New respect for Thad Tribbett...STEP UP YOUR GAME!!!

[jeremyr]

MAAAANNN.  I knew this brotha was bad, but I'm just realizing how bad this cat is.

I'm learning "still have joy" right now *YES FULL CHART WILL BE AVAILABLE* and if you want to step your shout music game up LEARN THIS SONG!!!!  Don't just learn the changes, but learn this NOTE FOR NOTE.  I'm still in awe.

SIDENOTE:

After learning the few couple of seconds of the song I then started thinking this.  We get alot of people asking what to do and how to do it.  Honestly if you want to learn take a song you love and learn it NOTE for NOTE and if you don't come out with a new technique or phrasing then i don't know what to tell you.  Then take that phrasing and work it into something you're doing with your twist on it. 

[ddwilkins]

You nailed it.  That's all these "great" bass players do.  They take what they learn from someone else and add their own flavor or twist to it.

[Torch7]

Can you brothers share how you approach learning songs.

The Preparation, the actual due diligence, and finished product?

I think it would be cool to share experiences.

[ddwilkins]

When I'm learning a song, first I just listen to the song over and over until I have it in my head.  Then I get on the instrument that I'm learning the song with.  I play along with the song until I have the changes down and then I may learn the different fills note for note or I may add my flavor to the song.  The main reason why I learn the changes first is because, everyone that I play with play differently, they have different skill levels and sometimes can't play exactly every note that the record has.   I played with my cousins church this past sunday and I hadn't practiced with them at all.  I was able to play every song that they did even though I had only play 2 of them.  They did about 6 songs.  All new songs.  I had heard the songs before but hadn't sat down and learned them.  The only thing that helped me out was that I knew the changes and the song so well, that I was able to play on the fly without stumbling through the song.  I must say that I've developed this ability only by strictly training my ear.  That's why I'm not a firm believer of tabs, but I will use charts to let me know what progression is coming up.  I was able to modulate and everything without skipping a beat.

[Torch7]

Cool thanks for the insight ddwilkins.

I do pretty much the same thing, I listen to a song over and over again, then I hack through it all week, until friday night rehearsal, where I have the lead musician help me out.

[mjl422]

I use a program called Transcribe that allows me to slow down the song (to any tempo that I need) without changing the pitch.  It also allows me to select bass enhance and filter out all the junk (just kiddin) and hear what the bass is doing.  I've been working on some of Terrance Palmer, Darrell Freeman and Gouche's basslines just to figure out the way they move around in songs.  I guess I'll add Thadeus to the list.

[cordney]

I listen to the song a couple of times before I even touch my bass.  I then proceed to learn the changes and then the rest of the song.  If the song is a lil tough, I will pull out my bass trainer (tascam) and use it to help me out.

[BassAddict]

MAAAANNN.  I knew this brotha was bad, but I'm just realizing how bad this cat is.

I'm learning "still have joy" right now *YES FULL CHART WILL BE AVAILABLE* and if you want to step your shout music game up LEARN THIS SONG!!!!  Don't just learn the changes, but learn this NOTE FOR NOTE.  I'm still in awe.

SIDENOTE:

After learning the few couple of seconds of the song I then started thinking this.  We get alot of people asking what to do and how to do it.  Honestly if you want to learn take a song you love and learn it NOTE for NOTE and if you don't come out with a new technique or phrasing then i don't know what to tell you.  Then take that phrasing and work it into something you're doing with your twist on it. 

Do u use a tascam?

[jeremyr]

Do u use a tascam?

Yup.  And it's still hard to disect everything that he's doing with the song slowed down 50%.

[browntree]

When I'm learning a song, first I just listen to the song over and over until I have it in my head.  Then I get on the instrument that I'm learning the song with.  I play along with the song until I have the changes down and then I may learn the different fills note for note or I may add my flavor to the song.  The main reason why I learn the changes first is because, everyone that I play with play differently, they have different skill levels and sometimes can't play exactly every note that the record has.   I played with my cousins church this past sunday and I hadn't practiced with them at all.  I was able to play every song that they did even though I had only play 2 of them.  They did about 6 songs.  All new songs.  I had heard the songs before but hadn't sat down and learned them.  The only thing that helped me out was that I knew the changes and the song so well, that I was able to play on the fly without stumbling through the song.  I must say that I've developed this ability only by strictly training my ear.  That's why I'm not a firm believer of tabs, but I will use charts to let me know what progression is coming up.  I was able to modulate and everything without skipping a beat.

I take the same approach as ddwilkins.  Usually before I learn a song, I've listened to it so many times it's in me.   Depending on the level of difficulty of the song and whether I feel I'll do the song numerous times, I'll tab it out as I go.  That way I have the for-sure changes (especially when you get into argument about what note was played), and then I'll usually write out the notes above the words to use on Sunday if necessary.  It's usually a run or change or something like that that I can look at before we do a song.  Other than that, I try to practice my scales as much as possible.  I think that's helped the most. 

[BassbyGrace]

When I'm learning a song, first I just listen to the song over and over until I have it in my head.  Then I get on the instrument that I'm learning the song with.  I play along with the song until I have the changes down and then I may learn the different fills note for note or I may add my flavor to the song.  The main reason why I learn the changes first is because, everyone that I play with play differently, they have different skill levels and sometimes can't play exactly every note that the record has.   I played with my cousins church this past sunday and I hadn't practiced with them at all.  I was able to play every song that they did even though I had only play 2 of them.  They did about 6 songs.  All new songs.  I had heard the songs before but hadn't sat down and learned them.  The only thing that helped me out was that I knew the changes and the song so well, that I was able to play on the fly without stumbling through the song.  I must say that I've developed this ability only by strictly training my ear.  That's why I'm not a firm believer of tabs, but I will use charts to let me know what progression is coming up.  I was able to modulate and everything without skipping a beat.

I cosign to this as well.  Most of the time though I write Roman numeral charts, so that no matter what key, Im still good. 

[gambit23435]

When I'm learning a song, first I just listen to the song over and over until I have it in my head.  Then I get on the instrument that I'm learning the song with.  I play along with the song until I have the changes down and then I may learn the different fills note for note or I may add my flavor to the song.  The main reason why I learn the changes first is because, everyone that I play with play differently, they have different skill levels and sometimes can't play exactly every note that the record has.   I played with my cousins church this past sunday and I hadn't practiced with them at all.  I was able to play every song that they did even though I had only play 2 of them.  They did about 6 songs.  All new songs.  I had heard the songs before but hadn't sat down and learned them.  The only thing that helped me out was that I knew the changes and the song so well, that I was able to play on the fly without stumbling through the song.  I must say that I've developed this ability only by strictly training my ear.  That's why I'm not a firm believer of tabs, but I will use charts to let me know what progression is coming up.  I was able to modulate and everything without skipping a beat.

This seems to work for me as well. I listen to a song repeatedly. Then I sit down with the guitar trainer and work out all the details and all the changes.

[ddwilkins]

I cosign to this as well.  Most of the time though I write Roman numeral charts, so that no matter what key, Im still good. 

I do the roman numeral charts myself.  I'm 100% for every musician learning songs and charts this way.  I learned this in my theory classes and it definately helps when you change keys. You don't have to remember the exact notes, but just the positions with in the scales.  This is extremely useful when you are modulating in a song like Vickie Winans "I hear the music in the Air."

[mr.dj]

When I'm learning a song, first I just listen to the song over and over until I have it in my head.  Then I get on the instrument that I'm learning the song with.  I play along with the song until I have the changes down and then I may learn the different fills note for note or I may add my flavor to the song.  The main reason why I learn the changes first is because, everyone that I play with play differently, they have different skill levels and sometimes can't play exactly every note that the record has.   I played with my cousins church this past sunday and I hadn't practiced with them at all.  I was able to play every song that they did even though I had only play 2 of them.  They did about 6 songs.  All new songs.  I had heard the songs before but hadn't sat down and learned them.  The only thing that helped me out was that I knew the changes and the song so well, that I was able to play on the fly without stumbling through the song.  I must say that I've developed this ability only by strictly training my ear.  That's why I'm not a firm believer of tabs, but I will use charts to let me know what progression is coming up.  I was able to modulate and everything without skipping a beat.

This is the way I learn songs also.

I use a program called Transcribe that allows me to slow down the song (to any tempo that I need) without changing the pitch.  It also allows me to select bass enhance and filter out all the junk (just kiddin) and hear what the bass is doing.  I've been working on some of Terrance Palmer, Darrell Freeman and Gouche's basslines just to figure out the way they move around in songs.  I guess I'll add Thadeus to the list.

Is this a computer program or the tascam bass trainer?

[Torch7]

http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html

[mr.dj]

http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html

thanks torch!