Okay, so let’s say you are learning a song. Here is the usual approach:

• You decide to figure out the right notes as a first step to learning the song. So you:
  • check out the TAB (a discussion for another time), or
  • have the guitar player show you, or
  • find a bass cover on youtube.com (see TAB), or
  • find a transcription or buy a book, or
  • or transcribe the notes by ear (best option!) and make your own chart or memorize it.
• You listen to it over and over until you know it by heart. (Try to get the sound, phrasing, dynamics etc while you are at it!)
• You play it over and over with the recording until you have it down cold.
• You rehearse it with your band (thumbs up for coming in prepared!) and you are good to go on it.
• The end. Right?

After all you did learn the song… you are happy. The band is happy and the audience is dancing. But why stop there? Why not take it one step further, and learn from the song? This will be extremely beneficial to you – way beyond just learning that single song.

Learn from a song by making an exercise out of it. Why?

• Because you can turn it into a workout that is great for your technique!
• To help you find rhythmic ideas for your own grooves!
• How about dissecting the theory a bit and learning from that?
• And finally, using the learning from the above elements to create your own grooves and ideas….

And that is what this episode of Talking Technique is about.

Here is a PDF to download with it

A bit about the back story:

I put this song together because a dear friend of mine was terminally ill. I made him a video of the song together with pictures that his travels inspired. He has since passed on. I thought of the song for him because of the line in the lyrics: “If the Doctors fail to heal you, let your soul be your pilot”.

Keep flying, dear Peter, now your soul is truly free.

Bass by Marleaux

Fretwrap for muting when tapping by Gruvgear

My favorite Strings (by Dean Markley, tapered)

Amp by TC

Revsound Cabs

Favorite Looper: Infinity by Pigtronix

Sound by WolfTrackAudio.com