tabs

[cassanova]

Originally posted by nvilla
After reading all the threads on how tabs are bad I decided to try and learn song by ear. At first it was hard but now I find myself almost never using tab. I recommend everyone else who uses tab to try learning song by ear.

thats great, your on the right path to becoming a better musician by ditching the tabz. and your ear will only keep getting better.

Originally posted by BassGimp
My ears just don't seem good at stuff like that. If I hear a series of notes I honestly find it hard to tell whether they are higher or lower than the previous note. I know when stuff sounds wrong but I can't seem to tell when it is right...

You got the 1st note, and thats an acomplishment. In time you'll figure out the rest. The results may not be as fast as you like, but they will definatly come in time. You know when theyre wrong so it's only a matter of time before you will be able to tell when theyre right.

I found that by practicing all the scales it has helped me to decipher the notes that i hear in cover tunes a bit easier. The ear gets used to hearing them and you can relate it when you hear it in a song. So maybe you may want to brush up on your scales a bit more. It works for me, it might for you.

[the-lizard-king]

I tried to work out deep inside by incubus and I could only work out the first note!!! I suck. So tabs are good

Try easy songs first. Find a song with a very simple (and clear) bassline and go from there.
I recomend Bob Dylan's 'All Along The Watchtower', the bassline is very loud and clear, and very simple (it only uses 4 notes), but is fun to play. Its what I started on.
Jim

[nikofthehill]

Originally posted by frankencow150

" but with bass,everyone progresses at the same rate!And not many people have a gift for it,they usually just get better as they go along.Also with bass,you can play with other musicans(ie guitars,drummers,and other bassists!)"

i disagree (vehemently. whatever that means... )
no one progresses at the same rate. how fast you pick up an instrument depends on how much practice you put in, whether or not you have a good teacher, and to some extent, a gift or natural talent. this is why some people who have been playing for years on end aren't as good as people who've only been playing for 1 or 2 years.

just my opinion btw, so take no offense.

-nik

And yes, parents are a pain.

[stephanie]

Originally posted by Pacman
FISHLIMP,

If you figured out the first note, you made progress! Revel in your accomplishment, and then learn the second note. I'll make you a promise - it will get easier.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

That is so true. My ear-training skills aren't as honed as I'd like them to be, but I know that I'm improving when I go back and try to learn a song that when I first started playing bass I couldn't play at all, I could barely hear the bassline! Now the bass stands out much more in songs. It's like a door has opened up.

[Little Marc]

From Bela Fleck liner notes...
I had to figure out how to learn this stuff on the technical level. Although a terrible music manuscript reader, I am fairly adept at reading banjo tablature. Because the banjo is tuned in close intervals, one can play many of the notes in a variety of locations. This makes conventional notation a little confusing to me, as it doesn't tell you where on the instrument to play the notes.

I consider him to be about as good a mucsician as a guy could ever want to be. Every one needs a hand once in while. There are some advantages to tabs, like a differnet way of looking at the same thing.
Ears come with time.

[frankencow150]

Nikofthehill,i realize what you mean.I think about it now,and i mean that in music,you don't have to be as good to get big.i.e nsync probably makes 100 times of what tool makes,but tool is 100 times more talented.You can be horrible at making music and still can get recognition.

[embellisher]

Originally posted by HANKIEBLOWSMYNOSE
Nikofthehill,i realize what you mean.I think about it now,and i mean that in music,you don't have to be as good to get big.i.e nsync probably makes 100 times of what tool makes,but tool is 100 times more talented.You can be horrible at making music and still can get recognition.

I wouldn't be so sure that Tool is 100 times more talented than N'Sync.

Just because you don't like a band or a style doesn't mean that they have no talent.

The guys who play in the studio on the N'Sync albums have talent, the guys who back them on tour have a lot of talent, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the boys have talent too, at least vocally.

[JoseNeville]

You are in the correct way.
Ear training is the vehicle to be a better musician. And about tab don't use it. Tab don't help you in any ways. This will keep you outside from learning, how to read music. Learn how to read music is not difficult, everyone have the talent of learn. Many people try to give some value in using tab, but there is no educational help.

Again this site is perfect to learn how to read and have a lot of transcriptions.
www.libster.com

You can,
Jose

[frankencow150]

Embellisher,I know what you mean,but I meant more of the Nsync members themselves,and pop in general,I didn't mean it towards the people who play the music in the studio and on tour.Maybe 100 times is kind of exaggerating it,but let's face it,alot of people that make popular music,arent amazingly talented.I'm not saying Tool is 'amazingly talented'(although theyre the best band),but i bet they work alot harder than the pop stars you see all over tv these days.