In learning a new technique/song, what comes first?

Fergie Fulton · #1 10-27-2009, 01:38 PM

In learning a new technique/song, what comes first, the physical or the mental?
A/ Do you just start straight away running it on the bass and hope familiarzation and practice will pay off and everything will click.

B/Do you work it out in your head, hear what needs to be done, realise what needs to be done, even understand what needs to be done,. then once you have a plan then go to the bass for the phyical side.

I'm interested in the answers, any stories or anecdotes on the subject.
Me i'm primarely 'B', but because i have been doing it so long 'A' works for me as well in certain situations, but not at the start of my career when i was learning that was all 'B'.

Nashrakh · #2 10-27-2009, 02:06 PM

B, totally.

I find most of the more complex stuff easier to play and learn if you know WHAT you are doing. So, instead of learning one note after the other, seeing 'the big picture' is of invaluable help to me.

Jazzdogg · #3 10-27-2009, 02:06 PM

For me it depends on the song and the circumstances.

Given my druthers, I'll do a thumbnail sketch of the song while listening, then play the song simply to see if my concept of the song is correct, then embellish when I'm comfortable.

Many times on gigs, there isn't time for any of that: key signature, meter signature, tempo, BIG EARS, count off, play.

duff beer · #4 10-27-2009, 06:48 PM

Depending on the song and how difficult it is, I figure out the root/chords first and then determine the key. 90% of rock songs have a 4 chord pattern that repeats so it is usually faily simple. Once I have that, it is just a matter of listening to the bass line and filling in the blanks.

MalcolmAmos · #5 10-27-2009, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzdogg

For me it depends on the song and the circumstances. Given my druthers, I'll do a thumbnail sketch of the song while listening, then play the song simply to see if my concept of the song is correct, then embellish when I'm comfortable. Many times on gigs, there isn't time for any of that: key signature, meter signature, tempo, BIG EARS, count off, play.

Ditto. What I play, old classic Country, usually comes from fake chord or lead sheet. Very seldom can I find a bass clef. So -- I have to come up with my own baselines. I look at what sheet music I can find, make a decision of what I think the baseline should be and then see if it works. It's a fleshing out process from there. The more I play the song the better I understand what will and what will not work.

Billnc · #6 10-27-2009, 08:18 PM

B, unless I'm reading then it seems I got to go to A. Oddly there are songs where I've played them correctly the first time while completely faking them. (none that were realy hard!) So sometimes just trusting yourself works.

Fergie Fulton · #7 10-28-2009, 04:34 AM

So is it the process of having learnt B that has made the process of 'A' more instinctive. So far it seems that 'A' is relient on trusting what has been learnt through the process of B?

Joe Nerve · #8 10-28-2009, 04:42 AM

Not sure I understand the question.

I try to keep music as much out of my head as possible. Thnking gets me into trouble in most areas of my life.

If I'm learning anything new I first listen as much as I can so whatever I'm doing becomes familiar, then pick up my bass. While listening I don't think I'm ever picturing or thinking about what I'm going to be doing once the bass is in my hands.

bggeezer · #9 11-01-2009, 02:16 AM

sort of both. Listen to the track, work out the start point, pick up the bass, play along to the track to learn the fingering and pattern, the moves, the parts. On a tough song i write down the separate parts, then join them together. It all sort of goes together really. Most songs only take about 5 minutes to learn.

mambo4 · #10 11-01-2009, 11:42 AM

a modified B for me. I work it out on paper first. The reason is that, in my experience, it's fairly simple to learn the individual parts, but the transitioning between the parts is often where I'll mess up.

When learning a new song from scratch I reach for my i pod and some staff paper, and chart the thing out. Not transcribing note for note, but just outlining when the chord changes and chorus/verse/middle eight type stuff occurs. then I go back and focus on one part at a time to figure out exactly what's going on in each part, usually just noting the basic groove and the changes, but sometimes transcribing in detail. Generally it takes me 30 minutes to and hour tops. Then I have a song all charted that I can memorize or file away for later use.

unless there is a time crunch, which case I just do A and hopefor the best.