I need to improve my ear!

[Martin1989]

Hi, ive been playing bass for almost 3years, it was my first instrument so I was new to music in general when i started.
My technical ability is fairly decent as I play a lot of RHCP songs and im able to make up basslines in my band but its been bothering me for a while how bad my ear is for figuring out notes.
When Im jamming I always have to ask the guitarist what the progression is etc, is this common or are most decent bassists able to just play along and figure out the roots in a metter of seconds?
Also, I can find it pretty tricky to work out songs by ear. Sometimes Ill surprise myself and work out a fairly complex line quite quickly but usually itll take a while.
Basically, if anyones got tips or would like to comment on my post please let me know as any info at all will be great.
Sorry for the mini essay i wrote!

[paganjack]

two thoughts-

for jams, i often just use my eyes instead of ears. reading the guitar chords your guitarist plays is super helpful.

or...practice!
the more songs you work out by ear the better your ear gets. i found that transcribing one Rush song was worth about 20 regular songs. but prog isnt for everyone.

[deathbyjune]

any kind of formal ear training will help, of course.

my trick is to remember the root note of a song/riff that you know like that back of your band. C or E work well me. once that note is ingrained into your brain, you can use it as a reference note.

[Just J]

you'll get a FLOOD of people suggesting this, but:

Transcribe everything, and play along with the radio. I've learned to read a guitarist's hands as well, but if you get in a situation where they're playing an odd chord, it'll help to be able to "hear" it.

My biggest problem was/is trusting my ear. I'm not confident in my voice, so I always shy away from the "play the song till you can sing it" advice, and it does slow me down a little. As you get used to transcribing, you'll get more confident, and eventually be able to identify notes faster.

Lastly, I hope you know your scales, I've been able to figure out certain lines quickly because I could hear the scale they were walking down.

I use Transcribe! when I do transcriptions. It can change tempos without adjusting pitch, can change a songs key or adjust tuning (if an old recording is a few cents flat), has a visual of the tune to help in looping, and it'll also give you it's best guess as to what a note is if you highlight it or stop playback when the note is playing. It's a nifty feature, and will help you "check" your work, but it's not always right.

oh, almost forgot, www.good-ear.com

[Martin1989]

That transcribe programme is awesome! Whats the best way to totally isolate the bass? I just selected bass select and it seems pretty good.

[MrBorisSpider]

I'd reccomend using the solfege method of singing scales to internalize intervals. Gary Willis' book is a great purchase (or torrent). That really helps at first. Once you can sing the major and minor scales reliably, move onto software which tests your ears for intervals. Scales are super-important for transcription as 90% of music is major or minor scale stuff with some penatonics thrown in for blues/blues-influence music.

For example, Pitch Coach 1.1 is free and it's great because instead of playing root-interval, it plays both at the same time. Sort of like chords, almost. It's really helped me.

Then, move onto melodies and songs etc. The key for me is to, in no order: figure out wether the melody is generally minor or major, wether or not it changes at different parts and then the bass parts. Then I proceed to internalize the line and play with the recording and see if I missed something or messed something up.

It's not perfect, but my ear works about 80% of the time, according to most interval recognition software lol.

[MrBorisSpider]

Also, cop-out or not, if I can't hear a bass because it's buried so far into the mix, I usually don't bother learning it. All the ones you want to learn from are more prominent anyway i.e. Jaco, JPJ etc.

[Martin1989]

Yeah it can be annoying trying to work out fills etc if there really hard to hear.

[Martin1989]

are the any toher programmes that are good for isolating the bass?

[Just J]

Originally Posted by Martin1989

are the any toher programmes that are good for isolating the bass?

The best you can do is use the EQ in programs like transcribe to cut the highs and boost the lows. Because the bass covers a range of frequencies, it's hard to isolate without losing some clarity (especially in high register fills.)

You could try downloading Audacity (I forget the URL, but you can google it easily.) Free audio editing program, can put a song in there, run it through some filters to isolate/boost the bass, then put it into the transcription program. I wouldn't really recommend this as you'll want to eventually cut the bass so you can play along with the track.

One little trick I've read that'll help you better learn to isolate the bass, is to concentrate on certain parts when listening to music. Hard to explain, but try to focus one instrument at a time. Just do that from time to time during the day, easy "workout" for your brain. When you can better pick out a hard to hear sound/instrument it'll make the transcribing easier, as well as make you sound better in a band because you won't have to play loudly to hear yourself. (Beginners usually do two things wrong, play to much, and/or play to loudly.)

P.S. When learning songs, I usually don't learn the fills note for note unless they're iconic to the song. So if you have a song with a crazy fill you can't really hear, don't worry about it. You can pick it up later as you develop your ear.

[MrBorisSpider]

Originally Posted by Martin1989

Yeah it can be annoying trying to work out fills etc if there really hard to hear.

Very true. It does get easier with practice, though. Sometimes it seems muffled just because our ears aren't up to snuff yet. Don't be dissapointed if you don't get it all at first. I'm still stuck a lot on fast passages such as the opening bassline from Spirit of Radio, for example. I know it's in E and there's a dominant 7th in there, but I can't quite decipher much else.

[MrBorisSpider]

Originally Posted by Just J

The best you can do is use the EQ in programs like transcribe to cut the highs and boost the lows. Because the bass covers a range of frequencies, it's hard to isolate without losing some clarity (especially in high register fills.)

You could try downloading Audacity (I forget the URL, but you can google it easily.) Free audio editing program, can put a song in there, run it through some filters to isolate/boost the bass, then put it into the transcription program. I wouldn't really recommend this as you'll want to eventually cut the bass so you can play along with the track.

One little trick I've read that'll help you better learn to isolate the bass, is to concentrate on certain parts when listening to music. Hard to explain, but try to focus one instrument at a time. Just do that from time to time during the day, easy "workout" for your brain. When you can better pick out a hard to hear sound/instrument it'll make the transcribing easier, as well as make you sound better in a band because you won't have to play loudly to hear yourself. (Beginners usually do two things wrong, play to much, and/or play to loudly.)

P.S. When learning songs, I usually don't learn the fills note for note unless they're iconic to the song. So if you have a song with a crazy fill you can't really hear, don't worry about it. You can pick it up later as you develop your ear.

You nailed my two bad habits, J . Carol Kaye said that practicing for more than 2 hours a day is a waste. Even more so for a newer player like me who doesn't have as much endurance and focus.

[Stumbo]

Learn to play chords on a guitar and/or piano. Learn some music theory so you know what chords go together and how.

If you're jamming, the guitar player should tell you the chord progression before you start. It may change as you go but you gotta start on the same page.

[bassdoubler]

wait, you mean not every one has perfect pitch????

Sorry....thats pretty obnoxious....but I guarantee you that if you practice your intervals and circle of fifths along with your practice, your ear will eventually become familiar with pitches....this is something you MUST focus on, otherwise, what the hell is the purpose of playing music if you can't hear what's going on? Your ears and ability to sight read are definitely more important than your technical ability on bass....

[Orangeclawhamme]

Originally Posted by bassdoubler

wait, you mean not every one has perfect pitch????

What's being able to throw a banjo 30 yards into the dumpster and hitting the accordian got to do with playing bass?