techniques for learning new songs

[Cliff Edge]

This is an interesting thread. Good to know I’m not in a minority of one using some form of crib sheet at gigs. 

[uk_lefty]

1 hour ago, Cliff Edge said:

This is an interesting thread. Good to know I’m not in a minority of one using some form of crib sheet at gigs. 

More use them than you probably know, some are just better at hiding their notes! In the old band where the set barely changed in five years I'd write out the chords for tricky parts in the odd song or two on the set list so I could follow that. 

 

Having the iPad on my mic stand isn't great for stage presence. It's good for prompting me but on photos we are often looking at the iPads, probably a lot more than we realise. We are all conscious of it and trying to rest but it's not easy. We try to make sure we have new songs every time we go back to a venue, and we keep things fresh just for ourselves. My old brain struggles with it!

[chris_b]

3 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

A little naive of them really. If that’s unprofessional, then there are a lot of major recording artists on tour at this moment that are unprofessional as well.

There are a lot of big stages that are littered with prompt machines that look like monitors. The singer in my Bowie band used to have one. Good pieces of kit, but not cheap.

 

David Bowie used one. It was set up for the set list and one night Bowie started the wrong song, which threw out the prompter, drummers click track and lighting engineer. Queue mad panic in the road crew.

[JapanAxe]

Learning is itself a skill that can be learned. I’ve found that the more I learn, the more I can learn.

[TimR]

Don't pick up your bass or a notebook until you have learned the tune by listening to it multiple times. 

 

Be that on your way to and from work, or while doing the ironing etc.

 

By the time you pick up your bass, you should have already learned the structure and chord progressions and be just sorting out which positions on the fretboard you're using. 

 

Ear training is very overlooked by bass players. You should be able to recognise; semitone, tone, m3, 3, 4, 5 and octave intervals as a minimum without having to pick them out.

 

 

[TimR]

3 hours ago, Cliff Edge said:

This is an interesting thread. Good to know I’m not in a minority of one using some form of crib sheet at gigs. 

 

I have one for about 6 tunes in case I get a mental block. But find that a full run through of the set the day before and about an hour before I pack the car iron out the cobwebs. If I don't do that the gig becomes very edge of the seat for me. 

[JapanAxe]

1 hour ago, TimR said:

Don't pick up your bass or a notebook until you have learned the tune by listening to it multiple times. 

 

Be that on your way to and from work, or while doing the ironing etc.

 

…

 

 

I do that if I have time but I don’t always e.g. when I’m depping at short notice.

[Stub Mandrel]

I've had to learn about 33 songs for a dep, I get a rehearsal Sunday and the first two gigs are two weeks tomorrow. So I can relate how I learned them:

 

1 - got song titles and keys, (and eventually any particular versions -  e.g. Gary Clark Jr.'s Come Together, not the Beatles) off the band.

 

2 - Made sure all songs are in my ever-growing Word document that has my edited down (and often corrected) tab for every song reduced to its bare bones so most fit on one page (I'm not going for note for not accuracy for three performances). Use this process to get familiar with any 'new' songs.

 

3 - Make a document that lists each song and its key, with a YouTube link underneath.

 

4 - Learn how to play each song, with the stress on doing it right and avoiding repeating mistakes (give up and come back later rather than reinforce errors).

5 - Make a new list (got this down to two pages) with whatever mnemonic, riff, key etc. I need as a security blanket for each song.

 

6 - Practice songs, only looking at the mnemonic if I have to and the tab if I REALLY get stuck. Focus on the harder ones, but every so often play the whole list.

 

For what it's worth, I find song structures are often hardest to learn at first, this is overcome by the repetition as you become more familiar with the original.

Any tricky riffs/rhythms - try practising, then sleeping on it.

[lonestar]

10 hours ago, ossyrocks said:

Looks like I’m in a minority here, but I have found that it’s best to never write anything down or have any notes for learning a new band set.

I had never believed this would work until I went for a lesson with an internationally renowned jazz guitarist and tutor.

We sat down, I got out my instrument, and then a pad and pen, and was told immediately to put the pad away. If I wrote things down then “the paper would become the knowledge”. He said that if I came away with only 10% of what we went through lodged in my head then that would be the best result.

Since then, I have just relied on my brain, exclusively, when learning new material. I recently joined a nine piece band being formed from scratch. On our first meeting, we had ten tunes to go over which we’d be given in advance. I was the only one in the room with no notes, but it went fine and I’m still there.

 

Jazz jams are a different thing entirely mind you, if everyone has a lead sheet then at least you all know what’s supposed to be happening.

 

Rob

Me too Rob

Once I’ve written it down I have to rely on my notes.

[ped]

One thing I’ve found really useful is the Moises app. It uses AI to separate instruments into different tracks, so you can isolate and adjust them on the fly. It syncs across devices so I can listen to the songs out and about and crank the bass up independently of the other instruments to help me learn the lines.  See example below. The desktop app gives full waveforms. It also tells you the chords and transcribes the lyrics. Amazing! 
 

And no I don’t have shares in the company!

 

 

[Sambrook]

11 minutes ago, ped said:

One thing I’ve found really useful is the Moises app. It uses AI to separate instruments into different tracks, so you can isolate and adjust them on the fly. It syncs across devices so I can listen to the songs out and about and crank the bass up independently of the other instruments to help me learn the lines.  See example below. The desktop app gives full waveforms. It also tells you the chords and transcribes the lyrics. Amazing! 
 

And no I don’t have shares in the company!

 

 

This looks great, but I listen through Spotify. Do I have to buy the tracks I need? Sorry if that's a dumb question (I think it probably is...)

[ped]

6 minutes ago, Sambrook said:

This looks great, but I listen through Spotify. Do I have to buy the tracks I need? Sorry if that's a dumb question (I think it probably is...)

Yes you need to have the file to upload it to Moises 👍🏼

[Sambrook]

Ta