Do you ever pull out pencil, paper and eraser and write?

both

i write something random out then play it or i just start playing something over and over. Then if its good i write it down.

 

The only time I ever write down a bassline is if it's really hard and in a weird time signature. Like when Dave LaRue had me learn the Dregs song "Odyssey," which is in 13/4 for the first half, I had to chart it out.

 

If I make up something I like then I write it down. To me, that's just common sense. After all, don't we usually make a note of things we don't want to forget? I can glance at a piece of paper faster than I can listen to a recording.

 

I'm not as good at memorization as I used to be, so I have to write down things that I come up with out of the blue, but usually only do it when my band's guitarist makes me (because he knows I'll forget).

 

I seldom write a bassline unless I need it as a teaching material. One of the few times I remember doing it was when I was learning that long guitar-bass duet from Extreme's "Cupid's Dead", but I didn't write it to follow the chart when playing the song. Just because the exercise of writing it down greatly helped me to memorize it.

 

I write basslines all the time, its how I see them work in the context of the rest of the music. My apartment, car, studio are all littered with composition notebooks and bits of pencil. People I jam with look at me weird when i whip out a notebook and sit down in the corner. They ask "what the heck are you doing?" "Writing a bassline." "Ummm...don't you need your...holy crap! How the hell did you write that????"

Its just the way I work.

 

Nah, I never really write stuff out. I occasionally write out chord progressions, but never a whole line.

 

Memorize.

 

I write everything out. Bass lines, melodies, chord progerssions, even drum parts. Not only is it a good document, but transcribing anything, whether its someone elses or yours makes you a better musician.

 

I will sometimes write out certain licks or progressions as I am learning them - good tool. It helps me learn the part. I have my students do it as well. Even if it's your own "shorthand" it a good learning tool.

 

I write my songs best in sheet music. But if I am constructing a line I usually don't.. Contemplating starting though. Then my lines would be sick.. I could then put way more thought into my groove

 

I write down anything I feel is decent, because, IMO, that's just common sense!

 

when I get a riff or line idea, I write it down in standard notation, then I work with my own parts, sometimes finding new ideas...

most of the time I better memorize if I can read the part

 

I have written down basslines, but I usually just memorize.