Members gearo999 Posted June 4, 2012 Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 I'm in a cover band and we play about 52 songs in a 4 hours show and we memorize everything. In the setlist exchange thread, there are massive song lists. How do you guys keep all that going? Do you have a book with the songs and chords? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toober Posted June 4, 2012 Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 52 songs in 4 hours? I'm assuming 45 minute sets? Averaging 3.5 minutes per song, that means you have no leeway for a 4 hour gig if the next bar tells you to not play something. Do you lengthen your songs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted June 4, 2012 Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 52 songs in 4 hours? I'm assuming 45 minute sets? Averaging 3.5 minutes per song, that means you have no leeway for a 4 hour gig if the next bar tells you to not play something. Do you lengthen your songs? The bar tells you not to play something? What does that even mean? I guess if that happened most people would stretch a solo or add a verse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gearo999 Posted June 4, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 52 songs in 4 hours? I'm assuming 45 minute sets? Averaging 3.5 minutes per song, that means you have no leeway for a 4 hour gig if the next bar tells you to not play something. Do you lengthen your songs? Yes. If people are dancing, we keep the song going. We know about 60 but 52 is about as far as we get. For example, Simple Man goes on forever and I have no idea why couples love to slow dance to this song. The same with What I Like About You. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted June 4, 2012 Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 I love the guitar intro for "What I Like About You." What a killer riff. I forgot about that song - I should learn it. Potts nailed it - lots of us are turning to either a laptop or the iPad. Some guys here can do over 1,000 songs. I probably only know about 100, but I still need the lyrics and chords for a bunch of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leftyjay Posted June 4, 2012 Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 if you play in the same venues, people will let you know if you get too repetitive. if you do an average of 45-50 tunes a night, on average, you'll play about 25-30 of the same songs everynight. then you throw in different songs to fill the night out. that way, the crowd doesnt set their clock to the songs you play. if you play in new venues, they dont know what songs you play. you can come in there 3-4 times and play the same sets everytime. but it just helps having a big setlist to draw off of. if one song really goes well, learn a couple more just like it. thats how the songlist grows to 200-300 or in my case 1100+. my ipad only has 540 song lyrics that i use incase i get a request for something i havent dont in years. but i usually dont even turn it on till needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_e Posted June 4, 2012 Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 i just play for fun so no real 'need' to learn stuff of by heart. No one would care if I used the dreaded music stand!But it's nice to have a few songs you can just play/sing. I've got maybe 40/50 like that. The ONLY way I can remember them is to keep playing/singing them. I have a list of all my songs/pieces and I just go through it pretty regularly. Most times I find myself suffering from dead brain cells if I don't play something for a whileI also try to add a couple of songs a month to the list. Same process pretty much, practice, practice and oh, more practice!I wish I could 'play' stuff like some people can but I'm just a pretend musician, not a real one so this is what it takes for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dparr Posted June 4, 2012 Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 I keep around five hours of three minute songs in my head. I don't ever use a set-list. I watch the people and play what I think that they might want to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Ellis Posted June 4, 2012 Members Share Posted June 4, 2012 I'd say a good chunk of us are either using some type of tablet, laptop or songbooks. The IPads are the shit now that you can just attach them to a mic stand. The bar tells you not to play something? What does that even mean? I guess if that happened most people would stretch a solo or add a verse. I'd stretch a break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 . For example, Simple Man goes on forever and I have no idea why couples love to slow dance to this song. The same with What I Like About You. If you're playin WILAY as a slow dance, then that's certainly one way to stretch out the song... :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leftyjay Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 i play WILAY, but people prefer Willie over wilay for slow songs. though they do like to party to WILAY also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loner Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 I have over 400 songs STUCK IN MY HEAD!! No {censored}. Once I memorize something, it's there for good. I write every one down in a notebook (I have 8 or 10 of them full now) and refer to it once in a while. It also helps if the song tells a story (beginning, middle, end). If I can remember the first three words of a song, the rest just flows out of me. The main reason I memorize songs is that I'm so nearsighted I couldn't see one unless it was 3 inches from my face! But, seriously, the brain is an awesome thing that can hold as much info as you train it to. I never thought I could remember this many songs, but I never had to before. I see guys with music stands and Ipads and I hear the amount of feeling and emotion they put into the lyrics as they read them into the microphone. It makes me glad I forced myself (or life forced me, I guess) to memorize all my songs. I've talked to guys who've tried to stop reading lyrics and they say it's very hard. Songs they've sung for decades just aren't there if they don't have the words. My wife sings with me a few songs per set, and when she started, she made the decision never to use words onstage. When we practice she might hold them for reference if she needs to, but not onstage. She worries all the time she'll forget them, but seldom does. My advice; learn the words, it's worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Voltan Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 all of our stuff is memorized... it started in jr. high when i started playing in the high school jazz band... our director refused to allow us to take charts on stage for performances... we always had everything memorized and took first place in the state in almost every competition we played... same thing in college, no charts during performances... i dont care if someone else uses books/charts etc... but it isnt how i do it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 i play WILAY, but people prefer Willie over wilay for slow songs. though they do like to party to WILAY also I'll bet Willie has partied to WILAY once or twice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 I'm in a cover band and we play about 52 songs in a 4 hours show and we memorize everything. In the setlist exchange thread, there are massive song lists. How do you guys keep all that going? Do you have a book with the songs and chords?200 songs is certainly no big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 52 songs in 4 hours? I'm assuming 45 minute sets? Averaging 3.5 minutes per song, that means you have no leeway for a 4 hour gig if the next bar tells you to not play something. Do you lengthen your songs?3.5 minutes is pretty short for a typical cover song. And that includes no chatter, etc between songs. Also, has a bar/club ever actually asked you not to play something??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EightString Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 I have hundreds (maybe thousands?) of songs I can play and sing from memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 Hell, half the time I can't even remember where my reading glasses are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 Hell, half the time I can't even remember where my reading glasses are. Seriously... fricken kids, "I know 2000 songs". Let me hear what they sound like then we can talk about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sgt. Rock Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 Playing 3 or 4 times a week every week helps me to memorize the songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 Playing 3 or 4 times a week every week helps me to memorize the songs. I wish it helped me...It's a crutch and it's as simple as that for me. I dont give a {censored} though because I add tunes every friggin week on Mon and Tues....I cant keep up. I dont bury my face in my lyrics- they're on the laptop and I glance at them when needed. I actually make a HUGE effort to make sure I dont look like a idiot reading lyrics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike McLaughlin Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 I wish it helped me...It's a crutch and it's as simple as that for me. I dont give a {censored} though because I add tunes every friggin week on Mon and Tues....I cant keep up. I dont bury my face in my lyrics- they're on the laptop and I glance at them when needed. I actually make a HUGE effort to make sure I dont look like a idiot reading lyrics. This is true for me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 I play blues....the lyrics are just interchangeable... Many times there are places in the (I- IV- V) song for lots of guitar widdly widdly...:lol: All jokes aside I probably know the lyrics to 50-60 tunes but they are a varied mixture of folk, jazz, blues, pop, old country and punk. The stuff I play is certainly not mainstream unless I am asked specifically to play certain tunes. For instance I can probably fake my way through Hotel California if it's requested but it's not something I generally play anymore. I suppose if I was to play more mainstream radio music I'd have no problem memorizing the lyrics for that either. In my old rock band days we had a lead singer so I never had to learn lyrics and we could play 100's of songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frankthomson Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 the music aint a probthe words are the prob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted June 5, 2012 Members Share Posted June 5, 2012 Also, has a bar/club ever actually asked you not to play something??? Yeah. I have. I went to lunch at this little place with a work colleague once. I saw that they have live music, and the theme of the place looked perfect for what I do. I went back about a week later with my demo, press kit, etc. The "one sheet" in my press kit lists the type of music I play. The guy says "I see you play country. That's a problem. You won't be playing country if you play here." I kind of chuckled a bit and told him I had a diverse song list. No problem, I could mix up my setlist not to include country. He said, "I'm serious. I don't like country music. The people in here might want you to play it, but I don't care. I don't want you to play it." Never booked a show there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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