alparrott
Diamond Member
I agree with the previous poster whose band concentrates on beginnings and endings. Those are critical and in my opinion are where the good bands separate from the great. Stops, breaks, and anything played by two or more instruments in unison should also be emphasized.
I'm currently subbing for a blues band which is between drummers with a full summer schedule. My first gig with them was three hours long; this weekend I'm doing a total of five hours between two gigs. The guitarist thoughtfully printed out a setlist with space in between songs for me to scratch notes as we learned the songs. Knowing the typical 12-bar, 16-bar, and etc. blues patterns certainly helped, as well as being familiar with about 15 or the songs. From there it was learning the idiosyncrasies of each song and making notes that I could decipher on the fly (including bass drum rhythms, etc). A typical song note might look like this:
12. Slipped Tripped, Fell In Love (John & drums)
Tempo ~105 - laid back funk. 8 bars drums & guitar set up groove (wrote out 1 bar of groove here), 8 bar v, 8 bar prechorus ends with (wrote out unison rhythm here), ch, 8 bar instr, solo 16 bars, pc, ch, solo to pc and end on unison part
The thing is, by the gig (after two practices and one woodshed by myself) it worked out where, as Larry says, I didn't even need the notes except as little reminders here and there.
I would also recommend only using the mp3 tracks to practice songs, not to learn them whenever you have the luxury of time. Learn the songs with the band.
I'm currently subbing for a blues band which is between drummers with a full summer schedule. My first gig with them was three hours long; this weekend I'm doing a total of five hours between two gigs. The guitarist thoughtfully printed out a setlist with space in between songs for me to scratch notes as we learned the songs. Knowing the typical 12-bar, 16-bar, and etc. blues patterns certainly helped, as well as being familiar with about 15 or the songs. From there it was learning the idiosyncrasies of each song and making notes that I could decipher on the fly (including bass drum rhythms, etc). A typical song note might look like this:
12. Slipped Tripped, Fell In Love (John & drums)
Tempo ~105 - laid back funk. 8 bars drums & guitar set up groove (wrote out 1 bar of groove here), 8 bar v, 8 bar prechorus ends with (wrote out unison rhythm here), ch, 8 bar instr, solo 16 bars, pc, ch, solo to pc and end on unison part
The thing is, by the gig (after two practices and one woodshed by myself) it worked out where, as Larry says, I didn't even need the notes except as little reminders here and there.
I would also recommend only using the mp3 tracks to practice songs, not to learn them whenever you have the luxury of time. Learn the songs with the band.