Musician Seeking Advice & Help

[PowerMetalPrincess]

Hi, I am a bass player who has been taking formal lessons for what seems like an eternity already, . Anyway, I have taken a special interest in the music theory part of it, but cannot seem to get all my questions answered in the short time every week I have with my teacher.

My first question is this: In power metal, are the sadder-themed songs usually in minor keys, while the happier, uplifting songs are generally in major keys? I have debated this and have found that I cannot find the correct notes to play for my lack of knowing what key the song is in and if knowing this, would it help make it easier?

Secondly: I cannot seem to find bass tabs for songs I would like to play, but I would almost just like to know what keys they are in so I can figure it out for myself. These are a few of the songs I would like to know what key they are in:

Cemetary Gates - Power Quest
Starfire - DragonForce
Forever - Kreator
Metal Warriors - Manowar
Another World - Power Quest
Misplaced - Sonata Artica
Hearts On Fire - HammerFall
The Right to Go Insane - Megadeth
Once In A Lifetime - DragonForce
Hallowed Be My Name - HammerFall
Master of Illusion - Power Quest

Third: I would like to find a tab website that is reliable with more than just commercial music in its catalog.

Sorry it was such a mouthful, but I figued if I wanted to get some answers I would come to you guys first.

Care to help a bass-playing damsel in distress?

 

[pep]

I started out playing bass... it was all blues, grunge, and progressive rock. I would say the best thing to do is know your keys and notes and look up chords for the songs instead of guitar tabs. You can also find bass tabs where you find guitar tab sites. But the main gist is you're playing the bottom base note of almost every chords while a guitar player is playing a harmonization of that note. You are usually always hitting one string while a guitar player will strike power chords or full chords. You're playing will be the support of the full sound of the band... mainly it's based off the notes you strike. The bass is the ground floor sound of every song carrying the versus and chorus through their progressions. Mainly you'll be thumping around on one string at a time. So when learning a song... find chords and notes and match those notes to where they are on a bass. An E chord will be one string for you when it could be two + strings for a guitar player. I hope I didn't lose you. Good luck!

 

[Shredlamode]

Hey PowerMetalPrincess,

It's not exclusive to power metal but music in general that sadder-themed songs are usually in minor keys, whilst the happy uplifting songs are generally in major keys. Obviously there are exceptions but knowing this should help you. The key signature in a song is important to know but remember not all songs stay in the same key so try and listen for those changes. I can't recommend any tab sites as I don't use them but the general consensus is Guitar Pro as the best option (although don't quote me on how reliable it is!)

Anyway here's the songs keys as requested:

Cemetary Gates - Power Quest (G Minor)
Starfire - DragonForce (G Major)
Forever - Kreator (D Minor)
Metal Warriors - Manowar (E Major)
Another World - Power Quest (D Minor)
Misplaced - Sonata Artica (A Minor)
Hearts On Fire - HammerFall (F♯ Minor)
The Right to Go Insane - Megadeth (E Minor)
Once In A Lifetime - DragonForce (E Major)
Hallowed Be My Name - HammerFall ... haven't heard but the original is E Minor
Master of Illusion - Power Quest (C Minor)

Best of luck!

 

[Ricki Ascension]

Guitar pro is a fantastic tool as andy mentioned above. great for composition, but if you manage to get a copy of Guitar pro 5, www.ultimate-metal.com has millions of guitar pro files ( tabs pretty much ) which are generally/mostly correct, and i actually find a hell of a lot easier than figuring out someones notepad file haha!

 

[Power_Metal_Dom]

Guitar Pro is an essential tool for guitar players of all sorts. I don't know where I'd be without it. If you can manage to get yourself GP or not, check out http://www.911tabs.com/ Nifty search engine for all sorts including bass tabs.

 

[PowerMetalPrincess]

Thank You! This is going to help so much! I've been playing for over a year, but lacked structure. My problem was hearing, and not seeing, something on a record and not being able to pick out the E chords, C chords, etc. Just knowing the keys, or tonics (as my books tell me), will make it so I can experiment and make my own lines to fit the songs. I really appreciate everyone taking a little time to help me out, and I will check those sites for tabs. I actually only use the tabs to give me a rough idea, then go from there. This will truly make things easier for me, so I really can't thank you all enough! Its only 7 am here in the States, so I'll have to try out playing the songs using the scales for the appropriate keys I'm playing, when I get home from work. Thanks again, I knew this was the right place to go to get good advice & help!

Metal On!!!