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It's 2026. Help A 51-Year-Old Technophobe Get Back Into Learning/Practicing By Ear

HubbardsFate

HubbardsFate

Oct 18, 2006
2,185
3,927
#1
Hey Guys,

Background: I'm 51, and started getting into learning bass at 16, when I switched high schools and got tight with some guys who were really into music (as players).

From 16 - 21 I learned pretty much exclusively by ear (as well as some instruction from the guitarist I was playing with during those years): Putting in a cassette, listening to the song/the bassline, figuring things to the best of my ability (I probably never played anything EXACTLY note for note), then dialing the bass on the stereo down, and playing along.

Not only was this fun, but it helped develop my ears. To this day, I unfortunately don't read music/know much in the way of theory; frankly, I don't know that I "have the mind" for it, and at my age, with work, and being as exhausted as I am a lot of the time, I don't really have the time/inclination to go that route (learning to read, etc.)

So...I'm looking to go back to my roots: Simply sitting down, and playing along to tracks. But I have some dilemmas:

- I don't currently own an old-school stereo setup, and am not particularly inclined to invest in one, not even a pawn shop special...I'm at a point in life where more physical possessions simply means more clutter, and I am trying to avoid that

- I do have an old Tascam unit, I think it's called a CD-BTK1, something along those lines, that I have used a bit in the past, and could probably fire up again. But the last time I used it, I found the same issue that I used to find at times in my teens and playing along with cassettes: My bass being (according to my tuner) in tune, but not being quite in tune with the track, if that makes sesnse. My understanding is that sometimes (and I think Van Halen was really famous for this?), bands would go into studio and as long as they were in tune with each other, even if their instruments weren't quite in standard tuning, they'd just cut the track(s). I think I have also heard something about the recording process itself maybe raising or lowering the pitch on tracks? - I don't know much about this stuff, but if what I just described was/is the case, how does a guy get around trying to learn from/play along to tracks without a lot of frustration?

- I wouldn't mind a more "modern" approach to playing along to tracks. Yes, I have that Tascam unit, and yes, I'm a dinosaur who still owns a ton of CDs, and I can certainly get going with that, I guess. But there are tunes I wouldn't mind tackling that I don't have on CD. What would it take to, say, be able to just get a tune up on YouTube, and play along with it? I'm guessing an audio interface at a minimum (don't currently own one) - also, I think I'd rather be playing along with headphones on, - ie., NOT playing along plugged in to my amp, and with the track playing through speakers - due to (sadly, at my age) being a renter.

I'm sure I am leaving some thoughts and questions out, but I'll leave it there at the moment. If anyone has some advice to offer, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

P.S. I don't currently own an audio interface, but I do own a Two Notes Revolt...
 
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#3
If you're able to use a smart phone and are set on using headphones to practice there are a few options to try out. One is a headphone amp type setup like NUX Mighty Plug or Fender Mustang Micro (I use the Mustang Micro Plus and its great). These are on the cheaper side around $100-150 or so. Then there are the wireless headphone type setups like Waza or Positive Grid Spark Neo, which are truly wireless but more expensive.
 
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#4
Good luck getting back to learning bass lines by ear. Since you've done it before, surely you'll be able to do it again.

A long, long time ago when I took bass lessons from a jazz bassist with a masters degree in music....................he told me something that simplified learning bass and gave me confidence.

This......................

About 70% of all songs are 1-4-5 chord pattern. And, there are only 12 notes.

So, learning to play bass by ear is not all that overwhelming, is it?

Good luck.
 
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#5
do you have a computer? You don't need an interface (though, its a nice addition), just your Mac/PC and your bass/amp setup.

As someone who started out learning songs on a record player (manually slowing it down—at the horror of my dad) and now teaching for almost 30+yrs, the tech today is/can be simple and lightyears ahead of the way I got started. Its difficult for young kids today to realize how lucky they have it with all of these advances technology.

if learning from a good teacher is not possible, having a computer for slowing down audio, using YouTube tutorials, TABS etc is a great way to enhance the learning experience. We are at a time where you can take an audio file online, separate the bass part, slow it down, loop tricky passages and make the learning process alot more invigorating than arduous.

But don't leave out get teaching; they will move you in the right direction, demystify the why's/why not's, and keep you motivated. YEs YouTube has tutorials but in many instances the content is taken out of context so it leads to more confusion—this is when a teacher can connect the dots and help you avoid bad playing techniques that can hinder you in the future.

And the biggest leap forward is online lessons, you can now find a teacher and take lessons from your home at your leisure. Gone are the days of traveling hrs by car to take your lesson every week ;)

Good luck, dive in and investigate the new world
 
#8
Wow, lots of similarities to my journey. I played trombone, read music, and was a good sight reader from ages 12-18. Stopped playing trombone and switched to bass. 67 years old now. Lost all of the note reading and never really knew much theory. Chord charts, no problem. I developed a really good ear from playing along with thousands of songs and constantly being thrown into sub gigs where I didn't know many of the songs and had to learn them on the fly. I've been telling myself since I was 18 that I was going to learn to read music on bass ( would have been easier since it's bass clef anyway ). Someday.......well now someday was a long time ago. I guess I never really wanted to or I would have. Now that I'm retired and don't gig much anymore I'm perfectly happy to continue to just play along with songs I've never heard. But I also like making up my own stuff, loop, overdub, use different basses for different textures, etc. I guess if you're not going to be a pro and learn proper music theory the next best thing is to play along with thousand of songs. As you do that you begin to see all the repeating structures that allow you to almost predict the chord progression of the song your playing on the fly especially if you let the melody guide you.
Practice gear. I actually have TWO of those tascam units and used them constantly before the days of streaming began. Not sure why you have trouble with the tuning aspect. There are a LOT of songs that aren't tuned to proper pitch. If I really like the song and want to play along I'll just tune to it. If not, I'll just skip it!
What source do you listen to streamed music from? If I'm not mistaken, those Tascam units might have an aux input. So if your source has an aux out you really don't need anything then what you already have.
 
#9
Wow, when I read the first half of your post I had to check that I didn't sleepwalk last night and write that myself. You describe accurately my origin story on the bass. I played that way for probably 14 years, on and off, starting at age 18. Were we diverge is that when I picked bass up again after 25 year hiatus, 2 years ago, I went back to basics and did online instructional materials from many of the teachers who have channels on YouTube. I backfilled that reading theory, until I got a decent understanding of why things work, rather than just playing along by ear. All I can say is it's a much faster road, with a steeper learning curve but better results, than just ear training. Of course the ear training you've already done will make it much easier to advance your skills this way. Whichever way you go, be sure to enjoy the ride!
 
#10
I would grab a focusrite and a headphone adapter for it. If you have a laptop or a computer, this is really easy. You don’t even need an interface as the focusrite is self monitoring. Easy peasy, just plug in and throw on some music, and viola! Playing to tracks with headphones! Should only cost you $100 or so.
 
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#11
HubbardsFate said:
So...I'm looking to go back to my roots: Simply sitting down, and playing along to tracks.
Click to expand...

My bands rarely rehearse -- we learn songs by doing homework. I'm an apartment dweller, and need to keep my practice volume fairly low. So, here's what I do: I find songs on YouTube (pretty much everything is available there), and create a custom playlist for each of my bands. I use a PC for this, playing the music thru small desktop speakers that I've owned for decades -- but as noted above, phone into bluetooth speaker should work. I play my bass thru a small practice amp.

Some like to use a bass amp with both aux in and headphone out. That way, music and bass both go into bass amp, and then (optionally) out to headphones.


A couple of online tools that might interest you:

YouTube to MP3 - Paste in the URL to a YouTube video, and then download the audio to mp3 (free, but you have to dodge the occasional ad along the way). I just converted some of my band playlists to mp3, copying the files to a thumb drive that I play in my vehicle. After all these years I can learn many songs by ear even if I don't have a bass in my hand... as long as they aren't too complicated! I don't have perfect pitch, and don't often recognize the key to a tune, but that can easily be determined later.

Vocal Remover - Also free. Upload an mp3, and you can then use AI tools to remove vocals for karaoke -- that's the most common use of that tool, but you can also isolate the bass track for playback or download. NOTE: AI tools generally do a terrible job with bass, it often comes out sounding like sludge (which is why I only used this tool once, out of curiosity). But here's how it could be especially useful for you: after you've learned the bass line to a song, you could use it to strip the bass from the recording, so you can then practice along without interference from the recorded bass.
 
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#12
It's amazing what you can do with a computer these days. Install Audacity (available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux, I use it on Linux). You can use it to play short passages of a song, slow it down, transpose it....

If you don't have a computer, you may be able to find one really cheap or even free because Microsoft just declared a vast swathe of older ones obsolete and no longer worthy of receiving security updates. Install Linux (which is super easy these days) and you're all set.
 
#13
I pretty much did this at the same age, youtube and just the bass acoustic will get you very far, then an mp3 player and some headphones and a gizmo to play along and your good. I would have gone with a class D head that accepts an mp3 player and a headphone output but I actually went with a headphone pedal like interface. Phone now instead of an mp3 player, if you have an output on your phone which is somewhat rare these days.

Youtube to play along with there are lots of bass covers which can also help in the beginning, some are good, lots are bad, but that can be helpful too to when learning by ear. Most youtube videos are in tune, unless you play along with old blues which I got to eventually.
 
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#14
I personally use a small audio mixer. I've had the Behringer Flow 8, but recently sold that and got myself a bigger Mackie unit because I wanted more physical knobs and not relying on an app to get everything.
However, there are multiple small mixers that offer bluetooth streaming - just make sure the bluetooth channel has EQ and you got all the functionality you're looking for. Stream from your phone or tablet, hook up your CD player, and of course your bass, turn down the bass knob on the record and play along.
 
#15
+1 for the suggestion of the Boss WAZA headphones. You can use these via BlueTooth with your phone, iPad or computer, playing along to whatever you have on your device, on Spotify or BANDCAMP, etc or YouTube.


I would also highly recommend looking at an app called AnyTune Pro. It allows you to import a song and will show you the waveform, which you can edit, with markers and the like, you can change the pitch to match the tuning of the recording (yes, you are correct that sometimes, bands would change the tuning of their instruments to change the feel, or to be able to play with orchestral instruments, etc) you can also change the speed and create loops that will allow you to hear a passage over and over again, even increasing the speed with each pass. And if you were really adventurous, there is an available footswitcher that allows you more flexibility. I use the WAZA setup with my iPad and AnyTune Pro + and an AirTurn foot switch to learn and practice songs for whatever band or project I’m working with. The app also allows you to create playlists and can isolate bass sounds (like an EQ) to help you transcribe easier, similar to how you said you did it back in the day.

The Boss WAZA phones may not be inexpensive, but they work really well for me and sometimes you can find them used on Reverb. As another poster recommended…look for the bass version. The guitar version has bass amp sounds, and works fine, but the bass specific version is a huge upgrade.

Good luck on your return journey! Have fun!
 
#17
If you have a computer, I recommend checking out the program Transcribe! I find it invaluable for figuring out tougher passages. Much more user friendly than Audacity for this purpose IMO. YMMV.
 
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#19
Nearly everything you have on records,
CD’s, or cassette tape can be found on
YouTube. I use my IPhone 13 Pro and
don’t have a subscription to YouTube,
so I put up with the brief, annoying
commercials.
I use Bluetooth to run the music
into an inexpensive Sony receiver that
has the Bluetooth feature, and speakers. I also use a portable Bluetooth speaker sometimes, $50-100 from Best Buy.
I spend hours playing along with
songs, whole albums, or live concerts
of a huge variety of music.
I’m 68, and assure you that no savvy tech knowledge is required.
 
#20
Neanderthal Dept.

I have a loud shelf AM/FM/CD that I play along with my favorite radio stations, or my CD's (don't get me started, I will never go back to vinyl records, and leave it to me, I would or will lose downloads, so for me CD's do the job) with an amp in my sun room. I play too loud, and am not happy if the dishes aren't rattling. I have a great headphone setup with a Mackie 12ch and great A-T phones, but there is nothing like hearing the sound in the room.

I often prefer to play along to some of my favorite radio stations, sort of bass skeet shooting, I never know what's next, and I gotta run to catch the train when the next tune comes up.

Cheaper than golf or a fishing boat.
 
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