TimR

I think the difference here is he is stuck somewhere between originals and a covers band. The songs aren't going to be original, the audience will have heard them before. But they're not going to be the usual covers that people request. So, he won't be playing to people who aren't expecting to know the tunes like you do when you play originals. He will be playing to the "Play something we know" crowd. That's a very hard audience to play 'your favourite' tunes to.

I think you're just trying to run before you can walk. Spend some time learning the names of the notes and the frets. Just on the first 7 frets to start with. Only once you have that off; move onto intervals. Good luck.

Well you've actually just echoed my conclusion (the bit that you didn't quote).

I was at my gran's 80th birthday party. This was the singers excuse on the Monday when he'd completely failed to turn up to his first (and only) gig.

Yes. I think he wants to gig but isn't picking tunes to reflect an established genre or group of people. Just tunes that he hopes will appeal to an audience.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1451904012' post='2944354'] Well, my objective in getting together with other musicians is to try and make some interesting music. That's [i]my[/i] reason, if anyone has others, that's great too ! [/quote] I thought that's what the OP was asking. Getting musicians together to play in a studio is pretty simple really. It's whether you can do that with the aim of gigging but without a specific audience in mind.

[quote name='odysseus' timestamp='1451903089' post='2944345'] It's not snobbery, it's reality. Where I live, we don't expect to get paid for playing original material, so if you want to gig solely original material, you're going to need money from somewhere else to live on.... like a job. So.... there ain't a cut. Mind you, I live at the ass-end of Britain. Maybe things are different in the States. Many people consider the notion that making money off the back of other people's work can be called 'creativity' is stretching the definition of the term 'creativity' to well past its elastic limit. Such are the differences.... *shrug* [/quote] You're still creating something. Regardless whether it's a copy. Doesn't matter how closely you think you're copying the original you'll always be putting your own feel on it. A better word might be 'making'.

I think the title of the thread is misleading. The objective is to gig with good music to an audience. What is different is you're creating a product that you don't know whether there will be a market for. In a business sense it's suicide, although you're not going to be investing hundreds of pounds in it so it's not a massive risk financially and could be well worth it. It's the kind of thing you see on the apprentice. "I want you to create a product from scratch and sell it." It's really backwards thinking. Really you should spot a gap, do some market research, see if there is an audience, then sell. Essentially, I think what I'm saying is; don't invest hours perfecting loads of material. Throw together 6 songs, find a small multi band gig and see what the audience reaction is to it.

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1451896762' post='2944279'] For me, making music is most certainly not about making money. It's about playing stuff that I like and had a hand in inventing. If I get paid as well that's a bonus - though most folks wouldn't fork out to hear my racket! Back in the early 90s we spent years both headlining places like the Marquee, supporting Carter and Gaye Bykers (usually for pay of around £50[i] between us -[/i] the van and roadie cost that!) to audiences of 2000, or playing gigs where virtually no-one turned up. All because we loved it. Shame we didn't make it, but we had a great time - here's a review (contains swearing!) from the Melody Maker: http://www.pushstuff.co.uk/mmlives/barfroco110591.html I'm not saying if we'd been doing covers for functions etc we wouldn't have had such a good time (we wouldn't have lost so much money!) - it's a question of each to their own, what you actually want out of music... [/quote] Spent so much money.

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1451832131' post='2943769'] The standard Rock 'n' roll bass line as recorded in hundreds of songs. Easily recognised by just about anyone at all. [/quote] Well. It's certainly recognised as a bass line. Getting someone to agree which song it's from would be a different matter. I'd say for sheer record sales and plays you'd be looking at Billie Jean, Come Together or Money. Probably in that order. It depends whether we're talking 'widely' in terms of geographic or just 'widely' in terms of numbers of people who know it.

The difficulty isn't in getting the gigs. If your band is playing tunes with strong hooks with an attitude and people have heard the songs before you've got a winner. Your main problem will be getting a good singer/frontman on board who can pull it off. Keep your main band running at the same time until your new project gets wings.

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1451577513' post='2941653'] Honestly, i would have told him to f*** off! What a prick! I got up at a jam night once and jammed Sweet Child o mine. It was the first tune I'd learned to play like 20 yrs earlier. I was just jamming on it, put some of my own stuff in but nothing detracting from the line. A guy come up to me and said "Quite good that, I'll show the exact part if you want" I told him to f*** off too! [/quote] Ah yes. "The bass line doesn't go like that." comment. The answer is always "It does when I play it!"

I don't think it matters. I've played in thrash metal bands and classic rock bands. No one has ever said I should add overdrive. In fact most people I've played with love the sound I get. As long as you complement the band you'll be fine. The only problem I've had listening to the Mark Bass gear is it can sound very 'penetrating' and this can get tiring after a while. You don't need to 'cut through' any band with bass, it just needs to be present in the mix.

It's been 10days now. Has it been found? The usual rescoursfullness of Basschat seems to be letting us down. Come on, we found that guy in the waistcoat. How hard can a missing bass be?

5bills each? Or for the band?

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1451490405' post='2940920'] Pretty much any blues or blues based song will just have 3 chords I IV V7. There's literally hundreds of them. [/quote] Quite. But which are the ones everyone knows? The pop tunes. Playing blues in E gets boring fairly quickly.

I'm looking to build a comprehensive list of popular easy and quick tunes to play at a jam night where there will be a mostly non musician audience. Tunes that maybe as bass players/musicians we feel are too simple and maybe 'beneath' us but require little effort and the crowd love. I know loads but once faced with an audience and blank faces from guitarists; can I remember any? Eg for starters. Jonny B Goode Mustang Sally

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1451404455' post='2940207'] I thought it was typically $500 for a band. I doubt a bar would pay $2k...the waitresses would go ballistic.. [/quote] [quote name='blue' timestamp='1451266438' post='2939234'] True, at the bar band level ,outside of nut cases like me that want to gig all the time it can get tough. When we we're auditioning drummers when I told them we gig twice a week and more in the summer, they want nothing to do with it. Guys just don't like that sort of gigging anymore. Am I the only guy that's still loves gigging and the more gigs the better. To this day, my favorite days are when we have 2 shows booked at different times on the same day and you've got $800.00 in your wallet from weekend gig money. Blue [/quote]

Click on your name. That takes you to your profile, then click on 'find content' that lists everything you have posted on. It goes back for a year for your content. Your post has disappeared. PM a mod. They may have made it invisible. You've posed three times on three separate posts about your exercise bike. Four if you include this one. Check your PMs a mod may have messaged you.

Blue is getting $400 a gig in a 5 piece band playing rock covers; there is nothing in the UK that compares. To get that kind of money you're looking at weddings and they are seriously hard work if you're in a £2k+ band. It's certainly not rock band territory and it's certainly not 4 hours in a bar. Boys night out would be happy with $40. .

That interesting. I had a similar problem with Wake Me Up by Wham. It turned out to be the drummer who was playing straight across a certain vocal line that should have had a triplet feel. The singer just couldn't get the words out right because the rhythm was wrong. We spent ages trying to get the right tempo, until I went and listened to the original.

I'm sure the band always has more fun than everyone else. Even with a score and having practiced your part the MD will always make adjustments on the fly, and there's always a bit of comping to do when the 'talent' goes off script or miss an entrance.

Have you done any rehearsals yet? Score or charts?

Excellent. Pantomime is a law unto its own. Enjoy.

[quote name='Maude' timestamp='1450903838' post='2936946'] Will she mind being stored beside the wardrobe? [/quote] It would only be for a few hours each day.