girl you want".

[karlbbb]

In my old punk band I had loads of great sounding ideas in my head (just little runs instead of root note chugging) and I so badly wanted to play them, I could just never translate it into something that I could play and would be in the right key/scale etc.

I've played piano for nigh on 16 years, and so perhaps I should be better at this (knowing scales etc), but I'm completely self-taught in all my musical endeavors, and as such, crap! Maybe I will invest in some lessons (bass)!

[MissPenguin]

If i ever get stuck with basslines in the back of my head, i hum them into the voice recorder on my phone.

Then i translate them whenever i have the time..

It's just annoying when people look through my phone. >_>

[elom]

[quote name='karlbbb' post='153602' date='Mar 8 2008, 02:20 PM']In my old punk band I had loads of great sounding ideas in my head (just little runs instead of root note chugging) and I so badly wanted to play them, I could just never translate it into something that I could play and would be in the right key/scale etc.[/quote]

Sometimes we might be playing a song and I think that a little fill might sound good but like you I don't trust myself to just do it, especially in a performance. So any fills and runs that I very occassionally put in are all in fact pre-planned and rehearsed. It's a lot easier to get the notes out of your head and onto the fretboard when you can take your time and make your mistakes in private rather than in front of the band or audience. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

[bigjohn]

[quote name='elom' post='155029' date='Mar 11 2008, 12:33 AM']Sometimes we might be playing a song and I think that a little fill might sound good but like you I don't trust myself to just do it, especially in a performance. So any fills and runs that I very occassionally put in are all in fact pre-planned and rehearsed.[/quote]

I wish I had your restraint!

Although - to be honest - most of my "fills and runs" are me finding my way back home after finding myself accompanying whatever our guitarist has decided to play today.

Agree with all the learning TV commercials and stuff. I've always pretty much ignored music theory (I know what key I'm in, and a few scales - that's about it...) and learned patterns on the fretboard - and then learned to link those patterns to my ear.

A good trick is learning to tell what key something is in by listening to it - when you start to play along, people think you know how to play it! ha ha ha!!

[elom]

[quote name='bigjohn' post='155233' date='Mar 11 2008, 12:40 PM']I wish I had your restraint![/quote]
I find that lack of ability helps to restrain me!