Memorising a song?

[BadHands]

 

7 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

Playing tunes and songs is fine, and is, indeed, the End Game

This reminds me a little of the parable of the Mexican fisherman

[BadHands]

4 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

maybe I'm just too old.

Certainly not!

I think that's closer to Jeff Berlin's approach when learning an instrument. He talks about how when people decide to play recreational golf or tennis, they almost always have lessons to learn how to do it properly, and don't just jump in with both feet and start swinging. It's a compelling argument. 

I lean more towards the Victor Wooten/Adam Neely view of acquiring music like a language. A baby doesn't need to know that English is a subject-verb-object language, or what past participles are to start learning and using it. They just start making noises and pick up the rules when they hit a roadblock. 

Also, coming from a background in fitness/strength and conditioning, consistency is the most important part of any practice routine, so who cares if people have their desert before their main course as long as they keep eating  

We all definitely agree that tabs don't teach anything other than how to play (an approximation of) a song, but with a teacher, I'm sure you'll be learning functional harmony when it makes sense to

I also find this

8 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

All those frets, strings, numbers and patterns are crutches

contradicts this

4 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

Do you do any exercises at all which use notes, in whatever form, such as scales

As those were the "Patterns" I was referring to

 

[Dad3353]

It is said that 'All Roads Lead To Rome'. In that light, have a nice trip. 

Edited November 5, 2020 by Dad3353

[Triumph_Rock]

3 hours ago, lozkerr said:

If you've gone in that time from complete n00b to learning songs and, crucially, being self-critical about it, you've done very, very well. Big-up rispek, and I hope you really enjoy your journey. You'll get a lot of satisfaction out of discovering what you can achieve on the bass.

Thanks, I'm not at the full tempo of Sweet Child of Mine as played GnR. My tutor at the moment is happy to let me choose to play the song as GnR did or to play root notes after the intro, without the fills. Its me picking the tough option. 

Well Corvid 19 second lockdown has put end to my bass lessons in person, hopefully he will do it over Skype.

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Triumph_Rock

[Doddy]

11 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

I must say that I'm not overly impressed by the tutoring you're receiving, to judge by the dialogue above... Playing tunes and songs is fine, and is, indeed, the End Game, but learning to play a musical instrument (any musical instrument...) should, in my view, imply somewhere learning Music. All those frets, strings, numbers and patterns are crutches. Useful, when one is disabled, but not an ideal means of locomotion. It may be helpful to start thinking of the bass as a means of playing notes, rather than patterns. Learn where the notes are (yes, where's the 'E'..? then the 'F' etc..). Name and play those notes on each string. Learn and listen to Intervals (start with the easy ones: thirds, fifths...), and play them on each string, from each starting note. Learn and play chord notes... All of this, and much more, will make progress much, much faster. Keep playing tunes and songs, but start with very, very simple ones, and name each and every note as you're playing them. The fastest way to learn how to play is to do it all very slowly, moving on only once each step is taken. I would have thought that most good tutors did things this way. Bert Weedon had it right. 

This is all cool, but the question was how to memorise a song.  If the OP would have asked about learning, I know that I would have given a different answer. 

The OP says that he's got a tutor, in which case I would assume that he is learning things like learning the notes, reading, scales, chord tones, etc.  I always recommend to my students that as well as practicing the lesson material, they should take some time to try and learn some songs too.

[chris7273]

HEre are some tools I use to learn a song. 

0 - Ears : listen, listen, listen. Count the beats / measures to feel where the changes are (verse, chorus, bridge, solo...). Often you find a verse with 4 "sentences" made of 4 measures each, it helps to memorize the structure

1- For track separation : Website    Moises.ai

it's not perfect but it's good enough to start and help to ear the bass part in the mix

2 - For tabs and music sheet : https://lessonsthatrock.com/bands/free-bass-tabs/b-g/guns-n-roses-bass-tabs-pdf

Maybe they are not perfect but it definitely helps, I appreciate the classic notation.  I am not a good reader but it helps to understand the rythmn (notes duration) and also feel the melody...

3 - Audacity to modify the bpm, Riffstation was really good (also for pitch tuning as a lot of GnR songs are in Eb tuning) but is no more available from Fender. Maybe possible to find the install exe somewhere on the net

You can also slow down in Youtube but it's raw (50%; 75%, 100%)

4 - Chordify is also good to give a raw idea of chords

5 - KAraoke version website ( https://www.karaoke-version.co.uk/bass-play-along/) : not free but not expensive and usually the versions are close to the original.

HAve fun 🙂 and also congratulations for your quick progression. 

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by chris7273

[Triumph_Rock]

7 hours ago, Doddy said:

This is all cool, but the question was how to memorise a song.  If the OP would have asked about learning, I know that I would have given a different answer. 

The OP says that he's got a tutor, in which case I would assume that he is learning things like learning the notes, reading, scales, chord tones, etc.  I always recommend to my students that as well as practicing the lesson material, they should take some time to try and learn some songs too.

Yes, I've been taught scales. I was also asked to draw the neck and placement of the notes. I've already memorised the fretboard down to the 5th fret, including sharps and flats. 

My tutor accompanies me on guitar, playing the corresponding chords to what I'm playing, so that I can hear the chords, the relationship between the bass guitar and guitar tonally and keeping time with another instrument.

[Nail Soup]

12 hours ago, csmallett said:

This reminds me a little of the parable of the Mexican fisherman

I'd never heard that parable before. Just googled it - very good! Thanks.

[BadHands]

36 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

I'd never heard that parable before. Just googled it - very good! Thanks.

No problem! That one really stuck with me - I love the idea of prioritising happiness over the long-term. 

[chris_b]

When learning anything, walk first then run.

[Smirfy]

Have a look at some software called Transcribe. Allows you to slow down an MP3 or other sound file with out changing pitch, . You can loop sections etc too .Free trial for 30 days . I think the company is seventh string maybe. No affiliation, just been using this for the last few months. Of course you need some kind of interface to play your bass thru the PC. Hope that helps

 

Peace

S

[dmccombe7]

For me i follow this procedure almost every time.

1. Listen to the song and get to know it first.

2. play along with the song to get a feel for the bass part.

3. i use anything i can find on line from full music sheet to bass tabs to basic song chords. 

4. Break the song into sections ie Intro, verse, chorus, mid sections, and ending (end might change with your band as most endings fade)

5. Write out the bass part in whatever manner suits you. I'll write the song out in individual bars with every note and spacing as i think it should be. At this stage its just scribbled notes. You can write it out as very simple notes. whatever suits you best.

6. Learn the song from your notes while playing along with the song. 

7. Once i've learned the song and can play it with ease i take my scribbled notes and write them out properly on an A4 paper trying to keep it to one page if possible. This allows me to tidy things up for rehearsals and i can read easily if required. (see a pic of my notes below)

Doing it this way means i learn the song by playing along with it and i also remember what i've written out on the A4. It seems to work for me plus i always have the music written out and filed for any future bands.

Dave

Edited November 22, 2020 by dmccombe7