A great way to work on memorizing tunes

[matthewbrown]

Bulletproof Musician has launched a tool that will help any bassist looking to master a new tune by doing more than playing along with it. That would be playing along with it, and THEN PLAYING ALONG WITHOUT IT. The new tool allows you to randomly silence a YouTube video for a percentage of the time (your choice -- I guess if you silence it 100%, then you know that tune completely!) It's rather like using a metronome that silences part of the time, like Tonal Energy.

Random Silencer for YouTube

A practice tool for musicians…

bulletproofmusician.com

 

[mambo4]

I can already play along without any song

 

[LowActionHero]

I can already play along without any song

it's often easier that way!

 

[iammr2]

You need a tool for that?

 

[Ostie]

I can remember the music. It’s the lyrics that I sing that give me trouble.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

Bulletproof Musician has launched a tool that will help any bassist looking to master a new tune by doing more than playing along with it. That would be playing along with it, and THEN PLAYING ALONG WITHOUT IT. The new tool allows you to randomly silence a YouTube video for a percentage of the time (your choice -- I guess if you silence it 100%, then you know that tune completely!) It's rather like using a metronome that silences part of the time, like Tonal Energy.

Random Silencer for YouTube

A practice tool for musicians…

bulletproofmusician.com

That seems really interesting. Rather than using such a tool for memorizing a tune, (because all the rest of the aural information helps remember and navigate the songs), there are bass parts that are buried in the mix or perhaps are doing something that is hard to 100% sus out with all the other things being very active going on as well.

I could see this working very well to sort out articulations and bass lines where the tones are felt a bit more than they're heard to give the songs not only the technically "right" notes like the recording, but also to impart feel. I'm thinking of some DMB stuff here. This includes parts where you KNOW the note but the tonal quality makes it hard to determine if unison octave lines, or one octave with a octave pedal or other processing. I say this from the perspective of trying to emulate, exactly as I can some country bass lines where the note higher up on the neck has real presence and energy as it should, but the bottom or the lower octave still sounds fairly present. Yes, I know Nashville modern recording may do lots of things as studio finesse, but I'm saying the tool can provide useful insights in a number of genres of bass playing, or so it would seem.

 

[matthewbrown]

That seems really interesting. Rather than using such a tool for memorizing a tune, (because all the rest of the aural information helps remember and navigate the songs), there are bass parts that are buried in the mix or perhaps are doing something that is hard to 100% sus out with all the other things being very active going on as well.

I could see this working very well to sort out articulations and bass lines where the tones are felt a bit more than they're heard to give the songs not only the technically "right" notes like the recording, but also to impart feel. I'm thinking of some DMB stuff here. This includes parts where you KNOW the note but the tonal quality makes it hard to determine if unison octave lines, or one octave with a octave pedal or other processing. I say this from the perspective of trying to emulate, exactly as I can some country bass lines where the note higher up on the neck has real presence and energy as it should, but the bottom or the lower octave still sounds fairly present. Yes, I know Nashville modern recording may do lots of things as studio finesse, but I'm saying the tool can provide useful insights in a number of genres of bass playing, or so it would seem.

That's an interesting angle, and one I hadn't thought of.

 

[Low Main]

Reminds me of an old school game that Gordon Edwards played with his fellow musicians back in the day.

Riding in a car with the radio on, if they saw a tunnel coming up, someone would start keeping time to the tune that was on, maybe singing the bass line or the lyric.

When the car went into the tunnel, the radio signal cut out. Whoever was keeping time and singing kept going.

When the car came out of the tunnel and the radio came back on, you had to be right on the beat and know exactly where in the tune you were.

 

[bassdude51]

For me, most songs are one to five chords. If I know the chords, I know the song.

Back in the early 80s, my masters degree bass teacher taught me that in music, there are only 12 notes. And, about 70% of all songs are in the 1-4-5 chord progression.

This info really simplified songs and music for me and made me more confident to play the bass.

When playing live, famous bands rarely play note for note. Every live performance is a bit different.

For most songs, I don't get hung up trying to play 100% like the recording.

Memorizing tunes? Whatever works for you!​

 

[buldog5151bass]

I think sometimes all the gadgets make things more difficult, not less.

The easier we make it, the less time people will spend on it.

As to this specific option, I actually think it's better to play along with the track, if your desire is to learn the exact part. Any time you are playing a note different than the original part, it sticks out.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

For me, most songs are one to five chords. If I know the chords, I know the song.

Back in the early 80s, my masters degree bass teacher taught me that in music, there are only 12 notes. And, about 70% of all songs are in the 1-4-5 chord progression.

This info really simplified songs and music for me and made me more confident to play the bass.

When playing live, famous bands rarely play note for note. Every live performance is a bit different.

For most songs, I don't get hung up trying to play 100% like the recording.

Memorizing tunes? Whatever works for you!​

I play in (I think) well-regarded cover bands. Three of them. I work hard to be prepared. I have some fair responsibility to get details right not only for myself, but also to do the things that are musically predictable and consistent because other people need that. I'd like to get 100% right and consistent every time, but that may or may not be possible in the heat of the moment. I do have a high expectation that I'm going to 100% of the time get the music 90% (or more) right where if there is a deviation from a studio recording, it does not violate the studio recorded part, the spirit of it, or the live vibe, negatively, and again... to be consistent for everyone else who is expecting I'll do certain things. I think people- bandmembers at least and maybe audience- will notice if I don't get 90% right. When it gets down to the nitty-gritty, the EXACT details specific to my parts as compared to the studio recording, I'm not sure anyone but me would notice.

There's a bit of perfectionist in me, and I also have a classical music degree. I'm sure those things inform my approach.

 

[matthewbrown]

For me, most songs are one to five chords. If I know the chords, I know the song.

Back in the early 80s, my masters degree bass teacher taught me that in music, there are only 12 notes. And, about 70% of all songs are in the 1-4-5 chord progression.

This info really simplified songs and music for me and made me more confident to play the bass.

When playing live, famous bands rarely play note for note. Every live performance is a bit different.

For most songs, I don't get hung up trying to play 100% like the recording.

Memorizing tunes? Whatever works for you!​

I agree about interpreting most songs. I remember leaving a project because the leader wanted me to learn every tune note-for-note from the record, which was way more work than I had time to put in on it. There are times, though, when I want to learn a bass line or melody (or part of one) exactly as it's played, so I can internalize it and make it part of my toolkit.

 

[Blues Daddy]

uhmmm . . . maybe It's me but I tried it and this tool just mutes the entire audio . . . . ??? ( exactly the "Tunnel" effect )

I have no idea how this helps learn anything - but I might be missing something?

Besides, I still remember the BEST way to memorize a music part from my marching-band-training in high school when the band director required everyone to memorize the entire half-time show . . . . it worked then, and it works now 50 years later . . . .

 

[Topkat13]

This is gonna sound weird but I memorize songs by playing them over and over.