Playing by ear

[LotSOLoWEnD]

i have been playing for a while and am tired of relying on tabs. My pitch isn't really all that bad but when i play the note on the computer and go to my guitar i will mess around and it seems they ALL sound the same...i suck : /. anyone have some links or anything where i can teach myself playing by ear

PS any tricks to how you guys do it? i noticed i can tab guitar better by ear simply because you can hear it better 90% of the time

[Led_Zeppelin678]

i have been playing for a while and am tired of relying on tabs. My pitch isn't really all that bad but when i play the note on the computer and go to my guitar i will mess around and it seems they ALL sound the same...i suck : /. anyone have some links or anything where i can teach myself playing by ear

PS any tricks to how you guys do it? i noticed i can tab guitar better by ear simply because you can hear it better 90% of the time

12345

[twopelu]

the best way to develod ear is learning a lot of shapes and theory, that way you get your ear used to the most common things you will listen to, and youll be able to reproduce them easily.

Of course theres so much more to do with it but its a good place to start. Im sure some of the MXer know webpages in which you could find ear exercices.

[led_zeppelin5022]

i think www.activebass.com has something on ear training :thumb:

[PillarFreak]

My advice would just be to continue playing accurate bass tabs for songs that you can hear the bass in. The more you play bass tabs and listen for the bass, the better you'll be at being able to hear the bass for yourself. All it takes is time and practice.

[FenderStripes]

Whether you do ear-training practices or not, you'll be able to play by ear eventually. Tabs are like training wheels, you'll only need to rely on them for so long until you figure out how to manage without them. Just make sure you practice/play a lot. Good luck!

[DemBonez]

Learning how to sing the intervals is pretty useful.

[basgitarist]

http://www.good-ear.com is a site which let's you recognize intervals. When tabbing I find myself doing the folowing things. It works for me..

Tuning
First of all, be sure your instrument is in tune! When your instrument isn't completely in tune It may cost you a lot of blood sweat and tears finding something on the neck of your bass!

The first note
Without knowing the first note it's really hard to tab something so I listen to the note and try finding it. Listen carefully if the note's higher or lower then the one you played and slide up/down the fretboard till you think you have it. Eventually you'll get much better at this belive me it's all practise.

Singing
When I've found the first note and I find I have trouble finding the rest sometimes remembering the bass line by singing it helps. Just sing the bassline. Turn of the music, but keep singing!

Octave notes
When I have a recording with a real muddy bass I play higher notes so instead of the G on the 3th fret of the E-string I play the G on the 5th fret of the D-string.

Key expectation
When tabbing something I sometimes recognize major or minor pattern and try finding the key of the song. When you think you found the key just pound on the note you think is the key. If it sounds right (you will know it when you hear it) it wil really narrow down your note options!

Note: Some songs have key changes

well I hoped this kind of helped you out. Good luck tabbing :thumb:

[EADG]

Interval training worked for me, as did learning basic key signatures and scales.

[PainKiller8191]

playing by interval works for me....and comes natural...

too bad thats the only thing i can do:upset: :(

[dragonzmad]

i have been playing for a while and am tired of relying on tabs. My pitch isn't really all that bad but when i play the note on the computer and go to my guitar i will mess around and it seems they ALL sound the same...i suck : /. anyone have some links or anything where i can teach myself playing by ear

PS any tricks to how you guys do it? i noticed i can tab guitar better by ear simply because you can hear it better 90% of the time

figure out what key it is in. You can do this theory wise by using the order of flats or sharps. I'm not sure how else you would do if you are not familiar with intervals. Although the song may always go back to the root, it does not always. One song my band plays goes from the 4th --> Root -> 3rd -> 6

The song starts on the 4th so obviously this isn't the tonal center. Practice figuring out songs and comparing them to tabs. I would personally never use a tab to figure out anything played fingerstyle because I challenge myself to figure out riffs quickly. Use tabs when trying to figure out stuff like PoT, only if you are unfamiliar with that type of playing (harmonics)

[JamesXKillXyou]

to be honest id say most of ear work is all your head and knowing your fretboard in terms of sound. Its possible to do this without reading one word. Cept the ones im typing. This I think will actually develop a better ear... Why? Because your relying 100% on interpreting sound with your ear. I did this first then a year after of playing i finally started a lite theory. I developed an ear without reading one word. about it ever.

[Alma]

I just get used to what the notes sound like. For example, ill know what a D open string would sound like etc.

Definantly use interval trainers, they help a lot. This will increase your skill at recognising intervals, thus making it easier to work things out by ear.

Its a time thing too, as i listen to more music the better i get at working things out. Practice.

[Jody LeCompte]

Play an unlined fretless.

[AcerbicCunnt77]

Play an unlined fretless.
and slide up and down on each string till you hear the right note :lol:

[PainKiller8191]

and slide up and down on each string till you hear the right note :lol:
:lol:

[popinfresh]

Seriously, practice, practice, practice.

Audioslaves Out of Exhile is a good album to transcribe. Not too hard to start on and Timmy C is easily heard in it.

[basgitarist]

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