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Don't Use Charts on The Gig

#141
I get a kick out of these threads...kind of like debating the price of eggs in China. A few nights ago, while watching Paladia, I watched Michael Rhodes playing bass for Joe Bonamassa...it looked to be a medium size bar and it was in the UK. In a couple of shots when the camera panned back you could see a music stand with charts...eeeegaaaaaddddds! Imagine that. You could tell this really PO'd the crowd and even though they were screaming, head-bobbing and emitting sounds of joyous pleasure I could tell they were all on the verge of blowing that place and going to a bar where the bass player didn't have charts.
 
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#142
s0c9 said:
LOL.. nice frequency (we don't but) that didn't answer the question on how many songs on your set list...;)

We play 6+ gigs a month w/ 120+ songs on the list, adding up 5-10 new ones a month.. so on occasion we get asked for something - like a wedding song - that we have not played in a while (like months!). Our singer uses a stand-mounted, black iPad.. hard to see. I could not remember all those words either...

Me, I do not use charts other than for those situations as I'm in your court on performance.. but I see many bands that do, and some are more discreet about it than others.
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My current band has 78 songs. But it's not the point. Every four set show has the same number of songs. We don't do songs in any gig we can't do without a stand. But we were only doing about six gigs a month last summer and only three total all winter.
 
#143
When I was heavy gigging, the band I was with had a weekly 3 hour gig that we headlined. We played anywhere between 20-25 songs and changed the set list weekly. I never used charts because I practiced religiously, but I would write reminder notes on my set list just in case I got "lost."
 
#145
nostatic said:
Freddie Washington used charts on certain tunes when he played with Steely Dan. Anthony Jackson used charts on some tunes he did with Hiromi.

Maybe you should send those guys some fertilizer and a hoe...or maybe you can sub the gig :D
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That's nice they used charts. I still don't think they are necessary. At practice fine, in the studio, for sure. In a gig, nope. That's why this is an opinion forum. We all get to express our opinion.
 
#146
If there was a music stand on any stage that my band is on it will be knocked down right after the third note of the intro to the first song of the first set. We are a party band that plays high energy rock, funk, pop and throws about fifty pounds of Mardi Gras beads a show. Sheet music has no place in my band.

When it comes to my session I also never use charts. The singer/songwriters I play for never ever write anything down. It is expected of my to write my own bass lines within ten minutes of first hearing the tune. I should be ready to record right after that.
 
#148
A set list with keys is fine. I have one sitting on top of my amp or taped to the floor. Charts..... nope. If I played in ten different bands I might have a different opinion. I play in two bands, covers and country. If someone feels secure with charts or needs them because they play in several bands, that's fine. No problem. But I have my opinion and I'm sticking with it.
 
#156
JimmyM said:
Not really, H. There are many live environments where charts are perfectly acceptable, and if you don't use them, you don't get the gig. That's not anything you can have an opinion about.
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I understand what you are saying, I played in a couple of large jazz bands years ago when I played upright. That doesn't negate the fact that I have an opinion. The horns, reeds, keys had sheet music. The bass had a single melody line with a chord name at chord change. Nothing else. It was up to the bassist to fill between point A and point B.
 
#157
Ric5 said:
I've seen many bands live ... Rush, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Weather Report, Styx, Jeff Beck, and more ... I don't remember any of them playing a concert from sheet music.
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With all due respect but original bands are a different story. I should hope that these bands know the tunes by now since they wrote them and been playing them for years. Plus they earn a lot of money performing them so they should know them.

With that being said perhaps you never noticed but many of these bands you listed use teleprompters on stage for lyrics which is pretty much like using charts. Just saying.. :)

I think we all need to be a little open minded here. There is no one right way or answer. As I stated earlier (and many others) it really depends on the gig. And as others have said, if I couldn't read a chord chart, I would miss out on a lot of gigs from different bands.
 
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#158
tkonbass said:
Curious as to how you utilize your iPad. Do you use a particular app or is it more of a document thing?
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I know you asked RichSnyder, but I'll chime in as well. I do my charts in MS Word, then import any I'll use for a given gig into a single document (hopefully in show order, but if that changes, no big deal), then export that to a PDF. Once the PDF is in my tablet, all I have to do is tap the right side to scroll down a page or right side to page up. One touch, bam, done. No more papers to lose.
 
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#160
hsech said:
The bass had a single melody line with a chord name at chord change. Nothing else. It was up to the bassist to fill between point A and point B.
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Most jazz situations are like this and that is still considered "chart reading". I do this using the Real Book for cocktail gigs. You don't have to read just notation in order to be able to get through a chart.
 

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