Why bass lines are hard to hear

Low notes are long waves, and the notes of a fast bass line run into each other. Slowing the recording gives each note room to start and stop. A speed of 70 % is a fine place to begin; the pitch does not move, so the notes you hear are the notes to play.

One bar at a time

Press Set A at the start of a bar and Set B at its end, and the loop starts. Learn that bar until you can play it with the recording. Then move both points one bar along. Short loops keep you from repeating the parts you already know.

Detuned recordings

Many rock recordings are tuned down. If your bass sounds a semitone sharp next to the track, press + beside Key once, so the recording comes up to your tuning; use +2 for a whole step down.

When it gets muddy

If a very low note smears at a very slow speed, bring the speed up one step. A speed you can follow is better than the slowest one available.

Keep your place

PitchShed remembers the loop and the speed for each video, so the next session starts at the bar you were learning. Write the finished line down as you go.

A routine for a new song

  1. Find the first bar where the bass enters and loop it at about 70 %.
  2. Play it with the recording until it is clean.
  3. Move the loop one bar forward and repeat.
  4. Play the whole line once at a speed you can keep up with.

Roots first

If a line is too busy to copy at first, learn only the root of each chord, one per bar, and add the passing notes on later passes. A simple skeleton at speed beats a perfect line at half the speed.