Jamesemt Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) So I came back to playing about 6 months ago (playing for 15 years, 13 year lay off) , just got together with a newly formed band and after the first rehearsal playing 4 songs that sounded really together and tbh gigable, the singer has suggested we learn 10 songs for the next rehearsal week after next. Is it just me? I've said three max. I know some people are going say well if it's a 12 bar or Mustang Sally etc then fair enough, and there is nothing complex suggested, but I want to do everything justice and not just play root notes. Edited to add - they know I work full time too. Would be interested for the collective wisdom on here 😁 Edited January 14 by Jamesemt 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mep Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) 10 is way too much to learn and try and run through in a practice. I'm inclined to go with your 3, possibly 4 or 5 at the max. Edited January 14 by mep 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Yeah, muddling through ten…or playing 4/5 to a decent standard 🤷🏻♂️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sausage Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 My band practice for 1 hr max and try to blast off 2 tunes every practice. Just get in, play through the 2 we did last week then hammer two new ones. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 If you work full time, have kids, unfamiliar with songs or a long time since you were in the routine then 10 songs can be tough and likely not going to do anyone any favours. I'm probably the other end of the spectrum and I do play a lot of gigs/songs; inc' dep gigs (rock covers) with 24 hrs notice to learn 20-24 songs BUT I have a huge repertoire gained over 40+ years of gigging and I have cheats/routines/knowledge that helps me 'learn' stuff. Saying that if they are songs you're just not familiar with it is tough to do without cheat-sheets. Does everyone else in the band have the time and inclination to learn 10... or is it you that'll bust a gut and others won't have bothered (got that particular T shirt)? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 My covers band is in the process of a complete overhaul of our set list. We’ve agreed a schedule of two new ones per rehearsal, which usually happen weekly. Of the five in the band, three are still working full-time and of those, two have young children. It seems to work for us. One aside is that I encourage the band to come clean if they haven’t had time to learn a song - real life stuff happens. Precious rehearsal time is wasted if people are learning songs on the fly. That’s my view, anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Why have a fixed number? Put 10 songs on the list, start at #1 and work your way through. You might have 3 or 5 or all of them under your belt by the end of the day. The secret of good rehearsals is to turn up knowing the songs. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 We do 4 at a time (and assume the drummer never listens to them) 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) 'Learning' is a subjective term. I'm quite happy to cover 10 or 20 songs in two weeks. Good enough to be able to play verses and choruses and mid sections. Bare bones of the tune. Return and sketch them through with the band to see which ones have legs. The problems really occur when you go away for 2 weeks and everyone tries to learn 'only 3' songs exactly as per the recordings. You return and find find - actually everything needs rearranging for the instrumentation and half the band can't actually play the lines anyway. That's a waste of 2 weeks if the songs get scrapped. I don't think it's fair on guitarists who will go away and learn solos, or even bass players who have worked on tricky lines and are then invested emotionally in a song, only to find out it doesn't work and you're going to bin it. So yes. Work on 10 songs to a level you can sketch through and then reconvene in 2 weeks and work out which ones have legs. But make sure that's what everyone understands you are doing. Edited January 14 by TimR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Have the list of ten (or more) and everyone learns and practices as many as possible in the order they are on the list during the week, aiming for three or four. Then at rehearsal play the ones everyone is happy with doing. Then over the next week do the same again adding to the ones already learned, and so on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rib13Bass Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Everybody is different. Even if you arent phoning-in parts, 10 or more is certainly doable if the player understands theory, can hear "telegraphed" changes (i.e. song in Key-C goes from C to C7, nine times out of ten the next chord is the IV chord, etc), and is an overall quick study. Some players are like that; other aren't. So there isnt any real answer here 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddster Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Personally I'd say 10 is too many to learn properly. Is the singer going to learn to sing each song and memorise all the lyrics? Or busk it and read them as he goes? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 One done well. Three at most, unless they are familiar/easy songs 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 5 tops imo, and only if a couple of those are pretty simple. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Really depends on the song - I have done just over 20 in 2 weeks and honestly some songs you can do 3 absolutely fine in 1 night and then one song takes days of work to get right (or longer). But we are all different in how quickly we learn things, so there is no actual specific number you can learn, it is down to you. If it is too much for you, say so. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) Imo the answer to this is it depends on easiness of the material. Edited January 14 by Lozz196 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 I spent 8 years in a cover band in the early 10's and we never rehearsed. When the band leader wanted to put in a new song he emailed us with an MP3 or YouTube link. We learnt the song and gigged it the following week. This rehearsal business is very overrated. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snorkie635 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 I'd say two/three are reasonable in a two hour rehearsal. Much better to have a tight, completed number than some half-baked, 'that's good enough' attempt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 19 minutes ago, chris_b said: I spent 8 years in a cover band in the early 10's and we never rehearsed. When the band leader wanted to put in a new song he emailed us with an MP3 or YouTube link. We learnt the song and gigged it the following week. This rehearsal business is very overrated. Our rehearsal rate is certainly less than one per year. Most stuff we just listen at home and play at the gig There's nothing more demoralising imho than rehearsing just for the sake of it - because every Wednesday is band rehearsal night or whatever 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamIAm Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 3 hours ago, warwickhunt said: I have cheats/routines/knowledge that helps me 'learn' stuff. Would you be prepared to share these? Sam x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoRhino Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 4 hours ago, Jamesemt said: the singer has suggested we learn 10 songs for the next rehearsal week after next. Does the chanter learn the words or continue to read from a tablet or sheet? If they read them tell them to learn the lyrics by heart and you'll all arrive at what's realistically achievable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) 3 seems sensible and realistic to learn in a week if you are supposed to be able to play them properly and have proper time to work on them together, make them work as a band, at rehearsal. And most certainly if you got a full time work and family to take care of on the sideline. 10 is way too much on any level that can be taken serious, both when it comes to the individual band members learning their individual parts in just one week but also when it comes to playing through the songs together for the first time, making them work as a band, in one rehearsal session. The persons in this thread who ask whether the vocalist is actually going to practice the songs, memorize all the lyrics, and sing them spot on, or if he is just going to show up with the lyrics printed and wing 10 songs he already know, reading the lyrics as he signs and as he remembers the songs from previous casual listening, certainly put things in perspective. If you all intend for this band to work properly and stick together for a longer period of time, without constantly firing and hiring new people that never stay long enough to learn each other well enough as musicians to play properly together, and to the point where there are no original members left in a year, you all need to agree on a tempo and form you are all happy and can agree with, and not least will actually realistically work in order to get anywhere. Edited January 14 by Baloney Balderdash 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asingardenof Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 4 hours ago, Jamesemt said: So I came back to playing about 6 months ago (playing for 15 years, 13 year lay off) , just got together with a newly formed band and after the first rehearsal playing 4 songs that sounded really together and tbh gigable, the singer has suggested we learn 10 songs for the next rehearsal week after next. Is it just me? I've said three max. I know some people are going say well if it's a 12 bar or Mustang Sally etc then fair enough, and there is nothing complex suggested, but I want to do everything justice and not just play root notes. Edited to add - they know I work full time too. Would be interested for the collective wisdom on here 😁 How long is your rehearsal session? We struggle to get through more than three new songs in a three hour session, so ten would be nigh on impossible if you wanted to get them anywhere near gig-ready 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krysbass Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 As has been said - 4 to 5 songs maximum. I've found in the past where more songs were agreed, I'd turn up at rehearsal with all of them pretty much nailed, but not everyone else had. So, when it came down to it, there were perhaps as few as 2 or 3 of the agreed list of songs that everyone was ready to go on. But worst of all, a keyboarder that once crossed my path had an annoying habit of coming to rehearsal having worked on none of the agreed songs. Yes, none. Instead, he'd been busy indulging himself by learning a few of his personal favourite songs, (that weren't on the band's playlist, that never would be, and therefore that no-one else had worked on). He would then demonstrate these songs while the rest of us just looked on in bemusement. He didn't last long. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 2 hours ago, Lozz196 said: Imo the answer to this is it depends on easiness of the material. That and the skills of the players and the standard required for the gig. I think if a singer is up for ten you should take him up on it. Make sure everyone is looking at the same version and give it a go. I like the 'priority list' idea. 4 or 5 to get down first and then the rest. There's only so much time in rehearsal. Unless you nail the first 5 you might only get a single run of the next 5 but that would be valuable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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