What is Your Primary Method of Learning Songs?

[brianrost]

I always learn bass lines by ear.

I do sight transcribed read bass lines and melodies for practice.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I learn everything by ear. Once in a blue moon I'll use tabs, but only published ones. Never use online tab. I've never seen any that was accurate.

I also am made very happy by the isolated bass versions of songs. I've realized also though that often times it ain't the real thing, but someone playing a bass track over the original. What's good about that though is that most of the people ballsy enough to do that have been pretty dead on.

First thing I ever learned on my own was the guitar solo for Smoke on the Water, on Made in Japan. Started around 8pm and went straight through to the next morning. Scratched the crap out of that album. I remember after that using a cassette recorder. I'd find the speaker the guitar was coming out of, plant the recorder in front of it, record and then learn. Cue and review was essential for that. Learned songs like that for a long time. Then went to CDs, and now of course mp3s that have been converted from youtube.

Kids these days have it real easy .

Where can one find published tabs?

 

[hsech]

I download a song off of YouTube. Hopefully one that is a live performance. That way I not only hear a song, but see where on the neck the bassist is playing.

 

[Max Blasto]

Great question.

I was confused by the notation/sheet music option, but now that I read the thread, you meant "tablature" for notation. Please note that that is _not_ standard usage. There is standard notation (what musicians use), and there is tablature (what guitarists use). Both can be printed out on "sheets".

So, I have to answer "depends on the style".

a) If I'm doing session work, usually someone has a chord chart, and I'm free to interpret the bass line myself. This happens with pop, rock, jazz, blues, et. I'm happy with notation too, for more complicated sections.
b) If for live shows, I usually listen a la old school, playing it over an over till I have it. Thinking pop, rock, country, etc.
c) But, I think I'm a little less dedicated than I was when I was 15 and now if I can't parse a certain passage, I go for notation (standard notation). This happens for Jazz or certain classic rock like prog where certain riffs or arrangements need to be note for note.
d) Lately I've enjoyed watching covers on YouTube where people take the trouble to film themselves flawlessly copying someone else's part. I can understand it with something like Rush or Dream Threater, but Van Halen's Panama? In the Midnight Hour? Cocaine? But still, some of these cats put some real work into it so I enjoy checking it out sometimes, as I'd never hear that level of detail at one of their gigs. One of the guys here on TB does some killer YouTube videos of Rush covers and I think he's terrific. But I think if you need a YouTube video to figure out Fleetwood Mac's Dreams then my recommendation is for lessons and much more practice.

I don't use Tablature.

 

[bikeplate]

By ear

 

[Jeff Bean]

I know they have lighted fretboards that light up chord patterns, but has anyone invented a lighted fretboard that can be programmed or work with a computer to light up all the notes of an entire song, as they are played? Just wondering if learning songs can get any easier.

The neices/nephews had one they wanted me to try and it didn't work for me at all. They could do it fine, but I was horrible at it. I think it was called "Guitar Hero."

 

[JimmyM]

I do learn some songs by sheet music, but only because some of the gigs I do require reading. Otherwise I do it the old fashioned way.

 

[sharkbait130]

Mostly by ear. I have a computer room with a pretty good sound system in it , a cheap amp , and two basses. You tube is my best friend. Usually , I can pick it up from there. If it is a tough song , sometimes I'll pull up a bass cover or tutorial on you tube and work from that. I've had a couple that I have had to pull up tabs but I'm not very good with them so that takes a while.

 

[beaglesandbass]

I use a variety of things. For simple songs I'll just use my ear. Though tabs are notoriously known for being garbage for more intricate lines or fills, they're usually not terrible at getting the chord progression down. I'll use them occasionally.

What I've been using more and more is YouTube. there are a couple good channels that I follow that have done a ton of songs. Almost everything I need I'll find a bass cover of. I'll play along with what they're playing through my ampeg scr-di. On the occasion I hear a wrong note, I'm usually able to pick it out and recognize the change that needs to be made. That method hasn't failed me yet.

 

[InThePocket123]

One of my favorite ways to practice is to put it on a station that shuffles the songs, in other words make it so I don't know which song is next. I do this on Pandora, or some other medium where I'm sure I don't already know the material. Then I try to play along, figuring the bass lines out in real time. I don't always get all of the fills the first, or even second time around, but is has helped me recognize note and chord "tones" more than any other excercise. Plus I find it super fun. You wouldn't believe how it has helped when I get a request to learn a whole mess of covers for a fill in, last minute.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Where can one find published tabs?

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Red-Hot-Chili...r=8-1&keywords=red+hot+chili+peppers+bass+tab

Books like that are generally pretty dead on.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

If I have a chart, that's helpful (and pretty much required for the jazz gigs I do, such as they are...)
Otherwise, I listen and whip up a rough chart.

 

[DwaynieAD]

Generally tabs, but as Joe nerve said, seldom are they correct so I spend a good deal of time correcting them which is probably a decent lesson in ear training.

I started learning more country songs in the past couple of years, for those tabs are rarely available so I use chord charts from the guitars and make up my own. Figure that's a pretty good exercise on writing bass lines.

I do learn a decent amount of stuff by ear, but I haven't done it in a while so I'm rusty on that front

And never discount the "accidentally figure it out while noodling" method of learning. I do that a lot.

 

[5below]

What's the difference between sheet music and notation?

Ideally I like to have a chord and lyric sheet to look at while listening and learning the part by ear.

 

[jasonrp]

I start by ear and use repetition and old fashioned stubbornness. If I get lost on a section, I'll try and find the tab or someone playing it on youtube. A lot of times the tab is wrong but it's close and you can figure out the correct way.

 

[Rob Canham]

I'm very lazy, i use guitar pro files and add/change/remove bits where necessary.

 

[bolophonic]

I do it the same way I have always done it: rewinding the hard parts over and over again. Used to be records, then tapes, then CD's.

 

[mikeyjm2]

Guess I'm probably a dinosaur as I still primarily do the first option of just picking out the line by ear. Occasionally I'll look at online tabs if something is giving me trouble, but in most cases that just leads me to frustration because the tabs online aren't really accurate - well, not by my ear anyway - so I end up going back and just listening to the track a coupla hundred times or whatever until I get it right.

 

[obimark]

I will first look if there is a video lesson of someone playing the song on youtube. Many times there are.

If not I will listen to it and try to get the main chord progression down. Then any riffs or fills.

Unless you are playing deep cuts practically everything has a tab or video to start with.

 

[Rudreax]

Depends on the song. If it's any kind of pop music I'll listen to it. Specifically, I'll listen through the entire song once or twice to figure out the form, and the basic progressions of each song part. Once I have that down I'll go section b section learning the actual bass part.

If I'm learning a jazz head, classical piece, or musical theatre tune, and I don't have to memorize it, I'll refer to sheet music or chord charts since I'll probably have them available. If I do have to memorize it I'll combine the sheet music with listening.

I try to avoid video tutorials, since only the very best are truly accurate (and lots of people use weird fingerings...). Also I'd rather make sure my learning is focused on the aural, instead of the visual.