HeadForTheSticks
Junior Member
I was hoping to get some feedback, shared experiences or opposing views.
I'm in an original R&B soul band and I sub for a couple cover bands. Sadly I never took the time to learn how to read music and basically everyone in the bands I play for are either well schooled in music theory or have a very good understanding of music theory. I can really appreciate the skill and feel this is something I need to learn. That being said (this is the part where I fear getting beat up on here. I noticed two of the cover bands that I sub for the members don't seem to take the time to actually learn the material. Even the simplest tunes that these guys grew up listening to and playing require them to be glued to an iPad or sheet music...on stage playing songs that they play out nearly every weekend. I'm the sub, I was recently sent a list of 40 or more songs 10 days before the gig to learn. I felt like I knew the songs better then some of the permanent members. Especially the bass player who seemed to rely completely on sight reading and felt like he was reacting to the chord changes slightly behind in time. I'm definitely not trying to toot my own horn (although it reads that way even to me) but I've done several gigs with these bands comprised of some of the same members and they rarely seem to have memorized the majority of the material. I feel like it often hurts the feel of the music and the conviction in which its delivered when they are so dependent on the sheet music and not in the moment. I sure if they were better at sight reading this won't be an issue. Long rant, sorry! any thoughts? have you experienced this? Am I out of line in my thinking?
I'm in an original R&B soul band and I sub for a couple cover bands. Sadly I never took the time to learn how to read music and basically everyone in the bands I play for are either well schooled in music theory or have a very good understanding of music theory. I can really appreciate the skill and feel this is something I need to learn. That being said (this is the part where I fear getting beat up on here. I noticed two of the cover bands that I sub for the members don't seem to take the time to actually learn the material. Even the simplest tunes that these guys grew up listening to and playing require them to be glued to an iPad or sheet music...on stage playing songs that they play out nearly every weekend. I'm the sub, I was recently sent a list of 40 or more songs 10 days before the gig to learn. I felt like I knew the songs better then some of the permanent members. Especially the bass player who seemed to rely completely on sight reading and felt like he was reacting to the chord changes slightly behind in time. I'm definitely not trying to toot my own horn (although it reads that way even to me) but I've done several gigs with these bands comprised of some of the same members and they rarely seem to have memorized the majority of the material. I feel like it often hurts the feel of the music and the conviction in which its delivered when they are so dependent on the sheet music and not in the moment. I sure if they were better at sight reading this won't be an issue. Long rant, sorry! any thoughts? have you experienced this? Am I out of line in my thinking?