Steve_nottm Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 As the title says. Let's start by saying I've not really ever played in a "covers band". I've done covers here and there, but have always been more into originals. I've agreed to help a mate out by playing a gig in his covers band (think rock classics and the odd modern ish one) on the 20th of April as he was stuck, and it's a fair sized gig. However the scale of the task in hand has dawned on me. I have 30 songs to learn in a little over 3 weeks. OK to be fair, about half a dozen I already know fine, and another half dozen i'm familliar with enough to play, but the remainder I need to work out, and then get to a competent level, quickly. Set list is : You really got me I Predict a Riot Sweet Home Alabama You Do Something to Me Funky Music The Guitar Man Creep Basket Case Desperado Feel Like Making Love Take Me Out Parisienne Walkways See The Light Call me No. 5 Wishing Well Don't Believe a Word Mr Crowley Witch Queen of New Orleans Fall to Pieces Whiskey in the Jar Midnight Hour Wanted Dead or Alive Born to be Wild Comfortably Numb Johnny B Goode Alright Now Love walked in All along the watchtower starstruck paranoid So guys......... Any advice on this? hints and tips? and there are a couple that I'm really struggling to get. Namely "Funky Music" and "See the light". Anyone play these and have any specific pointers? Oh, and wish me luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggy Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Your not mad at all Steve, I had to do the same thing myself last year. I managed to do it by listening/playing along to one track 2 or 3 times, then onto the next track, again 2 or 3 times. Then played the first track followed by the second. Third track 2 or 3 times, back to the first, second, third... and so on.... you get the picture. Helped no end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 To put this in perspective, Pat Metheny had to write, arrange and record ALL of the music for the movie 'Map Of The World' in two weeks. And what he came up with is stunning. Doing a film soundtrack in two or three weeks is not that unusual. Learning 30 pretty basic songs like those in your list should be a breeze by comparison. Most of these songs are 16 bars on music repeated over and over again. Sweet Home Alabama is a three chord job, Comfortably Numb is a no brainer as is Paranoid and so on. If you can't nail this in three weeks, you ain't trying! Just do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burray Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Just copy all the songs onto one CD and play through it in whichever way you see fit. If you know most of the songs already, stick the ones you don't know at the start and get working. I had to learn a half hour sets worth of weird timing rock songs in a week for a gig, and that's the way I like it. If the pressure isn't on, it's not as much of a challenge for you to rise to. ^_^ Good luck sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 (edited) I (and many others like me) do gigs cold and trust their ears to get them through. I have seen guys transcribing charts off a cd ON THE WAY to a gig! Write some charts out - its a no brainer!! Edited March 27, 2008 by bilbo230763 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrenochrome Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Yes it's possible. It's quite a good setlist for a covers band and my band do quite a few of those. Stick all the tracks on an MP3 player and have that playing every waking minute that you can. On songs like Love Walked In the fills and passing notes are not very prominent so you can simplify the bass part a lot without losing the sound of the song. On Basket Case the fills are more prominent so you'd probably want to play most/all of them. Use whatever charts/music/shorthand you need to help you along. Go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 (edited) just make sure the band do em in the keys you are learning. Re Sweet Home Alabama, its just a three chord bash as someone said, but i've heard so many band play it without the swing in needs to carry the song. Edited March 27, 2008 by bass_ferret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allighatt0r Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 (edited) There are a few fairly nice songs in that set list! My main tip for you would be to learn to read tabs! Print off the tabs (try looking on bassmasta.net, and ultimate-guitar.com) then put the ones you have trouble with on a CD, and play along. 8 times out of 10, the tab won't be perfect, so it will take a little while to perfect. Alternatively, ultimate-guitar.com and a fair few other tab sites also have the chords for most songs, which I'm sure would help? With the band I'm in now, i got a call from the guitarist asking if i wanted to join on the Monday, and the next rehearsal was on the Wednesday, i downloaded all the songs and printed off the tabs, made CDs and could play the songs fairly convincingly for the rehearsal. Although i did have those days off.... Also RE: Sweet Home Alabama, the chords are D, C, G, over and over, except for once or twice there is a little E, F turnaround. Edited March 27, 2008 by allighatt0r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixshooter Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Hi Steve, I currently do about 70% of those on your list including Funky Music.... First of all get someone to tell you what key all the songs are in, otherwise you will waste time learning the song and then have to transpose it. Hopefully you will have at least one practice with the band, listening to the songs on CD/MP3 is great however most bands do not start/finish and copy the entire song. So take a recorder to the practice and record the band playing the songs their way. That way you can practice at home without them as many times as you like. Also make some crib notes for the songs, what is the key that the song is in, and shorthand the structure so you know what the middle 8 looks like, and take it with you, better you have a prompt than you totally forget the song or structure, some people may think this is "unproffesional", B**llocks you are there to do the best job that you can in a short period of time. But most of all enjoy it! the adrenalin will get you through and it does not have to be note perfect, if it was then they would have booked a disco! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalMan Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='Steve_nottm' post='164508' date='Mar 27 2008, 02:43 PM']and there are a couple that I'm really struggling to get. Namely "Funky Music". Anyone play these and have any specific pointers? Oh, and wish me luck![/quote] Struggling in what way. The way my lot do it it is fairly straightforward. Do you know what key you will be doing it in? Have you got a copy. Could possibly run a mix with my lot panned one side & my cruddy bass the other so you could see what I do FWIW Oh and good luck. Don't know all of the songs on the list but some - like Watchtower - are simple enough3 chord jobs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Good lad. 30 songs in 3 weeks is some going. Depends how "perfect" you want em to be though. I could take 6 months learning to play those 30 songs exactly the way I wanted. Although I could probably wing it by running through em a few times on the stereo 3 weeks is plenty of time to get somewhere in the middle! I find learning one at time, then putting them together one after the other is a good one. Have they given you a set list rather than a list of songs to know and learn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_nottm Posted March 28, 2008 Author Share Posted March 28, 2008 Cheers guys, some helpful replies (and some "just get on with it" ones!) It's going OK really. I'm simplifying where the bass part isn't prominant, and writing crib sheets to help me out. I don't think I'll get them perfect, but as long as I can get through, sound tight, and enjoy it then i'll be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 [quote name='Steve_nottm' post='165208' date='Mar 28 2008, 01:00 PM']Cheers guys, some helpful replies (and some "just get on with it" ones!) It's going OK really. I'm simplifying where the bass part isn't prominant, and writing crib sheets to help me out. I don't think I'll get them perfect, but as long as I can get through, sound tight, and enjoy it then i'll be happy.[/quote] Nah, you're not mad, it's good to be that busy learning songs for a covers band, I don't think covers need to be note perfect at all, stick to the drummer like glue and you'll fly it. Good luck hope you enjoy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyf Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 [quote name='Jase' post='165222' date='Mar 28 2008, 01:19 PM']Nah, you're not mad, it's good to be that busy learning songs for a covers band, I don't think covers need to be note perfect at all, stick to the drummer like glue and you'll fly it. Good luck hope you enjoy it [/quote] +1 on that. Totally. The thing I love most about covers is that it's very often about the interpretation of parts in support of the song rather than absolutely nailing each note and making sure it "sounds exactly like the original". Most of the stuff I do with my band is done in the style of "us" rather than trying to totally copy. It's not a tribute, I don't need to sound/look/play like the artists material we're doing, more an interpretation of the tune in the spirit of the track. "Spirit", "Feel", "Vibe"...all important things from where I look at it. If there's anything practical I can suggest, try not to be too precious. As others have said, learn the basic structure and then start to gradually polish the songs as you go. You'll probably "know" (ie be able to work out the structure and key changes etc) more of the material than you think as you start to get familiar with the material. Play with a smile on your face, don't get stressed if you miss a few (or more than a few) notes and people will catch onto the fact that you're having a good time. Hey, it's only Rock'n'roll, enjoy it.....t's not as if you're playing "proper" music.... T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 [quote name='bilbo230763' post='164517' date='Mar 27 2008, 02:57 PM']To put this in perspective, Pat Metheny had to write, arrange and record ALL of the music for the movie 'Map Of The World' in two weeks. And what he came up with is stunning. Doing a film soundtrack in two or three weeks is not that unusual. Learning 30 pretty basic songs like those in your list should be a breeze by comparison. Most of these songs are 16 bars on music repeated over and over again. Sweet Home Alabama is a three chord job, Comfortably Numb is a no brainer as is Paranoid and so on. If you can't nail this in three weeks, you ain't trying! Just do it.[/quote] Not particularly helpful comments there. You have basically said "pros can do it, stop whining and get on with it". Perhaps he is constrained for time by work/marriage/children ? I know I get about 10 mins a day playing myself. A helpful thing i've found are tabs, it saves you the effort of learning the notes to the song so you can concentrate on the structure. See if you can find some of them here at [url="http://www.ultimate-guitar.com"]http://www.ultimate-guitar.com[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Machines' post='165263' date='Mar 28 2008, 02:16 PM']Not particularly helpful comments there. You have basically said "pros can do it, stop whining and get on with it". Perhaps he is constrained for time by work/marriage/children ? I know I get about 10 mins a day playing myself. A helpful thing i've found are tabs, it saves you the effort of learning the notes to the song so you can concentrate on the structure. See if you can find some of them here at [url="http://www.ultimate-guitar.com"]http://www.ultimate-guitar.com[/url][/quote] +1. I'm sure many of us could work wonders if we had no other distractions in our lives. FWIW, I work out what key each song is in, and then listen to them over and over again. I usually don't play along with them until a week or so in. Once I know the tune, I'm usually OK...ish. Edited March 28, 2008 by wateroftyne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misrule Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I'm just coming to the end of learning 26 punk and hard rock songs for a similar stand-in. I have the band's two sets on CDs to play along with at home plus copies in the car to learn the backing vocals. I don't bother with tab -- it's usually wrong. I just plod through the songs one by one -- and I've really enjoyed learning them. One thing I'd suggest is to work the stuff out at a basic level, then concentrate on songs you find hard. I've had to play some painfully slowly over and over to learn tricky tempos and sing harmonies on top of contrasting lines. You might also get lyrics off the net, even if you're not singing. They act as a prompt to me and I can scribble notes on them. Good luck. Cheers Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_nottm Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 (edited) Apologies for the bump of an old(ish) thread. The gig was Sunday and weny very well. No major errors, just the odd minor one (that I can put down to perhaps not knowing what to do with all the space I had on the massive stage/trailer). For your amusement, a couple of pics The stage! lots of space and kept the rain off. What you don't see are the 100 or so motorbikes that we were looking at! And one of me, not actually looking at the fretboard. A rare event never captured on film before! Edited April 22, 2008 by Steve_nottm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Glad to hear the gig went well Steve, hope you have many more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deBassMan Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 may I add - a great tool for learning tricky parts (I use it mostly for guitar) is the Boss BR. plug your instrument in, stick on the headphones, download an mp3, set the filter to emphasise the range you're interested in (i.e bass), set a start point and an end point and you can play along while the BR obligingly repeats the section ad nauseum. You can also set the tempo of the playback and retain the pitch - sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 (edited) That's up there as one of the most awesome gig pics I've ever seen. I don't know why it excites me so much but it freakin' does! Edited April 22, 2008 by The Funk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cooke Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I have to do almost six new ones each week... very few repeats.. and most of them I've never ever heard before or can find mp3 files for... so the first time I've ever done them is the run through before the service... Church bass can be very hard... anyway... it appears you had a great time... and the photographer must have caught you while you were in between looking at your right hand and your left... that;s always the case with me... at least I can hide behind a music stand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fudge Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I joined my first band with a gig in two months. I went out the following Saturday and bought my first guitar. You can play along to cd's until your knob falls off. You only ever learn how to play music by busking/jamming with other people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 [quote name='Mr Fudge' post='183243' date='Apr 22 2008, 10:03 PM']You can play along to cd's until your knob falls off.[/quote] Just look at John Meyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 [quote name='Mr Fudge' post='183243' date='Apr 22 2008, 10:03 PM']I joined my first band with a gig in two months. I went out the following Saturday and bought my first guitar. You can play along to cd's until your knob falls off. You only ever learn how to play music by busking/jamming with other people.[/quote] +1 Although its an old thread, another tip i'd throw into the hat is: Learn the parts of the songs so you know them like the back of your hand, don't worry to much about arrangements, unless a band has said that they do everything exactly like on the CD, most bands play about with arrangements so you should have an open mind and be listening out for the changes. Glad the gig went well! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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