Naetharu Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Hi folks, At the moment I'm working on expanding my repertoire and I'm hoping that some of you folks might be able to offer me some useful suggestions for songs that I need to know if I'm interested in finding work in function bands. I'm after the tracks that you would expect pretty much any band to know - some I can guess but it'd be very helpful to get some input as to which songs are essential to the working bass player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 It varies from region to region, although there are many crossovers. One tip I found helpful was to start thinking of songs as progressions e.g. Stand By Me is 1-6-4-5, which means that you can pretty much transpose on the fly no matter what key the song is called in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Here's a list of 300, enjoy. http://www.setlisthelper.com/blog/popular-cover-songs/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 I was going to say that you'll need about 100 plus... but really you should be able to busk more songs that you know but have never played, especially the ones which have just 2 or 3 changes... ie, V, ch and M8. If you know how the song goes and can recall it in your head, you should be able to pretty much play it on 1.. as in the count So it depends how many songs you 'know'... and you should be able to transpose them as well, on the fly...Certainly for simple songs. I haven't read it, but I doubt Tim's set list will be wildly off the mark of a list of 'dep standards' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naetharu Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1445519646' post='2892091'] Here's a list of 300, enjoy. [url="http://www.setlisthelper.com/blog/popular-cover-songs/"]http://www.setlisthe...ar-cover-songs/[/url] [/quote] Fantastic stuff mate, that's exactly what I was after! [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1445521001' post='2892107'] If you know how the song goes and can recall it in your head, you should be able to pretty much play it on 1.. as in the count [/quote] Aye, this is a bit of an issue since before taking up bass my musical listening was a bit narrow and obscure. I'm well versed in quite a lot of folk music, dance and electronica, and lo-fi punk/indy/anti-folk but my knowledge of 'pop' music is a passing awareness at best. That's not something I am proud of, and one of the best things that picking up bass has done for me is expand my appreciation for music in general and motivate me to listen and play songs well outside of my traditional comfort zone. However, it feels pretty daunting right now given that there seem to be hundreds of tracks that other people know well and yet which seem utterly obscure to me. I'm sure it will come with time, but it's going to take a lot of listening as much as anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 They don't 'just know' it by some form of musical osmosis. Whether they will admit it or not a lot of players spend a lot of time working up new material and how much time you spend depends on how close to the originals you want to be, how complex it is and how quick a learner you are. Some bands are sticklers for getting stuff 'as it was recorded' and some are much more relaxed about it. There are a lot more teaching aids around now which I've found really useful as I'm not that quick a learner so anything that speeds up endless repetitions of listening to the song is fine by me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 And then we come back to how much is the dep gig paying you to get it right...but it should right enough they can't/don't have any complaints anyway. At a decent level, ...the demands are harder but I wouldn't stress about your mates gig and the local as these are all our formative times. Get in with a few people you know and the experience is likely to be kinder and easier... Go for very good money and turn up on the evening and meet the band is where the roasting tend to start... It is often about getting out there and getting those miles under your belt... Nobody knows everything... had a quick look at Tim's set list and there are songs I don't know by name..so I'd need to be able to cover that in advance with Spotify or Youtube, then I'd make quite notes for quick reference...even if it was simply '12 bar'.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Quite a few repetitions in that list, and it looks very American, but if it helps for perspective, I got to 104 of those I play/have played/might conceivably play again. Apart from the Gotye one, of course: no-one's ever gonna want to hear that again. Ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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