The tuning issue you remember is real, lots of older recordings are a few cents sharp or flat (tape speed, varispeed, non-A440 tuning, etc.). The workaround today is simple: tune to the track, not the tuner, or use software that can pitch-shift the song slightly to match standard tuning.
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It's 2026. Help A 51-Year-Old Technophobe Get Back Into Learning/Practicing By Ear
- Thread starter HubbardsFate
- Start date
This is one of the reasons I love Transcribe! so much.
Not sure if “practicing by ear” is what I think it is, but I am old school, sorry if you have a different meaning!
Play by ear player here. The group i play with now don’t bother to even tell me the name of the song. It’s my strong point. But my weakness is I can’t pop-slap, solo, etc. Back to ear playing, the Nashville numbering system makes it easier to play by ear. Ear playing is a lot of “pattern playing” 1, 4, 5, 6, 2 etc. Usually, not always, all songs have similarities. Don’t think song, think notes. Songs only have about 4 or 5 chords. It’s just knowing the order of the notes. start by root playing only. Plus, they love using a capo. It’s really easy. You “move the pattern” up the # of frets capo’d.
Not sure if this is your “play by ear” meaning
Play by ear player here. The group i play with now don’t bother to even tell me the name of the song. It’s my strong point. But my weakness is I can’t pop-slap, solo, etc. Back to ear playing, the Nashville numbering system makes it easier to play by ear. Ear playing is a lot of “pattern playing” 1, 4, 5, 6, 2 etc. Usually, not always, all songs have similarities. Don’t think song, think notes. Songs only have about 4 or 5 chords. It’s just knowing the order of the notes. start by root playing only. Plus, they love using a capo. It’s really easy. You “move the pattern” up the # of frets capo’d.
Not sure if this is your “play by ear” meaning
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There are software that are free or affordable to install on your handheld or desktop computer, which will address the pitch difference of recordings you are trying to learn and your bass tuning. Ableton, Reaper, Garage band, Moises, etc..
The quoted advise above is great, with respect to hardware requirements.
In addition, or alternatively, there are dedicated gadgets, DI or preamp pedals that allow headphone practise.
My setup is an Ampeg SCR-DI, smartphone, headset. I also own a BOSS Katana:GO, which I like very much.
" Paste in the URL to a YouTube video, and then download the audio to mp3 " I paste the URL all the time but I never made an mp3. Where do you paste the URL (I paste them on to a word document for a song list). How do you convert it to an mp3 ?
I guess that's the problem with hiding a URL behind reply text (in this case "YouTube to MP3"): not everyone notices the URL! You need to use the online tool found here:
YTMP3: Free YouTube to MP3 Converter
Click the above link to open the tool, and then the rest of my instructions should make sense.
If you just want to play along with youtube on a computer, an audio interface is all you need (assuming you already have headphones). You can plug the bass or the output of a preamp straight into it. Focusrite has already been mentioned, and it is a good and popular choice. Personally, I’d get an Audient ID4, but either will do. There are others as well that will work just fine.
For transcribing, I recommend the Transpose browser extension, which works with youtube and other websites. It doesn’t only transpose, it can also slow down music and loop sections. No need to download the audio from youtube, it works from the browser, and it’s free.
For transcribing, I recommend the Transpose browser extension, which works with youtube and other websites. It doesn’t only transpose, it can also slow down music and loop sections. No need to download the audio from youtube, it works from the browser, and it’s free.
These days, if I want to play along with a recording I just plug my iPhone (via adapter) into a headphone amp aux in.
But that is not a solution to the "as recorded" pitch difference. If I'm really trying to play along I'll just retune
But usually I can pick up what's happening quickly enough to not bother retuning , because I understand how chord progressions work.
You can learn how chord progressions work without learning to read notation,
it is probably to single most valuable chunk of theory one could bite off
and it is most definitely an aid to "ear playing" , especially as you learn to recognize common chord progressions
See the "Basic Theory" link in my signature for a solid tutorial.
I don’t know how the kids are doing it these days, but for learning songs I use:
- SGT DI, with aux in
- good headphones
- my phone for the original music
- my bass of course
There are some apps that allow you to change the key of a song as it’s being played, so the VH stuff tuned to Eb can be changed to E tuning. I haven’t used those apps but our guitar player does. I find Van Halen bass lines pretty easy to just figure out without playing along to them for the most part.
- SGT DI, with aux in
- good headphones
- my phone for the original music
- my bass of course
There are some apps that allow you to change the key of a song as it’s being played, so the VH stuff tuned to Eb can be changed to E tuning. I haven’t used those apps but our guitar player does. I find Van Halen bass lines pretty easy to just figure out without playing along to them for the most part.
I'm the same dinosaur as you (53 years old) and learned by ear during 30 years (learned to read recently for band purpose but it's not the subject here)
So as you i've used K7 and rewind and rewind and rewind, etc .. And it has helped me to develop a great ear and be able to play my instrument with ease.
I'm not fan of new tech, but i did make the effort to be able to play on my computer, record things and play along more easily than by the K7 past. It can be easy but with tools used in a simple way. you need:
- An audio interface (mine is the focusrite 2i2 but there is smaller model with only one input that will be the job perfectly)
- A Daw software: Reaper. You upload it from their website and can try it in full version as long as you want, then licence is pretty cheap when you see the beast.
So: this is a beast but you can use it pretty easily for basic functions such as:
- import a mp3 tune you'll have previously grab from youtube with previous advices in this topic
- play your bass by playing the track in Reaper at the same time
Ok so why bother for the same result than K7 ? Cause with reaper you can easily:
- select a small extract an play it again and again automatically;
- reduce the track speed wihtout changing note: as if you were asking your favorite artist to play it a slower for you to hear better
- change the pitch of the track, as if you asked the same guy to play it at higher pitch. (if you want to learn some song recorded in Eb without having to detune your bass) (> i've used it recently to adapt original songs in the pitch of the band's singer i was prepairing to sub for)
- record a bass track and then be able to listen what you have played along with the original track by panning the two tracks.
And it's easy, even if Reaper is a complete studio software with which you could record an entire album. You can use it in this simple way. It's my tool to work on transcriptions. There is a nice specific forum with a lot of people than can help you, and a zillion tutos on youtube. It's so easy that when you'll did it, you'll never looked back and loose time with old devices..
So as you i've used K7 and rewind and rewind and rewind, etc .. And it has helped me to develop a great ear and be able to play my instrument with ease.
I'm not fan of new tech, but i did make the effort to be able to play on my computer, record things and play along more easily than by the K7 past. It can be easy but with tools used in a simple way. you need:
- An audio interface (mine is the focusrite 2i2 but there is smaller model with only one input that will be the job perfectly)
- A Daw software: Reaper. You upload it from their website and can try it in full version as long as you want, then licence is pretty cheap when you see the beast.
So: this is a beast but you can use it pretty easily for basic functions such as:
- import a mp3 tune you'll have previously grab from youtube with previous advices in this topic
- play your bass by playing the track in Reaper at the same time
Ok so why bother for the same result than K7 ? Cause with reaper you can easily:
- select a small extract an play it again and again automatically;
- reduce the track speed wihtout changing note: as if you were asking your favorite artist to play it a slower for you to hear better
- change the pitch of the track, as if you asked the same guy to play it at higher pitch. (if you want to learn some song recorded in Eb without having to detune your bass) (> i've used it recently to adapt original songs in the pitch of the band's singer i was prepairing to sub for)
- record a bass track and then be able to listen what you have played along with the original track by panning the two tracks.
And it's easy, even if Reaper is a complete studio software with which you could record an entire album. You can use it in this simple way. It's my tool to work on transcriptions. There is a nice specific forum with a lot of people than can help you, and a zillion tutos on youtube. It's so easy that when you'll did it, you'll never looked back and loose time with old devices..
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Although not useful for playing along with recordings, Sight Reading Factory and Teoria are great for working on not just sight reading, but related listening skills, including audiation. Being able to hear written music in your head is a proven way to improve your musicianship and get the most out of practice. I've made real strides with these two resources (at the age of 67), and recommend them highly. Other great ways to use Sight Reading Factory: Practicing fretless by playing along with simpler written music it generates; using it to improve your five-string mastery. Teoria has a wealth of listening exercises, including chord identification and melodic dictation.
