I think i may be deaf.

[chickbassist007]

Hey People,

So heres the thing, im DONE with tabs, they are just annoying now, i want to be able to pick out the bass line to a song and learn it by ear, but the problem is i cant hear it!!!
most of the time its all drowned out by the treble and when i turn the bass up it just sounds muffled, i dont know if its me, or if there's just a certain way you gotta learn, HELP!!!


Em

[quilttopjazz24]

Headphones? (Good ones...)

[somegeezer]

Turn up the mids instead of the treble? Might bring it out more. Depends what the EQ is like on the recording in the first place though I guess. Nothing wrong with learning by tab, then changing any mistakes by listening for differences. That's what I do.

[anonymous02282011]

it takes time. It's a new skill. You will develop it.

Listen for one note at a time. Rewind button is your friend.

[Tandrew]

Em,

How long have you been playing bass?
What kind of music are you listening to (i.e. songs your trying to hear bass on)?



Sometimes it just takes practice and listening, to pick out basslines.
Low frequencies aren't the ones we humans tend to hear/appreciate first.
Everybody's hearing is different, in the sense that they may pick up highs, lows, mids one more than the other especially depending on the tone of the bass .

I wouldn't get frustrated with it (not saying that you are) but give it time, keep playing and start by just trying to match a note with the song you're listening to and remember relax and enjoy the music. If you still can't hear it then maybe go see a doctor, preferrably a bass doctor.

Hope that helps,

Tan

[doktorfeelgood]

If you don't have a good stereo, then get some good headphones.
They will help a lot. Yer not deaf it just takes a little patience and practice. )-(

[Sam Hain]

It definately takes some time. When you do get the ear for the lows it will hit you suddenly and will become a milestone in your developement.

One thing you can do is to pick one song you know well, get the sheet music, or tabs and listen to it over and over. Your ears will see it eventually.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

As the bass parts in the modern music has evolved, it has become increasingly difficult to pinpoint what's what. If there's bass heavy keys and/or 7 or 8 string guitars involved in the recording, it's sometimes nearly impossible to isolate just the bass.

I haven't looked for them in a long time, but there's quite a bit of MIDI files floating around the net. With a MIDI player, You can isolate separate tracks, an some folks use that to train their ears.

If it makes You feel any better, I have played covers about 25 years and still have a hard time in isolating the exact bass track in certain styles of music. Even in the ones I listen daily.

Regards
Sam

[tearalong]

A graphic equaliser or parametric eq lets you hone in on a much narrower frequency band that just the bass and treble controls on a typical stereo or mp3 player. it might help in getting rid of the other distracting parts of the mix.