General Music Chat

hey just came off the road and got a call to do a new years eve gig with three days to learn 230 songs i didnt know. (covers and three originals) i did it and as soon as that i got a call to set in with another band set to play jan 9th and 10th. with four sets with at least 10 in each set. learned them all just in time. as you play for many years you learn to use wht works for you. there is no real answer other than utilizing what works for you. listen to all and what works for them and maybe take a little from each and find your thing. it can be done and done with integrity and well as correctness. i just wish people locally to me were as serious as they let on. they all want to play but less than 2 [ercent are really serious with a love of music at my level. i dont want to be the next wjoever just do live gigs with some energy from country to rock to alt to funk or whatever. my best help to anyone is to practice, practice and a little more practice. every 30 minutes can be practice time in the evening. most i talk to say they are serious but only want to get together once a week to practice and not touch there inst all week til the next practice. but remember that practice doesnt make you perfect but it sure as hell makes you better. so dont get so frustrated. utilize any tabs, chords, or sheet music you can get for free and dont be afraid to set enough time each day to learn those songs. 20 songs should take you on your part( or at least speaking about me) should take no longer than two weeks at most even if you dont really like them. i hate to say it but maybe you are trying something way above your level. i hope not and even if you are dont let it get you down. you have to put in the time to do your part. we all do. some just have to try a little harder and let things flow. hang in there and dont be so hard on yourself. you will get it just work hard when you practice and be serious about the time you practice. no hangin out and let nothing interupt you. you will be suprised how much you can do.

Hello Tend141,
If I had 230 songs to learn, I would listen to them all a few times with the guitar round my neck, get a sheet of paper and write the first chord of each song against a song number... then go to the gig and make the rest up as I went along!
I mean, if people are listening to 230 songs in one gig!!!!!! at say three minutes a song? That's eleven and a half hours without introductions or time added for breaks to shovel rotten tomatos etc off the stage! So they are hardly going to notice the odd bum note I think.
That would be my approach anyway.
Mark D Phillips............... east of the pond.

Tend said" . . . say they are serious but only want to get together once a week to practice and not touch their inst all week til the next practice . . ."
.
Man - ain't THAT the truth!
.
.
To the other folks reading this thread - you HAVE to practice on your own between group practices.
If you keep on making the same mistakes at the same spots - you are holding back the rest of the group.
.
And the guys in the rest of the group will start looking for someone better.
And you'll eventually be pissed off because they replaced you.

Ive never really had much trouble learning new songs.

I mean after youve learned 1000 songs or so, they kind of get redundant to me.

Id say that my current band has around 150 songs that weve played over the last 8 monthes at gigs. At one time we had around 300 songs that we could pull out of a hat. So we are getting back into form with a quickness.

When I do learn a song, I learn it on my on. There is no need in going to practice with other folks just to learn a song. If you are learning covers there are so many resources available these days, and yea I use tabs if I hit a stumbling block on a song and I have about 500 songs copied into my computor with lyrics and basic chords just to remind me of songs.

When my band works up a new song we run thru it once or twice in practice, but ussually we just try it at a gig and if it works we keep if not we throw it away unless requested.

New stuff I like a copy of the song we are doing, I load up tabs, and then I go to work and learn it. Not until Im good to go with it do I even hint to the band that Im ready to play a song. Cause we just dont bullshit around, we either do it or we dont.

What was the question again?

How do you learn songs?

Just Do It!

I guess it really depends on if you are singing or playing an instrument.

If you are playing an instrument...then just learn what key it's in and play the cords of the songs you don't remember. Most songs are very basic in that way...they start on the root chord then at the chorus go to the fifth of the root chord then back again.

if you have to learn words...then just hum and sing all day. I sing opera and many times just get a two months to learn two and a half hours worth of music in a foreign language on top of learning other songs. Treat it like a full time job. Music is suppose to be fun and enjoyable, but sometimes it's like work....so reward yourself with a beer afterwards.

I also write the music out. I write the melody line and the words under humming the song while I do it and not looking at the music.

You'll find what works for you. =)

Hello Rythmn Man,
Yes that all sounds right; I think any band will struggle to unite if some want a Saturday jam session with a few beers, and others want to see where the band can take them.

If a band gets together in the wilds of Scotland or the plains of Arizona, they are probably the only guys for a hundred miles you will find; so you tend to make the best of who you get.
If you form a band in town and one guy just wants to twang at his best riffs and swig beer, he'll soon be out on his ear, and another in his place.

I think we tend to express out aspirations on a best-case senario basis when we present ourselves to new bands; bit like when going for a new job.
Very few are likely to come for audition and say, "sounds great, but bear in mind I have three kids, and I take my boy to football practice most weekends, and my two daughters have dancing on a couple of nights etc"

The difference between the availability of a pro musician and a domestic amateur with a home and a job is quite big!
Yes a pro musician may also have a home and kids; the difference is he will have structured his life and his family's expectations around the fact of music being what brings home the bacon... like being a long distance lorry driver or something.

So is there any conclusion?
The problem is maybe, that everyone is as guilty of sticking their heads in the sand at the formation of a band... hoping everyone is going to be singing from the same hymn sheet, rather than asking searching questions about what the others want from it.
It's a problem... but luckily not mine anymore!
Cheers,
Mark P..................

Hi again all,
I got carried away with why people want to be in bands and why some just don't put any effort into it.
But learning new stuff is part of that: you are hardly going to be arsed to learn fifty new songs by heart if all you want is to spend an afternoon pulling a few licks and swigging beer!
Personally, I can't get my head round what kind of music it can be that needs anyone to learn several hundred songs... perhaps I've led a sheltered life!
Cheers all,
Mark P......................