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Beginning to learn by ear

F

FatTony87

Apr 27, 2011
6
0
#1
Hey y'all, I recently picked up the bass again, and have realized that I should really be learning songs by ear, as tabs seem to be making me progress slower than in my younger years.

I've had lessons where my teacher was going through the basics of learning by ear and I realized that it wasn't natural to me, and it would take me maybe a whole day to figure a simple " I IV V" punk song. So that made me realize I needed extensive ear training but I quit bass before I could get to that.

Now that I want start training my ear, does anyone have nay beginner's tips?

Also I wanna be playing some good ol' Texas Blues, is that a good genre to start learning by ear? And any song reccomendations?
 
#3
get some software that will let you isolate chunks of the song to concentrate on. The quickest solution would be a sound editor like Audacity where you can literally just cut out and keep the section of song you want to work on. Then play it back on repeat until you can find the notes on your fretboard.

don't forget that some of the notes will appear in more than one spot on the fretboard! Try to find all of the spot any given note might appear. Even if they are unusable spots for that particular song, its still broadens your mental picture of the board.
 
#5
How 'bout Kansas City? It's I IV V. But, to get some other changes going, try Stormy Monday.

The best ear training I ever got was by picking things out from the record. In doing so, I often had to hum along the scale tones to reach whatever weird chord I was searching for. Also, turn on your radio when driving and try to imagine what any of the changes are in every song you hear. Ear training isn't easy. It requires a lot of listening and trying over a long time span. But, the more you do in any given time span the greater the progress, of course, like anything else. If you have a keyboard, playing through the chords in any given key will help you identify their relationship to each other. Try the key of C where no black notes are needed.
 
#6
I've always been an ear player, and this is great advice. I do this even now when there is a fast or tricky part I have to learn. I use a program called "Transcribe!" that allows you to alter the speed without altering pitch, and allows you to loop whatever part you want, so that you can pick things out easier.

One thing that will help train your ear is to learn to recognize when 2 notes are clashing. If you play along with a song, and the note you hit "wobbles" or "throbs" (or just sounds plain awful...lol) when you play it, it's wrong. You want to strive to not be able to tell that you're playing at all, because the notes are right and everything lines up with the recording. It definitely takes some time, but once you get good at learning and playing by ear, it's invaluable... I can usually pick up songs on the spot anymore, as long as I can hear it and pick it out. It also makes playing with others more productive, as you'll be able to hear when a song changes keys or goes in a direction other than what you're used to, and you'll be able to follow along.

Toptube said:
get some software that will let you isolate chunks of the song to concentrate on. The quickest solution would be a sound editor like Audacity where you can literally just cut out and keep the section of song you want to work on. Then play it back on repeat until you can find the notes on your fretboard.

don't forget that some of the notes will appear in more than one spot on the fretboard! Try to find all of the spot any given note might appear. Even if they are unusable spots for that particular song, its still broadens your mental picture of the board.
Click to expand...
 
#7
Toptube said:
get some software that will let you isolate chunks of the song to concentrate on. The quickest solution would be a sound editor like Audacity where you can literally just cut out and keep the section of song you want to work on. Then play it back on repeat until you can find the notes on your fretboard.

don't forget that some of the notes will appear in more than one spot on the fretboard! Try to find all of the spot any given note might appear. Even if they are unusable spots for that particular song, its still broadens your mental picture of the board.
Click to expand...
I use Amazing Slow Downer. You can slow down, isolate, change key.
!Slow down and transcribe with Roni Music software - slow down the speed of music without changing the pitch

I also use Video Surgeon that does the same for videos. I download youtube and can even zoom in on the hands.
 
#8
I personally have been using an MP3 player (iRiver Spinn) that has a feature where you can mark an A and B flag at any points in a song in real time, and then repeat whatever is between the flags over and over. Though, I have used Audacity a couple of times to cut out chunks to use.

I'll have to check out Transcribe!, sounds pretty cool.
 
#9
Jammit is a new program I just heard about today. (I am not affiliated in any way with Jammit).

From what I can tell, you download the program for free and you pay (prices not yet shown) for each song you want to learn. It lets you isolate the track you're interested in learning.

Ain't technology amazing?
 
#10
The first song I ever tried to learn by listening was a long and frustrating process. Then, I played with cheat sheets and learned from them. But, I realized 2 things,

1) songs I learned by ear stuck with me, I had a better grasp on the song and could recall it from memory (vs the crutch of taking sheets on stage). I think going through the process really adds something to learning the part.

2) the more songs you learn this way the easier it gets. I think it was around 50 for me where I got to the point that I could learn all the simple parts in a few listens.

I do use the slow downer software whenever a fast or challenging section presents itself.
 
#11
I have always been an ear player. One bit of advice, when I am learning a song that is playing in the major or sub regester, I will copy to tones beyond the 12th fret (up one octive) so the tones are more recognizable. Then once I got the songs pattern down, I will take the same pattern down to the 1-5 frets and continue to work it.
 

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