I'm starting to dabble with bass after years on guitar. A good bass line is exciting to play and really makes me want to dance and sing. However …
I'm having a hard time hearing the individual bass notes. I use Transcribe! and can work out really fast & complicated guitar riffs, but the bass just sounds like thump thump thump to me without discernible notes. Thank God for bass covers on YouTube, or I'd give up right now.
Tell me it gets better …
Actually it does, but on as quickly as you would like. As I've gotten older and listened to more and more music, I have found I can go back to old recordings and hear the bass more. That isn't just because I know the songs better.
Taking time to listen to bass is one aspect. You have to spend a good amount of time listening for bass; understanding the wide range of sounds it can make. Guitar is a comparatively easy instrument because it is usually way up front and has FX on it to make the sound more listenable. The bass is far more dynamic and has a much broader way of projecting its self.
The next piece is equipment. This is going to sound snobby, but a junk source listened to with junk equipment isn't going to give you the listening experience you need to hear every detail. MP3s are the wrong way to listen to music for many reasons, but for your purposes they are counter productive. They compress by literally deleting information; sonic information about the soundscape you need to transcribe. Use a CD, FLAC files made from CDs, or Hi-Def 24-bit waves. There is a difference. Also, use good headphones or in ear monitors. Speakers are great for listening, but analytical listening is better done with something that cuts out all the room noise. Also, a good set creates a broader soundscape, meaning a sound that surrounds your whole head, which gives each instrument more room to be in its own place. When listening for entertainment, if you want something that is colored and has boosted bass, then do that. For analytical listening, you want something as flat as possible. Too much lo EQ makes it hard to hear the other details of the music.
I can hear the bass in a lot of recordings now, however, my problem is I'm tone deaf. I can follow an interval if I have a reference, but can't hear a note just by its self and tell you what it is. I can only give you a rough idea if it is high or low, or if it higher or lower than something else. I really wish I could transcribe by ear since so much of what I like is obscure and doesn't have online tabs.
