Put on your favorite CD at moderate volume and play along. Or play along with the radio. That's how most of us did it. Back when I was starting that was the only way to learn. There was no internet or tabs.
Without even picking up your bass, listen to the song over and over until you can hum the bassline along with it. When I listen with my laptop I can barely hear the bass at all, but I have a decent set of computer speakers which have a subwoofer I can adjust.
Then just take it a section at a time. PATIENCE. PATIENCE. PATIENCE.
It gets easier every time. And if you know your scales it makes it that much easier to nail down.
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Member #148 of Canadian Club - I Don't Particularly Like Modes A Lot.
My brother (a brass player) and I were raised by a jazz bassist with HUGE ears who learned solfeggio as a child studying classical music.
When we began to take an interest in music, he stressed the importance of learning to recognize and SING ascending and descending intervals. As I began to hear intervals, name them, and sing them, playing by ear became far easier for me.
__________________ Live without pretending. Love without depending. Listen without defending. Speak without offending.
thanks man and thats why i hate my generation things might be easy as hell but me miss out on so mutch also.
Agreed, we might have the internet and all that etc but in alot of cases that just makes it harder down the track because you've done everything by copying it off the internet, and then when you want to take it to the next level (things that cant be "taught") you're stuck
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Small cabs Club#1 Thunder Down Under#40 Mediocre Bassist Club #507
I usually just play along to songs I can hum the bass line to, as someone said above. I've been playing for about 9 years, never really took time to focus on learning by ear, but over the last year or so I have and I can almost play the bass line right away to a song (as long as it isn't too technical ). It really does pay to just practice songs without any crutch such as tabs. Lately I have found myself almost boycotting tabs for this reason. Just practice, it really is the only way.
). It really does pay to just practice songs without any crutch such as tabs. Lately I have found myself almost boycotting tabs for this reason. Just practice, it really is the only way.
