Learning songs by ear or by note...

[slapfunk987]

When you decide to learn a song off of a record, do you actually learn the notes like A, D, F, G, G... or do you just play and no where it is on the bass.

And is one more necessary than the other?? I mean I could, for the most part, tell someone the note names if they asked, but while playing I dont make the conscious association between note names and the notes being played.
Just wondering how everyone else is....

[Lord_Of_Funk]

To each his own, but I say that knowing the notes you are playing is the way to go. It will increase your knowledge of the fretboard. After a certain point it will become intuitive and you won't have to actively think about it as much anymore.

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by Lord_Of_Funk

To each his own, but I say that knowing the notes you are playing is the way to go. It will increase your knowledge of the fretboard. After a certain point it will become intuitive and you won't have to actively think about it as much anymore.

I agree. When I learn a new song I learn the notes first, what and where they are, and I'll develop a bass line from there. It's a quick process, since I've been playing bass a while. After that it's simply a matter of repetition.

[lokikallas]

I try to use the same octave as the recording, but not always the same position. Sometimes the original position is useful. A lot of older songs tend to be played on a high position on the bass, and sometimes, I'll drop it an octave to fatten it up a bit to my tastes. Knowing the actual names of the notes is really only important to communicate to other musicians, as the keyboardist may not understand, "let's start at the part on the 9th fret", but it's always a good thing to know the names of the notes, rather than just learn guitar in a "tableture" mind set.

[Ric5]

You need to know all the notes on your neck and know some theory, and sometimes tabs and sheet music can help you learn a song faster. But many songs can be completely learned by ear. The more I use sheet music the less spontaneous my playing is. I prefer to try to learn songs by ear whenever possible. Also I don't like playing with musicians who don't know what chords or notes they are playing.

[Febs]

I know where all of the notes are on the neck, so learning by ear and learning the notes are one and the same.

[Mushroo]

My first step in learning a tune is to hear the chord progression in terms of Roman numerals. For example I-IV-V is an easily recognizable pattern; I-V-vi-IV is an easily recognizable pattern; i-bVI-VI-V is an easily recognizable pattern. Then I figure out what key it's in (the I chord) and the rest falls into place. I am not consciously thinking "A-C#-E; E-G#-B; F#-A-C#; D-F#-A" but rather "I-V-vi-IV in A."

It is kind of like learning your way around town. At first you might think "leave the driveway, turn right at the stop sign, go 2 miles, turn left on Elm St., go 3 blocks, pull into the parking lot" but after doing it a few times, you can simply think, "drive to work. drive to the hardware store. take a cab to the pub," and *poof!* next thing you know, you're at your destination. Music is like that, too---as a beginner you need to consciously think about every note in the bass line (what is the name of the note, which string do I play it on, where do I place my fingers, etc.); but then as you become more familiar with the language of music, you can break the form of each song down into larger structures and it becomes effortless. Another example, when I say, "Hi, how are you today" I am expressing a single thought; I am not consciously thinking, "H. I. comma. H. O. W. space A. R. E. etc."

Hope that's helpful!

[So Low Bass]

That's a great explanation.

[onosson]

Originally Posted by Mushroo

My first step in learning a tune is to hear the chord progression in terms of Roman numerals. For example I-IV-V is an easily recognizable pattern; I-V-vi-IV is an easily recognizable pattern; i-bVI-VI-V is an easily recognizable pattern. Then I figure out what key it's in (the I chord) and the rest falls into place. I am not consciously thinking "A-C#-E; E-G#-B; F#-A-C#; D-F#-A" but rather "I-V-vi-IV in A."

This is exactly how I do it.

You can develop a really good ear by becoming familiar with these types of very common patterns and progressions, and learning to recognize them in popular music. You don't need to know the key of the song at all to be able to pick out the progression. Do this at every opportunity, and you will slowly be able to pick more and more complicated progressions over time.

Good luck!

[ics1974]

I see the intervals of the chord of the moment with all other intervals surrounding it

[fdeck]

I hear it in my head and then I play it. I'm also a good sight-reader, so I can obviously connect symbols with notes. But if you ask me the name of the note that I just played, I will have to pause and think about it.

[Blue_Whistle88]

As mentioned, learning the notes on the neck is worth it because learning songs by ear actually becomes easier. Knowing scales is probably an even bigger help cause then you can predict some of the song structure, plus it'll allow you to improvise over the song more freely. Learning notes, as oppose to string and fret numbers, is absolutely worth it, otherwise you'll never be able to play outside of a drums/bass/guitar/vocals context.

[ElectroVibe]

You can do a heck of a lot with just the root and the 5th of each chord. After that would be the 3rd, although I probably use the 2nd more often than the third as a hammer on note from the root.

But I think of the numeric notes, rather than the actual notes, so I don't have to worry about remembering all the notes. With 1 being the key. And if the song is in a minor key, I switch to the relative major and just think of it as the relative major key.

[Blue_Whistle88]

Well yea, now your talking about thinking of notes in terms of scale intervals. That's handy too, maybe more so than thinking of them as notes, because that's the next step to constructing fully-fledged melodies. That terminology will also translate to other instruments. But if you wanna read sheet music, you've gotta know your notes, and it IS worth the time.

[Hawkbone]

Originally Posted by Mushroo

My first step in learning a tune is to hear the chord progression in terms of Roman numerals. For example I-IV-V is an easily recognizable pattern; I-V-vi-IV is an easily recognizable pattern; i-bVI-VI-V is an easily recognizable pattern. Then I figure out what key it's in (the I chord) and the rest falls into place. I am not consciously thinking "A-C#-E; E-G#-B; F#-A-C#; D-F#-A" but rather "I-V-vi-IV in A."

It is kind of like learning your way around town. At first you might think "leave the driveway, turn right at the stop sign, go 2 miles, turn left on Elm St., go 3 blocks, pull into the parking lot" but after doing it a few times, you can simply think, "drive to work. drive to the hardware store. take a cab to the pub," and *poof!* next thing you know, you're at your destination. Music is like that, too---as a beginner you need to consciously think about every note in the bass line (what is the name of the note, which string do I play it on, where do I place my fingers, etc.); but then as you become more familiar with the language of music, you can break the form of each song down into larger structures and it becomes effortless. Another example, when I say, "Hi, how are you today" I am expressing a single thought; I am not consciously thinking, "H. I. comma. H. O. W. space A. R. E. etc."

Hope that's helpful!

man that sounds like wisdom there

[willydee]

I think how you do it depends largely on how much you already know in terms of theory. I know practically none (EADG, that's about it) so when Victor Wooten says "listening is the most important part of music" I'd agree. Listen to the song and base what you play on instinct. The trick is knowing the bass well enough to hit the "right" notes more often than not.

I can understand someone saying that's ridiculous if they are hot on their music theory, but im not expecting it to work for everyone.

[willydee]

Good thread by the way!

[dreads311]

[marijn van gils]

Originally Posted by Febs

I know where all of the notes are on the neck, so learning by ear and learning the notes are one and the same.

+1

[lfmn16]

Originally Posted by willydee

I think how you do it depends largely on how much you already know in terms of theory. I know practically none (EADG, that's about it) so when Victor Wooten says "listening is the most important part of music" I'd agree.

Listening may be the most important thing, but knowing theory helps to put what you hear in context.

Originally Posted by willydee

I can understand someone saying that's ridiculous if they are hot on their music theory, but im not expecting it to work for everyone.

If it works for you that is all that matters.