Top40?

Craig630 · #1 06-23-2010, 09:42 AM

Yo,

I've been playing for some time (2-3 years or so) and realized recently that, while I know the cool parts to a million songs, I know maybe 4 songs straight through.

I'm at the point where I really want to start playing with others, be it in a band setting or just a jam thing with some guys. I learn something every time I play with someone else and being able to show someone a thing or two is always a bit of a high.

Problem is, I need to increase my song list (obviously.) The stuff I know well isn't exactly stuff that I expect others to A) be intimatley familiar with b) want to play or c) want to hear at a bar on Friday night.

Do I just grab a Top40 list and start working my way down it? Learn every song on the list no matter how I feel about it? What Top40 list do I grab? There's many to choose from and they're all different. I'll admit I'm not into todays music all that much but I'll gladly learn it if that's what it takes.

Think back (waaaaaaaay back for some of you

) to when you were in my shoes. What did you do to increase your musical vocabulary?

ericw · #2 06-23-2010, 10:21 AM

I didn't build a repertoire before I joined a band. I got a full song list, learned most of them for audition, and then continued to expand my knowledge with the band.

Craig630 · #3 06-24-2010, 03:17 PM

The problem with that approach is I feel I won't land a band gig without knowing many songs already, no?

Anyone else got some feedback here?

jelpo · #4 06-24-2010, 03:39 PM

You don't need to know all the songs, just that you have the ability to learn and play them. Usually, when joining a (semi-pro/pro) cover band they have a song list. You learn some songs from that for the audition.

ding_man · #5 06-25-2010, 03:11 AM

Do you want to join a cover band? Or just jam? If you want to just jam with people ask them what songs they play.. if you want to join a cover band..

Go to the band management section and look for a thread called post your set lists. Look through these lists. You'll notice a lot of reoccurring songs.

Cover bands: post your set list

Heres a start... standard cover band stuff.. (I think I nailed it haha)
Brown Eyed Girl
867-5309
Hard to Handle
Summer of 69
Sweet Home Alabama

Guitar rock.. I find when jamming you need to know tunes guitarists wanna rock out to.

Hendrix.. Purple Haze, Foxy Lady, Red House, Fire..
Sweet Child of Mine..
Learn some blues lines.. understand 12 bar and 16 bar blues..
ACDC - any of their hits...

AND ONE MORE THING. In my opinion.. style is more important then repertoire in a way. Learn to play the music. The songs aren't too tough once you know how to play them eh?.

ANOTHER THING... going along with my statement above.. everyone else is right. Repertoire will come later when you start playing with guys.. but I agree with you.. its nice to have something to start with.

hrodbert696 · #6 06-28-2010, 06:33 AM

What I did was learn to play songs I liked on my own, then when I felt it was time to play with others put out a CL ad just asking if anyone wanted to jam, with the stuff I already knew or was interested in. Found some guys after couple of false starts and we've been steadily building a song list as a group. You don't have to have a full list memorized before meeting to jam with some guys, a lot of songs we do the guitarist tells me it goes C-D-G or whatever and I just figure it out from there.

On my own I split time between practicing what the group has agreed to do together and trying out songs I'm interested in for myself. Some of the latter I'll propose to the group to add to the list and others I never will, but I just learn them for myself. This is not a crew that's ever going to gel around playing Siberian Khatru.

Quote:

Learn some blues lines.. understand 12 bar and 16 bar blues..

+1 to this too. You can always get jamming with some guys if you just say it's a 12-bar blues in A.

champbassist · #7 06-28-2010, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrodbert696

What I did was learn to play songs I liked on my own, then when I felt it was time to play with others put out a CL ad just asking if anyone wanted to jam, with the stuff I already knew or was interested in.

+1.

Personally, I play what I like and like what I play. The (obvious) problem with forcing yourself to learn certain songs is that you may not like some of 'em, and I don't think you can play what you don't like.

You should have enough stuff you like to keep you busy for most of your daily time you devote to practice, methinks. If not, then you're probably not listening to enough music.

kevingr · #8 06-30-2010, 08:40 AM

+1 to all above but would like to add a couple more points

Don't worry too much about trying to learn songs now that you may or may not play with a new band. You can never tell in advance what their set list will be and any songs that you already know in their set list may not be in the same key.

I think you should definitely start learning whole songs straight away. This is a skill in itself that shouldn't be underestimated. It takes time and experience to be able to nail songs and arrangements quickly. You don't want to join a band and then get kicked out for taking too long to learn the tunes.

bassandbeyond · #9 06-30-2010, 10:59 AM

IME and IMO, repertoire is actually very important for getting work. It's true that for auditions, you will usually get the material in advance or at least be given readable charts.

However, I get most of my work through word of mouth, not auditions. Working bands around here tend to just hire you for a gig -- no auditions, no rehearsals. And if you get through the gig without screwing up all their songs, then they will call you back. Not very reasonable, I know. But that's how it works in this town.

+1 to the idea of studying repertoire from other bands' songlists. Also, notice that there is virtually no current top 40 on the songlists of "top 40" bands these days. Most cover bands are still playing the same old songs from the 70's-90's.

MNAirHead · #10 06-30-2010, 11:03 AM

turn on the radio.. just start playing with random songs of all styles....

This will be the closest to sitting in with a band.

Learning chart flow is much more important than memorizing songs

hrodbert696 · #11 07-01-2010, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassandbeyond

IME and IMO, repertoire is actually very important for getting work. It's true that for auditions, you will usually get the material in advance or at least be given readable charts.

However, I get most of my work through word of mouth, not auditions. Working bands around here tend to just hire you for a gig -- no auditions, no rehearsals. And if you get through the gig without screwing up all their songs, then they will call you back. Not very reasonable, I know. But that's how it works in this town.

+1 to the idea of studying repertoire from other bands' songlists. Also, notice that there is virtually no current top 40 on the songlists of "top 40" bands these days. Most cover bands are still playing the same old songs from the 70's-90's.

I think that this is true if you're talking about joining an established professional or semi-professional band. I had the impression that the OP is more of a hobbyist who just wants to get something started with other hobbyists, who would probably not be as formal about auditioning as this.

bassandbeyond · #12 07-01-2010, 07:27 AM

That could well be. I'm not saying he has to master a vast repertoire at this point, but if he wants to be able to sit in with bands as he says he wants to, then I'd still offer the same advice.

MNAirHead · #13 07-01-2010, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassandbeyond

That could well be. I'm not saying he has to master a vast repertoire at this point, but if he wants to be able to sit in with bands as he says he wants to, then I'd still offer the same advice.

further clarification -- call it classic rock