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what songs are standard?

Thaos627

Thaos627

Jan 10, 2011
238
4
Indiana
#1
i kno there r some songs that everyone should kno and can play anywhere. what songs would these be?

i do know some like:
sunshine of your love by cream
one love by bob marley and the wailers
tom sawyer by rush (not a standard but can be played anywhere as a crowd pleaser)
 
#3
Depends entirely upon where you play and the target audience. In my whole life I've never played either the Bob Marley song "One Love" nor even had a serious request for any Rush, let alone playing "Tom Sawyer".

In previous threads about this subject, there tends to be some wide regional differences. For example, most people drag out (and hate) "Mustang Sally", but in gigging since 1976, I never played it until about 2000. "Proud Mary", "Gimme Three Steps", "Achy Breaky Heart" all used to be very common, but not at all the last 10 years.

Wedding gigs would require a huge range, from things like "Satin Doll" or "All Of Me" to "Colour My World", "Johnny B. Goode", "The Chicken Dance", "The Electric Slide", etc. etc. It's just all over the place for gigging bands.

Now if the question is "what stuff should I know to be able to get gigs or sit in at an open mic", that's a different but related question, but again with some wide regional differences and also specific to genre or audience. Stuff you'd need to know for a blues jam wouldn't be the same stuff if it's a folky acoustic driven open-mic, and a whole 'nother list for a jazz jam.

John
 
#4
What is the goal???

Do you want to build a "Book" for a working band, or just noodle to have fun with your friends? If so, what era of music - based on your assumptions, I'd say you're looking at old dude music like I first learned (since I'm an old dude...). I'd think that a new player today wouldn't have any need to know *any* Cream (though lord knows I knew - and still know - darn near all of it!)
 
#7
BigOldHarry said:
I'd think that a new player today wouldn't have any need to know *any* Cream (though lord knows I knew - and still know - darn near all of it!)
Click to expand...

you'd be surprised at how many times ive brought out "white room" and "sunshine of your love". get stuck in a jam and cream fits in anywhere.

waleross said:
Besides draining the brain of the best guitards you know, there is a Hal-Leonard Book
25 Essentail Rock Bass Classics, music and tabs........:cool:
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True the Hal-Leonard books are great for knowing random stuff and the ones ive seen i already know everything in them...although i could just get it so i have it in one place.

EdHunter said:
I-IV-V-IV

I-IV-I-V-IV-I
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songs to play not patterns besides I-III-V-VI-VII has served me well in songs i cant remember at the moment (once because i was spit on). although i use the Sen scale more (its the same as above but with a flatted second)
 
#10
Thaos - there aren't really any that you should absolutely know no matter what genre or kind of band you're in, with the exception of maybe "Happy Birthday."

Being a good performer (working the crowd, interacting well, entertaining and being someone deserving to be on stage) will get you out of bad musical situations faster then any specific songs that someone might rattle off to you. Being a good musician (which isn't the same as being a good bass player) also helps.

Listen to some of the others on this forum. (Also, take the advice of some others with a big grain of salt - not all of us are Munjibunga or that MNAirhead guy.) There's some good experience and wisdom that can be gained here.
 
#12
Ubersheist said:
Being a good performer (working the crowd, interacting well, entertaining and being someone deserving to be on stage) will get you out of bad musical situations faster then any specific songs that someone might rattle off to you. Being a good musician (which isn't the same as being a good bass player) also helps.
Click to expand...

well while i do agree, bein a good musician only counts if ur writing ur own songs which is completely off topic

hrodbert696 said:
For your basic covers band, going to bars and parties, I figure this is a good place to get a sense of what crowds want to hear...

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

But it does depend on what kind of band you are and what kind of crowd you play to. That list ranges from jazz to country to rock to hip hop.
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we r a punk band but we play anything and not like the people that say they play anything we do birthdays and church gatherings with the normal bars and clubs. that list helps thank you
 
#13
Thaos627 said:
well while i do agree, bein a good musician only counts if ur writing ur own songs which is completely off topic
Click to expand...

Not at all. In fact, it hasn't got much to do with writing music.

Being a good musician involves visualizing the song or even the set or the band as a whole, and doing your part to make it sound the best. It involves an understanding of what instruments, vocalization and dynamics sound good at a particular part of the song, and for the song as a whole. Being a good musician means knowing how to find a tone for your specific instrument that doesn't clash with the other instruments, and knowing how to not play over the vocals. It means that you know how to apply dynamics on the fly, and how to recover when you or someone else messes up. It means you know when to back off, when to let other instruments or the vocals shine, and when you need to step it up and be out front. It even can involve understanding acoustics, the technical aspects of a PA system, and how other instruments work, sound and behave. It can have something to do with writing songs, but in general, it doesn't have much to do with it.

It's stuff that can happen naturally with people who have a good ear, a good vision for music, and can quickly figure out how to produce it in a practical manner. However, it usually comes after a whole lot of sweat, practice, and years (more like decades) of making music.
 
#14
Thaos627 said:
songs to play not patterns besides I-III-V-VI-VII has served me well in songs i cant remember at the moment (once because i was spit on). although i use the Sen scale more (its the same as above but with a flatted second)
Click to expand...


You missed his point. Those are the changes to about 700 songs right there. Not patterns, chord changes.
 
#15
Ubersheist said:
Not at all. In fact, it hasn't got much to do with writing music.

Being a good musician involves visualizing the song or even the set or the band as a whole, and doing your part to make it sound the best. It involves an understanding of what instruments, vocalization and dynamics sound good at a particular part of the song, and for the song as a whole. Being a good musician means knowing how to find a tone for your specific instrument that doesn't clash with the other instruments, and knowing how to not play over the vocals. It means that you know how to apply dynamics on the fly, and how to recover when you or someone else messes up. It means you know when to back off, when to let other instruments or the vocals shine, and when you need to step it up and be out front. It even can involve understanding acoustics, the technical aspects of a PA system, and how other instruments work, sound and behave. It can have something to do with writing songs, but in general, it doesn't have much to do with it.

It's stuff that can happen naturally with people who have a good ear, a good vision for music, and can quickly figure out how to produce it in a practical manner. However, it usually comes after a whole lot of sweat, practice, and years (more like decades) of making music.
Click to expand...

well i understand what u mean but i think thats more of being a good performer rather than musician. i do understand what your saying though we have to carry a lot of guitar players through the songs lol
 
#16
Thaos627 said:
well i understand what u mean but i think thats more of being a good performer rather than musician. i do understand what your saying though we have to carry a lot of guitar players through the songs lol
Click to expand...

No, still not the same. I suspect that you're a bit of a newer/younger player. I apologize if I am wrong.

Being a good performer is still different. The same skills that make a mime or a magician a good performer can make a singer or a bass player a good performer. Being a good musician is still very different. Knowing how to command the stage, interact with a crowd, draw the crowd in and connect with them makes someone a good performer, but they can be a bad musician and a bad [insert instrument here].

A good example is Britney Spears. She's a terrible singer. She's also probably a terrible musician - I doubt she has a hand in leading her band, making arrangement decisions, producing her records, or writing any of her songs. However, she's a very, very skilled performer, and that's enough to make her tons of money. I'm sure you can think of others who are great performers... I'm reminded of one of my old singers. He was a great performer and singer, but a terrible musician. He had no ear for music, no innate understanding of it, and wrote very mediocre to bad songs. However, he could always draw in the crowd and put on a great show.
 
#17
Ubersheist said:
No, still not the same. I suspect that you're a bit of a newer/younger player. I apologize if I am wrong.

Being a good performer is still different. The same skills that make a mime or a magician a good performer can make a singer or a bass player a good performer. Being a good musician is still very different. Knowing how to command the stage, interact with a crowd, draw the crowd in and connect with them makes someone a good performer, but they can be a bad musician and a bad [insert instrument here].

A good example is Britney Spears. She's a terrible singer. She's also probably a terrible musician - I doubt she has a hand in leading her band, making arrangement decisions, producing her records, or writing any of her songs. However, she's a very, very skilled performer, and that's enough to make her tons of money. I'm sure you can think of others who are great performers... I'm reminded of one of my old singers. He was a great performer and singer, but a terrible musician. He had no ear for music, no innate understanding of it, and wrote very mediocre to bad songs. However, he could always draw in the crowd and put on a great show.
Click to expand...

Sid Vicious- most would contend not a player nor musician at all, but he (or McLaren) figured out that being on stage and having a particular personae would attract people. That's being a performer, totally separate from musicianship or bass playing (and being a bass player doesn't always mean being a musician- another level of distinction that can arguably be made).

John
 
#18
The best way for me to figure out "standard" covers in this neck of the woods is to jump onto the various agents websites and browse the repertoire lists of the acts gigging multiple times a week in the venues I'd like to gig in...one day...when and if the monopoly over venues is released :D

That gives you an idea of the standards being directed to the audiences they are catering for, and are area-specific examples of standards on the scene.
 
#19
Ubersheist said:
No, still not the same. I suspect that you're a bit of a newer/younger player. I apologize if I am wrong.

Being a good performer is still different. The same skills that make a mime or a magician a good performer can make a singer or a bass player a good performer. Being a good musician is still very different. Knowing how to command the stage, interact with a crowd, draw the crowd in and connect with them makes someone a good performer, but they can be a bad musician and a bad [insert instrument here].

A good example is Britney Spears. She's a terrible singer. She's also probably a terrible musician - I doubt she has a hand in leading her band, making arrangement decisions, producing her records, or writing any of her songs. However, she's a very, very skilled performer, and that's enough to make her tons of money. I'm sure you can think of others who are great performers... I'm reminded of one of my old singers. He was a great performer and singer, but a terrible musician. He had no ear for music, no innate understanding of it, and wrote very mediocre to bad songs. However, he could always draw in the crowd and put on a great show.
Click to expand...

havin boobs doesnt mean ur a skilled performer. compare blues traveler to britney spears. both have boobs only one has skill. and i've been around awhile but been stuck as a studio musician for a long time (been playin for 19 years, bass only for 6). really im just gonna drop this argument cus i believe u have this backwards but everyone believes things differently.

JTE said:
Sid Vicious- most would contend not a player nor musician at all, but he (or McLaren) figured out that being on stage and having a particular personae would attract people. That's being a performer, totally separate from musicianship or bass playing (and being a bass player doesn't always mean being a musician- another level of distinction that can arguably be made).

John
Click to expand...

from what i hear Sid Vicious was a great guy but he told the rest of the band he was going to purposly be a jack*** to give the band some addittude and boost the bad rep.
 

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