Tab Addiction Syndrome

[tegguN]

Hi Basschatters,

So I've been playing about a year now, and I can play some (I think) relatively challenging stuff, but I can't seem to play anything at all without the tab for it. How do I get off this addiction and get an "ear"??? Is there exercises/books i can do/read? Preferably something structured but with a low learning curve. I'm sure some of you have been in a similar situation before? Help me!

Edited October 18, 2009 by tegguN

[Musky]

Personally I use the Amazing Slow Downer to work stuff out, which also gives the added bonus of knowing that what I'm playing is actually accurate - I don't think I've come across a completely correct tab yet. Best Practice is a freeware version that seems to be virtually identical minus the EQ that the ASD has.

I can't give you any specific recommendations for a book, but I'd suggest learning scales pretty thoroughly as it makes learning tunes by ear much easier.

[ZMech]

You might want to see if you can find an ear training programme, and use it to 'train your ears' for interval identification. It's definitely not a quick fix though, as I've been doing it for a year and I can only reasonably do it up to a major 5th.

[Ou7shined]

Trust your instincts.



Throw away the books and train your fingertips to "sing" the tune that's in your head. Jam along to CDs that you know well but don't know the tab to.

[Jobiebass]

No idea sorry, I used tabs for a long time until I descovered Guitar Pro tabs which are far more acurate then tabs, but once again its still a tab in essesnce

[SteveO]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='629278' date='Oct 18 2009, 10:49 AM']Trust your instincts.

Throw away the books and train your fingertips to "sing" the tune that's in your head. Jam along to CDs that you know well but don't know the tab to.[/quote]

Gets my vote. If you want structure then start with stuff you've been listening to for years and years then gradually move to newer stuff. It's a bit hit and miss at first, but you'll quickly get to the point of being able to fake a song. From there if you really want to replicate a song note for note then tab's are ok in my book (if you can find an accurate one) although by now you'll be able to hear whats going on and play by ear if you want to. The ability to keep going when you forget everything mid chorus, effectively just jamming with the band for a few bars whilst your brain catches up, is a very useful one to have indeed.

[tegguN]

Thanks for the replies people, I'll try that Best Practice software and see what I can get out of that, slowing down stuff- especially slap would be useful even with the tabs.

So this trust your instinct thing, the hard part is that I don't really have an instinct.. every now and then I'll be playing a tab and it'll sound a bit wrong and I *might* be able to correct it, but I just don't feel like I know what I'm doing. Even tuning can sometimes be frustrating and I'll have to go back to a tuner.

For scales- where should I start? Is there a set list of scales that I should learn as a beginner and work my way through? I know how to play a major and minor scale across three strings (I think).

[chris_b]

Learn numbers the old fashioned way.... sit down with your wax cylinder, LP, tape deck, CD, Windows Media Player and play along to the number as many times as it takes.

[Musky]

[quote name='tegguN' post='629394' date='Oct 18 2009, 12:32 PM']For scales- where should I start? Is there a set list of scales that I should learn as a beginner and work my way through? I know how to play a major and minor scale across three strings (I think).[/quote]

[url="http://www.studybass.com/lessons/basics/"]This site is pretty good.[/url] Personally I'd start with the major and minor scales (as you seem to have done), but you really need to know where to find the notes all round the neck.