Out of your depth.

[Woodinblack]

56 minutes ago, seashell said:

It’s the speed of those major scales though! My fingers just won’t do it. I’ve only ever tried it for fun though. 

Your fingers probably will, it’s your head that slows these things down.

if, like someone said up there, you sit in front of the telly slowly and consistently playing that pattern over and over without thinking about it or trying to do it fast, one day it will just work at full speed because your fingers, not you, know how to play it

[chris_b]

13 hours ago, DJpullchord said:

What do you guys do when you have trouble learning a bass part for a band? Maybe it’s just too quick for one of your hands? I’m guessing it’s unrealistic to try and recreate studio recordings faultlessly, if you’re just jamming in a room.

Do you plough on and copy the piece or just do your own user friendly version?

If you are under time pressure to learn a song, firstly decide if the part you're struggling over is important to the song or not. If it isn't then you can either work on what's troubling you or play something else in its place. If you're short on time, get the song in shape so that you can play it in the band. Then go back and look at what is stopping you from playing the bit you changed. It's a "hole" in your technique so work out why it's a problem. Is it speed, fingers, right hand, left hand? Fix it at your own pace and add it to the song when you are comfortable.

Slow the line down and break it into smaller sections, even down to a bar, and when you understand it play slowly putting it all back together again.

 

For immigrant Song, work out the framework but I doubt if JPJ played it the same every gig, so don't try to lean every note in the sections where he's jamming.

As a starter just simplify it down to the basic feel, slow it down, then build up playing the root notes in tempo until you get used to playing it for 5 mins at that intensity. When you can do that start to extend and expand what you are playing.

[mcnach]

18 hours ago, DJpullchord said:

What do you guys do when you have trouble learning a bass part for a band? Maybe it’s just too quick for one of your hands? I’m guessing it’s unrealistic to try and recreate studio recordings faultlessly, if you’re just jamming in a room.

Do you plough on and copy the piece or just do your own user friendly version?

 

I’m officially struggling with some stuff but guess it will make me stronger.

 

The advantage of playing originals is that I always play something that is suitable for my level   Although at times I try to push things.

When learning songs by others, unless you're talking highly technical stuff, I find I can manage just about anything... if I give it enough time. If I have time, I sit down, break it into component parts and make sure I get it down. If I don't have time, I may start with a simplified version, and cheat in parts... and then worry later about getting closer to the original.

Struggling a bit is not a bad thing: you only really progress when you push your comfort boundaries a little.

[peteb]

5 hours ago, chris_b said:

For immigrant Song, work out the framework but I doubt if JPJ played it the same every gig, so don't try to lean every note in the sections where he's jamming.

 

I imagine that he would have done for this particular song - it's basically just two riffs! 

There is a hack for playing the chorus of the Immigrant Song if you can't get the speed to play it cleanly. You just play the major pentatonic rather than a full scale. I've seen Michael Anthony doing this on a live clip (tbf - he was also singing lead vocals at the time)... 

Edited February 10, 2018 by peteb

[LITTLEWING]

All depends if you're a tribute or a covers band. If you're Green Day, Queen or Chic, those little essential twiddles are 100% important for the song. Covers are simply covers and you can play your own version which is sometimes more satisfying when you put your own slant on things.

Basically, relax and be confident and fluent, not anal.

[dmccombe7]

On 2/9/2018 at 21:48, alyctes said:

This. 

And also, learn it backwards - learn the bars at the end first, then the bars before those, etc. etc..  That way you are always going towards something you already know, and you won't learn the start and fall apart at the end

(I can't remember where I saw this, but I think it was on here...

Like that idea. I've never heard that before. Gonna give it a try as just started with couple new bands and sets are new to me.

I generally play along with the song a few times to get a good feel for it, then i start learning small sections at a time. I also write everything out even if i have the Bass tabs. I find writing bass lines out gives me a back up of the written notes and structure in my head. If need be i'll take notes along to rehearsals until the full song sinks in.

If a part is really difficult i practice it slowly and work up to the right tempo. 

There's no easy way you just have to work at it as best you can.

If i come across a part that really is too far ahead of me in technique i will adapt the bass line to suit my style yet still retain the main feel of the original bass line. To be fair no one has ever said to me that i've missed something or i'm not playing the bass line correctly. I've had guitarists say i wasn't doing it right and when i show them the bass tab and we listen in depth to the original they then admit they were wrong so you need to be confident in what you decide to play. If you look as though you know what you are doing most people will go along with it and maybe only another competent bassist will pick up on anything missing or not quite right.

One other thing i do is put the songs on Ipod or prefer a CD and all in order of set list and when i'm driving i play them as a set list. Eventually the set list becomes one big song with several parts. (I was used to playing a lot of Prog music so long epics was easy for me )

Dave

Edited February 11, 2018 by dmccombe7

[Dropzone]

One thing I have learnt is just because it is recorded doesn't mean it will sound good live, particularly with fills. I learn the basic framework, lock in with the other musicians as they will tend to do their own thing and then look at what's missing and then put that in.

 

[Barking Spiders]

ya know you can slow down You Tube vids. That's what I do when learning  trickier, faster lines or techniques.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 10/02/2018 at 09:53, seashell said:

It’s the speed of those major scales though! My fingers just won’t do it. I’ve only ever tried it for fun though. In the unlikely event that any band I was in out it in their set list I suppose I would persevere a bit more! 

 

It is a fiend, that bit! I used to play it in my old band from time to time and could just pull it off, but I played it the other day and it's gone 🤣

If ever you do need to play it, something I did was drop the 2nd and 6th note on each scale run, it made it far less hectic and still got the gist across. When you're playing that comfortably you can slot in the missing notes!

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 09/02/2018 at 21:32, thepurpleblob said:

 

My band currently wants to do Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. They're probably just taking the p*ss out of me. Let's just say I'm getting there!

Whenever I play Rhythm Stick I use a pick in a crude Bobby Vega style. I think it works very well. I do usually play fingerstyle but I just can't pull off that tight burpy staccato style. 

 

[thepurpleblob]

2 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Whenever I play Rhythm Stick I use a pick in a crude Bobby Vega style. I think it works very well. I do usually play fingerstyle but I just can't pull off that tight burpy staccato style. 

 

Ahh.... I can't play with a pick. Well, I've been trying with pretty poor results. 

I also had to look up who Bobby Vega was    I'm pretty much oblivious to anything from the USA!

[Guest]

It feels like there are two separate questions on this thread. 

1. How do you play something that is too fast or technically difficult for you?

2. How do you learn what the notes actually, i.e., can you work out the part by ear?

I think question 2 has already been answered - other than the best way to get better ears is to work out lots of parts, and not just to write them down, but learn to play them.

Regarding question 1: plenty of sound advice - slow the part right down, work through it bit by bit and particularly concentrate on the trickiest bits. If you can play that bit, sow it down until you can. Think of a different fingering too. Whilst I partly agree with Cato’s opinion that you can learn to play most things this way, you will hit a limit at some point - and that is your technique (normally the right hand can’t keep up with the left or sync properly). So you may have to fudge a line that’s nearly there but good enough for most people not to notice. However I’d look at my technique and try to overcome that limitation as a development goal.

One final thought: is everyone else in the band playing their parts exactly right? Unless the band is really good, I’d seriously doubt they do. As others have said - I’ve seen plenty of live gigs where the (original) band played songs with quite a variation on the recorded track.

[KevB]

Currently learning War Pigs. I'll definitely be improvising over the guitar solo. Never been able to play Immigrant song chorus at correct speed without blurring the notes either.

Edited February 12, 2018 by KevB

[la bam]

Pick out the root notes of each phrase and just play them to start. The piece then will be correct and sound correct.

You can then start to add in the notes that join up when you feel comfartable with them. 

This way youll work out where the important notes are and always be on time rather than cramming 100 notes in and the whole section being out of time.

I did this with somebody to love by queen. It sounds daft but after a bit you start to automatically add in the filler notes and know what is right and wrong with your ears.

 

[Norris]

A way to help work out what the bass is actually doing in the first place, is to pitch-shift the song up an octave. The bass will then be loud and clear even if it sounds like Pinky and Perky are singing along to it