Faithfully memorizing bass covers - how many?

[kiat]

Am electric bass'ing in two bands : depping in a funk covers band and have learnt most of two sets of assorted covers from the 60s to present day (JB, Soulive, AWB, etc..). I'm also in a uke covers band with a very eclectic choice of music. I've memorized mostly the precise original bassline for virtually all the tunes and play without anything written in front of me. As I'm learning more I'm finding it hard to recall the ones I learnt a while back, however intensely - am finding it a little challenging.

But it got me thinking - what's a fair number of bass covers to memorize? Are there people who remember 100s, 1000s? I've got about 40 so far I guess.

How many do you reckon you've got mostly nailed? (that's the whole song bassline, with all changes, start to finish, not just riffs)

[TomKent]

I've got at least 50 I could play note perfect at any given time. God knows how many I could blag through because I know the changes or spot a pattern and remember the form and for the rest? I've got an extensive pad.

[paul h]

0.

I'm just a blagger I'm afraid. I learn the song (ish) and then make it up as I go along.

[Delberthot]

Awaiting a referral but I'm 99% sure I have Asbergers which means I have a sh*t hot memory.

I could play 100s if not into the thousands.

Plus playing in a wedding band for 14 years means that I can pretty much work out how a song is going to go even if I've never heard it before

Edited June 8, 2011 by Delberthot

[JakeBrownBass]

I play in 4 different groups regularly and both have sets of over 50 songs, there are always some the same so i guess about 150 that i could pic without any issue. For the rest i've got an iPad with well over 2000 sheets on that i can recall in seconds.

[thisnameistaken]

I'm not in a covers band but there are hundreds of other peoples' songs I can play and hundreds of others I could busk easily, and I suppose hundreds more I could manage with charts.

The more you play the more obvious songs become. I was jamming some Simon & Garfunkel and Beach Boys songs on double bass tonight after a few glasses of wine and they were good fun. I could've gigged those without practicing them. If you have a decent ear you don't need to memorise much.

[Blademan_98]

I tend to jam through the song and only memorise specific riffs if they are well known.

Most you can get away with

[risingson]

I depped a gig on Saturday night with 3 other people that had never played together before. We had around 40 tunes to pick from, of which I blagged all but about 2 purely from muscle memory.

Learning basslines note for note is fine but the best thing for a bass player to be able to on gigs like the one you describe is to play something that resembles the bass line but is essentially your own, all without overplaying or it sounding wrong. Unless the bass line in a song is integral and has to be played note for note, e.g. Billie Jean off the top of my head, then learning bass lines perfectly removes a lot of the fun of sounding like yourself.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='risingson' post='1262190' date='Jun 9 2011, 01:16 AM']the best thing for a bass player to be able to on gigs like the one you describe is to play something that resembles the bass line but is essentially your own, all without overplaying or it sounding wrong. Unless the bass line in a song is integral and has to be played note for note, e.g. Billie Jean off the top of my head[/quote]

Bass players who have heard Billie Jean should be able to play Billie Jean. It's one of those 'You obviously play it like this' songs.

Anyone who can't play that song at the drop of a hat probably can't play anything without getting a tab off the internet.

[Delberthot]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1262177' date='Jun 9 2011, 12:51 AM']I'm not in a covers band but there are hundreds of other peoples' songs I can play and hundreds of others I could busk easily, and I suppose hundreds more I could manage with charts.

The more you play the more obvious songs become. I was jamming some Simon & Garfunkel and Beach Boys songs on double bass tonight after a few glasses of wine and they were good fun. I could've gigged those without practicing them. If you have a decent ear you don't need to memorise much.[/quote]


One of these rare 'I actually agree wth you' threads

The line I recognise most is 'the more you play the more obvious songs become' there's only so many ways a song can go so why not work them out for yourself?

[xilddx]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1262194' date='Jun 9 2011, 01:21 AM']Bass players who have heard Billie Jean should be able to play Billie Jean. It's one of those 'You obviously play it like this' songs.

Anyone who can't play that song at the drop of a hat probably can't play anything without getting a tab off the internet.[/quote]
You're probably right

[thisnameistaken]

I'm not used to people agreeing with me. I haven't changed my posting style and all of a sudden I'm not outrageous any more.

I've lost it.

Same goes for 'Thriller' BTW.

[thack]

I'd say about 250, cos thats how many are on my play-along-bass playlist on my computer. 60 of those i play in my covers band, another 200ish of stuff i like plonking along to when i wanna stretch the fingers. I find its all about remembering you cue points rather than the full structure of the song, although the musicians your playing with have to know theirs too.

[Jambo10]

[quote name='thack' post='1262229' date='Jun 9 2011, 05:40 AM']I'd say about 250, cos thats how many are on my play-along-bass playlist on my computer. 60 of those i play in my covers band, another 200ish of stuff i like plonking along to when i wanna stretch the fingers. I find its all about remembering you cue points rather than the full structure of the song, although the musicians your playing with have to know theirs too.[/quote]

Pretty much nailed what my post was going to say.....but not as many for me, probably only about 150 in total.

Our covers band has between 50-60 and the rest in stored on the pooter for me faffing away of an evening when the wife watches tv elsewhere!

[Lozz196]

I probably know a huge amount of covers exactly, with even more where I know the majority of the song, but not specific little bits.

I am of the opinion that if doing a cover, unless the whole band are re-working it, that I should play it correctly. So unless I can`t hear the bass-line sufficiently on the recording, or find accurate TAB, I will always play the song as it was originally.

[Bilbo]

Two. So What and Impressions.

[Dave Vader]

If I try and think about it I will get scared and forget everything I know. So I will have to say too many to attempt to count.

[wateroftyne]

Exactly like the record? Not many. Faithful to the intention of the original? Loads - probably more than I think I do.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1262144' date='Jun 9 2011, 12:06 AM']Awaiting a referral but I'm 99% sure I have Asbergers which means I have a sh*t hot memory.[/quote]
mmm... Ass Burgers..

[Happy Jack]

At the risk of being pedantic (what! [i]moi[/i]?) I thought the OP's point was that he has memorised the original basslines, note perfect.

I know dozens, perhaps hundreds, of covers but I would hesitate to claim that I'm note perfect on any of them. That's not false modesty - merely an observation. I suppose that I could learn them with that degree of accuracy if it was an absolute requirement, but IME (best make that my [i][b]limited [/b][/i]experience) it never has been a requirement. I'm not in a tribute band, and I'm nowhere near good enough for professional work (pit or session).

Most of the time, I play something that works for me, works with the song, works with what the rest of the band are playing, and seems to work with the audience. Occasionally I re-listen to the original and I can be genuinely startled at how far away I have become from the original.

Obviously, if there's a famous and distinctive hook in the bassline then that will be there when I play it. What I play is recognisable. But it ain't a replication of the original.

[risingson]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1262194' date='Jun 9 2011, 01:21 AM']Bass players who have heard Billie Jean should be able to play Billie Jean. It's one of those 'You obviously play it like this' songs.

Anyone who can't play that song at the drop of a hat probably can't play anything without getting a tab off the internet.[/quote]

I don't mean it's not straight forward to play (although I dare say I've seen more than a few people mess it up, maybe it's the repetitiveness of it that some people can't handle), I mean if you play anything else apart from what Louis Johnson put down on the record then it's most likely going to sound toss.

[JTUK]

note for note...?? who cares...

If you know the song you'll know the intervals, and then it is all ears on bar 1

[chaypup]

My fingers know a lot more songs than my (conscious) brain does.

[BottomE]

Faithfully - great term. Not many. There are a few classics that IMHO must be played note perfect. Other than that we will adapt covers due to the lineup of our band. Most of the cover basslines i would say retain the theme of the original but have some "user input". For me this is important as after doing 300+ gigs with the same band it might be a bit soul destroying to have to play the same thing all the time.

[dc2009]

Asides from songs like Billie Jean, where the bass is integral, as has been brought up, I don't think you need or should want to be reproducing the original bass note for note! If you play it exactly the same way every time, you'll soon get bored of it. And for a lot of songs in existence, the only way you will get note for note perfect is either having an amazingly good ear (to pick up every rhythmic nuance, dead notes, slides etc), or a transcription, and unless the song is markedly simple, even the best ear players won't get it spot on.

If I'm honest my song memory has probably gone down from a couple of hundred to under 25. I've stopped playing standing up and posing in the mirror/rocking out to the CD, and am far more intent on playing the thing a lot more 'right,' bass on knee, with the tab on guitar pro or song on spotify, so I can go back and repeat some parts easily etc. As a result of this, I play along to a lot more songs, but if I play one, I probably won't play it again for another month at least, unless it is seriously fun or there are bits I've still got to work on. As a result, my memory contains a coupla chillis and maiden classics and not a whole lot more!

[Slipperydick]

Spent a few years with a covers band that had been going with almost the same personnel since the mid 60s.

They had a huge repertoire, and didn’t know when to call it a night, so if one drunk shouted more it could end up being a 3 hour set, and if one punter shouted a request, they just couldnt resist doing it. After 3 or 4 numbers the set list went out of the window. I learned a lot of covers, but they often used to throw in numbers I‘d never played, so I just had to busk it. Mostly by watching guitards hands cos I aint got a great ear. Forgot 99% of them within a few months of quitting.

Cant remember many covers now, other than whats in my current tribute bands set, and I forget them half the time and have to blag it. Must be old age creeping up.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Slipperydick