Learning 60 songs in three days.... - Page 2

electracoyote · #21 12-13-2012, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DWBass

Jive.....4 sets?? Don't think I've ever done a 4 set'r in all my years of playing. 1-3 sets is my average.

Four sets were pretty typical in the Columbus, Ohio area (when I played there) and the Denver/Metro area (in which I currently play). 25-year bar band veteran here.

Kmay · #22 12-13-2012, 01:04 PM

@ two fingers:

Wow! Those must have been some long ass songs. Lol!
We did 4-45 min sets, with ten minute breaks and was playing 50.
You guys must have done rush and Metallica covers. Hahaha

**garmenteros** · #23 12-13-2012, 01:18 PM

I'm not up to that level, congrats to those who can. 60 songs in 3 days? I guess it depends exactly which songs you are playing too. I learn everything by heart and never use charts and learn all the lines note for note for my zeppelin and sabbath cover bands. It took me about 3 weeks to nail 15 sabbath tracks and another 3 for 18 zeppelin ones. My best advice is constant repetition although I don't know how much that helps given the lack of time.

5StringFool · #24 12-13-2012, 04:35 PM

I'm still pluggin' at them. Should finish my PowerPoint slides tonight, and they are helping immensely. I don't have to "play it like the CD", but so far the songs haven't been that hard (even the ones I haven't heard), and the BL said he's not expecting perfection on such short notice. They're really reasonable guys... I used to jam with one of the guitarists back in the day.

So far with the charts in front of me I can play along with the Spotify list I made, and they said no problem as far as setting the laptop up on the side of the stage. I have slides made that are white lettering on a black background and I can see them really well from a distance. I'm really diggin' the challenge so far, and from what I was told a few days ago this may turn into a permanent gig if things go well over the next month.

NYCbassist · #25 12-13-2012, 05:28 PM

Please post up the song list if you would. I am very curious how much work you have ahead of you. My last 2 of these Scenarios were exact opposite. 1st I knew 90 of 100 songs and the 2nd(Current Gig) is 50 songs which I knew 10 of. Big Big Difference.

AMp'D.2play · #26 12-13-2012, 05:43 PM

I got tossed into a similar situation back in October, though on a smaller scale (35-40 songs in 3+ days). A co-worker told me on a Tuesday that his band's bassist left for a relocation, effective immediately, and asked if I'd be interested in a Saturday gig.

I did what most others have suggested - spent time on YouTube listening to the songs, wrote out charts, etc. Come the night of the gig, for the songs I was comfortable with, I played at a 'normal' volume. For those I was still sketchy on, I turned down a bit.

Also, as someone else mentioned, make sure you get rest. By Friday, I figured it was best to get a good night's sleep and spend a few more hours on Saturday afternoon going over the setlist one last time &/or reviewing my notes. I guess I could've stayed up all night cramming in every waking moment of my time, but I would've been mentally spent for the gig.

Good luck!

5StringFool · #27 12-13-2012, 06:42 PM

Here's the list. Some of the songs I've never played... some it's been years since I have. Over the last decade all I've played has been Praise & Worship music at various churches and some big festivals. It's been years since I've played any radio rock, so while I'm familiar with much of the stuff there's a considerable amount of dust to brush off.

bass12 · #28 12-13-2012, 07:21 PM

Three days? They should be supplying YOU with the charts. Good luck.

NYCbassist · #29 12-13-2012, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5StringFool

Here's the list. Some of the songs I've never played... some it's been years since I have. Over the last decade all I've played has been Praise & Worship music at various churches and some big festivals. It's been years since I've played any radio rock, so while I'm familiar with much of the stuff there's a considerable amount of dust to brush off.

Man, that's an awesome list. You will be just fine!

95% of those songs practically play themselves.

bassfran · #30 12-13-2012, 07:47 PM

I can't believe nobody said this, but-

What are you doing here on TB?! GO PRACTICE!!

5StringFool · #31 12-16-2012, 06:46 AM

First weekend down and it all went off without any major hitches. The bar patrons and fans of the band all said they thought I was doing a great job. There were lots of folks movin' to the groovin', and the guys in the band liked me enough that they have offered me a permanent spot if I want to take it.

I think two songs sewed it up... they really liked that I actually knew the bass part for Sweet Emotion, and the BL's favorite song is Young Lust (Dirty Woman), another one I learned note for note. We played both of those the second night and knocked them out of the park.

All in all it was a great weekend!

MarkMgibson · #32 12-16-2012, 08:01 AM

Glad to hear it went well. You also learnt a lot of R&R standards which most experienced players would know. A lot of those songs will come up again in future bands, sub gigs, etc.

Joe Louvar · #33 12-16-2012, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

Glad to hear it went well. You also learnt a lot of R&R standards which most experienced players would know. A lot of those songs will come up again in future bands, sub gigs, etc.

+1, and if you work as a bass sub, the more songs you know the more work you can get. PS - when you have hundreds of songs, a tablet loaded with the sheet music and mp3’s comes handy for practicing and quick refreshing before gigs.

JimmyM · #34 12-16-2012, 01:20 PM

Good job! You just learned a bunch of songs that will come up time and time again, too.

And for all of you whiners, yes, it would have been a good idea for him to learn only the songs he would play that weekend, and yes, it would have been good if they gave him charts, and yes, it would be good if they hired him a bass player to teach them to him and play the gig for him and move his equipment for him and wipe his nose and butt. And of course, they should have hired strippers to feed him grapes as he plays, just like everybody gets on a gig.

:/

Here's the deal...the guy had 60 songs to learn, that is what the bandleader wanted, and that is the deal on the gig if he wanted the gig. Maybe he wanted to have some spare songs for requests or calling an audible if the current direction of the set list wasn't going over with the crowd that night. But when someone offers you a gig and you take it, then you do what the gig entails without complaint.

5StringFool · #35 12-16-2012, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

And of course, they should have hired strippers to feed him grapes as he plays, just like everybody gets on a gig.

Awww man... I guess I got gypped.

Thanks for the encouraging words guys, and the tips. Yes it was a challenge, but I'm very glad that I took it on, overcoming adversity only makes you better.

lokikallas · #36 12-16-2012, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jive1

Why would 60 be such a stretch?

My typical sub gig for a Rock band in a club usually requires around 40-50 songs to do an all nighter.

If you do pop/rock tunes like the recording, without any extensions, it's not that hard to do 60 in a night. Especially if you include medleys. The typical radio song is 3 minutes. The typical cover band set is 45 minutes. Typical all-nighter is 4 sets. Based on that, if you ran through all tunes with no stops in between, you would do 15 a set for a total of 60 tunes.

I ran into this subbing before. Not uncommon at all. My problem was they gave me 80 songs, many of which were 80s pop song that I was completely unfamiliar with. I charted them all. Some charts were just some chords and arrangment notes, others were fully tabbed. I used a music stand strategically placed behind the PA speaker. The worst thing was that the set list usually was thrown out the window by the lead singer who would randomly call out the next tune near the end of a song. I had to frantically yet stealthily find that chart ( some of which were shared on the same sheet ). I actually had more memorized than I thought. Since then I have told them to at least try to keep the songs within the same set, and I alphabetized and used colered dividers in a 3 ring binder.
The funniest thing was that the guitarist had lined me up as a sub and the singer had his own buddy lined up as a sub without knowing. We decided to split the duties and tag team it, playing the songs we felt most comfortable with. The other bassist had "memorized" the songs. He flubbed so many times, the keyboardist was giving him the evil eye the whole night. I may have not looked cool with my charts, but the band has invited me back repeatedly to sub because they know at least I don't play in the wrong key, or ride an open E when I'm lost.

5StringFool · #37 12-16-2012, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lokikallas

I used a music stand strategically placed behind the PA speaker. The worst thing was that the set list usually was thrown out the window by the lead singer who would randomly call out the next tune near the end of a song. I had to frantically yet stealthily find that chart...

My "sheets" are a PowerPoint presentation, black slides, gold lettering for song titles, and white for the chord progressions... lol. I took a tall chair and set it behind the PA speaker so I could have easy access. The only thing I wish I would have had is a usb foot control for the thing, but I don't have the dough to buy one of those at the moment, so I was using the space bar or backspace button.

two fingers · #38 12-16-2012, 08:06 PM

Way to go dude!

Russell L · #39 12-17-2012, 06:16 AM

Congrats to the OP. As a side note, just remember that when you have charts it seems that as long as you keep reading them you'll never remember them. At least that's how it is with me. I have to make an effort to wean myself off charts in order to commit them to memory.

Play on, pal!

5StringFool · #40 12-17-2012, 07:30 AM

I hear ya about weaning off the charts. We're going to get some rehearsal time in sometime soon. There were some requests for some of the band's original stuff this weekend and I haven't had the chance to learn any of that yet, but this week that will change. I'm supposed to hook up with the BL this week since there isn't a gig this weekend to learn the originals and work through some of the things they do with the covers that differ on from the stock arrangements.

For instance when we were playing "Fortunate Son" the drummer looks at me and says, "Oh yeah, we do a break here just follow." and suddenly we're playing Mony Mony for a bit and then back into Fortunate Son. Fortunately Mony Mony is dead simple and we rolled right through it.