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Cheat Sheets on the gig

#21
For cover band gigs I have a binder that I put on the floor between the base of my mic stand and my vocal monitor. It has a divider for each letter of the alphabet. Songs are in alphabetical order (obviously). I have a few hundred songs in the binder, one song per page. What's written on each page varies depending on the song. Most pages have chord names, bar lines, repeat signs, etc. Some have the lyrics with chord names over the words if I'm singing the lead vocal part.

For gigs where I'm playing original music, I memorize the songs.
 
#22
caeman said:
Well, it's jazz. You have to remember a chord progression fo 15 different chords! :D
Click to expand...

:) Yeah. I wish I could remember the changes for all those tunes, but I can't. I do have most of our "regular" tunes down and don't use it any more. For some, I have it open just as a reference - or crutch. I try to do that as little as possible. For a few, I need to read the tune down.
 
#23
I sub often. If the band wants me to nail their unique arrangements, then THEY supply charts. If no charts, then they take what I give 'em. If they need me to rehearse, I get paid. I have a good ear and can fake even unfamiliar songs pretty well. That, and more than 40 years of experience help. No complaints yet, and many, many repeat calls.
 
#27
I've seen fill in players for bands actually stand on stage and look down at a note pad at the music... didn't end well for them.. But it really depends on how well you can read the music and play it live. Some people can do it well, some can't... Maybe you should get gigs farther in advanced so you have more time to learn the songs...

But for a setlist, I've seen famous musicians use a paper with song names on it all the time.
 
#28
I try to listen to the song as much as possible for the feel of the song, then jot out a chord sheet taking about about 5 lines of notebook paper. Something like:

Stairway to TalkBass
I: D Bm G A 2x (1st no bass)
V: D Bm G A 4x (last time hit stops)
C: A G Bm D 2x
V2: same
C: same
B: Em A 4x (guitar solo)
C: double
End: D (hold, wait for cymbal hit)

I try to notate ASAP. The more time you look at it in practice or even just throw the song on and follow along, your brain with learn the format.
 
#29
Being a full time freelance guy, I have a book for most of the groups I play with regularly (more for the jazz bands). If I need to be discreet I'll use the 6" index cards to chart on. Most times with top 40 or rock type gigs I just wing it and use my ears, or make notes on the set list.
 
#30
Craziest one for me was playing guitar for an R&B/Gospel/Motown/funk series of gigs. It was a last minute thing and I was helping out a few friends. Keep in mind that I know nothing about those styles of music being that I've played mostly metal and hard rock stuff with an occasional film score bias.

Anyway the deal went like this; two 1 hour sets a night, 4 shows in 10 days, no song played twice. It was completely different set lists with completely different songs each night, with only about 4 hours of prep before each show! :eek: Talk about sweatin' it. Fortunately the guys were great musicians and we got along really well so it worked out ok, even with a few clams along the way.

As for cheat sheets... you better believe it! The keys player drafted up some great sheets for me on Excell. So I had notes on the key of the song, a chord progression or two, and we sat down and went through the key signature riffs for each song. Other than that it was pretty much an adlib all week long. It stretched my playing and my ear like nothing else l've ever done.
 
#31
I have taken it up a techie notch and use my ipad. Great tool....small, I can set it on a stand, on my amp, on the floor, wherever I need, can swipe through the songs and even transpose on the fly if need be. It has saved me a number of times. The lighted screen helps, but I can also dim it if I have to.
 
#35
I built this, (this is my posting on Make)

Use it for lyrics and chord changes. In my cover band I play bass and sing lead. We play out just once a month and this helps me to remember. No one knows its there. It sits next to my vocal monitor and is the same size and shape. When people come around to talk to me between sets they tell me they had no idea.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/lyrics_box_for_practicegi.html

I recently added another vga port so I could run another monitor off of this box after I noticed my guitarist leaning over to read the chords. :)
 
#36
jive1 said:
I use notes, but mainly to jog my memory as opposed to use them like sheet music.

Here's an example of how my notes look. I note the sections, and make notes related to sections in parentheses

Every Rose Has It's Thorn - G
Vs: G - C
Ch: G - C (X2) G - D - C - G - C
Br: Em - D - C - G (Hold C at end of bridge before resolving)
Solo: G - C (x2) Em - D - C - G (repeat until resolve)
Click to expand...

Yeah this is close to mine. Use it the first couple of times we play a new song in church. After that it's usually memorized.
 
#40
jive1 said:
I use notes, but mainly to jog my memory as opposed to use them like sheet music.

Here's an example of how my notes look. I note the sections, and make notes related to sections in parentheses

Every Rose Has It's Thorn - G
Vs: G - C
Ch: G - C (X2) G - D - C - G - C
Br: Em - D - C - G (Hold C at end of bridge before resolving)
Solo: G - C (x2) Em - D - C - G (repeat until resolve)
Click to expand...

This is the exact same system I use. Use it with a small notepad, no one ever notices.
 

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