Is this realistic?

[6StringSling]

 

You're thinking of joining a band that plays songs you despise?! But you're not a pro, just in it for the money?

 

First of all, the money's a joke for the effort IMO - $75/gig unless they're gigs with a cut of the door.

 

I've only played in 1 band, that was 18 years ago and we never got out of the basement. I had to learn and play songs I despised back then too. I think I'm old enough to realize that if I joined someone else's band I'd be playing songs I dislike or despise. I'd be professional enough attitude-wise to play them with some passion.

 

The purpose of the post was to see if people thought that learning that set list was realistic and I think got my answer - yes if a you're a seasoned pro who's been playing a majority of those songs already.

[wades_keys]

 

You guys are a mob of wankers: the "don't play common songs" snob set. They're all classics, and the (presumably oldish( party crowd will love them. GaJ

 

 

That may be true, but if you're not into the tunes, then why bother?

 

Life's too short to play songs that suck.

 

(Of course "suck" is subjective but the OP has already stated he doesn't like the material)

 

But hey, I guess if the money's right, you could do the "nowtones" sellout approach - basically whatever works for you I guess...

 

I know I would never play those tunes UNLESS the money was real good and the band was real lowkey and non-demanding.

[wades_keys]

 

...They're just songs: they can't hurt you.............

 

Well it can make you lose the fun of playing music, depending on the person, ya know?

 

Some guys can really divorce themselves from the material, like a studio musician would

 

Others really have to be into and like what they play.

 

It all depends on the state of mind and experience of the player, IMO and where that person is in life and what they want and expect from playing music.

[wades_keys]

 

First of all, the money's a joke for the effort IMO - $75/gig unless they're gigs with a cut of the door.

 

That blows - for that kind of money, you should be playing songs that you enjoy.

[deepblue]

There['s really only about six songs on that list....just a bunch of different lyrics. If you know G C and D you can play 500 country songs. Same here.

[BlueStrat]

First of all, the money's a joke for the effort IMO - $75/gig unless they're gigs with a cut of the door.

 

That clears a lot of things up-

 

I do both originals and covers. I've had the kind of offers you're describing and I passed. The whole point (for me ) in doing covers is to make good money, since playing covers almost always means playing some songs you aren't going to care for that much if at all. If the money isn't right, and the songs don't do anything for you, what's the point? As Wade said, life's too short.

 

You'l find something that'll be a good fit for you eventually.

[Lee Flier]

That clears a lot of things up-

 

Indeed.

 

I do both originals and covers. I've had the kind of offers you're describing and I passed. The whole point (for me ) in doing covers is to make good money, since playing covers almost always means playing some songs you aren't going to care for that much if at all. If the money isn't right, and the songs don't do anything for you, what's the point? As Wade said, life's too short.

 

Hey wait - did I write this? I'll just say: yeah, what he said.

 

You'l find something that'll be a good fit for you eventually.

 

Yeah. Sounds like you'd be more into joining or forming an original band. You can start off rounding out your shows with some covers that you like, and if you're not playing the cover circuit they can be more obscure covers that many people haven't heard. The way the cover scene is these days, you'd have to do a lot of songs you don't like to get the decent paying gigs. Me, I prefer doing other things to pay the bills and my band plays what we like.

[Thundercranium]

 

it has made me be able to pull some fairly colorful licks out of my ass. .

 

 

 

That's gotta hurt:lol:

[6StringSling]

 

But now I can draw on a bunch of different stuff and it has made me be able to pull some fairly colorful licks out of my ass.

 

That's not what people mean by "brown sound" is it?

[roland]

Wow, small world. I saw that ad this morning and sent them an email. Haven't heard back yet.

[just_someone]

 

I've only played in 1 band, that was 18 years ago and we never got out of the basement.

 

 

I wanna point out another aspect, related to this subject.

 

I'm in a somewhat similar situation. I started playing again and I don't have any real stage experience. I responded to ads for bands who said they are laid back and have time to work things out. Perfect for my situation!

 

I always learned for each rehearsal the songs we talked about, but then they would want to do at rehearsal a song or two I had never heard before. All I could do was obviously strum along the chords, but I had no clue whatsoever for the feel of the song in question. Then, at the end, it was like "we are not on the same page". Well, yeah, I know we aren't, but at least give me a chance to work on that song before we play it... If it's a laid back situation, don't judge me by how fast or slow I pick up a new song during rehearsals.

 

This happened a few times, and I don't know why it's so hard to write in an ad something like "laid back, but experience with the bands x, y, z". I wouldn't waste my time and theirs in the first place.

 

What I wanted to say is that this band looks like they mean serious business (at an amateur level). I always believed that you should bite more than you can chew and go with it, but now the only ads I pursue are the ones where they make it clear that they are giving it some months before going live. This reduces considerably the number of bands you can join, but once in a while they do show up.

 

Just like you I could play right now only a few of those songs and, after all the past experiences I had, I wouldn't even consider pursuing such an ad. I could probably learn those songs, but because of my lack of band/stage experience I'm sure something negative would come up. At the end of the day, only you know what level you're at and if you can pull it off.

[GeraldLeong]

 

Songs from that set list I can already play: Sweet Child O' Mine, Sweet Home Alabama Songs from that set list I've played in the past that wouldn't take me very long to relearn: Keep Your Hands To Yourself, Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, Hotel California, Dream On, Just What I Needed Song from that set list I was already learning: Torn Song from that set list I wouldn't mind learning: Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Wish You Were Here, Sharp Dressed Man, Good Times, Bad Times Songs I can play that are not on the set list: Living After Midnight, Piece of Mind, Hold On Loosely, Rock And Roll All Nite, Highway To Hell, Back In Black, You Shook Me all Night Long Songs not on that set list that I'm currently learning: Crazy Train, Mississippi Queen, We Will Rock You, Killer Queen, Plush, Interstate Love Song, Are You Gonna Go My Way, Drive, 3am, Say it Ain't So, Always With You, Always With Me, Friends, Patience, Still Got the Blues The concensus here seems to be that you need to know 45-60+ songs. To play 60+ songs would be like 4-5 hours. That seems like an awful lot of work every day just to keep up with a band that isn't gigging 5 nights a week. I could probably get away with practicing 1/2 the songs one day then 1/2 the next but I don't like it when I can't practice my songs every day. I could live with every other day but once every 3-4 days and my performance would suffer. Maybe I'm just not cut out to play in a band.

 

 

Sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what you want to do already. From your subsequent posts after this one, it is clear that this band you're considering isn't for you. Perhaps starting your own band would be an appealing idea. That is, if you don't mind putting in the effort of finding and selecting musicians, agreeeing on a set list, coordinating practice schedules, etc. Having a clear idea of what you want (which you do already) will go a long way of making it work. Good luck.

[Thundercranium]

That's not what people mean by "brown sound" is it?

 

[wades_keys]

 

Now would be a good time for you to learn alot of those songs. Alot of bands perform the songs on that list. If you plan to gig you would have a real head start by learning all those songs.

 

Does that work for you - I mean, learning a bunch of songs and keeping them on reserve for future?

 

I've seen that work for some folks - for me, I prefer to learn songs as I need and spend more time on theory and attacking the compositional elements of the songs I know.

 

For me, this makes it far easier to recognize by ear intervals and riffs, and allows me to learn, and more importantly retain, new tunes almost effortlessly.

 

I'm not saying those approaches are mutually exclusive - I'm saying that for me, this approach seems to be working real nicely and somehow I don't feel burned out on tunes as much as I used to.

 

I'm actually curious to find out how other folks internalize their music or whatever you wanna call it....

[WynnD]

I've played 18 songs from the list. You really can't have too much experience with music. While there are the five songs that I don't want people knowing that I've played, I would play them as requests. (Just never want to see them on song or set lists. One was on your list. Some songs you just can't get away from.)

 

Just as I doubt that I'd ever join a punk rock band, go for the things you enjoy at some level and try to ignore the nay-sayers. (They're probably playing for the door.)

[tim_7string]

I always learned for each rehearsal the songs we talked about, but then they would want to do at rehearsal a song or two I had never heard before . All I could do was obviously strum along the chords, but I had no clue whatsoever for the feel of the song in question. Then, at the end, it was like "we are not on the same page" . Well, yeah, I know we aren't, but at least give me a chance to work on that song before we play it... If it's a laid back situation, don't judge me by how fast or slow I pick up a new song during rehearsals.

 

Man, this brings back an unpleasant memory from when I first broke into the GF scene. I applied to play bass with this one guy's band. He gave me a bunch of live DVDs to learn songs from (nothing huge, just local cover band taping their dive bar gigs). So I did just that over the following week and after that, went to the guy's house to rehearse with him. He asks me if I learned the songs. I told him I did, then he starts to go into songs NOT on the DVD, barely playing any that I just spent hours upon hours learning.

 

He then gets frustrated when he has to show me a riff to a song I've never played before and later tells me he was trying out two other bass players at the same time, even though he told me on the phone "You have the job".

 

He strings me along for a few more days, then finally tells me he's going with one of the other bass players (after doing the same "play-songs-I-haven't-worked-on" thing at our 2nd 'rehearsal' which was just me and him on guitar/vocals).

 

The only good part about the whole thing is that he recommended me to another bandleader, which got me my start here. But the getting there is still a sore point to me.

[Roy Brooks]

If I was in Oregon I could do it.

[Iamtheblues]

 

True but don't bother, 1/2 of those songs suck.

 

 

That's as may be, but crowds (especially ones made up of drunks or hot chicks) love that stuff. Learn them and you shall never be out of a gig.....

[wades_keys]

Man, this brings back an unpleasant memory from when I first broke into the GF scene. He asks me if I learned the songs. I told him I did, then he starts to go into songs NOT on the DVD, barely playing any that I just spent hours upon hours learning. He then gets frustrated when he has to show me a riff to a song I've never played before and later tells me he was trying out two other bass players at the same time, even though he told me on the phone "You have the job". He strings me along for a few more days, then finally tells me he's going with one of the other bass players (after doing the same "play-songs-I-haven't-worked-on" thing at our 2nd 'rehearsal' which was just me and him on guitar/vocals).

That's how insecure egotistical little tit-heads get their jollies, apparently.

 

I've been through the same thing, except I gave that guy a taste of his own medicine a couple of times on my way out the door.

 

Isn't it sad how some folks are so worried about being "upstaged" by someone else that they set up situations for others to where they are basically guaranteed to fail?

 

That to me is just about as stupid as the mediocre band that holds auditionee's to a ridiculously high standard (e.g. sight read this). Basically they are setting themselves up for failure in the long run either way.

[just_someone]

 

He asks me if I learned the songs. I told him I did, then he starts to go into songs NOT on the DVD, barely playing any that I just spent hours upon hours learning.

 

 

I have another similar story: I went to an audition/jam/rehearsal with a new band, having learned five songs from their list. They were into a style of music I hadn't played before, but since it was another "very laid back situation for people with day jobs & families", I figured it would be a great opportunity for me to get into that music.

 

I spent there two hours, and during those two hours *none* of those five songs were played, simply because their main guitarist (good guitarist BTW) didn't know them. Well, what about him taking a short break and letting me play those five songs with the band? Not to take his place, just to show them what I can do. Nope, that was too hard.

 

They played songs I had never played before, and more than half of them I hadn't heard before either. They never asked *once* "did you know this one?", or "what do you know?", or "do you wanna play something else?". Nada... Other than that they were really very nice guys, late 40's and early 50's, I guess they just didn't think outside the(ir) box.

 

Anyway, it was a good experience for me. I know that next time I'm in a similar situation I'll ask from the very beginning to play the songs I know from their list. If they don't want to do it, I'm out of there before they know it. Not that I'm a primadona, I just don't wanna waste anyone's time.

[doubleR]

 

I have another similar story: I went to an audition/jam/rehearsal with a new band, having learned five songs from their list. They were into a style of music I hadn't played before, but since it was another "very laid back situation for people with day jobs & families", I figured it would be a great opportunity for me to get into that music. I spent there two hours, and during those two hours *none* of those five songs were played, simply because their main guitarist (good guitarist BTW) didn't know them. Well, what about him taking a short break and letting me play those five songs with the band? Not to take his place, just to show them what I can do. Nope, that was too hard. They played songs I had never played before, and more than half of them I hadn't heard before either. They never asked *once* "did you know this one?", or "what do you know?", or "do you wanna play something else?". Nada... Other than that they were really very nice guys, late 40's and early 50's, I guess they just didn't think outside the(ir) box. Anyway, it was a good experience for me. I know that next time I'm in a similar situation I'll ask from the very beginning to play the songs I know from their list. If they don't want to do it, I'm out of there before they know it. Not that I'm a primadona, I just don't wanna waste anyone's time.

 

 

 

That sounds almost identical to an audition that I went on. It was for a blues/rock band, and when they sent me the songs to practice for the audition, I thought they were all originals. It turned out that their speciality was doing really, really obscure covers.

 

I practiced the five songs they gave me very thoroughly until I was pretty confident. At the audition, we ran through the five songs pretty quickly, and I did a decent job. Then, they started playing tunes that weren't on the list they sent. "Just follow along!," they said.

 

This wasn't I-IV-V "blues in A" stuff they were playing. It was a really mixed bag of songs. I'm thinking, how the hell do I follow along on something I've never heard before? The core of the band had been together for years, and they were obviously playing tunes they were completely familiar with.

 

I tried to follow as best as I could, but I wasn't thrilled about the position they put me in.

[fuzzball]

I could do it, but I don't want to.