Have you ever revisited a song you THOUGHT you played correctly?

[dvh]

Originally Posted by bumperbass

This is my take exactly. People at your typical bar want to hear the song played like the original.

I think this is over-estimated. People like to hear songs they know, yes, but I would argue very few care if they are played like the original. Signature riffs, etc. excepted.

Originally Posted by bumperbass

Fine, if you intentionally do it. The problems creep in when MY bass part doesn't let the drummer play HIS part correctly (and vice versa) and then the guitar or keyboards don't feel the right emphasis or notes at certain times, so THEIR parts are off too, and everybody compromises enough so that the song at least can work.
My pet peeve is drummers who only throw a timing beat in a song instead of the correct accents. It makes it almost impossible for me to play the correct bass parts.

No matter how you do a song, note for note cover or original, everyone has to agree on the arrangement.

[bumperbass]

I remember learning Crossroads by Cream. I played the same part as the guitar player. I think most guys did. Then one day 20 years later I heard the song and realized he's doing his own grooving underneath.

[bumperbass]

I don't think you need to do NOTE for NOTE. However, it has to at least sound close.

[JimmyM]

I play in a band that doesn't care if we play songs note for note. Sometimes we do, most of the time we don't. But we get tons of folks at our gigs, so I'm not going to mess with it.

[Russell L]

Originally Posted by bumperbass

I remember learning Crossroads by Cream. I played the same part as the guitar player. I think most guys did. Then one day 20 years later I heard the song and realized he's doing his own grooving underneath.

I gotta listen to that one again for that very reason.

[longfinger]

Johnny B. Goode

Chuck Berry never plays a V chord in m12 of the blues form. I checked the original recording and videos from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s. Other bands too, all the time. After revisiting the Berry recordings throughout the decades, I now prefer not to, but people look at me like I'm crazy when I say keep to the tonic in m12.

Another thing about that tune is Willie Dixon was playing all sorts of creative bass lines. I was surprised when I took a careful listen to that. However, I most often just play a simple blues to anchor it down since when playing we rarely have both a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist and a pianist (usually just 1 of the 3).

[TwoThumbs]

Beyond phrases and notes, the thing I notice most about live performance is that everyone plays too fast. If we record a live gig and go back and listen ...it just doesn't groove like it should and is certainly faster than the original versions. If we could take a deep breath and slow down to what feels extreme it would make a world of difference.

[Fair Warning]

it is good to hear a song through different speakers or headphones sometimes. Sometimes different frequencies get missed

[Wookieonbass]

A lot of song we do we picked up on the fly so I didn't always learn the correct bassline. Then I'll go back to them or pay better attention to them on the radio and discover some really cool lines or phrasings I never realized were there. It really freshens up my interest in those tired ol' songs I've been doing in some cases for years.

Also I really get a kick out of listening to live versions of some songs. I like to hear what they come up whit under live situations without all the studio stuff. One example is Dusty Hill of ZZ Top's live playing. While still being simple he does throw in some little things I think mainly because there aren't those layered guitar riffs going on like on the studio versions and he's filling space.

[Kmonk]

I have noticed some subtle parts in songs that I have played many times. I usually go back over them and add them. I recently did this with Bad Company's "Ready For Love". There are a lot of subtle passing notes that really add to the song.

The most common mistake I hear bands make is in Van Halen's version of "You Really Got Me" It seems like every band keeps playing the same progression during the guitar solo. If you listen to the song closely you will hear that this is incorrect.

Another song that people do not play correctly is during the long outro to Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough". During the solo at the end of the song every band I have ever seen plays the same progression as the verse. There are actually parts where it holds the "C" and doesn't do the "C" "F" "F" "C" change.

[mattbass6945]

in my experience, i usually change my parts slightly because the drummer always plays something different. it bugs me, but he's a friend and nobody but me seems to notice. i just complain a lot, then eventually play to him.

i have however gone back and listened and thought i was over playing.....oops.

in the case of one song, we learned it on the fly without listening to the original. we left out a small break and were in a different key, but didn't notice until a couple months later. we've had some who have said they loved when we played it, so it stays!

[bumperbass]

Originally Posted by TwoThumbs

Beyond phrases and notes, the thing I notice most about live performance is that everyone plays too fast. If we record a live gig and go back and listen ...it just doesn't groove like it should and is certainly faster than the original versions. If we could take a deep breath and slow down to what feels extreme it would make a world of difference.

This even happens too often when the ORIGINAL band plays live. Bugs the ---- out of me. Yeah, the groove does get lost when speed increases. Sometimes it gets to the point where you want to play the correct part, but it gets so rushed you have to play SOME of the notes.

[bumperbass]

Originally Posted by longfinger

Johnny B. Goode

Chuck Berry never plays a V chord in m12 of the blues form. I checked the original recording and videos from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s. Other bands too, all the time. After revisiting the Berry recordings throughout the decades, I now prefer not to, but people look at me like I'm crazy when I say keep to the tonic in m12.

Another thing about that tune is Willie Dixon was playing all sorts of creative bass lines. I was surprised when I took a careful listen to that. However, I most often just play a simple blues to anchor it down since when playing we rarely have both a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist and a pianist (usually just 1 of the 3).

Some of those original C.B. recordings have no definition in the bass, and often it's buried in the mix. You really have to listen close.

[bassaram]

Wedding/cover band sax player here. Whatever weird things happen during the last time we practice the song before the first time we play it out is what becomes permanent...

[onosson]

A variation of #1 has happened to countless times. I'm not really a big listener of classic rock other than a few bands that I really got into, so I will often find myself in a jam situation or sitting in with a hosting band or artist, who will call out a song that I'm not more than vaguely familiar with - certainly not familiar enough to actually know the bassline unless it's really iconic like Come Together. So I'll follow the changes and fake my way through - chances are the audience doesn't know the bass part either, and everything's fine. Then, months or years later, I might by chance hear the actual song on the radio or somewhere - "Oh, that's how it goes!"

[lfmn16]

Originally Posted by Wookieonbass

Also I really get a kick out of listening to live versions of some songs. I like to hear what they come up whit under live situations without all the studio stuff. One example is Dusty Hill of ZZ Top's live playing. While still being simple he does throw in some little things I think mainly because there aren't those layered guitar riffs going on like on the studio versions and he's filling space.

This is something a lot of note for noters miss. In some songs the original bass line was played with a drummer, percussion, multiple electric guitars, acoustic guitars, keyboards, background singers; all perfectly mixed. If you play the same exact bass line in a guitar/bass/drum or even 2 guitar/bass/drum band, do you think it really makes sense? The BAND won't sound the same.

IMO there is no "one size fits all" rule.

[lfmn16]

Originally Posted by onosson

A variation of #1 has happened to countless times. I'm not really a big listener of classic rock other than a few bands that I really got into, so I will often find myself in a jam situation or sitting in with a hosting band or artist, who will call out a song that I'm not more than vaguely familiar with - certainly not familiar enough to actually know the bassline unless it's really iconic like Come Together. So I'll follow the changes and fake my way through - chances are the audience doesn't know the bass part either, and everything's fine. Then, months or years later, I might by chance hear the actual song on the radio or somewhere - "Oh, that's how it goes!"

That happened to me on All Right Now by Free years ago. I asked the guitarist what the bass was doing during the verse. He said he didn't know, just make something up so I did. Then I heard the original - NO bass during the verse. I've played it the correct way ever since. My last band suggested I play during the verse and I politely declined.

[Nev375]

Unless it's a signature bassline like "Another one bites the dust", "Money", etc...) No one in the audience is going to know or care if the bassline is correct. They are usually paying attention to the vocals and guitar. Their Butt is paying attention to the rhythm section. All their butt cares about is if we are together and locked in the groove.

My job is to make whatever they are playing work nice together, be it right or wrong.

[Flabass]

It used to bug me if I couldn't get some songs perfect. I guess it was because when I first started, I played with some musicians that said "it had to be exactly as the record." So I would struggle and struggle. Some I can, some I can't. Then I realized the audience really doesn't know unless it's something like All Right Now and other signature licks. So I learned to relax and do the best I can.

[dvh]

Originally Posted by Flabass

It used to bug me if I couldn't get some songs perfect. I guess it was because when I first started, I played with some musicians that said "it had to be exactly as the record." .

I'll never understand that mentality. To me it shows lack of imagination or creativity. To each his own, though.....