Learning to hear the notes

[MFD]

I know where the notes on the fretboard are, and my next goal is to recognize them by listening.
[list]
[*]My plan was to memorize one note and its octaves each day.
[*]My guitarist friend, tells me to just play a couple years and let it come naturally.
[*]My drummer friend gave me the tip to listen to a song and try to find each note on the bass. Which is very time consuming for a beginner.
[/list]


Do you have an opinion? What did you do?
If this has been discussed please link me.

[Coilte]

Study intervals. For instance pick a scale, say the Cmaj scale.
(CDEFGAB). Play C to D (which is an interval of a maj 2nd), then play C to E ( an interval of
a maj 3rd), then C to F ect. Listen closely to how each interval sounds against the root note
(C in this case).

Intervals are dealt with here on "Study Bass". It is a great all round site, and worth ear
marking for future reference. In the exercise diagrams, if you put the cursor arrow over the notes, it will
give the sound of that note.

[url="http://www.studybass.com/lessons/intervals/"]http://www.studybass...sons/intervals/[/url]


All three of the plans you list above are good. IMO your drummer's advice is the best.

Listen to songs you like (start with the more simple ones). Try to figure out the bass lines
by ear, then play along. There is downloadable software to enable you to slow down the
song if necessary. This is a great exercise as it develops your ear and enables you to play
what you hear. Use tabs very sparingly as they can lead to a dead end. Combining your drummer's
advice with interval training is the way to go IMO. Yes, at first you will find that you have to do trial and error
to find the correct notes. Agreed, it is time consuming, but time constructivley consumed.

Beginner or pro, you have to be prepared to put in the time, in order to progress.
Regularity is the key, as apart from say three or four hour practice sessions once or twice a week.
An hour at a time then a break is a good idea, every day.


Hope this helps, and best of luck with it.

Edited September 8, 2013 by Coilte

[MFD]

Thank you for the thorough response.

I'm following the lessons on Study Bass, and just recently came to the interval part. Sounds like a really good idea to practise.

Yeah I also figured my drummer gave me the best advice, I'll find some time for it.

[Ghosts Over Japan]

I started with hiphop, really slow, clear basslines, it helped my playing so much

[gjones]

Thinking back, No1 is what I did when I was a beginner. You only need to memorise the notes on the E and A string as the notes on the D and G string will be octaves of those notes. Makes things much easier and quicker to learn the notes on your fretboard this way.

Edited September 8, 2013 by gjones

[Coilte]

[quote name='MFD' timestamp='1378639634' post='2202614']
I know where the notes on the fretboard are[/quote]


[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1378677777' post='2203247']
Makes things much easier and quicker to learn the notes on your fretboard this way.
[/quote]


The OP seems to know where the notes are. As I understand his post,
he wants to learn the sounds of the notes in relation to each other.

[MFD]

I've practised intervals for a week, and I can identify the C- note most of the time now.

I did as Ghost and tried with hiphop, and I managed to get my first bassline out of a song. It was a really easy bassline with four notes, but that progress feels great.

I'm playing my bass 1-2 hours everyday, 3-4 hours feels too much for me at the moment.

Thanks guys.

[scalpy]

It's the biggest cliche in the world but- learn your scales and arpeggios. Not only are you learning the fingerboard, improving your dexterity and stamina, your ear will be becoming accustomed to the various intervals, especially if you make a point of thinking what they are before you start the exercise. Also, practising hearing the chord changes will really accelerate your learning of new tunes and your ability to memorise them. This means recognising chord I and mainly IV and V before learning the less frequently used ones. Going back to the blues is really useful, it has a tried and fully exploited chord pattern, but if you get into the jazzy versions afterwards you'll track the variations and your ear will spot the chord IIs and VIs etc much more easily.

[dincz]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1378720989' post='2203541']The OP seems to know where the notes are. As I understand his post,
he wants to learn the sounds of the notes in relation to each other.
[/quote]

The way I read his post, he wants to develop perfect pitch rather than intervals (relative pitch). A rare ability and not very useful. Recognising intervals sounds much more useful to me. Probably good to begin with 3rds (major and minor), 4ths and 5ths.

[Coilte]

[quote name='dincz' timestamp='1379236153' post='2210023']
The way I read his post, he wants to develop perfect pitch rather than intervals (relative pitch). A rare ability and not very useful. Recognising intervals sounds much more useful to me. Probably good to begin with 3rds (major and minor), 4ths and 5ths.
[/quote]

Indeed I could have misinterpreted the OP's post and he wants to develop perfect pitch.

I agree that learning intervals are more useful.

[MFD]

I see how intervals are useful, and I will practice them. The perfectionist in me wants the perfect pitch. My thoughts are that it would help me with fretless playing, which is a future goal.

[Coilte]

[quote name='MFD' timestamp='1379245925' post='2210184']
I see how intervals are useful, and I will practice them. The perfectionist in me wants the perfect pitch. My thoughts are that it would help me with fretless playing, which is a future goal.
[/quote]

Looks like I did misinterpret your post.


There is no doubt but that having perfect pitch is an asset. That is not to say that you wont be a good bassist without it.

IMO there are other things that are just as important and should not be neglected. For instance, timing. Not much good having perfect pitch, if your timing is not up to scratch. My point....everything about playing the bass is important.

[jakenewmanbass]

Hmm I wouldn't be so keen on achieving perfect pitch if I were you, I wasn't born with it but I've developed my relative pitch (not intentionally) to such a point that when I hear recorded music that isn't in concert I really struggle for a while into the song.
I discovered this by listening to 'that why I'm here' on the similarly titled James Taylor album... I love the track but it takes the first verse for my ears to settle into the (I assume tape speed adjusted) pitch at which it's recorded.

Edited September 15, 2013 by jakenewmanbass

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1379264563' post='2210564']
Hmm I wouldn't be so keen on achieving perfect pitch if I were you, I wasn't born with it but I've developed my [b]relative pitch[/b] (not intentionally) to such a point that when I hear recorded music that isn't in concert I really struggle for a while into the song.
I discovered this by listening to 'that why I'm here' on the similarly titled James Taylor album... I love the track but it takes the first verse for my ears to settle into the (I assume tape speed adjusted) pitch at which it's recorded.
[/quote]

What you describe is "absolute pitch" not "relative pitch" (absolute being another way of saying "perfect").

From wikipedia ...

"[b]Relative pitch[/b] is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music"]musical[/url] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note"]note[/url] by comparing it to a reference note and identifying the interval between those two notes."
"
[b]Absolute pitch[/b] (AP), widely referred to as [i][b]perfect pitch[/b][/i], is an auditory phenomenon characterized by the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music"]musical[/url] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note"]note[/url] without the benefit of a reference tone.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_pitch#cite_note-1"][1][/url]"[/sup]

Edited September 18, 2013 by bassman7755