TimR

Only if you're giving them an itemised bill. Most of us will be just charging for a gig. Let's hope we don't all have to join a preffered suppliers list, and have to provide insurance, PAT certs and Risk Assessments. Pub gigs will become a total nightmare.

My Apologies on further investigation and fully checking the facts. It's in 3 movements. No bars, tempos or time signatures were written: I TACET II TACET III TACET

But it's not tab is it? It's just pictures of a fretboard. Tab is bars with the strings on. The Cage Song is 120 bars odd of rests. Depending on what tempo you play it at.

I'm sure I'm being trolled or missing something vital here. But I'll bite. What do these photos of guitar fretboards have to do with bass tab?

Is now a good time to say I play cowbell during the verse? I spent several days selecting the correct cowbell and perfecting my timing.

There's also a danger of spending too much time getting a line exactly right as it is on the record. 'Learning' your part is just the initial step. Once you get to rehearsal, you'll undoubtedly have to change what you are playing to fit whatever alterations to the arrangement your band have to make to suit the abilities and instrumentation of the rest of the band. Learn your part. Practice your part to be competent Meet with the band and work out the arrangement. Practice your new bass part. Rehearse the whole thing with the band. Some or all of those steps may or may not apply depending on different situations.

I've been playing it for years. The bass part under the guitar solo is tricky but the chorus is 3 or 4 notes in E.

Maybe, but I was always taught to listen to as much material as possible and to play with as many people as possible. And I've grown up around musicians. Learning tunes when you don't have to, is never wasted time, you learn more about how songs are constructed and how they fit together. And in the long run develop vital skills as a bass player, which ultimately mean you're not sitting over a cassette player fast forwarding and rewinding while looking at the counter and trying different notes to see if they fit. Maybe nowadays that's not such a chore, highlight a section music in pro tools, set it on repeat at half speed and pick out the part. But I think that listening properly and applying theory to their playing is skill that some people have lost.

It's bizarre.

I'm not sure what exactly your problem is. I haven't set any criteria and I'm not telling anyone what to do. I'm giving my opinion. Why are you taking it so personally? Really, if you just want to listen to one genre and a set of tunes that's fine by me. Why join a covers band playing tunes you've never heard before? It's either because you want the money, in which case, listen to more tunes and expand your skillset and repertoire and you'll be more attractive to bands. Or its because you want to expand your skillset and repertoire. Bass playing is my hobby too. If I'm in the car I'll be listening to tunes I have to learn or listening for upcoming artists.

Just play TO the chords. If you know the chord the individual notes are usually pretty intuitive. You shouldn't have to be sitting there picking out individual notes of a run.

Don't see how? It was a question.

No it's not. Lots have people have taken my comment that most songs can be learned with one listen literally and then extrapolated that to all songs with one listen or you can't call yourself a bass player. I've never said that. At one point I questioned whether anyone should be playing in cover bands if they've not heard the covers that the audience will be familiar with. I'd question any musician who doesn't listen to a very wide range of genres. You're painting yourself into a corner. I didn't say you couldn't or shouldn't. At no point did I say they shouldn't call themselves bass players.

Why. Most cover versions should be on people's radar from hearing them on the radio. Loads of them, apparently, are played by practically every other band. Sitting down and actively listening to a song with your bass in your hand should be all it takes for the majority of songs you'll be asked to play. Most songs follow a simple format and chord progression. The bass lines consist of notes within the scale and chord. Which leaves a chunk of material you may have to listen to several times to pick out. No one said you should be able to learn all cover songs from hearing them once on the radio. The key word here is listen.

Maybe. I've only been playing for 40 years, in thrash metal original bands in the 80s, in big bands, theatre pits, down the dog and duck, function bands, jazz quartets, depped for various bands. Alongside pros and very good semi-pros. My general advice would be to play absolutly everything and anything with as many different people as possible. And don't practice tunes you know, stick Spotify on random and just play along to whatever comes up, whether you like it or not. It's not about fancy licks and complicated lines, it's about getting the simple stuff right. I've had band leaders, on meeting me at the dep gig, say keep it simple and watch me for the changes. I've never had one say, play loads of flashy stuff and improvise to make it all more exciting.

I can believe that. When I played in the function band, I was usually wondering whether the kebab shop would still be open while playing the 7th verse of Mustang Sally while raising my eyebrows at the keys player on the other side of the stage.

Creep What's Up Zombie Just 3 4 chord wonders ff the top of my head that you should be playing by the end of the second chorus.

I don't get it. Most songs. Not every song. MOST songs. Seriously, are you guys really bass players? I could pick out tons of songs that need loads of work, but most don't and unfortunately/fortunately the songs that don't require loads of work, and are easy and mostly boring to play, are the ones that get the crowd going.

Yep. One listen through to learn most covers. It'll hardly be the first time you've ever heard the tunes. I'd suggest if it is then being in a covers band isn't really for you as you're expecting the audience to already know them.

I think you may be taking what I wrote a little bit too literally and specifically. Most cover songs can be learned in one listen through. We aren't talking about film scores, neither are we talking about 20minute prog rock songs. We are taking about songs with 3 or 4 very predictable chords in them. I'd listen to the verse and chorus and then pick up my bass and put the notes in. By the end of the second chorus for 'most songs' I'd have the chords sorted. Not all songs, but that's exactly how I learned the majority of our current set list. I'd then work on any sections that are particularly difficult (if there were any) and look at harder songs on the set list. Remember we were talking about joining a covers band. Most of the hard work would have been already done by the guitars, drums and vocals. Once in the rehearsal, you can guarantee they will have already made changes to their arrangement to suit band instrumentation and ability.

You only have to learn the song. You don't have to perform it or write a critique essay on its form and place in modern music. The idea is you learn it, come to rehearsal and everyone else has learned something approachably passable, and you can get a good idea whether to spend any more time on it. Try playing some dep gigs, or jam nights, where you get told the key of a song you've never heard before and have to pick the song up on the fly.

That's probably part of the problem. If you're the kind of bass player looking for interesting complicated bass lines, you'll be limited to the number of tunes you want to play and even more limited to the tunes people want to listen to. I didn't say all tunes, just the vast majority of them. If you are ruling songs out because you're only playing one note at a time, you're not going to last long in a covers band. Learn the chords and structure. The song is learned. If you want to add runs and fills later at your leisure you can, but that's runs and fills and aren't essential parts of the song.

verse vi-IV-ii-IV Chorus I IV

You should be able to get your fingers under the notes by the end of the first verse and chorus. Chord progressions on popular covers are all pretty much the same. It's that familiarity that gets people listening to them over and over. Blues numbers are all I-IV-V. Either 8, 12 or 16 bar versions. The chart numbers at the moment predominantly feature I-IV-V-vi in various rotations. Then it's just a case of getting how many verses and choruses and whatever mid section there is. There's a tendency for people not to use their ears but to rely on tab and charts. As I say 'most' pop covers are ridiculously simple to pick up.

Our setlist seems to consist mainly of simple 3 and 4 chord songs. I wouldn't want to go through and check which ones I like playing and which ones I don't. But I wouldn't listen to a single on of them given the choice. I tend to change radio stations if any of them come on.