Help me!
I just joined a country band and I need some country bass tabs asap!! Anybody know any sites that I can get them from??!!

I've been playing in a country band for 5 years now, and the best advice I can give is to listen and figure them out yourself. 90% of the bass lines in country are very simple, often just using the root and the fifth, or the root/third/fifth, and you will be much better off in the future if you can do it yourself. There are sites with guitar chord charts, but I have never seen bass tabs for country. Go to www.roughstock.com/cowpie/ for chord charts and use them to help you get started. If you rely on tabs to learn songs, then you will have problems in a band. If they want to learn a song that was just released, you likely won't find charts/tabs for a song that new, so what do you do then? Also, many of the chord charts/tabs I find on the internet are just plain wrong, or in a different key than the original. Better to learn to figure songs out by ear. Learn basic music theory first, it will help you a lot. If you know what notes you can play with, say, a G major chord, then you have narrowed down the possibilities and can find what they are playing easier. The bottom line is, there really are no short cuts. Most bands expect their members to be able to learn songs by ear, and if you can't it will put you at a disadvantage, and make it hard to find bands that are willing to hire you. Jusy my opinion, but an opinion based on 25 years of playing in bands. Good luck with your new band.

Ive played in a country band, and found that alot of the changes were just a regular I-IV-V or I-III-V pattern.

I recomend that you brush up on your scales a bit and try and learn the songs by ear as best you can.

Learn what the root motion is doing 1st and foremost (I-IV-V, I-III-V, etc.)

Then once you have that down, you will have a better understanding of what notes are being played in the line. And if you still cant figure out the exact line note for note, you at least have an idea of what you can play to create your own line in the parts you dont know)

Thats where brushing up on your scales will help you out.


I agree with showdown as to obtain chord charts instead of tabs. (Tabs tell you nothing other than what fret to play. The charts will hopefully outline the time, chord progression, and quality of the chord.)

and he's absolutly right about it being hard to find a band if you cant figure the tunes out by ear. You'll get a bad reputation in the long run. And not many people will want to call on you for the gig.

But they will put up with you creating your own bass line (that works) over not being able to learn the line at all. There have been numerous times where I didnt know the right bass line but made up my own and most people didnt know the wiser.

BTW its nice to see another chicken picker here :)

Wht these guys said, Tabs are linked to *pneumocraniosis*. Be very afraid for they are EVIL!!!!


aka .....brain farts



Mike

Originally posted by Showdown
If you rely on tabs to learn songs, then you will have problems in a band. If they want to learn a song that was just released, you likely won't find charts/tabs for a song that new, so what do you do then? Also, many of the chord charts/tabs I find on the internet are just plain wrong, or in a different key than the original. Better to learn to figure songs out by ear.

Just wanted to highlight that part. ;)

Well put, Showdown.

Originally posted by mikemulcahy
Wht these guys said, Tabs are linked to *pneumocraniosis*. Be very afraid for they are EVIL!!!!


aka .....brain farts



Mike

ya know if you didnt specify what exactly pneumorcraniosis was id think it was some nasty fatal brain disese....You dr's and your fancy $2 words for simple stuff;)

Originally posted by cassanova


ya know if you didnt specify what exactly pneumorcraniosis was id think it was some nasty fatal brain disese....You dr's and your fancy $2 words for simple stuff;)


Gotcha:D ;) :cool:

Originally posted by Showdown
If you rely on tabs to learn songs, then you will have problems in a band. If they want to learn a song that was just released, you likely won't find charts/tabs for a song that new, so what do you do then? Also, many of the chord charts/tabs I find on the internet are just plain wrong, or in a different key than the original. Better to learn to figure songs out by ear. Learn basic music theory first, it will help you a lot.

Most bands expect their members to be able to learn songs by ear, and if you can't it will put you at a disadvantage, and make it hard to find bands that are willing to hire you. Jusy my opinion, but an opinion based on 25 years of playing in bands. Good luck with your new band.

Amen! Words of experience. You need to be able to read chord charts or play by ear(preferably both) to be successful in a band situation.

TaBs are a dead end. They teach you nothing except where to put your fingers for one song.


PHLEGM TABEVIL

No disrespect intended, but does anyone really need tabulature to learn country?

Originally posted by Bassdadto2
No disrespect intended, but does anyone really need tabulature to learn country?

I play in a country band, and take no offense at your statement because it is true. Most (but not all) country bass line are very simple. But as someone who played in rock bands for 20 years before I joined a country band, I can tell you that while most are simple, playing country music isn't as easy as I thought when I was a rock musician looking down on country. I have to be familiar with many more styles and feels than I ever did in a rock band. Shuffle, swing, cha-cha, two-step, waltz, and yes, rock feels are all used extensively in country these days. I have to be good at walking bass lines, and even occasionally need to slap! To paraphrase a commercial, this is not your father's country music! It is no longer just root/fifth on every song. And you have to be more precise, any sloppiness at all really stands out without 2 screaming guitars and distortion to cover it up. With one guitar (generally clean), and drums the only other rythym instruments, any mistake by me is heard by everyone. And one other thing. When I played in rock bands, very few of the musicians had much of an understanding of music theory. The opposite has been true in country. Virtually all the musicians I have worked with in country know theory very well. If I didn't I would be in trouble. So, open your mind a little, and listen to some of todays country - you might be surprised.

Oh, yeah, try to learn the bass line in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" right after he says "And a band of demons joined in and sounded something like this". Not so easy, huh?

Thanks for the advice everyone.

We can help you along George. Can you give us some examples of some of the songs you need to learn?

Anything by Garth Brooks.

Tearin' It Up by Garth Brooks is the first song I have to learn. I would like to get the bass intro perfect!

Originally posted by georgecarter
Tearin' It Up by Garth Brooks is the first song I have to learn. I would like to get the bass intro perfect!

thats a good song, and actually alot easier than you may be thinking it is. I'll give ya the notes of the 1st part of the intro, but your
going to have to figure out the rest after that. MKAY

Intro is in E7 I think,


E...F#...G#...E...D...B...D...E..D...G...E

Can't help you there. I don't play Pop/"Country" stuff. If you need to know the type of bassline to a traditional country tune, yell.

Thanks Cassanova. You saved me. I owe you one!!

do some searching for acoustic guiatr, i found a good country site when i was looking for stuff when i started playing guitar, you could just take the root from that and away you go

Originally posted by georgecarter
Thanks Cassanova. You saved me. I owe you one!!

your welcome

well since you owe me one, you can owe me this.

Take the song and figure out it's chord changes, then write out the scale tones for those changes, their intervals and then what type of scale it is.

Do what with the scales?? I'm not very well educated on theory so I have very limited knowledge on scales. Care to try and educate me?

Originally posted by georgecarter
Do what with the scales?? I'm not very well educated on theory so I have very limited knowledge on scales. Care to try and educate me?

There are 12 keys (scales) all have a major and minor scale. Figure out what those notes are and then write them out in their propor order in the circle of fifths (theres an existing thread on the circle of 5ths here at TB)


major scale is R-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

natural minor (aeloian) is R-1-b3-4-5-6-b7-8

the interval stuff i mentioned earlier is kinda hard for me to explain as its still something im learning.

but if you look above youll see i wrote out the intervals of the major and minor sclaes. Youll see the major scale has a major 3, and major 7, where the minor has a b3, b7.

theres also a good thread on intervals too, you should check it out.

Cassanova,
I will check out those threads later today.