argh! its my school's open day on saturday

anonymous278347457 · #1 11-01-2006, 01:27 PM

I am the bassist of the school's Big band.

were playing 2x 30min sets and aparantly im going to be playing the first set and some of the second.

so ive got these pieces to learn:

street life- crusaders
mambo no.5- lou bega
mas que nada(a samba, its really fast)
teddy the toad- count bosie and his orchestra (the original arrangement)
comin home baby
spain-chick corea's electric band
born to be wild(a school arrangment)

and some other ones which I may or may not play(there is another person playing some other stuff)

I dont know most of these pieces all the way through properly, but I do know a couple(like street life),

so I have 2 problems:

1. I have a problem staying in time, and ive come to the conclusion that I need to practise, however ive only got 2 days to do it, any tips for speed-practising?

2. I cant sight-read fast pieces and get it right, so if there is a change in the setlist, im screwed

anyone have any tips?

VanillaO · #2 11-01-2006, 01:34 PM

nope, but there's some sweet bass fills and such in born to be wild

jady · #3 11-01-2006, 01:45 PM

Is your drummer any good, it's hard to groove pulling a dead Llama of a drummer along with you.

My only advice is to relax. Listen to the drummers ride and highhat if he is decent, thats where you want to lock into.

need4mospd · #4 11-01-2006, 01:52 PM

Listen to the songs as many times as you can. Whether you are playing along with them or not, if you've got the songs in your head it will help you. If you've got an mp3 player, make a playlist of only those songs and keep it on repeat.

superjesus · #5 11-01-2006, 11:19 PM

get off of TB and get out the metronome.

arbitrary · #6 11-02-2006, 04:22 AM

Spain cooks!

Pbassred · #7 11-02-2006, 07:27 AM

For street life there are 2 different bridges. Keep track. Write a road map!

For timeing practice at home with a drum loop, RELAX! be funky, not manic.

Practice. 15 mins on 15 off. You need brain and finger rest.
also, run through slowly.

You can leave difficult licks out. The audience won't notice. The human brain is really good at filling in the gaps.

Spoiled Grape · #8 11-02-2006, 01:53 PM

Listen to the songs over and over again, play along, yadda yadda. If you can't read well, do yourself a favor, copy the music, and write the chords or notes out on top of the written music. Chart out the songs, and have fun. Remember the different, distinct parts as a whole song, and not just what the bass plays.

With that, if all else fails, just play the roots and stay in time with the drummer. It's highschool big band, you can get away with it, I promise.

Goodluck!