The total noob asketh...

Byron

Hi there. Im almost scared to write this but here goes:

I started learning the electric guitar about a year ago and 1 thing that Ive never been able to understand is the bass guitar. I consider myself to not have gotten into music until I was about 14 or sumthing but back then I would never be able to distinguish the bass guitar in a song. I have read and understand that it completes the sound spectrum and stuff and that it is one of the most important parts of a song.

I dunno if you have to have an ear for bass or what but I try to listen to bass while guitar and drums and vocals are also playing and I mostly can't. Does it take time to develop an ear for it? Let's say theres a heavy hard metal song playing: would a good bass player be able to play that song by ear just like how you do the same with guitar?

Thanks x109284 if you reply ?

Manfred-Klose

Yes,It takes time for your eras to develop.

I also struggled finding the bassline, but then i started listening to the groove of the bass line and and just felt the bassline and realised it was there all along.

It would be handy if you have a speaker system with a sub woofer, then you would definitely hear it.

What speakers are you monitoring on?

If its PC speakers, it aint got no bass.

Gearhead

Another way to understand what the role of bass is, is to go see a band live or watch a live DVD. Seeing the bass player fret and pick/pluck/... will also help you to pick up what lines are being played.

Lethe

yeah, or find some tabs and see what the bass line is doing, so that you can listen out for it in the recorded song. It's a bit easier if you know what you are looking for at first.

Bob-Dubery

Listen to some Beatles - anything from Revolver onwards. Paul McCartney's bass lines are unmissable. Very obvious examples would be "Come Together" or "Something". I distinctly remember listening to Sgt Pepper's as a kid and being struck by the bass guitar lines - the movement in them, the melodic content. I didn't know it was bass guitar at that age - so the opposite problem to yours ?

As for playing by ear... well that's a skill that all players will develop to some degree. As your playing improves so will your ear.

Explorerlover

+1 Bob.

Another band you might wanna try is Tool. Although I sometimes still find myself playing the bass parts in stead of guitar when playing with one of their songs.

Heath

Pink Floyd aswell , alot of there music is more bas driven then anything else

Riaan-Combrink

Tail0n wrote: Pink Floyd aswell , alot of there music is more bas driven then anything else

Good call.

Listen to Money. The intro is all bass. When the other instruments come in, keep on listening for that bass line behind it.

Also, you probably know Another brick in the wall (pt2).

If you listen to it, the bass is very distinguishable from the guitar chords. It goes
dum ... dum-dum ... dum ... dum-dum-dum ... etc.

Try listening to those tracks and I think you'll catch it easily.

Neps

http://www.box.net/shared/kkz1ea6hlp

This is a song that I recorded about 7 years ago. Just muted all the other instruments and pushed up the bass. The idea of the bass is to be as tight with the drummers kick as possible. Sorry for the poor sound quality, but I had to record this straight into ProTools from the Tape machine, no time to make it nice and loud and clean.