How To Get STARTED Playing Bass By Ear [3 Steps]
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- Опубліковано 5 сер 2024
- ►► Join my 28-Day 'Ear-Opening' Challenge to "unblock” your ears and learn 20+ bass lines completely by ear - in just 28 days, and practicing just 15 minutes a day → becomeabassist.com/ear-openin...
►► FREE VIDEO: How To Hear Any Bass Line Without Straining To Hear The Notes → becomeabassist.com/play-bass-...
If you can play bass by ear, it changes everything - and I mean EVERYTHING.
If you can play by ear, you can learn lots of songs and learn them quickly.
That means if the ‘regular’ bass player for a band can’t make it, and you can step in and learn a band’s entire song list, they won’t have to cancel their gig and you’ll be their savior.
If you can play by ear and you find yourself at a jam session and someone starts playing a song you don’t know, you can figure things out FAST. That means you can play songs you’ve never even heard before and sound like you’ve been playing them for years.
If there’s a band auditioning for new bass players and you can learn all their songs by ear without asking them for notes or chords. Then you’re free to jam with them on any of their songs, and if you can do that, then chances are you'll nail the audition and get in the band.
If you get asked to play at a church that plays completely different songs than you know, and you learn their repertoire by ear, do you think they’ll get you back to play again and again? Of course they will!
►►But there’s just one problem…
Playing by ear can be confusing if you’re just starting out.
Should you use ear training apps? Study chords and music theory? What about intervals? Working with drones? Do you need to know all your scales? Can you get away with ‘reading’ the guitarist's chord shapes or the keys player’s left hand to make your bass lines?
Or should you just give up on playing by ear and go crawling back to the tab sites?
You might start to wonder:
“Is it even possible to learn to play by ear?”
I promise you it absolutely IS possible, and today I want to show you how to get started.
In this lesson, you’re going to learn:
→ Your secret weapon in the battle to play by ear (You already have it, you just need to use it)
→ What you should START with when trying to play bass by ear (Hint - it’s not any bass line)
→ The simple question you ask yourself that will get you playing by ear faster than you might think
Obviously playing by ear is a HUGE subject and it’s not exactly easy to cover it in a single 12-minute lesson.
So if you want extra help and want to start playing bass by ear - even if you’ve never done it before - make sure and sign up for the free video that shows you exactly how to start hearing bass lines in the lowest part of your bass:
becomeabassist.com/play-bass-...
Just fill out the form underneath the video on that page and I’ll send it straight to you so you can start the process of levelling up your ear.
It’ll show you extra tools and ways you can get further towards playing everything you want using nothing but your ears. No tabs, sheet music or UA-cam covers needed.
Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!
Cheers,
Luke
Here’s the direct link to sign up for that video:
becomeabassist.com/play-bass-...
As you learn various fretboard patterns, you'll often get a feel of exactly where to go because bassists (at least for popular music) tend to use those same patterns. Thus, once you find your starting note, you can make quick, educated guesses about where to go next. It drastically speeds up the process.
I learned a U2 song super quickly today because I could hear from the intervals that the bass line used a pattern that's familiar to me. I was able to jump in and play it pretty accurately right away, just from using the patterns.
Even after playing 40 years, I keep going back to the basics to better serve the song, and react to the vocals. Not showing off .Duck Dunn was a master.
2:07 - when someone pauses the music while I’m singing
Your lessons are incredibly helpful. Thank you.
Thanks so much @Grizelda - Really appreciate it.
Thank you Luke, I decided in this very days to start training my ear. Your precious suggestions arrived just at the right moment!
That's awesome @luigi graziano! Glad I could help!
Best advice with all instruments "if you can hum it you can play it" thanks great vid👍🍀
Hi, Luke. I had just started playing the bass guitar exactly a month ago. I just previously just saw one of your other videos " How To Strength Your Pinky" that really did help. I will be sure to start doing that exercise. I just thought I give you my thoughts on this. I never thought about playing the bass guitar before. I started playing for the church as part of the choir. I got to tell you that I was nervous and still am because I don't know anything about the bass guitar. I am learning, and I do want to get know my new friend, the bass guitar.
Fantastic video. Thank you for making this so easy to understand.
Thanks! Playing the bass by ear is the most challenging skill for me. Yes, being able to replicate the melody in one's voice is the perfect (only?) way to begin the process. Thanks!
no way my voice can go that low yet ;;
but thank you for the lesson!!
Fantastic, such a simple idea but works so well. Thank you
i’m purchasing a bass soon, and i’m binging all your videos lol thank you for making them!!! :)
My first time playing by ear I already know the concept behind it. Your vids are truly amazing!
Awesome @*TyGaming* - Let us all know how you get on with it
@@BecomeABassist ok no problem
Thanks, Luke! You’re the best bass instructor in the UA-cam universe. I always enjoy your video lessons.
You're too kind @Cary Heuchert - thanks so much for watching.
I want to play my friend's favourite song, and since there are no tabs nor sheets for it, this is a lifesaver! Thank you so much!
Awesome! Let us all know how you go!
Very helpful lesson!
Thanks for the help
this is so helpful ty
love it!
Thank you so much!
Brilliant lesson, Luke! And such an important skill. Your lessons are excellent, thanks.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it @Paul Pulati - cheers heaps!
I wish i learned this earlyer!!! Thankyou!! Helped me out of a huge rut!!
Practical and to the point 👍. Love your videos
Awesome @Zainab Saad - that's exactly what I try to make every video!
Glad to have found your channel today
Great video. This is something to work on for sure. I know it will help me a lot. Can't wait to use the term "Calm Your Farm". Thanks Luke.
Haha! I can't claim 'calm your farm' @John Dayton, but I'm glad you found the lesson helpful!
Great lesson, I'm a beginner & really helped. Something about you reminds me of chuck Norris! 😂
It must be my rad martial arts skills...
Hey from Dublin. Yet another super video. Learning by ear is something I’ve always struggled with. In my covers band we play each song a half step down to suit the vocals etc. That was perfect for gigging but then when I was learning new songs and listening for notes I was somewhat schewed as most songs are recorded in standard tuning. I’ve somewhat rectified that but your Vid will be a great help so thanks mate 🎸
Thanks for watching Niall and glad you're finding it helpful - that's always music to my ear!
Cool lesson :) Thanks!
Glad you like it @Anne Tee
I'm autistic. I can't read or understand written music.
I've realised that I naturally play music by ear and can play a simple single finger riff within about 5-20 minutes just by hearing it, i.e Peter Gunn theme.
Not sure how much of a talent that is in music, but I've always felt that is more suited to bass.
I'm inspired to pick up a guitar again!
Sounds like you have already have this vital skill that Luke is talking about here. In any case, you are in a good position to begin enhancing this skill along the lines he lays out. And guitar again - why not? Wishing you all the best!
Nice lesson!
Cheers @legolwa!
Finally a real video for beginner
Nice Spector!
ear player here since many yrs on electric guitars the only thing i want to say to u bro is that u r TOTALLY CORRECT!!!!!!!!! same for guitars! and also ear playing hasnt music limits! u can play whatever u want!
Brilliant exercise Luke. I've just done it to the lyrics of Pink Floyd's Wall song '' We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control '' and guess what ?? It sounds really good. Thanks !!!
That's amazing @Happy Harry! Great work for immediately applying what you learn - that's exactly how to get really good really quickly. Awesome effort - keep at it!
Stupidly obvious, immensely helpful. Kudos!
"A rush bassline or something"
*Starts thinking of Geddy Lee*
This is incredible ‼️‼️I really needed this to become a better player
I'm dyslexic and basically can't learn to read music but I've been playing bass for years by ear
Fantastic! This is awesome thank you! Now my neighbours can be tortured by my bass playing AND my singing! Ha!
Bahaha!
That’s how I’ve been learning to play bass . I’ve been a singer my entire life . I dabble a bit on guitar but bass came a lot easier for me . I’m still learning of coarse but in under 4 months I’m playing songs already . Lol
I can ONLY play by ear and alot of people say I'm not bad. But the time has come to learn scales and behold ,i have been playing scales major and minor...lmao
Haha! It's a super common story with people who learned to play by ear - myself included. We've been playing all these things that people talk about all the time; we just didn't have a name for any of it.
Lmao yep
Hi Luke did you have an ear training course starting? I saw it on Facebook but can't find it now 😕
Absolutely! The link to join is right here: becomeabassist.com/the-28-day-ear-opening-challenge
So this course is going to take me to the ear playing promise land if I persist in the course?
I honestly thought you were about to say "if you want to start spontaneously combusting"
Woah...don’t do that!!! Haha
Even water sheep is a bassist!
I can't sing the right note. I be screwed
what about metal bass lines do because you don't really hear it.
This. If we don’t have isolated bass tracks or bass enhanced we’re fucked.
So I can't just Bang the hell out of open E and do a slide up on A string time to time..oh wait..that's guns n Roses..lol
Interesting but not really useful in playing bass by ear since bass is usually much lower. And transcribing by ear in the lower register is way more difficult (at least for me).
You're absolutely right @Pat Bass - it IS harder to hear notes in the lower register. But I 100% disagree that doing the steps in this video won't be useful.
Learn to match pitch in the higher register and then slowly bring them down until the low notes jump out at you. If you don't work on matching pitch with the higher notes first, there's very little chance you'll be able to do it with the lower notes.
The bonus video is all about this exact process. You can check it out here: becomeabassist.com/play-bass-by-ear-how-to-get-started
@@BecomeABassist thanks for your reply. Your channel is one of my favorites to keep on improving on bass.
The bob ross of bass.
Aww... ❤️
What if you are tone deaf. Sing or hum everything flat. ?? Can't replicate the sound ??
Good question @Ash Humber. If you're talking about medical tone deafness (amusia) there's not a lot you can do. Most people who actually have medical tone deafness don't enjoy music - it's just perceived as 'noise', so if you're into music, you probably aren't tone deaf. If you know that everything you're singing is flat, then you also aren't tone deaf because you can tell it's flat.
And if that's the case, you can consciously work towards slightly raising the pitches you're singing. There are a ton of good resources for this on UA-cam - even some that specifically deal with singing flat. Have a search around and see what you can find.
@@BecomeABassist hi i think i am singing perfectly ok. Its other people that say im flat. I tried playing Happy Birthday and it worked. I can hear when its in tune or flat. I just cant replicate it humming or singing it. I will keep practicing. Thanks.