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How much time do you spend playing songs you'll never perform?


leschirons
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I originally wrote the word "waste" but of course, any time spent on your instrument is worthwhile.

I ask because I picked up a bass this morning ( I keep one and a practice amp in the lounge) and started playing along to stuff on You tube.

Ya mo be there. M.MacD
Together again, Dave Koz
Easy lover, Collins & Bailey
Paradise, Smooth operator, Sade'
Just the two of us, Bill Withers / Grover Washington
Room 335, Larry Carlton
Midnight at the Oasis (BNH version)

I play none of these numbers in any bands but I have a tendency to play along with all this MOR smooth stuff rather than actually practice the stuff I do play live (Rock, soul, disco etc)

Looking at that list, I obviously need to be in a covers band called the "elevators" :lol:

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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1450529199' post='2933645']
All building blocks for when I do play live.
[/quote]
+1

Most of the numbers I play at home I'll never play live, but most of the bass lines, phrases and fingering will get used at one time or another. Always pick numbers you're not used to playing and you're not comfortable playing and work on them until you can play them in your sleep.

The best players have the biggest library of ideas under their finger tips.

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Most of my playing is on stuff that will never be gigged. If its not stuff that i am composing then it would be:[list]
[*]Midi files - converted in Cubase to have proper synths/pianos and guitars and then lay some bass over the tune
[*].WAV downloads from YouTube of songs that i've always wanted to learn - Sir Duke for instance and this one paid off as did a dep and the singer said "you probably won't know this and can sit out the "tricky" bit". Boy were they gobsmacked when i played it whilst looking off into the distance looking uninterested
[*]Jazz play-along tunes - use the Aebersold backing tracks where you can pan the bass out of the original and play over the keys and drums
[*]Files from Scott Devines website
[*]YouTube Jam Tracks
[/list]
With all the great recording software and YouTube its never been easier to expand your knowledge.

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[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1450529374' post='2933648']
It's a regular thing for me to put on the radio and try to play along with whatever comes on. I figure that to be a useful skill and good ear training even if I never hear those songs again.
[/quote]

That sounds like a challenging, yet really worthwhile fun idea. I'll have a go at that. Cheers.

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It has to be at least 20 years since I played along to a record.
I used to do it when I first started playing, it's how I taught myself to play. Once my playing got to a certain level though I lost interest in doing it, I've never had any interest in learning all those bass parts that are regarded as essential learning.

These days the bass doesn't even come out of it's case unless someone contacts me & asks me to put some bass on something they're working on.

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I have two main "set lists" that I play through, each between twenty and thirty songs long. One is for my five string, the other for my four string. They include music from the likes of Willie Nelson and Garth Brooks to Amon Amarth and Bolt Thrower, with all sorts in between. I am not in a band and haven't been for a very long time. Of the nearly sixty songs in the lists, I have only ever played two of them (Megadeth - Peace Sells and Metallica - Enter Sandman) in bands.

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[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1450529374' post='2933648']
It's a regular thing for me to put on the radio and try to play along with whatever comes on. I figure that to be a useful skill and good ear training even if I never hear those songs again.
[/quote]

I thought everybody did that. I dont do it regularly now, but theres always a bass to hand and I do it now and again. Other than that I dont practice at all these days unless theres a gig coming up.

Even just doing it acoustically helps with timing and and keeps the flow, exercises the fingers etc.

Edited by BILL POSTERS
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I've spent a lot of time learning songs that I have no intention of playing live but I've always had a reason for learning it. I generally only learn a song if I think it'll help me improve in some aspect. For example I've just learned Sequoia Throne by Protest the Hero to improve my speed and tapping. There's no way my band would play that live!

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I spend about 50% of my practice time working on learning/playing/transcribing songs that I will probably never play live. I currently have private lessons every other week with Mark from Talking-Bass and this is something he really emphasizes. The idea being that playing loads of songs is a great way to develop both technique and train your ear. Seems to be working for me so far :D

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Yes and no...

Most of my time is spent composing new songs for The Terrortones. I would guess that only half of them reach finished ready to gig status so therefore I do spend quite a long time working on songs that I won't get played live.

I'm so busy with these songs that I've written myself that I don't really have time or TBH the need to spend time working on learning other peoples songs that I won't ever play live.

At one point it did use noodling along the other people's recordings as a basis for new tunes of my own. I wouldn't learn any of the parts on the recordings but would create a new part (normally on guitar) that fitted over the top, and then take that new part and build up a song from that. The resulting tune with the complete new arrangement would have next to no resemblance to the track that had been the original inspiration.

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[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1450527485' post='2933621']
I originally wrote the word "waste" but of course, any time spent on your instrument is worthwhile.

I ask because I picked up a bass this morning ( I keep one and a practice amp in the lounge) and started playing along to stuff on You tube.

Ya mo be there. M.MacD
Together again, Dave Koz
Easy lover, Collins & Bailey
Paradise, Smooth operator, Sade'
Just the two of us, Bill Withers / Grover Washington
Room 335, Larry Carlton
Midnight at the Oasis (BNH version)

I play none of these numbers in any bands but I have a tendency to play along with all this MOR smooth stuff rather than actually practice the stuff I do play live (Rock, soul, disco etc)

Looking at that list, I obviously need to be in a covers band called the "elevators" :lol:
[/quote]

To the question in your post header...ALL THE TIME :) !

The "Elevators", a very cool band name :D !!

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Very little for me - but before I was in bands for my second period in the last 10 yrs or so I played along to a lot of songs - a lot of Stevie Wonder, some weather report (via transcription books), I learned quite a lot from transcriptions in Bass Player and the like (only selected ones I really liked).

I spent a lot of time going to jam sessions and having to play classic rock (nobody knew much else) but I did have the pleasure of playing a few jazz standards with a couple of people that attended, for which I had to research later!

These days I rarely play along to CDs but I still have some of my 'repertoire' in my practice regime (which really involves having a couple of basses out and picking them up daily for half an hour or as the mood takes me) - this is acoustic of course - I generally have a fretless and fretted Stingray for this. I also keep slap and 'me' licks and fills at fingertip. Every so often I'll get the chance to play one of the songs I know in a band - Signed Sealed Delivered springs to mind; Cissy Strut; Reeling In the Years; Smooth Operator - so I have a head start!!!

So the answer is definitely yes I do!! But not as much - I also have fads - for instance Jamerson - so I get out some songs or the Standing in the shadows of Motown book and CD and brush up some favourites! I just do what I enjoy (though sometimes I'm required to learn stuff I don't particularly like) - I still try and do a professional job (or semi pro to be precise) job of it!!

Edited by drTStingray
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I try to run the band's entire repertoire a couple of times a week - don't always make it, but I usually get through 80% of our stuff.

The rest of the time I'm playing jazz/funk stuff for my own entertainment and enjoyment - it helps to keep my chops up too, and helps me keep on top of my 'ear' playing.

In answer to the OP it;s about a 50/50 split. It doesn't matter that I'll probably never gig the jazz/funk stuff, I enjoy it and it's good to keep things interesting.

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