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China Grove

Also, there are apps that slow down tracks, without changing a pitch. For android search for "Music Speed Changer" on market. Free version has a small ad below screen, paid has none. IIRC functionality is the same.

I used it for two cases: slow things down to transcribe, especially the beat and to change the pitch when band played it in different key. It has "repeater" function, and some other stuff as well.
Lately it has "auto key detect" which is quite accurate, and can shift in half-tones or key-to-key.

You can then export file as mp3 and use it outside of program.
 
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I practice with a Tascam GT-R1 headphone amp. It allows you to store up to 1.000 songs on an SD card. You can slow down or speed up the songs without changing the key, you can change the key without changing the speed. (It sometime sounds a little weird if you change the speed or key too much.) You can loop specific parts of songs. It has a built in tuner, amp modeling and effects, microphone, line in, you can build playlists and record on it.
Tascam GT-R1.jpg
 
... how do fellow TBers feel about “improvising” small parts of a song that you just can’t emulate (due to not being able to discern what the original artist is actually doing)... I like to stay as true to the original recording as possible... Thoughts...

Our band plays "China Grove" as well. It did take quite a while to figure out, more than most tunes I play. Improvise areas that are troublesome. Most of your audience will not know or care. We also play "Listen to the Music", which is much easier to learn, in my opinion.
 
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I practice with a Tascam GT-R1 headphone amp. It allows you to store up to 1.000 songs on an SD card. You can slow down or speed up the songs without changing the key, you can change the key without changing the speed. (It sometime sounds a little weird if you change the speed or key too much.) You can loop specific parts of songs. It has a built in tuner, amp modeling and effects, microphone, line in, you can build playlists and record on it.
View attachment 3043271

I keep seeing this pop up...

... and yes, GAS is still alive and well.
 
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I just learned a month ago that you can slow down YouTube videos. That is a great feature.

To the OP's point: you will never be [fill in the name of the bassist you are trying to copy]. Just be yourself and try to play a line that supports the song as best you can. If that's a note-for-note copy, cool. If not, who cares. There are a thousand "right" baselines for almost any song.
 
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Can that app be had in the Apple App Store?

Thanks for the advice!
Yes. There's a lite version that only stores 5 songs and has slightly lower resolution. Try that first if you like.

There's another app called Anytune. More features but steeper learning curve IMO. There was a promo code here for free - might still be valid "BassTheWorld". In app purchases though IIRC.
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I always thought his line on China Grove was a little "off" at parts- some of the notes seemed almost out of key... Just my two cents. But there are parts of it I would play pretty faithful to his line, others I have done my own way.
What parts seem "off"?
There is the Intro, the Verse, the Chorus, & the Bridge...
 
My question is, how do fellow TBers feel about “improvising” small parts of a song that you just can’t emulate
"China Grove" is an interesting personal example. It was on the songlist of the first band I was in around 1979. Never played it like the record. I mean, a little like the record but no almost effort was put into learning the part as-played. I wasn't in the Doobies. We didn't have a huge band of seasoned professionals. Why would I learn a part for different band than I was in?

I still feel and play that way. To me, part of the craft of bass playing is coming up (I understand this is called "improvising") with a part for the song that works for the musicians I'm playing with. Also still have little interest in learning parts note-for-note off the record. When learning songs, I'm listening to everyone but the bass player. If I get stuck, then I'll look online for chords (sometimes these are mindblowingly wrong) or isolated track or some dude playing it on YouTube or crank up the subwoofer here and turn the full-range speakers off. But first I try to put something together on my own.

Songs is hard enough to remember without someone else's notes to worry about. I'll bring my own.
 
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What parts seem "off"?
There is the Intro, the Verse, the Chorus, & the Bridge...
The main riff- the last four bars (where it walks down with eight notes)-- I think it goes high E, High B, E (7th fret A) and then maybe C- before going back into the D then C#... That C just seems WRONG to my ear. Maybe it is. I think it clashes against the C# which is strong throughout the song. Maybe it should be B instead? But I always see it tabbed as C... Either way it makes little to no sense why you would play EITHER note there- neither seems to flow with the riff.