Going nuts trying to memorise a bassline...Tips?

[Scubapig]

Hi. I've got a live performance assessment on Monday playing "Are you gonna go my way" by Lenny Kravitz. I have the sheet music, I've listened to the song and played along with it a hundred times, I've even transcribed the notes of the particular bass part that's giving me trouble (the walking part in the guitar solo) into Logic and tried to tackle it in sections, but it's just not working. The fact that I'll be under pressure when I have to actually play it is just going to reduce my ability to remember it by another 50%.

I've kind of got the first half pretty much burned in, by going over it in small sections, but the combination of the fact that it's fast (I don't mean speed metal fast, but fast in terms of thinking of the next bit), different in every bar and hard to finger generally is causing me to swear loudly and get that kind of frustrated where I'm about to give up and I don't want to.

So the question isn't so much "how do I learn that song in particular?" but what are the best methods for tackling this kind of thing?

I just don't know my fretboard/scales etc. well enough to improvise it, so I'm kind of stuck with learning it parrot style. Also, this would get me a better mark if I pulled it off.

Any help really appreciated. I'm going nuts!

[Jerry Callo]

I don't mean to sound snarky but let's keep it real.

Just keep working at it and you'll get better -- or at least as good as your abilities will allow. Some people aren't very talented. That's not a put down. You might be great at certain things. But not everyone has innate musical ability. So play for fun and don't worry if it isn't exactly right as long as you play in key. That's what a lot of so called "pros" do anyway.

[gmahoog]

I guess you probably have to have it memorized note for note, but I'd suggest making sure you know the chords of the whole piece so if you get lost you can recover by putting your own thing in until you get back on track. At least then you'd be able to recover instead of being completely lost when you forget a section.

Good luck.

[markkoelsch]

If you are struggling with this might I suggest you loose the walking aspect, and play root 5 in time. It might not be exact, but it should work.

[Liam Wald]

Originally Posted by gmahoog

I guess you probably have to have it memorized note for note, but I'd suggest making sure you know the chords of the whole piece so if you get lost you can recover by putting your own thing in until you get back on track. At least then you'd be able to recover instead of being completely lost when you forget a section.

Good luck.

Listen closely until you really understand the song and then just write your own bass part.
For me playing exact note for note covers is a real drag. I see no point in it. If there is a critical motif that is a hook in the song (like the McCartney motif in Taxman for instance) I usually will cover that a little so the audience knows I actually understand the song. Otherwise I exercise creative freedom with cover tunes as does everyone else in my band. We end up with some fairly unusual and interesting arrangements.

[waleross]

I recently had to attempt to nail a funk line. It is the same thing....have fun keep the beat and constantly strive to get closer to the original, after all it is rock and roll and not Bach.

[john grey]

Originally Posted by markkoelsch

If you are struggling with this might I suggest you loose the walking aspect, and play root 5 in time. It might not be exact, but it should work.

There are ways to continue on that concept too. Trim it then find a way to remember the "trigger" portion.
Remember your "every good boy does fine"? Make a sentence of the "memory trigger" from the notes.There's a lot of ways to keep from forgetting.
They won't let you place it in front of you while you play? So the idea is that you're supposed to remember? If that's what's up I would just do the above.

[sleeplessknight]

if you need to memorize something quickly, use a trick I learned from an actor. I forget the name of the method, but basically do this:
play the first note
Play the first note, then the second note
Play the first, second, then third note

etc. on down the entire tune. It sounds boring, but it'll take you maybe 20 minutes tops to iterate through the entire tune, AND you'll have it memorized.

Hope this helps!
Edit:
Oh, and don't worry about tempo when you're doing this 'committing to memory' phase. Set your metronome (you... are playing along to this with a metronome, right? Click on 2 and 4 ideally...) to as slow as you need in order to play comfortably. Accuracy IS speed, so make sure you can play accurately first.

[rymiraflores]

When I have learned songs when , for example, there is a main theme of 3 bars followed by a 4 th that always changes I memorise the most recognisable 4th bars and just play variations of those...as the guy above said, more or less, the parts that everyone knows...learn them and the other parts just play something appropriate in key

[Scubapig]

Yeah, great advice, all. Just what I needed! Thanks. I think my overall problem is actually the fact that I'm stressing over it instead of trying to make it easier on myself using the various techniques mentioned.

Nice one chaps.

[Ric5]

For me the longer I stay with sheet music the slower I learn it. But getting away from sheet music and making it my own speeds up the process. Sheet music speeds up the process at first but to really learn it I have to play without music. I think I used to play that song in a band. A song like that I play along with the recording once or twice and get the feel. Then I play it with the band and floow the guitar and vocals and play it mainly by feel and not worry about note for note stuff. I would start to improvise and have fun with the song. That kind of song is about energy and feel and groove.

[prd004]

YOu could try scaling it down a bit.

There are only three chords in it. just memorize two walking patterns for each chord. Then memorize the chord progression. Then just mix up the few patterns you have down so your not just playing the same thing over and over!

This should get you buy. Then once you get past this assesment it's time to start woodshedding scales!!!!!!!!!

[DONZI97]

I just had to learn this for my cover band also, what I do is just kinda hang out in a E minor pentanonic pattern and improvise using 8 notes, actually sounds pretty good. Though I do want to learn the actual recorded version when I get more time, but right now I'm good.

[harmendebresser]

Have you tried singing the bassline (at least, the part that gives you trouble)?
Once you can sing it, you'll be able to play it.
But what I really wanna know is... (Ding, dang, ding) Are You Gonna Go My Way? ; )

[trevcda]

It sounds like this is for formal assesment and not jamming in somebody's basement and that the "do something close enough" cry of the lazy player may not suffice, or you wouldn't have posted the sheet music. Learn the line from the sheet music and then set it aside and use the song. Use a trainer or online program to slow it down and progressively speed it up until it's engrained and up to the correct tempo. As someone else said, know the chord progression so that if you improvise into the next measure and get back on track. A few missed notes beats coming to a complete stop, especially in a performance.

[Drewski9]

I always look at form first. For example: Verse - chorus - Verse - chorus - Bridge - chorus - chorus etc. Then learn the notes for each part. This gives you a road map to start and memorization is limited to 3 or 4 small sections instead of trying to remember 1 large block of notes.

[DONZI97]

Originally Posted by trevcda

"do something close enough" cry of the lazy player

So, you learn every cover song note for note, huh? Must be nice to be able to learn 60-80 cover tunes exact in a sort period of time to reach gigable status while working two jobs and spending time with family. I respect any one who chooses to learn a song note for note, and I wouldn't insult them for doing so.

[Joe Nerve]

Originally Posted by prd004

YOu could try scaling it down a bit.

There are only three chords in it. just memorize two walking patterns for each chord. Then memorize the chord progression. Then just mix up the few patterns you have down so your not just playing the same thing over and over!

This should get you buy. Then once you get past this assesment it's time to start woodshedding scales!!!!!!!!!

+1. I learn lots of stuff note for note (sometimes have to), and then there come parts like this where the line is clearly improvised and it doedn't really make sense to learn it note for note. One in 500 people might care that you're not playing it note for note, and that one person is probably a stuck up and twisted bass player anyhow. I agree with the above and think it'll also help make you a better player. Know the basic progression, and fiddle with a few of the lines over and over. It's a fun part to play when you're grooving with it, not a fun part to play when you're trying to remember every note on the recording. Don't beat on yourself too much about not being able to remember this either. The majority of people wouldn't even consider trying.

[JohnMCA72]

Don't memorize; Internalize!

Memorizing (or, more appropriately, recalling from memory) is a very though-intensive process & takes a lot of concentration. Internalization, on the other hand, lets it just roll out of you "automatically". If you can internalize your bass playing, it opens up opportunities for your mind to do other things, like sing, improvise, interact with the audience, pick your feet up & put them down again without stepping where you shouldn't, etc.

Own the song; make it yours. Let the story that the bass line tells be your story. Consider the difference between an actor, in character, actually acting (i.e. virtually becoming the character he's portraying, for awhile) and somebody just reading/reciting the same exact words from the script. That's the difference between internalization and memorization.

[trevcda]

Originally Posted by DONZI97

Must be nice to be able to learn 60-80 cover tunes exact in a sort period of time to reach gigable status while working two jobs and spending time with family. I respect any one who chooses to learn a song note for note, and I wouldn't insult them for doing so.

Wouldn't it though? But then again we're talking about one song here not 60 or 30 or even 2 and apparently it's for an assessment/test of some sort not a blues jam at the local booze and fuel. Seriously, though, there's a huge difference between interpreting a song and aspiring toward mediocrity while just "getting by".

I'll apologize here for coming off a bit snarky. I think I'm just a little frustrated after the rare friday/saturday off last weekend. I saw several bands, all of whom had bass players that couldn't be bothered with the bass lines and that simply followed what the guitar player was doing. The guitarist couldn't be bothered to learn their parts beyond simple box chords, so the whole fiasco came off really badly. But they were there because they work cheap. The whole "good enough" mentality of bars and bands is frustrating.