Training order

Cloud_Connected · #1 02-02-2006, 10:03 AM

Sleepless nights have passed because the frustration of NOT being able to figure out the most easiest songs and im getting pisst off.
I dont know how you guys manage but.....

could you write down what you were teaching to being able to figure out songs?

Oh yeah smoking is baaaaaad, stay clean and focused.

BassChuck · #2 02-02-2006, 10:08 AM

What kind of songs are you talking about?

Cloud_Connected · #3 02-02-2006, 10:58 AM

well you see i was trying to play Running with the devil on bass and dint manage to do that easy song so im frustrated.
I want to be able to figure out metal songs, but i aint sure of how to train my ears or whatever it takes to be able.

And i found some scales for example like the pentatonic 5-string scale, there was a picture of frets with black and red dots. I dont know what those dots are for, nor did the website say it either. I have tried to figure out easy songs like "Bad to the bone". Im training to figure out easy songs but its more like guessing not any "I know what im doing" training, if you know what i meen.

I want to be able to make cool bass riffs, i have them in my mind but dont know HOW to play them.
Sure i could sit the whole day and fool around the fretboard for one riff, but aint that to long time?

All i need to know is what to train, what scales? Or whatever it could be. This is my goal, so i can tell my friend " who needs tabs when you got your ears..... punk..."

So if anyone of you could maybe write down what i should train it would be great for example

1:scales
2:something else
3:whatever it could be

Would really apreciate ANY help,and all the little tips you have.

Thanks in advance

/Cloud

BassChuck · #4 02-02-2006, 12:15 PM

I just got through Mike Dimin's book "Core Method". He's a TBer and you can contact him through this forum. His book is a really excellent way to get around the learn the fretboard.

Also... check out the sticky of Pacman's scale method. Its not unlike Mike's, and very good also.

Go to Musician's Friend and look at the Tascam CD player that is made to train guitar and bass players (a different model for each instrument). It will slow down a recording without changing the pitch so you can hear the notes better. Check this forum search... there was a thread on this equipment very recently.

For the most part it sounds like you're going to have to just tough out the first couple songs. Yet, it can be rough sledding at first, but it gets easier as you learn to trust your ear and learn the fretboard.

Be patient with yourself, this is a process, not an event. It takes time. The players with talent AND time are the ones who will make it. Keep working.

invader3k · #5 02-02-2006, 12:32 PM

Don't get frustrated. I've been playing for over seven years and I'm still not very good at learning songs by ear. Once in a while I can pick up a song almost right away, but I think more than anything you just gotta keep practicing. That will help you learn different styles of music and chord structures. Sooner than later you'll be able to pick up on little things within different styles, and that will make it easier to figure out songs by ear.

I think the easiest way is to first figure out the chords. From there, getting the changes down will help you figure out the individual notes.