New band,new songs

5string5fingers · #1 07-07-2010, 10:21 PM

Not sure if this goes in here,or band management.

Anyways, just joined a band with bunch of cool guys down in valdosta. Came up with a song list for us to learn,and I'm actually stressing out about it. 75% of the songs we chose ended up being rock/grunge from the early mid 90s, pearl jam,STP,candlebox,bush,etc. And a lot of good bass players from that small era,and I'm having trouble and know I'm not going to know all of these songs by Friday when we meet up.

None of the songs are beyond my ability,it's just songs like plush by stp,and black by pearl jam,theres so many little variances and changes that I'd have to spend several days if not a week playing over and over to memorize and remember.

I guess I'm really just looking for some advice,wisdom,thoughts,support.

What should I do. Just explain that I haven't learned the songs yet and just learn what songs I can? Or focus my time on the songs I'm having trouble with and mess with the others later? I've got a busy schedule,usually work 5-6 days a week so at least half my days are taken up by work, so I practice during my free time.

JukeBoxHero · #2 07-07-2010, 10:35 PM

I don't have much experience with this but I would learn the general bass parts before finding every nuisance in a song if you get what I mean.

OtterOnBass · #3 07-07-2010, 10:41 PM

Very interesting... I just joined a band with the same kind of set list. I started with 10 songs for the audition, took about a week to get them ready. Now we're adding 3 a practice. It's not too bad, I usually listen to them on youtube and look at a tab. The tabs are often wrong, but visual learning is another trick.

You have to put triggers into your head for each song. Plush? It starts with the bass leading the hook. I hear those two hits. Other songs I focus on the finger patterns, others, the number of the fret (visual memory from the tabs). Of course, the really intricate stuff, where every measure ends in a unique run, is still tough, but I can get through practice and after a while the muscle memory builds up.

StyleOverShow · #4 07-07-2010, 10:43 PM

In 6 months you'll feel very strong and in the pocket with these tunes. I use charts, sometimes just road maps that remind me what happens next, but after a couple of twenty times through the set list, you pretty much have it so down it becomes a little boring.

Enjoy the challenge. You will rock!

5string5fingers · #5 07-07-2010, 10:45 PM

I guess I'm not used to playing more complex songs like this. Most songs I've learned have had a straight forward approach with a pattern that's repeated.

seanm · #6 07-08-2010, 12:24 AM

Can't really help, but I am the same way. For faster, or slightly trickier songs (we don't play any really technical songs), I need a week to really get them down.

MalcolmAmos · #7 07-08-2010, 07:33 AM

Get lost. Roots work. Watch the rhythm guitar's fingering.
Can't remember the changes. Tonic pentatonic works.

Do the best you can with the time you have left.

Good luck.

5string5fingers · #8 07-08-2010, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

Get lost. Roots work. Watch the rhythm guitar's fingering.
Can't remember the changes. Tonic pentatonic works.

Do the best you can with the time you have left.

Good luck.

Thanks but doing roots work on a song like plush would leave so much sonic space open in the song,that the bass would have taken up.

hrodbert696 · #9 07-08-2010, 11:13 AM

How long is the list you came up with and how many songs are you actually realistically going to rehearse when you meet? Since this is a free-time band, not a professional one, I assume that everybody can be realistic that you're not going to have 40 songs down pat at the first rehearsal. I would work at 4-6 songs at a time, start by sketching them in so that you can slog through a rehearsal, then over the next couple of weeks start filling them in and sketch out a few more.

If you have a two or three hour rehearsal, if you're really working each song a few times over to try and get them tight rather than buzzing through it, I would guess you'd only get to half a dozen songs or a bit more anyway, especially if they're so challenging.

Also, you may want to think about your set list so that the challenge level of the songs varies. In my band, about half the songs I really need to practice and work at and the other half I learned the first time through and can play in my sleep. I think that's a good thing, at least since the goal is to balance keeping things musically interesting but also to have a giggable setlist going in a reasonable amount of time.

5string5fingers · #10 07-08-2010, 11:22 AM

the song list has 12 songs long,4 of them are songs that I would need several days to learn each. I'm not sure if they're expecting me or anybody else to know all the songs on first rehearsal. The guitarist I talked to said he already had the songs down,but I think they all chose songs they already knew,but they were songs I didn't know. So it was kind of lopsided on my end.