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How long did it take you to learn Cemetery Gates?
- Thread starter Ajsweet
- Start date
The Smiths or Pantera?
Yeah maybe an hour or so. If you already have the form of the tune internalized you can probably learn it quicker. Pantera riffs are fun on bass but not difficult to play.
How long have you been playing? I don't think it's too hard of a tune (in fairness I learned it on guitar in like 1993 when it was transcribed in the back of a guitar magazine 
). But I've been playing for 35+ years. To someone without that kind of experience it may take a while.
Don't put any pressure on yourself, just work through each part, as slowly as you need to so you don't miss notes or rhythm figures. There is no measure of how long it should take you, it will take as long as it takes.
). But I've been playing for 35+ years. To someone without that kind of experience it may take a while.Don't put any pressure on yourself, just work through each part, as slowly as you need to so you don't miss notes or rhythm figures. There is no measure of how long it should take you, it will take as long as it takes.
The more songs you learn, the easier it will become to learn new songs. Once you get comfy with Cemetery Gates, move on to the next, and the next, and the next. Cheers!
FullumMusic
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- Oct 13, 2022
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Don't sweat it too much. 2.5 years is plenty of time playing to be able to figure out this song, and it's also a blink of an eye in the terms of music skills. Learning music is a lifelong thing. Don't worry about how long it's taking to figure out and learn. Just keep going at it. And then figure out another song; then another; and another; and on and on. The more songs you learn, the easier it becomes. And there are always going to be songs that are harder to figure out than other for whatever reason. Those are the ones you learn the most from.
Some tips:
- Write it down. Either transcribe note for note, or block out a basic chord chart. Writing things down with pen/pencil & paper helps your brain store things in memory. In high school i used to cheat by getting a copy of a test, and writing out in-full all the questions and answers three or four times. By the 4th time i didn't even need the cheat sheet because i could just remember it. (Don't go back in time and tell my teachers! And if you're reading this kids, don't cheat!)
- Before learning a note, just listen and block out the structure of the song. Figure out what sections it has (intro, vs, chrs... maybe pre-chorus? maybe post-chorus? maybe bridge? Guitar solo section? outro? Every song is different.) But just block it out.
Once you've blocked out the sections, go through and just count out how many bars each section is. Mark it down, and now you have the entire structure of the song laid out in front of you.
Now, finally, you can start start learning the bass-lines, one section at a time. Don't move on to the next section until you have a section down pat.
For example, in Cemetery Gates's intro:
There's 6 bars of the first pattern in half-time.
Then there's 8 bars of the second full-time feel.
Just get that first 6 bar section down. That's it. Just practice that until you have it.
Then just play the faster 8 bar section. That's it. Just that one section over and over until you have it.
Then put the two together. Play the full intro until you have it.
Same thing with the rest of the song. Just learn the individual sections. Then start piecing them together.
Section by section, helps you compartmentalize. If you just try to learn a whole song from the first note to the last note, it's just a long arbitrary string of notes. Section by section, chord by chord, is really easy for your brain to chunk and remember.
--
Keep at it, and you'll get it.
Most of it was reasonable to learn, but I had a hard time with those fast runs with the guitar. Never really learned or played them right, just sorta faked it. Also I didn't have the advantage of YouTube back then. Now i realize i was probably overthinking it anyhow. Its mostly a simple descending 3 note pattern.?
Anyhow - Good luck with it.
Anyhow - Good luck with it.
I feel like Cemetery Gates is one of those songs where the devil is in the details. Rex is a master of syncopation so using Pantera's music is a great way to work on that. Plus, Cemetery Gates has some drastic changes/transitions, and that's where Rex does some interesting stuff. It's easy to say that the notes aren't that difficult or whatnot, but playing Pantera basslines with the kind of syncopation Rex does is a "feel" thing.
This is a song where you definitely want to break it down, learn it piece by piece, then bring it together like @FullumMusic said above. And using pen and paper to chart out the song as he described is a very good habit to get into if you want to pursue music as a job, since that's a practice musicians who do studio/session work employ.
This is a song where you definitely want to break it down, learn it piece by piece, then bring it together like @FullumMusic said above. And using pen and paper to chart out the song as he described is a very good habit to get into if you want to pursue music as a job, since that's a practice musicians who do studio/session work employ.
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I will be in a cemetery before i ever play that song. Death before metal. Punk rules.
Smooth_bass88
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This was my experience, I started to notice similarities in the patterns here and there in different songs. I can't read music and only have an introductory level of understanding with music theory so patterns is what helps me learn parts the most.
That's how I started out. I've taken music theory lessons here and there, but never became fluent in reading music. I'm not great at tab either, because I've been learning by ear. My general recommendation is to learn songs in a variety of music genres, because that will expose you to a wider variety of patterns. Of course that includes notes/scales, chord patterns (e.g. 1 5 6 4), and song structure (verse/chorus/bridge, etc).
Starting out, I only memorized songs: no writing. I don't regret that, but my song learning ability got a nice boost once I started writing out cheat sheets for sub gigs. Disclosure: I rarely play jazz, so my handwritten cheat sheets are a shorthand I developed based on the Nashville number system (e.g. 1 5 6 4).
For the rare times I have to play jazz (dinner set at a wedding gig) I try to keep up with actual chord charts, but I'm just a hack
I don’t agree, at all, with the “learn it by ear, no tabs” crowd.
Google up a chord chart and tabs. YouTube it, there’s probably a lesson (or ten) Fire up the printer and make a big chart.
Use every tool at hand to get the tune down.
And if you learn about charts, the numbers system, even learn to read notation (blasphemy!) along with tabs, more power to ya. Literally you have gained powers of musician like wizardry.
Now fire up the drum machine, and play it at your best clean tempo. Then bump it up until you have it.
The goal is to learn the song. Which is different than learning it completely by ear.
We’ve come along way from wearing out records on a turntable trying to figure out tunes.
Check out the free content on any number of bass instruction sites on how to learn tunes, charts, the number system and even learning to read. Mark at Talkingbass.com has great stuff. Sign up for free and check out a ton of stuff that will make life easier.
Maybe try a couple free weeks of SBL. If it suits ya, watch for discounts and specials on the subscription prices.
The more skills you acquire, the easier it is to play more cool stuff.
Good luck.
Google up a chord chart and tabs. YouTube it, there’s probably a lesson (or ten) Fire up the printer and make a big chart.
Use every tool at hand to get the tune down.
And if you learn about charts, the numbers system, even learn to read notation (blasphemy!) along with tabs, more power to ya. Literally you have gained powers of musician like wizardry.
Now fire up the drum machine, and play it at your best clean tempo. Then bump it up until you have it.
The goal is to learn the song. Which is different than learning it completely by ear.
We’ve come along way from wearing out records on a turntable trying to figure out tunes.
Check out the free content on any number of bass instruction sites on how to learn tunes, charts, the number system and even learning to read. Mark at Talkingbass.com has great stuff. Sign up for free and check out a ton of stuff that will make life easier.
Maybe try a couple free weeks of SBL. If it suits ya, watch for discounts and specials on the subscription prices.
The more skills you acquire, the easier it is to play more cool stuff.
Good luck.
Cheers SM.
I'm getting it down, every day making big (for me) progress.
I'm using Samboatmusic (YouTube) bass tab notation video.
Got to bar 16 pretty well now .
I've turned some of the bars into excercises (that I repeat endlessly) and that helps heaps (to remember it)
i love working on it, it's such a great song.
I'm getting it down, every day making big (for me) progress.
I'm using Samboatmusic (YouTube) bass tab notation video.
Got to bar 16 pretty well now .
I've turned some of the bars into excercises (that I repeat endlessly) and that helps heaps (to remember it)
i love working on it, it's such a great song.
