Meant to be doing a gig tomorrow but don't know the song!! Sorry, I really need a solution

Well i've got myself into this situation and need a solution quite quicky.

I've had to learn a song for a show at my school but i've been busy with exams which have been my priority. I learnt the song along to the original track only at the weekend and haven't been able to practice since. It turns out now I have forgotten the song structure and has lead to me forgetting the tempo. And i've down well to blame the school drum kit last which the fills i made for the song just aren't going right on it.

Now I don't want to find a poor excuse to get me out of this because that is the exact reason I left my last band after none of them would play gigs.

However, I really do not know the song well enough to be confident to play infront of 500 or so students and staff because i'm too dependent on the real track to play along to (terible i know.)

This next bit is going to sound pathetic but its school life (sadly), i've developed a good word of mouth for my drumming and its the only thing i'm really credited for, this would be the first time a lot of people will actually see me play, when it goes horribly wrong it will destroy me.

Also on a positive note, I've started teaching and i'm really proud of my students' progress, the trouble is if i don't show myself to be a high level tomorrow i risk losing students in the audience i am potentially gaining as well as losing my current students.

I can't be at the receiving end of this and it would be really unfortunate as i know i can do better i've just been stressed, tired, having priorities in my education and its just had a toll on my abillity to learn a song in which was already a tight time frame.

I have exams tomorrow so trying to learn the song tonight is out the question, I have no oppertunity to learn the song before the gig, so what do you suggest i do (if your standing in my shoes)?

Wasnt anyone else playing with you worried about the lack of practice? You could get four incredible musicians togeather and without a little practice it could sound really bad. I think you need to get your priorites in line. Is it exams or drums.

Listen to it once. Try and hum along.

Listen to it twice. Try and hum along.

Listen to it thrice. Try to hum it alone.

Listen to it a fourth time. Try to hum it alone.

Listen to it a fifth time. Try to play drums to it mentally.

Listen to it a sixth time. 'Air Drum' along.

Listen to it a seventh time. 'Air Drum' alone.

And repeat.

TFITTING942 said:

Wasnt anyone else playing with you worried about the lack of practice? You could get four incredible musicians togeather and without a little practice it could sound really bad. I think you need to get your priorites in line. Is it exams or drums.

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This....

Just listen to the track again and hope that the rest of the band plays it like that.

It's "live" music....not supposed to sound "canned".

But the above post is great advice.

If you can play it when you're listening to it, why not play with earphones in?
Whatever you do, don't let this distract you from your exams, they come first.

Okay, so you've double-booked yourself and now one or the other (exams or performance) is going to suffer. If it were me, I'd learn the song and take the hit on the exams. One of the two is going to take a hit so given the size of your audience, and the fact that exams come and go, I'd prioritize not embarassing me or my band mates.

Sorry to sound harsh but you got yourself into this pickle so it's on you not to take your band mates down with you.

But that's just me. I tanked a few exams in college and 10 years later out in the working world, nobody cares what my grades were.

mediocrefunkybeat said:

Listen to it once. Try and hum along.

Listen to it twice. Try and hum along.

Listen to it thrice. Try to hum it alone.

Listen to it a fourth time. Try to hum it alone.

Listen to it a fifth time. Try to play drums to it mentally.

Listen to it a sixth time. 'Air Drum' along.

Listen to it a seventh time. 'Air Drum' alone.

And repeat.

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+1..this sounds like a good plan.Play it over and over.Don't just play it till you get it right.......play it till you can't get it wrong.Then do it again.If you play it enough times,you'll be fine.

Steve B

I've been in the original poster's situation many times when I was playing in a Swing band at University. I developed an ear for the changes very quickly indeed; the difference being that I had no prior warning what the conductor was going to call at rehearsals. That's an experience thing and that's just learning the standard forms.

The way I approach is it by listening for structural changes. There are various markers for this including key changes, changes in phrasing, varying orchestration, melodic shifts (outside of key changes and within key changes) and most of all verse and chorus differences. This piece may be slightly more complex but these things will still apply and if you're good at listening whilst performing then you'll be most of the way there already.

I'm by no means a great drummer and I have some flaws in my playing but listening is not one of them and it seems to be the one that most drummers struggle with.

Sounds a bit to me like you are psyching yourself out, and telling yourself it's not going to go well, when it will probably be fine. I think you just have to go in with a positive attitude and not worry so much about what could go wrong (as you are doing now).
I've gotten up in front of a crowd and played with a band playing original material, and I had never heard a note of it before (they were our opener and their drummer didn't show). Just got a feel for the music and told the guitarist to raise his neck for any full stops. Worked great.
The crowd won't know if you aren't playing exactly like the original. I am sure you will do fine, as long as you don't psych yourself out.

I've been in this situation countless times. Fist of all what's the song? If you post it up we might be able to help with a safer-but-still-cool way to play it.

On a piece of paper, write out:
-How the song starts and where the drums come in - eg 'drums count in', or 'guitar plays riff 4x then drums', 'drums enter after 'the singer sings this part'' etc

-How it ends - eg after 'this lyric' or after '8 bar guitar solo'

-The main groove/grooves. Doesn't need to look flash, just enough to remind you how it goes. I use tab as I do my cheat sheets in Word and that's the quickest way for me to do it effectively.

-The tempo. take a metronome and use that to count the song off.

-All of the lyrics to the song, in order. i.e. make sure all choruses are printed where they should go. If the lyrics contain the line "all in all you're just another brick in the wall" four times, actually write it out four times. Next take different coloured highlighter markers and draw a box around each verse/chorus/bridge etc. This makes it easier for your eyes to find the right place when you look at it while playing.

All of this is just to jog your memory before right before you start playing. I've found that if I know how a song starts, and how it ends, the rest just comes easily.

Another thing I've started doing, and probably what has helped me the most, I learn all the lyrics as best as I can, and learn the chords or bassline on the guitar. Because a chord progression is typically longer than a repeated drum groove, it can help clarify the structure in your mind. It just lets you learn the song from a different angle. If you have some basic guitar skills this shouldn't take you too long, just play power chords if you have to. Learning the lyrics helps as it gives cues as to what is coming next, and singing along is a great way to keep your tempo in the right spot. Good luck.

Use MFB's advise and listen to that song about 20 times. After that, Kettles has all the info you need to do. Once you write the structure out and your eyes see it on paper, it's much easier to get. Using multi colored markers, how can you lose lol? Great suggestion.

You need to cram for this test.

What song is it? Why is it so hard to learn? Why were there NO rehearsals, what school puts on a show and doesn't rehearse it, never heard of that. Doc

All you can do is cram it and play it the best you can. Keep it simple.....the more flair you try and show when you're not familiar and uncomfortable.....the more disasters you open yourself up to.

heavy-metal-bongos said:

And i've down well to blame the school drum kit last which the fills i made for the song just aren't going right on it.

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FWIW, you'd have done better not to mention it at all. The drums don't play themselves mate. If your fills "aren't going right on it" are you really gonna try and tell me it's the drums?

Lots of great advice here. I use a very similair system that kettles mentioned when learning unfamiliar songs quickly. It works well!
I also agree that you have to make a decision on this. If you choose to not practice because of the exams, then expect a poor show. There are other exams but only this one show. If your reputation is on the line, I would protect it.
Good Luck! Let us know how it goes!

The guy is either doing OK or is ruined for the rest of his school life as we speak lol
Yea, the multi colored Kettles system is a winner. But I absolutely have to write an unfamiliar tune out.

Keep your ears open during the performance. Even if you have a chart in front of you, or have memorized the bajeezus out of the song and know every subtle nuance inside and out, it's still a live performance and anything can happen. Learn the drum parts and the basic song structure and focus on locking in with the other musicians. THAT'S the most important thing here. Who cares if you're playing an incredibly complex drum part with licks only 2% of the world's best drummers can pull off--if you're not playing "with" the other musicians, it will be a train wreck. Relax, be cool, and do your thing.

caddywumpus said:

Keep your ears open during the performance. Even if you have a chart in front of you, or have memorized the bajeezus out of the song and know every subtle nuance inside and out, it's still a live performance and anything can happen. Learn the drum parts and the basic song structure and focus on locking in with the other musicians. THAT'S the most important thing here. Who cares if you're playing an incredibly complex drum part with licks only 2% of the world's best drummers can pull off--if you're not playing "with" the other musicians, it will be a train wreck. Relax, be cool, and do your thing.

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I'm mainly a "lurker at large" here but I agree wholeheartedly with the above statement. Watch and listen to what the other performers are doing! How did I learn this over my twenty-five years of playing music? Simple (and everyone else here is going to think it's stupid): I watched a lot of Elvis Presley concert films of Ronnie Tutt. His eye was constantly on Elvis (of course, it was an "unwritten rule" - so to speak - that everyone had to watch him all the time because you never knew what he was going to do).

So....there's some really great advice here. Read, learn, and put it to use.

Yea Caddy writes some pretty good stuff every once in a while.

larryace said:

Yea Caddy writes some pretty good stuff every once in a while.

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Meh.

Wait...every ONCE IN A WHILE?!?!?!?!?

Caddy is actually a very famous drummer who chooses to keep his identity a well guarded secret. If everyone knew who he was, they would be stunned. Stunned I tell ya.