spike

About 10 minutes drive for me but our guitarist drives all the way from Worthing to Hertfordshire.

I've never avoided open strings, if it makes some things easier to play I'll use them. There is a difference in tone but I don't think it's big enough to worry about.

No effects for me either, I leave all that stuff to the guitarist.

It sometimes happens to me when the drummer is counting the song in. As long as I can remember what the first note is the rest of it comes back to me.

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='624921' date='Oct 13 2009, 01:12 PM']Cheers for that mate but the mistakes are alway in the same place and it tends to throw everyone else off[/quote] If the mistakes are always in the same place it's worth practising just that section of the song with the whole band. Start a few bars before where you make the mistake ( or at the beginning of a verse or chorus if you need a reference point ) and repeat that section over and over again until you nail it. Then play the whole song. We do this alot in my band and it really works.

Stevenage Workingmens Club. Long corridor from the car park at the back to the stage with three sets of doors along the way. Beside each set of doors is a notice stating ANYONE FOUND PROPPING THESE DOORS OPEN WILL BE REPORTED TO THE COMMITTEE. I love playing WMCs

Have a look at my band (link is at the bottom of this post). We mainly play 60s soul and Motown, guaranteed to get everyone on their feet

Very nice indeed, you must be well pleased. Are you going to be playing it down the George II anytime soon?

I hum bass lines to music that only exists inside by head. I've found it's a good way of getting a seat to myself on public transport.

If it's a pentatonic scale it needs to have five notes in it (excluding the octave). A major pentatonic scale in D has the notes D E F# A B(the 6th) and D in it, the same as you posted above but also with A string fret 7. If you have heard the guitar part at the beginning of 'My Girl' that's a major pentatonic scale. I use the shape in your first post alot, it must have been one of the first things I learned on the bass.

That looks like a D6 arpeggio to me. For a D major pentatonic scale I'd play A string fret 5 then 7 D string fret 4 then 7 G string fret 4 then 7 For a D minor pentatonic scale I'd play A string fret 5 then 8 D string fret 5 then 7 G string fret 5 then 7

For function gigs we always ask that we get fed and watered, it's not a problem for most clients. I've played a couple of military bases where we've ended up having a full Christmas dinner before we played. We used to have a regular gig at an Indian restaurant/nightclub where we'd get a free curry as part of the deal. Almost never get free drinks at pub gigs.

I have about eighty in my current repertoire but what I find interesting is that songs I haven't played for years I am able to remember almost instantly if I am playing along with someone.

I think you could segue from Eye Of The Tiger into The Final Countdown and then into Rosanna

Just repeating what everyone else has said, Jack is a great guy to deal with.

Excellent gig last night. First gig since July and one of our singers couldn't make it so I was expecting us to be pretty ropey but as it turned out it was one of the best we've played. The place was full, the audience was enthusiastic, the landlord wants us back there before Christmas. We had two sets of potential clients for functions next year come along and they both loved us so all in all a good night.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='603099' date='Sep 19 2009, 07:56 PM']For a while I kept forgetting that the second and third verses weren't separated by a chorus in 'Valerie'. The embarrassment was enough motivation to get it sorted though.[/quote] I still do this one time out of three. I normally mess up because I get distracted by a good looking dancer in the audience. Last night I messed up Get Ready by the Temptations, not the world's most challenging bassline by any means.

Many years ago the band I was in played support to Dr Feelgood. Being fans of theirs me and the guitarist went to say hello to them in their dressing room after the gig. When we went in we didn't notice there was a second door next to the one we came in through. After a brief tongue-tied chat we went to leave, my guitarist opened the wrong door and I followed him, closing the door behind me, into the bathroom. Coming out of the bathroom back into the dressing room where our heroes were trying hard not to burst out laughing was mortifying. PS. Lee Brilleaux was a really nice bloke and gave us a beer each

Wasn't me, I was watching my mate's band play in Bedfordshire. And it wasn't him either.

I use Mixolydian and Dorian alot, followed by Major, Major Pentatonic and Minor Pentatonic. I mainly play soul, funk and blues and these scales work well for me. I often think in terms of arpeggios and passing notes rather than scales though.

Sadowsky Metro RV4 in sunburst

I think they understand the principles of supply and demand very well. A situation where demand exceeds supply is good for them.

Motown, Smokey Robinson - I Second That Emotion Stax, Sam & Dave - Soul Man but I'll no doubt have two different favourites tomorrow

[quote name='OldGit' post='523858' date='Jun 25 2009, 04:52 PM']I suspect it would be your fault for making them dance and if they trip over and crash into your PA stands and drag a top cab down on top of themselves that's probably your fault too, even if they've drunk 20 pints of special brew ...[/quote] I wonder if they could sue the caterers if they fell over on the way to the bar for their 21st pint ?

I can understand a band potentially being liable if someone trips over a speaker stand or a cable but not if they trip over on a floor that the band hasn't provided.