Members georgestrings Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Question to those of you that do the cover band thing, or have in the past... How worried are you about note for note accuracy through the entire song when you learn or play it? Case in point... years back I was asked to learn a cover or 2 for my original band to fill out a set. We chose Green Day's Longview. I learned the basic tune, but not any of all the extra little fills that round it out, just the main riffs of it. I was pressed for time more than anything, but to this day it's the only way I know it. I jammed on stage with a cover band once years after that and pulled that out as it was one of the only covers I knew. After, the bassist was making pissy faces at me and said "If you don't know the whole song, you shouldn't get up to jam." I swear that scared me away from being in a cover band more than anything. I don't memorize a whole lot of notes too well, I can play the basic tunes, but I'd fight for weeks to commit all the little things to memory and just don't know if it's even worth it. What say you? With me, it depends on the time frame - if I'm pressed for time, I'll nail the changes - if not, I learn a song note for note... I also typically play in 1 guitar bands, so sometimes that means covering 2 guitar(or more) songs - so, those I'll sometimes play a bit different to keep the bottom from dropping out - and if I can't make that work, we don't cover them... I'm able to remember all the little parts on cover songs by playing them on a frequent basis - which also helps keep my playing chops up... In fact, I spend a fair amount of my practice time here, reading posts while playing along to songs I cover in bands... Between all my current projects, I'm covering over 100 songs currently...As for the bassist you mentioned - he sounds like he was just being bitchy - I probably would've told him to pull the stick out of his ass, and STFU... *Most* musicians won't react that way in the situation you described - atleast most good ones I've known... - georgestrings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mike fitzwell Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Renfield,I do my damnest to learn it note for note, so that when I play it live, as long as I get close, the feel is there and it is fine.Chances are, you met a bitchy girly-man of a bassist that day. No one cared but him that you didn't know the fills. +1. I focus on the changes and the signature fills. Get the feel down and outside of that it's all gravy. {censored}, I focus more these days *attempting* to sing harmony on key. That's way more noticeable to the average joe out in the crowd then some 3 second bass fill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frunobulax Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Question to those of you that do the cover band thing, or have in the past...How worried are you about note for note accuracy through the entire song when you learn or play it? i made sure i learned any key hooks note-for-note. we were a three piece, so note-for-note renditions just weren't gonna happen. somebody would have to cover hooks. sometimes it would be me, sometimes the guitarist. all depended on the tune. as long as we caught the overall feel, we were happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RSBro Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Playing in cover bands has allowed me to buy a whole 'lotta gear... - georgestrings This. I don't mind at all. In Houston there's always a crowd, my band are great guys, we have a great PA and equipment, and have a setlist that's enjoyable about 90% of the time. Plus you can invite people and they won't sit there bored b/c they don't know the tunes. Plus the cash and bene's don't suck either. Oh, and also depending on what band you try out for, I would recommend learning the songs pretty much as-is for your audition, and then change stuff here and there as you want once you're in and get in good with the band. That's pretty much how I approach it and it always works out fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ender_rpm Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Also, bass players are rare enough that most bands are more than willing to work with you to get up to speed. Especially if it's just repetoire, not technique, you need to work on (ie you can play it, just don't know the changes). And yeah, over time, it becomes a lot faster to earn specific hooks. Mind you, it's still alot of work, but you can be gigging in months, vice around a year for most original acts I've been with (mostly to get enough material). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Renfield Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Thanks a lot guys, your feedback is appreciated. The covers scene blows donkeys around here, few places to play that pay horribly, but I have been thinking about getting a little into it all the same. I'd have to learn 100% of the tunes needed, I don't know anything anymore, not that I knew much to begin with as stated.I have been thinking about it more as a way to get my chops back in shape, and maybe help my ear out a little. I want to do an original band again, but I suck so badly that no one would take me seriously. If I started off by learning a {censored} ton of covers on my own I think it would be of great benefit to me, even if I didn't join an actual cover band in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RSBro Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Question to those of you that do the cover band thing, or have in the past... How worried are you about note for note accuracy through the entire song when you learn or play it? Case in point... years back I was asked to learn a cover or 2 for my original band to fill out a set. We chose Green Day's Longview. I learned the basic tune, but not any of all the extra little fills that round it out, just the main riffs of it. I was pressed for time more than anything, but to this day it's the only way I know it. I jammed on stage with a cover band once years after that and pulled that out as it was one of the only covers I knew. After, the bassist was making pissy faces at me and said "If you don't know the whole song, you shouldn't get up to jam." I swear that scared me away from being in a cover band more than anything. I don't memorize a whole lot of notes too well, I can play the basic tunes, but I'd fight for weeks to commit all the little things to memory and just don't know if it's even worth it. What say you? To answer this, I learn a song as exact as possible when I'm learning it. Now, most pop/rock songs have fills and walks that are possible to fill in, as most of the lines are somewhat basic and you can definitely add a lot of "taste". This is what I do and my band loves it. For example, I do a little walk-up fill during the chorus of "American Idiot" that my guitards just love. About 1/3 to 1/2 of our songs I have something like that going on and the band jumps on it, in a positive way.My band is pretty particular all the way down from the singer to drummer about the songs being damn close to right, and I like cover bands like that. It's one thing if one person is kind of a slacker and doesn't get it all right, but I've been in situations where EVERYone is a slacker and the songs sound very loose and sometimes not even close to the original version.And learning 40-45 tunes and remembering them every time is kind of a PITA, but we practice weekly to keep our songs tight. Even a week off makes a big difference. We don't do tunes to a "Tribute" level, but they are done as pretty damn close as you can get while still having fun with it. That's kind of the point IMO of playing cover tunes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RSBro Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Oh and another thing, playing and learning 40-45 songs REALLY has helped my ear, even in the last 6 months. I really don't even have to look up stuff all that much anymore like I used to. I get from my singer and guitards what tuning we're gonna play the song in, and I just get after it. We also learn about 2-3 new songs every 1-2 months to keep the setlist fresh. I couldn't be in a band that said "Ok here's our tunes, and that's it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frunobulax Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 another thing - you are not going to be a fan of every tune your band plays. but every tune has something in it - either a run or a hook or a pattern - that makes it worthwhile to play. with the crap tunes, you may have to work to find that thing, but it's there, and it helps when you have to play some tune that makes you wretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RSBro Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 another thing - you are not going to be a fan of every tune your band plays. but every tune has something in it - either a run or a hook or a pattern - that makes it worthwhile to play. with the crap tunes, you may have to work to find that thing, but it's there, and it helps when you have to play some tune that makes you wretch. Exactly.Even though I don't like Green Day at all, or really the song "American Idiot", it's a blast to play and we step the tempo up a tad so it's fun and kinda fast. And like I said it's got a cool fill that people in my band expect me to play now. When I DON'T is when they look at me funny and comment after the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lug Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 I have some covers. I'd be glad to post them for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sunken Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 yup. the exercise of learning the material is great training. you'll find it easier and easier to learn songs, and learn them fast. and being able to recognize where a song is going and what the bassist is doing makes you a much better player. Yup. And every time someone screams bass solo on your original act Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hearafter Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 ...After, the bassist was making pissy faces at me and said "If you don't know the whole song, you shouldn't get up to jam."...That's the dick-headedest thing I've ever heard from a bassist!! Has he never been to a live show? Even the artists themselves play it differently than the recording.Unless you're in a Steel Dragon Tribute Band... then everything HAS to be exact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mlwarriner Posted June 30, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 I have some covers. I'd be glad to post them for you.please do! i miss me some luggyness... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Renfield Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 please do! i miss me some luggyness... Dear Bryan316,Please smite mlwarriner with your metal awesomeness. kthxbai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lug Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 please do! i miss me some luggyness... Sorry it took so long, I had just assumed you wurn't dum enuf to ask for 1. Here ya go... http://www.box.net/shared/static/cymm6998eb.mp3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pickinatit Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Question to those of you that do the cover band thing, or have in the past... How worried are you about note for note accuracy through the entire song when you learn or play it? Case in point... years back I was asked to learn a cover or 2 for my original band to fill out a set. We chose Green Day's Longview. I learned the basic tune, but not any of all the extra little fills that round it out, just the main riffs of it. I was pressed for time more than anything, but to this day it's the only way I know it. I jammed on stage with a cover band once years after that and pulled that out as it was one of the only covers I knew. After, the bassist was making pissy faces at me and said "If you don't know the whole song, you shouldn't get up to jam." I swear that scared me away from being in a cover band more than anything. I don't memorize a whole lot of notes too well, I can play the basic tunes, but I'd fight for weeks to commit all the little things to memory and just don't know if it's even worth it. What say you? I can't say that i know the specific song you're talking about, but I play covers and I pretty much detest learning them note for note.I play them my own way pretty much BUT, and this is a BIG BUTT....you have to recognize that some songs have "Signiature Riffs" that are a major part of what makes the song so recognizable and popular. THose riffs/songs, yeah, you need to get them down note for note.Other then that, lock with the drummer, get a good groove going and it's all good. IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rpsands Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Pretty much the only notes you need to know for pop rock are E, A, C, and G. Anything else is filler.Man this is a ridiculous overgeneralization. I can give you some examples from the retarded cover list I've had to learn--Chili peppers songs are very often in F it seems like (soul to squeeze, scar tissue). Sublime songs use B in there. And C#, G#, etc, being E-major rather than your E-Minor assumption. F# is extremely common; Matchbox 20's Bent I think is F# minor. 7m3's Cumbersome is the same I think.Bush's Little Things is in A minor and uses a 1-6-b3-4 progression, not really fitting your mold despite being a crazy simple song.Tons and tons of songs are in drop D.I can go on and on but I can't think of any E minor songs we cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rpsands Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Question to those of you that do the cover band thing, or have in the past... How worried are you about note for note accuracy through the entire song when you learn or play it? Case in point... years back I was asked to learn a cover or 2 for my original band to fill out a set. We chose Green Day's Longview. I learned the basic tune, but not any of all the extra little fills that round it out, just the main riffs of it. I was pressed for time more than anything, but to this day it's the only way I know it. I jammed on stage with a cover band once years after that and pulled that out as it was one of the only covers I knew. After, the bassist was making pissy faces at me and said "If you don't know the whole song, you shouldn't get up to jam." I swear that scared me away from being in a cover band more than anything. I don't memorize a whole lot of notes too well, I can play the basic tunes, but I'd fight for weeks to commit all the little things to memory and just don't know if it's even worth it. What say you? I don't bother. I learn anything that's distinguishable and obvious, otherwise we do a lot of improv and a lot of different things. For a bunch of our cover songs, we modify the end or the beginning to fit into a medley or tie into a jam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lug Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 When I do a cover, not one note is traceable to the original.....or to any music, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zachoff Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Man this is a ridiculous overgeneralization. I can give you some examples from the retarded cover list I've had to learn-- Chili peppers songs are very often in F it seems like (soul to squeeze, scar tissue). Sublime songs use B in there. And C#, G#, etc, being E-major rather than your E-Minor assumption. F# is extremely common; Matchbox 20's Bent I think is F# minor. 7m3's Cumbersome is the same I think. Bush's Little Things is in A minor and uses a 1-6-b3-4 progression, not really fitting your mold despite being a crazy simple song. Tons and tons of songs are in drop D. I can go on and on but I can't think of any E minor songs we cover I was kidding... Mostly. There are a ridiculous amount of songs that use the C-G-A-F progression. Kills me to hear or play those.When I was playing in a cover band, Little Things was the song we played that I hated most. Jimmy Eat World - Middle was another one I hated playing.Really, that's why I got out of it. When the only covers you like to play are songs that not many people know or want to hear... The cover thing isn't for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frunobulax Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 the covers that i absolutely hated were the repetitive strummy songs like Here Without You. same {censored}ing progression through the whole damn song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rpsands Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 I really loathe the strummy repetitive stuff. GNR - Patience is probably my least favorite of our covers I loves me some chili peppers however. Definitely some of my favorite covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mlwarriner Posted June 30, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Sorry it took so long, I had just assumed you wurn't dum enuf to ask for 1. Here ya go... http://www.box.net/shared/static/cymm6998eb.mp3 MMMMMM...ilikeit ilikeit!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flâneur Posted June 30, 2009 Members Share Posted June 30, 2009 Sounds like big fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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