two years this month

[SelenaBassGirl]

when I started learning bass. I started with the tab to Brown Eyed Girl. I didn't really understand how to read tabs..heck I still don't. I play by ear!
Then in Nov. I learned my first song by ear and it went from there!

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

congratulations. as for the tabs.. yeah... too many different ideas on how those should be notated, and nobody ever provides a key for their specific notation, so you end up with a ton of oddball markings that you have no clue what they are. The easiest tabs look like this:

E:|------2-2-2-2--------------0-0-0-0-0-------------|
A:|-1-1-----------5-5-5-5---------------------------|
D:|--------------------------------------3-3-3-------|
G:|---------------------------------------------------|

Where you would play A 1st fret twice, then E 2nd fret 4 times, A 5th fret 4 times, open E 5 times, and D 3rd fret 3 times. From that you just go by ear on the timing. But everyone wants to throw in oddball stuff like odd symbols and such for sharps, flats, hammer-ons, taps, etc... When in reality that stuff could be figured out easily by listening to the song.

The worst tabs don't give any indication of what string is what, or provide any key to their cryptic symbols.... just confusing the hell out of everyone. It's not a guitar chord tab, it's a bass tab... keep it simple.

So congratulations on 2 years of playing, keep it up!!!

[mad_man_moon61]

Congrats and may many more years of bass goodness lie ahead for you.

[rutty24]

wouldn't it make more sense if it was:


G:|---------------------------------------------------|
D:|--------------------------------------3-3-3-------|
A:|-1-1-----------5-5-5-5---------------------------|
E:|------2-2-2-2--------------0-0-0-0-0-------------|


i just use the tab for brief reference if i don't have sheet music available. then learn the song from what i hear by ear.

congrats on 2 years of playing. keep it up.

[bassbully]

Good luck and keep learning. Tab is a cool way to get started but work away from it as you go. Develop that ear like you said you were.... its key. Learn the fretboard and chord construction and progressions and you are pretty much there.

[Paul262]

I would suggest getting Guitar Pro (buying or downloading, who cares), and downloading songs that are easy.

The thing about tabs is that they don't describe the rhythm of the song to you, and bass is a RHYTHM instrument! But you have the luxury of tabs to go with it, so I highly recommend GP.

[Dekker]

I just discovered "tux guitar" (http://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxguitar) and it is an open-source (free/legal) software that does the important bits of GuitarPro...

I download guitar-pro tabs for the song I want, have TuxGuitar play it to see if it sounds right (something you can't do with tabs), then I can print out the tabs/standard-notation. I can even have it play at a reduced tempo with only the bass track playing, or all tracks except the bass.

And congratulations on the 2 years... I'm only at 7 months myself, and finally getting less intimidated and more comfortable with new songs. Irony is that I just started teaching myself Brown Eyed Girl yestarday!

[HailCorduroy]

Originally Posted by Dekker

I just discovered "tux guitar" (http://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxguitar) and it is an open-source (free/legal) software that does the important bits of GuitarPro...

I download guitar-pro tabs for the song I want, have TuxGuitar play it to see if it sounds right (something you can't do with tabs), then I can print out the tabs/standard-notation. I can even have it play at a reduced tempo with only the bass track playing, or all tracks except the bass.

And congratulations on the 2 years... I'm only at 7 months myself, and finally getting less intimidated and more comfortable with new songs. Irony is that I just started teaching myself Brown Eyed Girl yestarday!

+1 to Tux Guitar. It reads and writes Guitar Pro files, so I can swap files back and forth with guitarist, who paid for GP. We use it to write out ideas and such. I also use it when I'm figuring out a song by ear. The one thing I wish they would add would be to allow you to enter standard notation directly. You have to enter it as tab and it creates the notation for you.

[SelenaBassGirl]

thanks ya for the advice and congrats and all! Yea that was the only time I ever used tabs...I just found it easier to do by ear. It might sound weird but I can "feel" where it's gonna be at on the bass (the note).
I still haven't learned the notes on the fret board yet..know a few but that is it..(can tell u on a piano! lol!) but the musicians I played with or heard me play, said I was right on the money playing. Note by note.
I am a late starter but I love playing it. Been told they can tell I am playing from the heart. I am lucky to have a friend in a band who lets me sit in with them sometimes!

[SelenaBassGirl]

Originally Posted by rutty24

wouldn't it make more sense if it was:


G:|---------------------------------------------------|
D:|--------------------------------------3-3-3-------|
A:|-1-1-----------5-5-5-5---------------------------|
E:|------2-2-2-2--------------0-0-0-0-0-------------|


i just use the tab for brief reference if i don't have sheet music available. then learn the song from what i hear by ear.

congrats on 2 years of playing. keep it up.

Yea...I thought the other was upside down but I think he was typing it while saying or thinking the strings looking down. Automatically you say EADG (or BEADG if you are them fivers) and so you end up typing in that order.
I really do appreciate all's advice and comments!

[buzzbass]

Originally Posted by SelenaBassGirl

when I started learning bass. I started with the tab to Brown Eyed Girl. I didn't really understand how to read tabs..heck I still don't. I play by ear!
Then in Nov. I learned my first song by ear and it went from there!

nice, keep up the good work. LOL, after 30+ years of playing, I STILL don't know Brown Eyed Girl. Actually, I'm pretty proud of that