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How does your band choose repertoire?

#21
buldog5151bass said:
On line balloting seems a bit extreme, but yeah, just discuss.

In addition, does it work for the band. Lots of people pick stuff they can't play well, especially vocally. You can deal with a missing guitar line, but vocals is what people recognize (Including if there are backing vocals) Don't pick Journey or Boston if your guy can't hit the notes, as an example.
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There are a few songs that I will refuse to do because I know we cannot pull of the guitar lines (I'm one of the guitar players). I was the bass player previously and they wanted to do stuff like Comfortably Numb and I said it's a downer and you can't play the leads correctly, lets bag it. For some reason now other guitar player wants to do Sweet Child of Mine , I think only because he's painfully learning it from his guitar teacher. I don't think that will fit our vibe of country and some tired classic rock, so it will inenvetably come to a decision, but for right now no big deal.

I try and push in the direction of 1. recognizable (same guy tried to pull some brand new country tune that would be a hit this summer) 2. easy (we all have jobs) how much effort do we need to put into this so sound competent? How much effort CAN we put into this? Each of us are like a superhero we all have a tragic weakness, myself included. This will change over time, we're a group of 40-50 year olds and some have never played out before this group so the potential is there to bring more intricate stuff in as we further gel.
 
#22
Short answer is we just throw out ideas during rehearsal or e-mails and then work on them.

Longer answer: I don't know if I am really qualified to put too much input into song selection. It's the whole "what's great for a musician isn't great for a bar owner and his patrons" issue. I can think of a ton of songs I would like the band to play and that we would sound really great playing. But I don't know if that would help us get gigs. I spend time listening to music that, well, is the stuff that appeals to musicians, so I don't really know what stuff is really going to get eaten up by a normal bar crowd.
 
#23
You simply have to....

1) .....determine what your goals are. If you are trying to make a living, or even steadily supplement your income, your decisions will be different from a band that just wants to have a little fun and maybe pocket a few bucks. When the stakes aren't as high you can dang near play whatever you want.

2) .....play to the band's strengths. You can either sing Journey or you can't. You either have a keyboard player or you don't. You have good backup vocals or you don't. So, you either pick songs that already fit the mold of your band, or be prepared to do your versions of songs that play to your strenghts. You can do that with some songs, but not others. And nothing sounds worse than a band trying to pull of something they can't.

3)....play to your market. If you live in a tiny cornfield community out in the moddle of nowhere, instrumental metal (or anything that ends in "core") will probably get you nowhere fast. That doesn't mean you have to only play AM radio country hits. But you can't go the other extreme either.

Simply playing 4 hours of your favorite songs lacks maturity. You need grownups to make a good set list.
 
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#24
I haven't done much cover work so take the following for what it's worth, but in the bands I was in that did covers, it wasn't particularly scientific. We picked songs we liked that we thought our audiences would like too. We tended to favor songs that were very popular but also slightly out of date (say 3-20 years) so they had some "fond memories" and "long lost friend" vibe going for them. And it always worked out well.

The rule of thumb I always pushed for when covering somebody else's tunes was that you either do them: (a) note for note; or (b) in a clever new arrangement of your own. Otherwise it's just bad karaoke. But that's me, and it's definitely not the only way to approach doing covers…although Manfred Mann and bands like Tears for Fears and Vanilla Fudge all made highly regarded and profitable semi-careers out of rearranging and performing OPM. As did Linda Ronstadt, Lady Ga-Ga, and most other highly successful vocalists.

So whatever you pick - own it. Make it yours.
 
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#25
In our Blues outfit we all throw out some suggestions with a max of five. Everyone will learn the tunes. Then we play them and see what feels good. Sometimes something we think will be pure fire just falls flat when we get together and sometimes something we're all less than enthusiastic about turns out being great. We also will change our approach to a tune we've been playing for a while to breathe some new life into it.
 
#26
Lots of good advice here, much of it applies to my band's approach. I try to be open to new ideas, even if I don't agree with them right away. We have to be able to do a song reasonably well and if it doesn't go over well within the first one or two shows it gets dropped. We don't hold on to "band favorites". One thing I'll add is that we have luck trying out songs that came on the jukebox or whatever down at the local pub and everyone there starts singing along. Consider this an excuse to spend some time down at the pub on your off nights.
 
#27
Bodeanly said:
BL: learn these
Me: *learns these*
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In the country I play with this exactly! In addition I grin and nod. Try it, makes the BL feel important. And I thought we were the only band utilizing this revolutionary process!

In my rock trio the process is a little more complex. In this band if you can sing it you can bring it, which leave me out of every thing except the go/nogo stage.

The suggestor brings a song to practice and makes his pitch, usually accompanied by charts, graphs, powerpoints and stats supporting his reasoning for bringing a newcomer into our repertoire. The other members go into a huddle and don't break until we have a decisive yes or no.

If it's a yes the suggestor is warmly congratulated, given high-fives and bro-hugs. Shots are distributed and, if the weather is warm we go outside and fire off some sky rockets and roman candles.

If it's a no the suggestor is verbally assaulted with profane but, anatomically difficult suggestions, and nasty descriptions of his pitiful song choosing abilities. He is pelted with small bits of garbage, plentiful in our practice space, and mostly empty beer cans. No glass in the practice room, we have rules. If the weather is warm we take him outside and he's pansted then given a redbelly or two for being such a dolt.

Practice resumes.
 
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#28
Another thing to do, especially when people get stubborn. Record the rehearsal, and play it back when you have time to listen. Be honest. Remember, you are playing to entertain others, not yourself.

I'm in a band that does a lot of stuff I would never listen to (Pink, Ga Ga, Maroon 5, etc.). But that is what people want to hear, and we have 2 good lead vocalists, who we are not going to waste.
 
#29
Really depends on the band.
  • In one of them (long songs, very slow and heavy music), we spend a lot of time fussing over how often we've played a song at recent shows, how they flow from one to the next, what ambient samples we'll need between them, when we need breaks to tune up or change tunings, and so on.
  • In another one (long-ish songs, very fast music with just 2 of us in the band so not much margin for error), it's more about what songs we're most excited about playing and also how technically difficult they are. For the drummer especially, we have to strike a balance between "not playing the hardest songs before he's warmed up" but also "not playing blastbeats in odd time signatures when he's running out of gas."
  • In another (short easy songs, 3 of us doing vocals), we just have a quick chat about whether there are any songs anyone particularly does/doesn't want to play. The actual set order is mostly just based on not having too many in a row that start the same way or where the same person sings most, and also having a last song that's a good "last song."
 
#30
We don't have an organized system. We are a 60'- 80's cover band, and our singer and keyboardist both know a of ton songs from that era. During rehearsal, after we've gone through our agenda for the night, those guys will just start up on something and we'll all jam on it and see if it seems to click for us. We'll come back the next time and play it seriously and if it works, it'll end up on the set list. It's important that our singer be into what he's doing. He's good, but really good on songs with powerful vocals. I'm good with playing anything that people will recognize and dance to.
 
#31
I'm in a five piece classic rock cover band that will occasionally do contemporary stuff (that sounds classic, like Mayer Hawthorne or Nathaniel Rateliff) Three of us do most of the song selection, but if any one member felt strongly against a tune, we wouldn't do it.

We pride ourselves on picking deeper tracks, so for example, we cover the Stone's "Dance Little Sister" but not "Jumpin' Jack Flash." We also like to cover artists that most other bands don't, like Traffic and the Moody Blues. Getting people to dance is always a consideration, but so too are songs with good harmonies. We'll do slower, non-danceable stuff in first sets or non-bar gigs (think "Helplessly Hoping" or "Seven Bridges Road.") We do plenty of hits, too, but it's probably 50/50 hits vs. deep tracks.

Anyone can propose a tune and we discuss it. Some tunes get rejected just because they're too tough for us get the way we want them. If we work a tune over a couple of rehearsals and just aren't feeling it, it gets dropped. A couple of times we've said "everyone in the band gets to pick a song he'd like to do" and as long as they meet any of the above criteria, that's worked out too.

The main thing is: it can't be a democracy. There has to be a BL who--while taking in feedback from the whole band--makes a final decision.

This system has worked well for us over the last 8 years.
 
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#33
In a cover band, a good song is a good song. It is a real pain when people get upset because "nobody votes for my song"? Really? Did you write it or are you just not good at picking good songs?
Our band essentially disintegrated because of the "need" to be fair in song selection. We switched from a very effective method (like @Indexed) of everyone tossing in a song or three, then I would burn CD for everyone to listen to during the week and then we'd vote on the best ones and pick the top two or three to work on. It worked great and we got some terrific tunes added from that process.
No need to keep it secret. A good tune is a good tune. @bearhart74 nailed it in his post.
Then.....we switched to the "fair" method (since one of members consistently put forth songs that were crap so they were never picked). She cried foul and the front man - with whom she is sleeping - declared the need to be fair so everyone got a chance to choose a song.
We would waste a ton of time working on a song that had no business (genre) in the band and that she could not sing (talent) before moving on. It was a nightmare. We were Yoko'd! Ha!
The shame is that if we stuck to our old method, we were choosing songs that were not only good but that were within the range/capability of our singer(s). The "fair" way brought in songs that only a person in denial would attempt. There was no need for this and the band started the the downward spiral. Nobody wanted to rehearse as nobody liked the idea of wasting the time. Yet, nobody would speak-up, except the bassist.
Sorry for the need for the wahhhmbulance here. This thread just pushed "that button". :)
 
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#35
My band plays a fair bit of jazz, but the money gigs require stuff people can dance to. With us it's mainly been our guitarist, myself and the drummer suggesting songs to try. For the rock, R&B dance stuff, it needs to work for our singer.
At Christmas, I suggested each member pick a tune they want to do.
My choice was Carry on Wayward Son and the drummer picked Garage Gato. Sax player came up with In The Stone by EW&F (I've now discovered Verdine White)
But yikes! Our keyboard player wants to play Lingus, by Snarky Puppy. I don't even know where we could play that - assuming we get it reasonably tight.
 
#36
My band sucks at selecting new songs to cover. Every couple of months, we start throwing ideas around. Everybody has their own opinion of what we should play, and nobody can agree on anything. The whole process if highly unproductive. The drummer drives me nuts. He's highly opinionated about song choice -- he insists that every song needs to be upbeat and danceable. Then he won't shut up about learning a song like "Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles (a song about cheating that chicks hate) or "Blurry" by Puddle of Mudd (a total downer of a song about bad parenting).

It seems like the only time we add a song is when it happens accidentally as the result of somebody noodling at rehearsal. It's in that moment that enough of get inspired to say, "yeah, let's learn that for next time."
 
#37
We started with the songs nearly every "dance" band in our area plays, there's a reason they're playing them. Then, we've added to that list via popular requests from women. Rarely does a request from a guy get added.

Our band leader also teaches guitar lessons to a lot of young people and is often hip to what is likely to be the next round of requests based on what he's being asked to teach the female high school and college students. If they're listening to it, it usually works it's way into the female bar goer crowd next.

Most often, if we add a song before we start getting requests for it (i.e. big on the charts and we like it) no-one dances to it for the first few months of playing it. Most of the crowds we play to aren't quick on liking new music, they have to hear it for a while on the radio before taking to it.
 
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#38
I don't think it needs to be too elaborate with the ballots and all. Plus, there's always someone in the band who has a gazillion ideas and someone else who will just shrug and say, "I don't care, I just want to play." I think it's usually enough to let everyone make suggestions, discuss them, and the BL can veto anything if he has to. "Can your singer sing them?" is always a critical question.

I also think it's fair to say anyone can veto a song if they REALLY cannot bear playing it. I was in a pop/rock cover band at one point and Pumped Up Kicks came up. I vetoed it, the reason being that this was very soon after Sandy Hook and I felt it would be in bad taste. I would be fine doing it now.

I also think it's good to let each person have the option of a "vanity" song, something that may not be popular or whatever but that they are REALLY passionate about and dying to play. You play to entertain the crowd, but band management is to some extent volunteer management and that's not too hard of a bone to throw someone so they're happy about being in the band. But I would say, ONE vanity tune per member per gig - if you're playing forty songs in a night and have a four-piece band, that would be four such tunes, 10% of the total, and you put them out at the margins of the set lists where they won't do any harm if they tank. 90% of the list needs to be stuff that will go over - popular, danceable, etc. Of course, if it turns out that what you thought was a vanity tune DOES go over, it's not a vanity tune next gig.
 

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