How do you learn songs?

[highwayone]

I'm in a covers band on bass after being on drums for over 20 years and trying to find a happy medium for learning our set. What method do you use? I tend to listen to the song and try and find the exact bassline from youtube or tinterweb but usually find people's bad interpretations that are nothing like the original. Some of my friends just get the chords and play a watered down version of the song. Your thoughts and experience would be gratefully received. Thanks

[Conan]

Listen to it over and over again. Play along with it until I get the part right. If I'm really stuck I might try youtube, as there are some decent versions of some songs out there... Obviously it takes longer if you don't know the track in the first place!

Mine is not a scientific method...

Then again, if guitarists are not bothering to learn the tracks properly, do you? Would a rough approximation suffice?

[Musky]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1389081073' post='2329570']
Listen to it over and over again. Play along with it until I get the part right. If I'm really stuck I might try youtube, as there are some decent versions of some songs out there... Obviously it takes longer if you don't know the track in the first place!

Mine is not a scientific method...

Then again, if guitarists are not bothering to learn the tracks properly, do you? Would a rough approximation suffice?
[/quote]
Repeated listenings for me as well, although I use the Amazing Slow Downer which makes life a lot easier. Best Practice and Audacity will do the same job and are free.

[Gazza 2905]

I start with TAB if I can.
Books are the best bet, as they tend to be pretty accurate. Songsterr is a good website, although many of the TAB's on there tend to be a 'good starting point' rather than the finished article in my experience.

Or work it out by ear of course. That's harder I find, but using some kind of software that slows down the music (whilst retaining the correct pitch) is invaluable here. There are a number of good ones available, I use Anytune Pro on my ipod touch.

Good luck!

[DaytonaRik]

I tend to listen to the song over, and over, and over...then work out the starting note and go from there. Once you know the track inside out and back to front working it out is much easier than trying to learn a song you don't know that well.

[Mog]

I listen to the track(s) a few times to get the form of the bassline then head to rehearsal to find out what key the singers want it in.

[steve-bbb]

basic stuff i just listen to and play - a few listens through to get all the little subtleties - i would make a comparison to touch typing - if you can touch type you can listen to somebody dictating and type as they speak - same principle if you listen to the song and play as you hear - your fingers know where the notes are on the fretboard

more complicated stuff need breaking down into bite sized chunks and reassembling

[Horizontalste]

I listen to it a couple if times then hum the dominant tone, find that on an instrument then work out the chords from the circle of fifths. Once you know the changes its much easier to figure out the actual bass line.

[xgsjx]

I'm not in a covers band, but we do play a few covers in rehearsal, some of which may get played live.

If you can play by ear, it makes things easier. I'll get the key/scale that the song is played in & learn the bassline from listening & then use the web if there's any parts I can't get.

Then I take the song & rewrite the bassline to how I want it to go. The rest of the band does a similar thing.
At rehearsal we just have a few A4 sheets with the lyrics & chords for reference to the arrangement.

[Si600]

I normally listen to it, play the root notes along with the guitarist and then I listen to it properly and find out all the stuff that I didn't hear in the first place! An MP3 player, headphones and lots and lots of repetition. If I can find the TAB then I'll use it but so many are just plain wrong, even the 5* rated ones.

[Happy Jack]

Don't get obsessed with playing exactly the original bassline.

In many cases it will be entirely appropriate to play a precise note-for-note reproduction, but there will also be plenty of cases where it does NOT make sense.

I don't try to replicate the original bassline to [i]Don't Be Cruel[/i] (Elvis Presley) because my band has no piano. The bassline I play is a synthesis of Bill Black's double bass and the pianist's left hand.

The bassline to[i] Play That Funky Music[/i] (Wild Cherry) is anything but funky, in fact it's crap. So I play a funky bassline which actually works better than the original (in my ever-so-humble opinion ) but I play the original bassline under the guitar solo just to show that I do actually know it.

Etc. etc. etc.

[Dave_the_bass]

I tend to chuck the songs on a cd and put it in my car. Every journey for the next week is done with the music in the background while I subconsciously learn the song and absorb the bass line.

I then sit down with the bass and tend to be able to play a close approximation after a couple of attempts.

I then turn up to rehearsal to find that I'm the only person who knows the song structure!

[LiamPodmore]

I usually find the chords somewhere online (though my ears are getting better) or off one of our guitarists and make something relatively similar from that. If the original bass part is a large part of the song i'll pull up a guitar pro tab from somewhere and get a rough idea of what it is.

Liam

[Damonjames]

Depending g on how much time I have, I generally like to listen and figure it out by ear, to me it's more accurate and keeps you sharp. The trouble with this I find is that I'm in a grunge cover band, and sometimes the bass can be a fair way back in the mix which can make picking the exact lines out more difficult.
If I'm tight for time ill check youtube, as previously stated, there are some awefull versions and some really good if not actual lessons from the artist.
Personally I find trying to watch, listen and play a bit overwhelming and prefer to just do it by ear.

There is no substitute for repetition though!

[BigRedX]

Listen to the recording. Work out the chord changes and any important tunes in the bass line and wait to see what the rest of the band are play at the next rehearsal.

As Happy Jack says trying to work out the bass line exactly as it is played on the record is quite often pointless, unless your band have the same instrumentation as on the recording and all the other musicians have got their parts down note-perfect as well. All it needs is for the drummer to play a slightly different rhythm and your carefully prepared bass part will sound terrible. Same with the guitarists if they don't have every run down perfectly a lot of the passing notes on the bass will sound wrong. And a lot of the time if your band doesn't have a keyboard player you'll find yourself having to modify the bass line to allow for that missing left hand.

During the last year the Terrortones have been playing a number of covers to fill out the sets where we are expected to play for longer than our customary 30-35 minutes. On of the songs we leant was "Prime Mover" by Zodiac Mindwarp. It's a pretty straight forward rock song with 4 chords, but having played it with 2 different drummers and 5 different guitarists, I've had to adjust the baseline slightly to allow for the various variations each change in line up brought in order for the song to still sound right.

For me learning to play a song by ear is the next most important skill a bass player can have after learning how to fret and pluck the strings. It opens up a whole new world of music that hasn't been written down, removes the reliance on bad tabs and dodgy YouTube play-alongs and allows you to start coming up with your own musical ideas. I don't worry if I can't make out what is being played at any point in the song. Usually from what other things the baseline has been doing it is simple to make something up that fits. And my philosophy is that if I can't hear what the baseline is doing very few other people can either - certainly no-one in the audience. Also if I can't tell what the baseline is what makes it any more likely that any of the internet transcribers or YouTube players will have got it any more right? (Unless of course they actually played the bass part on the original recording).

[dan670844]

Think its best as others have said, to listen to the song and play along to the track and work it out. I use A Korg PX4D for this and an audio source. Its one of the most important things you can do, develop your Ear. If you get any tricky part you can always use something like riff station to slow that part down.
Another really important thing to do, is learn how to chord chart songs out. It will teach you a lot about song structures, the Keys and progressions. Its easy to do and very quickly you will learn that a lot of songs use the same patterns, chord sequences, so you know what to expect and will defo be in a position to write a few choones yourself. Once you have nailed writing out chord chart, if you keep them you have an instant reference to go back too.

I would try to avoid these tab sites, very often they are wrong or they tend to not nail the correct positions on the finger board. If you work it out, you will find the correct way and you will be doing yourself a big favour in terms of your development. The next step from here is to learn std notation, also not impossible. But you will learn how to get the song down precisely and have instant recall.

Edited January 7, 2014 by dan670844

[Twigman]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1389085191' post='2329615']
Don't get obsessed with playing exactly the original bassline.
[/quote]
What is the original bassline?
It is just the version of the bass line that was played when the track was recorded.
My band's lines are in a constant state of evolution.
I suspect this to be true of most bands.

There is no right and wrong bassline..

Edited January 7, 2014 by Twigman

[discreet]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1389085191' post='2329615']
Don't get obsessed with playing exactly the original bassline.
[/quote][size=4][quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1389091519' post='2329691'][/size]What is the original bassline? ...There is no right or wrong bassline.
[/quote]

I would say the original bassline is the one on the recording that you are learning the line from. And I do (or did) get obsessed with playing it note-for-note. The problem with this is that the majority of 'musicians' don't feel the need to do likewise, so one starts off being smug (because you know the bassline) and ends up being frustrated (because your arsehole bandmates are lazy, inept feckers who can't be bothered to learn a number properly and do the absolute minimum to get by). So before you start it's a good idea to have a conversation about how close the band wants to get to the 'original', and find out if you're in a 'that'll do - the punters will be pissed anyway' band or not.

So all in all I'm very glad to be in an originals band, where the 'right' bassline is the one that I play.

Edited January 7, 2014 by discreet

[Twigman]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1389092412' post='2329698']


So all in all I'm very glad to be in an originals band, where the 'right' bassline is the one that I play.
[/quote]
That is knda what I was trying to say.

I doubt if I play any bassline more than a few times the same way before it changes - as do most musicians in original bands. The 'original' is just what they happened to play that day - doesn't make it the 'best' or even match what they might have played the following week.

[discreet]

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1389092775' post='2329706']
That is kinda what I was trying to say. I doubt if I play any bassline more than a few times the same way before it changes - as do most musicians in original bands. The 'original' is just what they happened to play that day - doesn't make it the 'best' or even match what they might have played the following week.
[/quote]

Tru dat - but if the purpose of your covers band is to entertain punters who already know the songs, then they will know them from the 'original' recordings and will be expecting to hear those versions.

When I see covers bands who deviate from the 'originals' I just think that they haven't put the work in and am generally disappointed. I know some bands like to imagine they are being 'creative' by doing their own 'versions' - but my view is that if you want to do that then why not write your own bloody songs and have hits with them yourself??

I admit I'm a bit of a control freak, though - I'm invading Poland on Saturday, anyone want to come along?

[Damonjames]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1389091030' post='2329684']

On of the songs we leant was "Prime Mover" by Zodiac Mindwarp.
[/quote]

😄 Awesome tune, those guys are textbook
Cock rock! My personal favourite is
Back seat education though!

[PaulWarning]

first thing I do is google the tab, then slow the song down and move it up an octive to bring out the bass line on audacity, then work out how accurate the tab is, they vary from utterly hopeless to nearly there to spot on, if there's no tab available I use music mentor, it's not entirely accurate but it points you in the right direction. I'm not very good at doing it by ear without having something to get me started

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1389093371' post='2329712']
When I see covers bands who deviate from the 'originals' I just think that they haven't put the work in and am generally disappointed. I know some bands like to imagine they are being 'creative' by doing their own 'versions' - but my view is that if you want to do that then why not write your own bloody songs and have hits with them yourself??

[/quote]

This. Absolutely this.

It's not just[i] Alright Now[/i] and [i]Money [/i]... there are so many songs where a particular bass lick or riff is somehow key to the overall feel of the song. Get it right, or play a song that you [u][b]can [/b][/u]get right. Don't screw it up and then claim that it was "your interpretation".

[jazzyvee]

[quote name='Dave_the_bass' timestamp='1389086509' post='2329619']
I tend to chuck the songs on a cd and put it in my car. Every journey for the next week is done with the music in the background while I subconsciously learn the song and absorb the bass line.
I then sit down with the bass and tend to be able to play a close approximation after a couple of attempts.
[/quote]
Very similar to my learning strategy. I tend to also visualise where I would be playing the part in my head which usually turns out close if not correct when I start to play the song.
If the part has some tricky parts or a difficult solo that needs to be reproduced, i tend to work those out first because that may require a disproportionately longer time to get right than the groove of the track.
Most of the time I use the CD Player on my hi-fi which has a repeat option so I can break the track down into parts for learning.
Many of the tracks I get to play require me to get very close to the original notes and the bass tone so I usually try to get the tone right at the beginning so I'm hearing the music in the right context.


I only tend to write things down if it is unusually complex or there are conflicts between the musicians about which arrangement learned by band member is correct.

Jazzyvee

Edited January 7, 2014 by jazzyvee

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1389094731' post='2329736']
It's not just[i] Alright Now[/i] and [i]Money [/i]... there are so many songs where a particular bass lick or riff is somehow key to the overall feel of the song. Get it right, or play a song that you [u][b]can [/b][/u]get right. Don't screw it up and then claim that it was "your interpretation".
[/quote]

But Alright now is a classic case. OK so you play the riff in the middle section spot on but do you do every variation in the chorus, and if so which recording do you you take it from?

I think the majority of musicians in covers bands would be surprised just how far they have to stray from the "original" before anyone who hasn't actually learnt to play the song themselves will notice. The bassist I replaced in the covers band was a far better musician than me, but apart from the bits that he absolutely couldn't get away with changing the rest of his baselines had little in common with what was played on the record. I didn't spot this at all until I came to learn the songs myself and subsequently listened to a recording of the band with his playing on it.

Stop being so precious, a lot of the time it really doesn't matter.