A Lesson In Leavin' - Dottie West | Bass Guitar Cover (Play Along Tabs)

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The following are my tips on how to get the most out of learning songs.

* Figure out what key the song is in. Is it major or minor? The majority of country songs are in a major key.
* Take note of the form (Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Solo, Outro, etc)
* Work on memorizing one song part (like the verse) at a time
* You’re reading tab but what are the letter notes you are playing?
* Experiment with different fingerings (same notes different strings). What I tabbed out works well for me but something else may work better for you.
* What is the chord progression of each part? The chord is usually the first note of the bar but not always. Is the chord major or minor? With a little theory knowledge, other notes in the bar and the key of the song should tell you. But so can your ear!
* What are the Nashville Numbers of each of the song parts? Learning this will give you the ability to transpose the song to a different key and help you memorize the song for the long term.
* Some bars will be slight variations of others (added notes, ghost notes, etc). Use these for ideas on how you might embellish the bass lines but do not try to memorize when and where all these variations occur.
* Make note of any cool lines or bass fills and try to apply them to other songs where they fit.
* If having trouble with a difficult passage, feel free to simplify it. When playing live, so long as you hit the chord changes and play in rhythm, most audiences never know the difference.
* Does the song have a swing or straight feel?
* What’s the time signature? Most are 4/4 but not all. Also, watch out for odd bars thrown in every once in a while like a 2/4 in the middle of a 4/4 song.
* If having trouble with the rhythm, practice with a metronome. Go slowly and count it out.
* Practice the scale that goes with the key of the song in different parts of the fretboard.
* Practice the arpeggios of the chords in the song on different parts of the fingerboard.
* Make the song your own! As long as you stick to the chord changes, feel free to embellish any parts with extra notes and altered rhythms. Most of these songs are/were never played live exactly the same way they are on the record.

Many of these suggestions really benefit from a little knowledge of music theory. Music theory often intimidates people but it shouldn't. It's more simple than you think, and unless you are studying jazz, you don't even need that much of it. In fact, you could learn everything you need to know in a weekend. Plenty of videos on YouTube but I will also recommend a book called Fretboard Theory.

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