Learning by ear?

[Invisible_Kid]

Lend me your ears and hands, my fellow bassists. I'm trying to learn Rob Trujillo's intro to For Whom The Bell Tolls on the 2004 Big Day Out. This is really the only thing I've ever tried learning by ear, and I've got a bit of it done, but not much. Anybody have any tips to figuring it out?

Link to video.

[MalcolmAmos]

First one to learn by ear. Do yourself a favor and try something a little simpler. Sorry all I hear is noise.

[EddieBass]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

First one to learn by ear. Do yourself a favor and try something a little simpler. Sorry all I hear is noise.

[2]

[dtiii]

He's using an E minor pentatonic scale.

Just practice the scale first to get the sound of it in your ear. After awhile you'll hear how he is using it. Pentatonic is a user-friendly scale and he's not really doing anything out of the ordinary with it. You might want to check out Geezer Butler's solo Bassically. It's on Black Sabbath's first album. It comes right before the song N.I.B.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk2HpyqjCiw

I think it's a better solo using the same scale.

Good luck

[delta7fred]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

First one to learn by ear. Do yourself a favor and try something a little simpler. Sorry all I hear is noise.

+1

The distortion doesn't help note definition and when he gets down on the B string you really need a combination of listening, experience and watching where his fingers are going. Slowing it down sometimes helps if you can find a program that maintains the pitch.

It really is difficult one to start on though. It would be quite a challenge for me to get it note perfect, if I had the inclination to, and I have been learning by ear for 40+ years.

Or maybe you are not wearing the correct shorts

[ubado]

I find it easiest to figure out sloppy/distorted lines when playing the tunes through a graphic eq'd system.

(although I'm not a fan of Trujillo's tone ... he is entertaining to watch. Kinda like Smeagol/Gollum crawling around in the rocks )