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How many song to learn is reasonable for an initial try-out?
- Thread starter Mattosaur
- Start date
Reasonably? I try to put in at least 1 hour of practice every day. If I were preparing for an audition I would concentrate solely on learning the material and not doing my usual woodshedding type stuff. I'd be able to learn at least one song during that time, 3-4 if they're easy. So on the low side, I'd say 7 in a week.
I'm still learning material for my new cover band and I think I'm up to 9 songs this week so far.
Define semi-pro. I'm not sure if I fall into that category or not.
I do agree with your first point. But as someone that does advocate learning all 17...I learned 16 songs (including 2 originals) for an audition in 9 days, all songs I didn't know and wasn't very familiar with in the first place. I totally nailed all of them, then played a good 5-8 more with them once we were finished. I did not sing backup during the audition.
mellowinman said:
You would never audition me.
When I audition, I tell the band to send me 3 files. I want 3 files of the songs the way they perform them.
I like the do a great job on 3 songs instead of a marginal job on several songs.
I have made it clear that I don't believe any of you guys that claim you learn 50 new songs in 2 weeks.
I need to know how many people your auditioning. I only audition last.
Take it or leave it, you need me more than I need you.
I don't need you at all. You're a bass player. I will never need another bass player. My wife was our bass player, until I learned bass, and now she is one of our bass players, and I am the other. We are multi-instrumentalist singers with the best guitar player and best drummer we could find; both top quality professionals we ADORE, both as players and as people.
I started out as a fill-in on bass, just playing some easy songs so my wife could be freed up to sing, but somewhere along the line, I realized I LOVE IT, and now I play songs that I sing on, songs she sings on, and even songs our guitar player sings on. I will always be second bass in this band, because she has years more experience than me, but I'm playing fairly well now. I don't really do a lot of tricks or anything, but years of piano and guitar, and yes, even singing have me solidly on beat, and drummers like to play with me. I don't overplay, and I do covers either EXACTLY like the bass line of the original, or I embellish just a little here and there, but always tastefully.
For example, on Meredith Brooks' "Bitch," I no longer play note for note like the studio version, but I am still much more restrained than some of the live versions I've heard.
No one will ever mistake me for Chris Squire, or Geddy Lee, but I'm working very hard at being mistaken for the best rock bass player of all time: Paul McCartney.
I think its better to let one small part go if its going to take a lot of time to learn. You could learn a bunch of the other material in that time rather than stressing over a measure or two.
Listen to them all as much as possible during the day, in the car, etc, when you are away from the bass. You want to know how they go in your head.
I tend to figure out how many I intend to do in the time I have. Go through them all just to get through the basic idea. Don't get bogged down anywhere on the first pass.
Note the parts that are hard, you'll want to go over them later. Some may be too hard to work out, may have to adjust the # you're going to do.
I go in waves. Get through all the songs each day. First wave is just basics, chords, structure of song. Next day I try to get more polish, more details. Keep moving.
The idea is that way you don't get bogged down in 1 song or worse one part of a song, and end up neglecting the others.
Biggest part is getting the groove down, not every note. Lock with the drummer, play something appropriate and most don't care if you're doing the exact bassline, except of course if its got a real signature bass line, like Benatar tunes.
Randy
jive1
Commercial User
Or you could assume the band is pretty busy working. And if the band is busy working, then you can look up where they are playing and check out the band to see if it's something worth getting involved in. You can also ask around with other musicians to see what the band or members may be like.
I agree. If I am in a band that works every weekend, with members that have families and day jobs, I don't have time for someone who is gonna take a month or longer to learn our set and/or require lots of full band rehearsals to get there. I will repsect my bandmates time by not bringing in someone who will need work to get them up to speed. I don't have time to work someone in, you need to be ready to jump in.
That's if your band has time to work someone in like that. If your band has a sparse schedule or a stretch of downtime, you can do that. If you have every weekend booked with all-nighters, then I would expect you to learn or know most of my material by the next gig, preferably by the next audition. Knowing only 3 songs won't help you do the gig, neither will 10, nor 17. 30-40 is a nice start.
If I'm auditioning someone, I'm not just evaluating their skills, and ability to fit with the band. I'm also evaluating their current repertoire, ability to pick up tunes, and be prepared.
Nowadays, I don't audition much. I'd rather work with guys who I know can jump in and do the job.
jive1 said:
Another issue some bands might find themselves on the fence with, if they are heavily booked with one nighters:
"Do we go with the Guy that can learn a lot material in a short time frame or do we go with the better bass player who is going to improve our sound overall? "
jive1
Commercial User
This is gold, right here.
The most important part are the basics - the chord structure of the song, the basic arrangement, and feel. You can learn a song off the CD note for note, but what will you do if the band does it in a different key, or the drummer plays something different than on the recording? I have rarely played in a band that did everything just like the recording, even the ones who say they do. If you know the basic structure, it's easier to adjust to the band you're playing with. Because in the end, it's a band that you're going to be playing with, not a CD.
Well, we're getting pretty far from the topic. I doubt this guy is auditioning for a band like you are describing, and if he were, I doubt they'd find he had the experience required for such a gig. I doubt they'd find I would have the experience required, and I doubt I would be interested in that kind of gig anyway.
Few bands that are holding open auditions are bands that are gigging every weekend, and if they were, it would probably say so in their ad. I'm talking about bands that the auditioner has never heard.
Absolutley agree. My general rule for an audition is (was) 6, nailed, then going over the rest with a few notes and key sigs, etc. Second audition I would go nuts and have everything I can down.
At least that's how it was when I was a tad younger. Now I usually know 30-35 songs of a 40 song list anyway, and they'll probably know at least another 10 that I know that aren't on their list. Now I can get a call Friday at 7 and be playing at 8... if the drive isn't more than 30 minutes.
But on THAT note...
Apples & Oranges. Not talking gig here. I've learned 40 songs in a week for a paid fill in gig, too. Not gonna waste my time doing that for an hour long unpaid jam where I might not get, or want the permanent position.
Sometimes it seems that no matter how much I screen people on the phone, there are way more bands I don't want to join than there are that I do.
I don't disagree with this statement. I too am trying to get into a cover band despite relatively little experience. I spent the better part of the past year trying to get a project off the ground with a drummer and a revolving door of singers/guitarists. Every week or two, there was a new singer and a new batch of songs (most of which were not really my cup of tea). I would cram to learn 10 new songs in a few days, only to find out the singer didn't really know all the words, or the guitar player didn't know the lead. Still, I continued to put in the work for the sake of experience. I admit that began losing my motivation to put in the work. The situation just wasn't any fun for me.
About a month ago, I replied to a CL ad looking for an experienced bass player for an established band. Initially, we compared lists and found 6 songs we had in common already... so they invited me over to jam despite my lack of experience. I don't think they expected much, but I surprised them (and myself) by learning 10 more songs in a couple days before the first jam. It went well and they asked me back. After 4 weeks I have close to 40 of their songs down, and things are rolling along pretty well.
If I have a point, I guess it's "don't sell yourself short." For me, I decided that I was better suited to work harder to be in a better band, and so far it's working out. As others have said, once you start learning how to learn songs, it gets easier with time. 6 months ago, it took me 3 nights to learn a few songs. Now I can figure out 3-4 in an evening while watching TV with my iPod on. Retention is becoming more automatic as well.
Oh, and to answer your original question: knowing 6 songs was enough to get in the door, and knowing 15 was enough to get me asked back.
This is pretty much how I've been going about it. I spent the first night I had the list listening and finding some tab as a place to start from. I sorted the list into buckets of "easy", "moderate", and "not going to bother right now." After that, I had about 12 songs to work through.
I did two songs Tuesday, two songs Wednesday, and just one last night (I spend most of my evenings on Thursday with the wife). I actually picked up two other songs throughout the week, so I'm at seven at the moment. I realized today that I learned Brass in Pocket mostly wrong (thanks internet tab!) and I basically rearranged it and added the octaves and most of the fills on my lunch break at work. (Bringing my spare bass in to my office and plugging in to my iPad has been awesome for fitting an extra 30 minutes of practice in a day.)
Tonight I'm hoping to nail Brass in Pocket and pick up one of the Sheryl Crow tunes. Saturday I'm planning on getting together with the band's guitarist to jam as a kind of early feeler. I'm also going to check with him on the arrangement of the Katy Perry tune, since it doesn't have a proper bassline in the verse. At 8 songs, I'm planning on spending my playing time that day on polishing what I have. If I learn 1 more song a night for the three days after that, that puts me at 11.
I appreciate the wide range of advice. I've got a good handle of where I sit on the experience/professionalism spectrum, but I enjoy thinking about how this might change if I was in a different situation.
(For the record, the band actually approached me when I posted an ad looking for people to jam with on CL. I think I'd be a lot more nervous about it if this was an opportunity I had been actively pursuing.)
For those interested, the magic number was 7 and a blues jam.
They asked me to join two bars into the second song.
They asked me to join two bars into the second song.
I'm with you! I learn songs all the time, that I never have any intention of playing in a band (then again, you just never know...). I also pick random songs that I "know" from radio, etc. but have never played, & try to "speed learn" them on the 1st pass.
It's all fun - which is the point!
Congrats!!! great job!
The only downside is sometimes if people are really happy to be playing with you it means you are way better than you are...
There's something to be said for being in a band where you can just hold your own, better players push you, you can learn a lot.
Its a fine line between being able to hold on and being the red-headed stepchild way over your head...
Randy
The band I just joined does that, it drives me bonkers.
my 2 cents, like most people said, get 5 songs down and then about 2-3 a week after that and then maybe 1 a week to create your set. better to have the songs sound great than quantity.
then on the other hand, I just learned about 50 songs in the past 8 weeks. but, I don't have them all nailed yet, so I'm playing a lot of catch up and faking it.
