What is your goal when learning a song by ear?

[BAG]

I don't think I've ever learnt a song note-for-note and am certain that I've never played a song live note for note, and yet every band I've been in has liked my playing. On certain songs I'll learn signature lines or riffs that give the song its' feeling or groove, but generally I'll learn the chord changes and make it work for me.

I've rarely played in typical 4 piece bands of two electric guitars, drums and bass. Most times I've only got one guitar player (quite often acoustic) and sometimes a drummer so we're not playing the song the same as the original. It's very common for me to learn a song and then when we jam it for the first time I find that the feel of the song as played by the guitarist and vocalist's requires a different approach than the original bass line.

 

[misterCRUSH]

I play jazz, so for me the process is all about knowing the changes and improvising my bass line. That being said, I have transcribed bass lines by Scott Lafaro, Ron Carter, Paul Chambers, etc.... But mostly, when learning a tune I learn the changes and go from there. I also make it a point to learn the melody as it is a good starting point for my solo.

 

[Davbassdude]

I learn most songs (mostly) note for note by ear, but usually improvise where I feel it won't compromise the structure of the tune. However, when I'm practicing songs, I improvise the hell out of them!

 

[4dog]

to..you know...learn the song...by ear.

 

[drumvsbass]

If you're not going to play the original line, you'd better play something better. Otherwise why bother?

 

[HardNHeavy]

all of the above, i'll apply all those tactics at some point and have a blast doing so

 

[DWBass]

If you're not going to play the original line, you'd better play something better. Otherwise why bother?

This!

/thread

 

[Sean150]

There are many trains of thought for this. Each is dependent on your own goals, as well as on the goals of the band for which you are learning the song.

as for me:
TAB sucks. Hate it, hate it hate it! It gives you so little information. You have to have heard the song already in order for it to be of any value whatsoever, and even then it still sucks.

Therefore, I cannot recommend enough to learn to read. And to learn theory thoroughly (say that ten times fast lol). Because so very much of music of all genres can be easily played if you can do those things. When you get clarity on those, then you can listen to a piece once or twice and transcribe it accurately - and with so much of it, you need not even transcribe because you will already know the chord patterns and be able to play appropriate bass lines.

I used to be a great sight reader as a kid. But lost it when I stopped playing piano (same issue actually, I wasn’t having fun memorizing classical music when I could be playing sports/video games). I can read pretty well but I don’t do it enough to not have to stop and think for awhile. I definitely agree with you on the theory part and that is a major part of what I work on. The songs I mainly just learn for fun, but I also don’t want to slack off and learn bad habits.

Part of the issue is also that I don’t know any other musicians to play with. I play on weekends with my Dad who started playing guitar after retiring and started playing at church before everything shut down. In both these cases its just playing based on chord charts so improvisation and theory is key.

Part of the problem is that I don’t know where I am going in the future with music. I have a job that I sometimes like so it is not likely I will ever have to make a living on it, but I want to put the right effort in just in case.

 

[Sean150]

to..you know...learn the song...by ear.

Funny

 

[Sean150]

If you're not going to play the original line, you'd better play something better. Otherwise why bother?

This!

/thread

To play what is right for the moment. I play for the art of it.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

This kinda hangs me up every time I try to learn a song by ear so I thought I’d see what different opinions are. I find trying to learn a note for note bass line, even from notation, and especially from TAB, tedious and un-fun. Even when I do succeed I generally end up mentally changing the line when I am practicing to my own natural feeling of the song and then I feel like I wasted the time learning note for note and have to go back and do it again. As I said no fun.

So, now that I am a better player and understand theory a bit better I wanted to start learning songs by ear but, when I think about learning it note for note like I did as a beginner I find it very unappealing and go back to my rut.

I much prefer to improvise when I am playing but part of me feels that its cheating because I am not “learning vocabulary” or some other excuse I come up with. Also, if I am improvising I’m sure it will eventually conflict with the bass line on the original track I am playing against.

So what do you all do?

I generally try to get all the real recognizable parts of the song, the chord changes rhythm, etc. but don't go for absolute note by note. Partly because it can be really boring. So I want to play the parts that people recognize and then allow myself to improvise over the simpler more mundane parts. And I won't necessarily play the same things in the same order every time unless the song needs that. If there are a few different lines that are used for that chord, I'll learn those and use them. Then I may change one or some of them a little bit and mix up the order in which I play them. Just depends on the song. One of the things you have to be careful of when improvising bass parts though is to "serve the song". If it detracts from the song or changes its character, then you probably shouldn't be playing that part there.

One thing that sticks in my mind is the Sting song "message in a bottle". I presume Sting played such a simple bass line through the verses because he was singing it. I was only singing back-up on it, so I improvised a part that still uses his original rhythmic accents in the same places but with a line that flows much better and is (in my own opinion of course) far more interesting to both play and hear. Nobody ever gave me a hard time about it because it fits into the song so well. I doubt if most people noticed that it wasn't the same bass line Sting played.

Here's the original song and bass line


Another song that is very simple to play the bass on is Zombie by the Cranberries. It has a very heavy beat and deliberate rhythm to it. I'll play it straight up through the first verse and then add passing notes as I move from chord to chord in the Chorus. Those simple passing notes add a lot of drive to the song at that point because they add some tension right before making the move to the chord. I'll continue to use them through almost all the rest of the song. Of course it really helps if you have a female singer who can sing the out of this song.

Here's Zombie:

 

[P. Aaron]

As fanatical as I am about learning the song as close to the original as possible, if it’s a ‘jam’ riff-song, then learn where the music goes. If it’s a pop standard, I work to learn all its nuances knowing full,well that, if learning for a rehearsal, band mates may not be as detail oriented.

Some people learn to get through a song. The better musicians learn the song through & through.

IF, one learns enough songs, it gets easier to learn songs in more detail faster. It’s like practicing playing, it’s a refined skill.

It’s about desire to be very good at one’s craft.

 

[P. Aaron]

I don't think I've ever learnt a song note-for-note and am certain that I've never played a song live note for note, and yet every band I've been in has liked my playing. On certain songs I'll learn signature lines or riffs that give the song its' feeling or groove, but generally I'll learn the chord changes and make it work for me.

I've rarely played in typical 4 piece bands of two electric guitars, drums and bass. Most times I've only got one guitar player (quite often acoustic) and sometimes a drummer so we're not playing the song the same as the original. It's very common for me to learn a song and then when we jam it for the first time I find that the feel of the song as played by the guitarist and vocalist's requires a different approach than the original bass line.

It’s all how you hear the song and learn it and, it’s all how they hear it, interpret it and learn it. Some are as detail oriented. Other treat learning songs like an endurance test. Even when learning songs I don’t care for, it’s just as important (to myself) to learn those. Sometimes, the stuff I dislike gives me greater playing satisfaction than my faves.
Some songs are so irritating that you can’t help but learn/have recall of them because every nuance is so grating, like an ear worm, you just can’t shake it and you can cop the tune easily.

 

[cratz2]

I dunno, man... that seems like a pretty dismissive understanding. I mean, most bands don't play their own stuff note for note.

I grew up playing surf, punk and classical. When the surf guys covered songs from other bands, they'd make them unique. The punk guys (real punk, not Blink) you ALWAYS made a song your own.

This isn't Beethoven. Beethoven you play note for note and add your emotion. Pop, rock, country, R&B you should add your own mark.

To ALWAYS play everything note for note, never bending seems tedious and not very artistic to me. Just because someone doesn't always play something note for note doesn't mean that they can't.

 

[P. Aaron]

I dunno, man... that seems like a pretty dismissive understanding. I mean, most bands don't play their own stuff note for note.

I grew up playing surf, punk and classical. When the surf guys covered songs from other bands, they'd make them unique. The punk guys (real punk, not Blink) you ALWAYS made a song your own.

This isn't Beethoven. Beethoven you play note for note and add your emotion. Pop, rock, country, R&B you should add your own mark.

To ALWAYS play everything note for note, never bending seems tedious and not very artistic to me. Just because someone doesn't always play something note for note doesn't mean that they can't.

There’s so many versions of Beethoven’s 5th, even classical purists likely can’t pick a favorite orchestra/conductor/era. We learn note for note because of the technical exercise of it all. I learned a long time ago many band mates won’t bother and instead just get through the arrangement so, it almost always resolves that bands rarely note for note even the simplest of covers.

Humans make beautiful things and wreck them. We’re versatile!

 

[MCS4]

The only reason I would ever try to learn an entire song by ear at this stage is if I were joining a band that had pre-existing tunes they wanted me to learn, so it would mainly depend on whether that particular band wanted me to learn the existing parts exactly or just to learn the "song" and put on my own spin on it.

 

[DWBass]

I guess to each his own and personal goals. YMMV! I've never played in a band where learning stuff was way lax! Never and I've been playing since the mid 70's. I did play in one originals band briefly. We recorded a 4 song EP. All but one song had the bassline preconceived. I created my own for the last song. As I mentioned above, in R&B and Funk/Soul and even some Pop music, the bassline is a huge part of the music and there is very little room for 'winging it' or just copping the feel. No sir. Will not work.

 

[glocke1]

This kinda hangs me up every time I try to learn a song by ear so I thought I’d see what different opinions are. I find trying to learn a note for note bass line, even from notation, and especially from TAB, tedious and un-fun. Even when I do succeed I generally end up mentally changing the line when I am practicing to my own natural feeling of the song and then I feel like I wasted the time learning note for note and have to go back and do it again. As I said no fun.

So, now that I am a better player and understand theory a bit better I wanted to start learning songs by ear but, when I think about learning it note for note like I did as a beginner I find it very unappealing and go back to my rut.

I much prefer to improvise when I am playing but part of me feels that its cheating because I am not “learning vocabulary” or some other excuse I come up with. Also, if I am improvising I’m sure it will eventually conflict with the bass line on the original track I am playing against.

So what do you all do?

These days, most people I'd play with either on a stage or in a rehearsal studio are largely content with jamming through a tune so I tend to not put a lot of effort into learning things note for note because I know no one else will.

There are some songs I've chosen to work on for myself where I think the bass line is pretty cool and will pick those apart and try to get them note for note.

 

[Rob1957]

All three and every thing in between.
Really it’s depends on the song. There is no blanket one size fits all approach for me. I don’t approach learning ‘All The Things You Are’ the same way as learning ‘Roundabout’ as examples.
YMMV