buying the book vs learning by ear

toshiro94 · #1 07-03-2010, 08:44 PM

Hey ya'll. I'm gonna learn a lot of James Jamerson's basslines (or at least attempt to). For me, at least, learning by ear from the actual song would be too hard for this; fortunately, on youtube, theres a lot of isolated james jamerson bassline videos.
should i learn by ear from these videos, or buy this book: (which will be easier and help me learn to read bass clef):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088...SIN=0881888826
thanks!

**jmattbassplaya** · #2 07-03-2010, 08:50 PM

How about both? First try to learn the songs by ear and whenever you`re stumped you can take out the book and learn the song that way.

fdeck · #3 07-03-2010, 08:51 PM

I suggest both: Half by book and half by ear. But start with the book. I suspect that once you know a few of these parts from the book, and start playing them along to the recorded tunes, it will help you develop your ear for bass parts. But you also have a chance to improve your reading skills.

toshiro94 · #4 07-03-2010, 09:04 PM

thanks for the suggestions

at first i was a bit hesitant on buying the book, but it definitley seems worth it after reading the description. 49 songs with an accompanying cd of some of the greatest bass lines.

thanks again!

JimmyM · #5 07-04-2010, 01:22 AM

by ear's cheaper. and it will improve your ear. i'd see how far that takes you before you go to the books.

Eminentbass · #6 07-04-2010, 02:29 AM

I got the book to improve my reading and it's definitely worth the money for that. I haven't used the discs yet because I've been focussed on the notation but the bass can either be isolated or removed depending on whether you want to jam along or hear the part. Apart from that, I'm a sucker for biographies and the book provided an interesting read.

Having said that, I'm a huge advocate for working out songs as a form of ear training, so in the end it depends on what your motivation is because the songs can be learned by ear but the book has multiple benefits too.