Help! I can ONLY play by ear?

bluesy_92 · #1 03-06-2009, 10:24 PM

Ok, I have a little problem. I can play by ear pretty well, and read tabs, but thats about it. I can't read music, and I know no music theory. Quite honestly, I'm so impatient I probably can't learn it. I just know what sounds right with a song, not which note I'm playing, but how it sounds. I can play a song by ear, read the tabs, and they'll almost match.

I don't see how playing by ear is bad if I'm doing covers, but me and a friend are starting a band, and playing originals, so I would have to write my own bass tabs, with no bass to play by ear to, or read tabs to. Any advice? I don't want to lose out on this since I know no music theory.

BTW, I'm 16, and make minimum wage. Self-taught is my only choice, I can't afford lessons.

w33nie · #2 03-06-2009, 10:25 PM

Some people would kill to have decent music ears. I know I would

Learn chords, scales, and notes, and you'll communicate better with other musicians

Trevorus · #3 03-06-2009, 10:26 PM

Learn every note on the fretboard, and learn guitar chords. It'll help you a bit to know what works where. We use chord charts at my church where I play every week, and they are very easy to follow.

bluesy_92 · #4 03-06-2009, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by w33nie

Some people would kill to have decent music ears. I know I would

Learn chords, scales, and notes, and you'll communicate better with other musicians

decent, but not good. i'll admit, i'm a beginner, but it's probably because my dad is a musician that i can play by ear. since i was 3, i would go to concerts with my dad, and see his band play. his pickup, that he got 2 years ago, had 4 speakers. 2 aren't blown. i lived with music my whole life, but never was patient. it kinda makes sense that my ears are better than my knowledge.....my dad was a drummer, so i saw his bands play, but was never taught anything about stringed instruments or music theory through him.

lbwdog · #5 03-06-2009, 10:50 PM

bluesy,
If you love music like it appears, I strongly recommend doing whatever it takes to learn to read (both bass and treble clef). Try not to be impatient as it takes time, but you are still young and have time. Your ear training will be a valuable asset as well. I've known musicians who could read like crazy, but couldn't play Happy Birthday without sheet music (I'm not kidding!!)

One of my best friends, a guitarist whom I've played with most of the last thirty five years, used to ask me to teach him to read, but when it came time to do so, he always had somewhere to go, or another excuse for ducking out. In later years, he would ask me, "How come you always get called to play with [insert major artist name], and do record sessions?" My answer: "Cause I can read".

It's obviously not a requirement to be a successful musician, but it sure helps your understanding of whats going on around you, and speeds up the process in many situations.

Bass_masta16 · #6 03-06-2009, 11:11 PM

I can't read music either. It all looks like Japanese to me

thndrstk6 · #7 03-06-2009, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluesy_92

Ok, I have a little problem. I can play by ear pretty well, and read tabs, but thats about it. I can't read music, and I know no music theory. Quite honestly, I'm so impatient I probably can't learn it. I just know what sounds right with a song, not which note I'm playing, but how it sounds. I can play a song by ear, read the tabs, and they'll almost match.

I don't see how playing by ear is bad if I'm doing covers, but me and a friend are starting a band, and playing originals, so I would have to write my own bass tabs, with no bass to play by ear to, or read tabs to. Any advice? I don't want to lose out on this since I know no music theory.

BTW, I'm 16, and make minimum wage. Self-taught is my only choice, I can't afford lessons.

I was in the same boat about 5 or 6 months ago. I had a good ear, good sense of different
rhythms, and was good at composing but had no clue what it all meant in the language of
theory. I started getting lessons to prepare myself for my music school audition. One thing
that I've learned is that it's not nearly as hard as I thought it was. I'm not saying that I know
everything about theory but I know quite a bit more than a lot of my other musician friends.
Just take your time and figure it out in stages. Don't try to skip ahead because it will only
confuse you. Start by learning the major scale all over the neck. After you know the major
scale in and out you will have a lot of the work done. From there it's all pretty much just
pieces or alterations of the major scale.

Good luck. PM me if you have any specific questions and I'll try to answer them the best I
can with what I know so far.

**Stumbo** · #8 03-07-2009, 12:36 AM

Check the link in my sig. Everything you need to know is in there.

adamrobertt · #9 03-07-2009, 12:40 AM

Who cares. Neither can Paul McCartney. It doesn't really matter when it comes to playing bass or guitar.

beaglegod · #10 03-07-2009, 01:12 AM

I learned quite a bit from the book " the complete idiots guide to music theory". Helped me understand basics that are in turn helping me with my current lessons. Learning to read standard notation will be surprisingly easy, learning to sight read well is what takes lots of practice, that is to be able to read and play a piece of music pretty much the way you pick up and read a newspaper, those guys are gonna get lots of work.

The cool thing is that your already able to have fun with your intrument , so now you can take your time learning theory/reading. For myself as a begginer Im having to be very patient as I cant really do anything well yet. I think youll find your studys enlightening and adding to the fun your already having.......can you tell Im jealous.

Slackerprince · #11 03-07-2009, 01:46 AM

There are SO many FREE resources on the internet, library, people in jams, that you can pick up more information if you apply yourself.
I have ADD and am really undisciplined, but have a good ear. If I didn't, I would get another hobby, but your ears will only take you so far. I am learning with books, net, and TV, etc. to fill in the gaps. You have to understand how the neck works, and WHY it works, in order to progress.
Take advantage of all the free stuff that you can.
Good luck.

S.

lawsonman · #12 03-07-2009, 07:24 AM

I've played by ear for over 40 years.It's never been a problem.There's never been a song I couldn't learn to play in a very short time.This is strictly my opinion but,to me,players who play by ear play with more imagination.It really depends on what your goals are to how much you want to learn.

Femto · #13 03-07-2009, 08:00 AM

I can't read music to any useful level either. Even if I could interpret all the notation, I'm not sure I can read fast enough to be able to do what some of my friends can do which is: to be able to sit down with a piece of sheet music and play it straight away, having never heard the piece before!

I find it really frustrating if I come up with a bass riff that I like and then I forget it.

What I do is, I always have something ready to record what I play before I forget it. Then, because I can play by ear pretty well, I can just refer back to the recording. It doesn't have to be super hi-fi or anything - just so I can hear it back. Even the voice recorder on my cellphone is okay. Eventually, I remember them anyway after a few practices!

NickyBass · #14 03-07-2009, 08:13 AM

People will rattle off a list of famous players who can't read either. That has nothing to do with your personal situation. You are trying to improve as a well rounded musician and bassist and don't let anyone talk you out of that.

Also, people will talk about creativity and feel and groove. That is all about the player, and his/her theoretical knowledge will, in no way, hurt that. I think it's great that a 16 year old bassist is trying to learn to read---keep it up!! Learn as much as you can and don't let anyone hold you back.

hbarcat · #15 03-07-2009, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stumbo

Check the link in my sig. Everything you need to know is in there.

+100

bluesy, definitely click the link in Stumbo's sig. It is a gold mine of information and the answer to your questions is to be found there.

Frankly, if you're looking for some shortcut or secret that will bestow upon you the abilities that you desire, you won't find it. Only years of practice using well established methods will make you the musician you want to be. Click the link and get started.

jnewmark · #16 03-07-2009, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawsonman

I've played by ear for over 40 years.It's never been a problem.There's never been a song I couldn't learn to play in a very short time.This is strictly my opinion but,to me,players who play by ear play with more imagination.It really depends on what your goals are to how much you want to learn.

My story too. I can use chord charts when I'm stuck, but, in 40 years of playing in Blues, Soul, and Rockabilly bands, I've never had a problem learning songs. Did I try to learn how to read? Yes, but I just could'nt do it, and playing by ear was so much easier and faster. I've played in horn bands where the horn guys could'nt play a lick without a chart, and , even then, it sounded so stiff and mechanical. I used to ask them if they ever listen to the recordings and their reply was usually, " Why?" If you can learn to read, by all means do it. But having good ears and a sense of rhythm has never failed.

Jim Campbell · #17 03-07-2009, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lbwdog

bluesy,
If you love music like it appears, I strongly recommend doing whatever it takes to learn to read (both bass and treble clef). Try not to be impatient as it takes time, but you are still young and have time. Your ear training will be a valuable asset as well. I've known musicians who could read like crazy, but couldn't play Happy Birthday without sheet music (I'm not kidding!!)

One of my best friends, a guitarist whom I've played with most of the last thirty five years, used to ask me to teach him to read, but when it came time to do so, he always had somewhere to go, or another excuse for ducking out. In later years, he would ask me, "How come you always get called to play with [insert major artist name], and do record sessions?" My answer: "Cause I can read".

It's obviously not a requirement to be a successful musician, but it sure helps your understanding of whats going on around you, and speeds up the process in many situations.

its been said a million times,and i guess that's because it's true..........i would add that a good reader knows how to transpose on the fly and the way to learn that is to start at the same time as you learn to read......i found that once i got to a decent reading level that going back to whole notes again was not much fun

Richard Lindsey · #18 03-07-2009, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamrobertt

Who cares. Neither can Paul McCartney. It doesn't really matter when it comes to playing bass or guitar.

Right. Tell that to John Patitucci, Jonny Greenwood, or Julian Bream.

Jeez. Only on a bass or guitar forum would you find so much energy being expended on defending the positive value of ignorance, or arguing for the uselessness of actual knowledge.

Richard Lindsey · #19 03-07-2009, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawsonman

I've played by ear for over 40 years.It's never been a problem.There's never been a song I couldn't learn to play in a very short time.This is strictly my opinion but,to me,players who play by ear play with more imagination.It really depends on what your goals are to how much you want to learn.

I don't mean to pick on you, but I really wish people would just let go of the idea that knowing how to read is in any way opposed to being able to play by ear. I know a lot of musicians who do both very well indeed, and oddly enough, they have tended to be what I consider the best musicians overall.

lawsonman · #20 03-07-2009, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Lindsey

I don't mean to pick on you, but I really wish people would just let go of the idea that knowing how to read is in any way opposed to being able to play by ear. I know a lot of musicians who do both very well indeed, and oddly enough, they have tended to be what I consider the best musicians overall.

No offense taken. And I was in no way trying to imply that people who read were not good musicians or had no imagination what so ever.All I was trying to get across is the fact that just because a person can only play by ear doesn't mean thay can't be a very good musician.But if your goals are higher,reading is a necessity.