I suck at playing by ear =(

[Chad Michael]

Hey Albini_fan,

When you listen to music, popular rock / classic rock / blues, etc... Do you consciously focus on the bass part of the song? Or, do you hear the bass line without thinking about it?

[Albini_Fan]

It depends on what drugs I'm on

Haha, uh, I don't know. If there's bass I'll focus on it, and if I'm listening to say something like Converge or DEP I'll have to kind of make up my own in my mind.

[mflaherty]

albini fan,

I downloaded this song and transcribed the main riff. There is a variation of this used in the verse. The chorus is pretty much eighth notes with C#s and Ebs alternating on the last beat of the two bar rhythm.

BTW, thanks for getting me to listen to and read about Steve Albini. What a talented guy. I love his essay about record companies. I have heard the stories many times, but I had never seen the accounting before. Facinating.

I hope the GIF comes through...

[Rick Blanc]

Look up my "Is getting signed really like this" thread

[Albini_Fan]

Thanks! Although, although that's one of the few Big Black songs that the bass isn't really the lead. Albini was originally a bass player, but he gave it up in favor for wierd guitar vroom sounds.

You should check out songs like Bad Penny, The Model, Dead Billy, The Big Payback or My Disco to name a few of the bass-heavy Big Black songs (Which is like 60% of them ;P)

[Blueszilla]

Originally posted by jazzbo
(in the example of Bb):

Bb / Eb / Bb / Bb
Eb / Eb / Bb / Bb
F7 / Eb / Bb / Bb


With the blues, really, all you have to find is one note.

I agree, blues is a great way to learn bass. You can (very possibly!) play tunes with other people within days if not hours with the blues.

I'm kinda new here and have been doing 10x more reading than posting and JB's advice is rock solid every time. But Bb? You must play the sax too.

[jazzbo]

Originally posted by Blueszilla
But Bb? You must play the sax too.

No, no sax. But c'mon, it's a great key!

[Boplicity]

Originally posted by ZonPlyr
Gary Willis has a great book available to help with this Ultimate Ear Training for Guitar and Bass. I found it a great help even though I don't have trouble learning songs by ear, it helped me hear passages and tunes that I would have had to grab my bass for before.

http://www.garywillis.com/pages/books/etbook.html

I second the motion on the Gary Willis book. His method is to start with intervals. I really think that learning to identify intervals between notes is a very helpful way to improve if you feel you have no clue about ear training.

Willis starts with very simple two note intervals, then moves on to more complex phrases and even chords. I really feel having his book/CD is an excellent way to start.

I also highly endorse Jazzbo's advice to familiarize yourself with the twelve bar blues structure. I played for three years having great difficulty all the while, until I joined a blues band and had to get a grasp of the 12-bar blues. There just is no expressing how much that helped me with music...not just blues music either.

A great book for understanding blues structure is: "Mel Bay's Complete Blues Bass Book" with CD, by Mike Hiland.

That book and the Gary Willis book will really move you forward as a bass player. Learn scales,too. Play them up and down. After awhile, you will begin to be able to discern if one note is ascending or descending from the previous note. The Gary Willis book will help you with that, too.

Ear training comes much harder to some than others. Don't give up in dispair. Just keep working and following the advice in this thread and you will improve with time.

The reason your teacher may teach from a book and want you to have one, too, is so that you both follow together in a structured, rational manner and aren't just jumping around grabbing ideas here and there. A good music book can provide a solid logical progression of theory and techniques. I learn better that way, though some thrive on a more of a "catch as catch can" approach. It sounds to me as though you need more stucture until you become more confident about your ability.

[stephanie]

Wonderful post there, Bop.

Don't really have much to add to what has all been said, but letting you know that so many of us become discouraged along our path, including myself (believe me LOL). And, no, you don't suck just because you are having a problem with something. It's just a sign that something needs to be practiced a little more. And we all hit plateaus/ruts. What you have to do is not give up. Focus on what needs to improved. Explain to your teacher what exact problems you are having with your ear training (maybe bring in a song that has a more clear bassline to begin with?).