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Post subject: Re: How do you go about learning songs?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:15 pm
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Dalembic wrote:
Most cover band drummers want you to modify your basslines by playing all, or mostly all quarter notes..and they want the notes slightly behind the beat. Guess this makes the whole thing go smoother.

If he is a good drummer he'll want you to play the proper bass line and stay on top of the beat. If he needs you to change your part and play only quarter notes then he likely does not have much in the way of meter. As for why he'd want you to lag behind, I have no idea. That would be entirely counterproductive.

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Post subject: Re: How do you go about learning songs?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:33 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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BMW-KTM wrote:
Dalembic wrote:
Most cover band drummers want you to modify your basslines by playing all, or mostly all quarter notes..and they want the notes slightly behind the beat. Guess this makes the whole thing go smoother.

If he is a good drummer he'll want you to play the proper bass line and stay on top of the beat. If he needs you to change your part and play only quarter notes then he likely does not have much in the way of meter. As for why he'd want you to lag behind, I have no idea. That would be entirely counterproductive.



Aint that the truth. I'm not much into the "open stage" approach for gigging.


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Post subject: Re: How do you go about learning songs?
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:32 pm
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I haven't read the other comments here so please forgive me if I'm stepping on someone's toes or being terribly redundant.

To answer the question of "how", personally I sit down with a recording of the tune...these days usually an mp3...and try and figure out as much as I can just by playing along with the tune. Aka, I generally try to learn "by ear". Most of the time I can usually get the gist. Because I play mostly classic rock and blues, honestly....soooo much of it's the same. After you've played a I-IV-V a few thousand times, it's not hard at all to pick the pattern out by ear. If it's something more complicated or I run into a snag or I'm trying to learn something "note for note" (which I seldom do), then I may turn to tab or a Youtube vid or something. Mostly though I usually just sit down and listen to the tune...pull the key out and listen for the pattern. And for stuff like leads, I usually just wing it. There are certain exceptions where a given lead may be a fairly integral part of the tune such as the intro to Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"...if ya don't have that intro right, the tune doesn't sound right. I'll also throw in a signature lick or two such as with the Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff...Stevie had some signature riffs that again tend to go with the tune. For most lead work though, I almost never play it the exact same way twice.

I would also add that I do watch other guitar players fingers A LOT. With the band I'm in now, our front guy has a tendency to just "toss a tune out there" (particularly for requests and such). Often it's been a tune that I may be familiar with from a listener's stand point but have never actually played, so yea, I'll watch his fingers (or the bass players fingers) and usually have most of it by the second verse. We did this a few weeks back with 3 Dog Night's "Joy to the World". We had a request for it and Bob knew it...I've heard the tune hundreds of times over the years, but never actually played it (and the band certainly never played it), so I just kept an eye on Bob's fingers and we fudged our way through it. Likewise, I'll do a lot of leads on tunes that I've never heard before...they'll get into a country tune or something and I'll just throw down something in a major pentatonic...works just fine. Yea...we fly by the seats of our pants A LOT out there! LOL!

Peace,
Jim


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Post subject: Re: How do you go about learning songs?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:40 am
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Rock Star
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I reccommend this device for anybody wishing to learn songs by ear but want the option(s) of slowing it down, looping and altering the key signature.

Linky

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