Learning covers

[Doddy]

30 minutes ago, paul_5 said:

And earn more money.

Which is one of the reasons why I've played for a few tribute shows.

[Phil Starr]

5 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

I asked because I play in an original metal band and because we don't have a lot of material we're going to play a couple less well known covers by Eyehategod and Down but because we have only one guitar Im thinking we'll need to make some changes, I might play a mix of bass and rhythm parts 

If you are an originals band I think you really don't have to worry, you'll be playing to a completely different sort of audience to a covers band. The choice is your own, keep to the spirit of the original or make it your own. The only thing is to take it seriously and play it the best you can with the line up you have. Audiences respond to enthusiasm, confidence and commitment as much as anything. Have fun with them.

[TheGreek]

Just now, Phil Starr said:

make it your own.

Always!!

[Lfalex v1.1]

It's not so much the learning of the covers as agreeing with the rest of the band whose interpretation is best/most l likely to work/most accurate.

AKA: Why I've always played in originals bands with no covers in their sets.

I do, however, learn to play other bands' songs for my own entertainment. I endeavour to get as close to the original as humanly possible.

*except for that bit in "Crime of the Century" (Supertramp) after the middle 8 where it's uncertain whether the first bass note is meant to be on the off-beat or not. Tony Levin puts it squarely there on a cover version, so that's how I play it. 

Maybe this is why I can't play in covers bands! 🤣

[alyctes]

6 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

I asked because I play in an original metal band and because we don't have a lot of material we're going to play a couple less well known covers by Eyehategod and Down but because we have only one guitar Im thinking we'll need to make some changes, I might play a mix of bass and rhythm parts 

If they're less well known, there are fewer people to complain anyway

[SpondonBassed]

23 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

When learning covers do you try to copy the original exactly or do you sometimes simplify or change or add bits? 

I start out trying to imitate the basslines of new songs in my repertoire but at a point where I am confident of the song structure I sometimes improvise.

Occasionally I will download YT clips of different versions of the same song and imitate the cover bassist as well as the original.  E.g. I Shot the Sheriff by Bob and the Wailers or by Eric C.  Another example being Chic's Good Times with either BE or with JB.  Eventually you end up with a variety of note choices to pull out of your hat.

Getting accurate TAB is rare so it's good to try a few different TABbed opinions of what the bass is doing by saving them from the various free sources online if you aren't hearing it well enough on a recording.  Ideally, it's good to write your own musical notes.  With a bit of practice it can help a lot because you really take a song to pieces and rebuild it in the process.

If you're seriously trying to reproduce an original sound, say, for a tribute band, I would recommend paying for an official score.  Be aware though that published music is not always the definitive version.  Studio recordings and live performances by the same band can have very different basslines or even bassists!

Trust your ears above all else.

[Nicko]

Unless its a tribute band there's little point in trying to play an identical bass line.  The singer won't sound like the original singer, the live performance will probably be quite different to the studio produced original.  Ultimately if someone says "that's not how the bass line goes" the answer is "it's how it goes when I play it".

There's bits you have to play almost identically, there's bits you won't have the skills to play, and there's bits where you'll get bored playing the original. Playing the essence of teh song and getting it right is more important than playing note for note badly.  An example:

When playing something like Scar Tissue by RHCP not only does Flea play a different variation each time.  Through lack of time to learn each variation I gigged it a few times playing a reduced number of variations - some in the wrong place and some that I made up, then through laziness I didn't bother trying to learn the rest of them.   The studio version includes more than one bass track anyway so it wasn't like I could do note for note.

[Bobthedog]

2 hours ago, Nicko said:

When playing something like Scar Tissue by RHCP not only does Flea play a different variation each time.  

I remember Jessie J singing a very different version of Price Tag and being asked about it, her response was she was bored of singing the song all the time so did this to keep her interest going

[odysseus]

I don't play covers in bands, so when I do learn a cover it's for the technique/style/fretboard knowledge or whatever, so I learn in its original form.

[Nicko]

35 minutes ago, Bobthedog said:

I remember Jessie J singing a very different version of Price Tag and being asked about it, her response was she was bored of singing the song all the time so did this to keep her interest going

I actually meant the original recording includes variations on a theme in each verse and chorus but I'm sure when he plays it live he probably just makes it up as he goes along too.

[chris_b]

A cover is either your copy, an interpretation or anything in-between. Sometimes it's satisfying to play the original parts, then again, sometimes you have ideas you prefer to play. It all depends on the band you're in.

[BadHands]

I'm the guy who asked this last time, and people overwhelmingly answered they get the gist of it and do their own thing.

Context is king. You can play something note for note, and if there's some Mandela effect to it, people will think you played something wrong when it was faithful to the original recording anyway. 

If it's a cover for an originals band, amalgamating the rhythm and bass together along with appropriate effects to fill things out sonically, could give you some ideas for your own songs and open you up as a player. Rage against the machine make great use of the bass player filling in the mid range when the guitarist decides to play solos.

I do think more often than not when people say they don't learn things note-for-note it's due to laziness, but if the result sounds good in it's own way, does that even matter?

[SpondonBassed]

I see learning songs note for note (or near to) as preferable to learning scales.  Keep in mind that I am a hobby bassist with an aversion to tuition.  I haven't played on stage (other than a couple of OM nights) since the late eighties.

The only scale I like to practice is the chromatic one from one end of the neck to the other and back.  Sometime I start to cross over the strings shortly after leaving bottom E.  Other times I cross over mid neck.  I know my minor and major scale shapes but that's it without looking up a scale for a specific purpose.

Sometimes I transpose the line by playing a semi-tone above or below what I'm used to just for a laugh.

I've no leaning towards writing original material but occasionally I just like to wing it.

[Woodinblack]

I learn it in its original form, then after a while it drifts into something else and come to a version that we do.

[12stringbassist]

I usually play along with the original on repeat to get it into my head.
How exactly I follow the bass part depends how much of a feature it is.

For example, we were working on Elton John's 'Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting' before the fun stopped. Dee Murray played some rather funky little runs, but seeing as I am singing the thing as well, I thought it best to keep the bass quite simplified and tight, seeing as the world will not notice anyway.

[Downunderwonder]

2 hours ago, 12stringbassist said:

I am singing the thing as well,

Crikey!

[Phil Starr]

19 hours ago, Bobthedog said:

I remember Jessie J singing a very different version of Price Tag and being asked about it, her response was she was bored of singing the song all the time so did this to keep her interest going

It's a good example, and she did that right from the start pretty much, her first performance on Jools Holland was an acoustic version. Jessie J - Price Tag (Live on Jools Holland 2010) - YouTube she was called in at the last minute without a band and the rapper on the recorded version. Lucky for us really as the rap on the recording would have sounded really odd with a bunch of pensioners and a West Country accent. We copied the audience participation bit she used instead of the rap and did very nicely with the song for years.

[Crusoe]

On 14/03/2021 at 11:39, Bobthedog said:

I remember Jessie J singing a very different version of Price Tag and being asked about it, her response was she was bored of singing the song all the time so did this to keep her interest going

I saw Sisters of Mercy live a couple of years ago. They were about halfway through one particular song before I realised what it was.