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fretsmith
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fretsmith
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03/03/2014 4:44 pm
Last month we all discussed your set list for an upcoming gig ... So how did it go ?

Tell us about it. Most gigs generate at least a couple of stories, anecdotes, or incidents that would interest other players.

As a general address - I wish more people would use this particular forum header. "Musicians Life" could/should be a great place for "I remember this one time when...... " . Anything from equipment failure / band discord / bar fights / etc... it's all interesting stuff to other players.( at least to me-?)

I recently went to a winery with a rooftop bar. They had a one-man entertainer playing acoustic guitar and a high-hat with one of those Bose cylindrical PA's.

He was really good and played all genre's well - great vocals too. As part of his act he "randomly" selected a girl from the audience and practically forced her to join him on stage ( the place was PACKED) and play tamborine while he played her/her boyfriends "song" .... turns out the whole thing was a set-up and her boyfriend eventually ended up on stage where he proceeded to propose to her in front of 150+ people/strangers. You could tell she was totally shocked (they were from out-of-town on a weekend vacation- the guy had contacted the scheduled performer and arranged everything) and, of course, said yes. Of course the crowd went wild and I'd have to say I will probably remember that incident for the rest of my life. Pretty darn cool.

What really made it great was how the performer really sold the whole scheme. He made it seem like a part of his normal act right up to the surprise proposal. I already envy'd his great voice and playing but now I additionally admired him for how he took an opportunity/challenge and executed it in such a smooth and seamless way. He may not be making records and headlining tours but I think he still qualifies as a "pro".

Alright- long-winded post, I know ... just trying to get a little story-telling going. Fill us in on how the gig went markm0926
# 1
compart1
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compart1
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03/03/2014 10:11 pm
The Bass Player
While, "back in the day", or Middle Sixties to be closer to the right time frame. I had a set of drums that a friends brother fell in love with. I never took to learning drum, so I sold them to him. Short after, I purchased a bass and amp.
I had taken a few lessons then hooked back up with my friend brother. He had found two guitarist he knew from school. We did a few jams and off we went to start a band.
This was short lived for my part. If you recall the starting date, middle sixties and the Veitnam era. That's when I recieved the "Number". This point in life I decided if I was going to serve I would pick what branch of service I wanted.
I told the band about my decision and had selected the Navy. They found another bass player and I took on the role of manager.
The new bass player was way better then I was and had a stage personally.
We had gotten our first gig at a middle school Sock Hop..
Now to the good part of the story. About half way through the night they had an announcement to make.
" We'd like our manager to come up on stage" They told that I was going into the navy. Hey, that was cool guys..
"And we'ed like him to play the next song, No Satisfaction". Yipes, I had not practiced for a few weeks and only used the new bass player bass just to try it out. I said I couldn't play it. The ryhthm guitarist said "not to worry, turn the bass amp down and I'll put in a lot of bass runs". Sounded good to me.
All went good until I over heard took girls standing right at the stage edge in front of the bass amp.
"He wasn't playing"... I felt as small as a toad..
That's my story and I'm sticking to it..
# 2
maggior
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maggior
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03/03/2014 10:46 pm
Pretty cool stories. I like reading these kinds of stories too.

I shared my story before, but I'll repeat it here...

12 years ago, my wife had joined our church choir to sing. She came home and told me that they could use a guitar player. They understood I had limited experience playing with other musicians. I figured it was just strumming chords...how hard could it be???

It was much harder than I thought it would be. I had to learn chords I had never seen before and it felt like every strum required a chord change.

I recorded our practice sessions and practiced for hours and hours. After about a month we were ready for our debut at mass. I was pretty nervous.

There we were at the front of the church and began the opening measures of the opening hymn. Confidently I strum the first few chords and suddenly have this horrible sinking feeling in my stomach. I'm playing the right thing, but it sounds totally wrong. The piano player looks up at me with a look like "what on earth are you doing!?!?". It was just like a nightmare, where no matter what you do it's wrong! I suddenly stop playing and evaluate. I then remembered, duh, the capo, THE CAPO...this songs uses a capo!!! I put the capo on, joined back in and everything sounded fine. Huge sigh of relief.

From then on I wrote on top of the music "CAPO" if the song required a capo.
# 3
fretsmith
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fretsmith
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03/04/2014 7:03 am
Compart: Busted by a chick! I bet you were glad you were leaving town soon -

Maggior: You have prob already figured it out but a trick to use on them Hymn type songs with 4 chords per bar ( and frequently weird chords ) is to play just the first chord and then just the individual note from the melody line for the other three. If it's a slow, lumbering hymn ( ie: Old Rugged Cross) you can even just play the easiest chord no matter where it falls amongst the pack (and just the melody notes on the others). Your piano player can hit those stacked chords easily- that music is written on piano - for piano.

T Care guys - thanks for chiming in.
# 4
maggior
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maggior
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03/04/2014 9:29 pm
I managed to hit all of the chords, but I would often come up with simpler versions than they specified. I also came up with my own transpositions using a capo. The capo could make a song that was really hard to play with mostly barre chords rediculously easy...and sound better too.

Somewhere an instructor had pointed out to me that you don't have to play all of the notes all of the time when you are in a group setting. If a chord has a funky bass note in it that you are struggling with, let the piano or the bass play it...don't worry about it. I applied that adage quite a bit.

I was working from a book specifically for the guitar for these songs, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I know what you are talking about though. They seemed to adapt it well for the guitar and didn't just blindly copy the chords from the piano transcription to the guitar transcription.
# 5
markm0926
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markm0926
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03/08/2014 12:06 am
Hey
Thanks for remembering !
Had a bad gig
Will give some details when I have time tomorrow
Main Gear: Gibson SG, Gibson Les Paul Sig T, Martin Acoustic, Mesa 5:25+, Orange OR15, Carl Martin Quattro
# 6
markm0926
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markm0926
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03/08/2014 12:02 pm
Thanks again maggior for searching me out and showing some interest.

Unfortunately it wasn't our best gig. No cool stories, but it was a good wake up call for the whole band.

why?:
Well, our gig previous to this was in November. And from November up to this gig in February we had exactly ONE full band practice with all four of us.
We just couldn't seem to put it together for those 3 months and it showed.

So harmonies were off. I wasn't "feeling" it and had some bad notes in a few solos.
Really just overall disappointing.
But, from talking to friends that were there I am sure we were just being hard on ourselves. But I think that's what all musicians do.

But without a word said between us we have been practicing much more and have another gig coming up on 3/21 that we will be more than ready for. Practicing tonight "full band" by the way!

And another good note, we were also re-booked for July at the same place, even though we though it was our worst gig the owner was happy to re-book us.

Thanks again for the interest. I will try and use this part of the forum more to post about some things like this.

Thanks for listening
Main Gear: Gibson SG, Gibson Les Paul Sig T, Martin Acoustic, Mesa 5:25+, Orange OR15, Carl Martin Quattro
# 7
maggior
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maggior
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03/11/2014 5:00 pm
Actually it was fretsmith that searched you out, but I find this discussion interesting, so I'm glad he did so and I could jump in!

With the small amount of band experience I have, I can completely understand how having only 1 practice for that long would cause you to have a bad performance. The audience may not have realized it concisously, but I'll bet they could sense it on some level.

Sometimes you just have a bad night too.

I'm in a band put together by a local music store. We have a teacher helping us out. One song we've been working on we really had down pat. The following week, he commented "what happened to you guys? Are you feeling off for some reason?". It was like we went backwards 2 steps after gaining 1. I was just a bad night.

What this whole thing has reinformed for me is that a band is so much more than the sum of its parts. Even if everybody can play their part perfectly well 100%, it doesn't matter unless they can do that in the context of the band and keep everything perfectly in sync...even over some bumps you may encounter.

So congrats on getting your follow up gigs!! Hope all goes well!!
# 8
fretsmith
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fretsmith
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03/12/2014 4:55 pm
"What this whole thing has reinformed for me is that a band is so much more than the sum of its parts. Even if everybody can play their part perfectly well 100%, it doesn't matter unless they can do that in the context of the band and keep everything perfectly in sync"

Hi Maggior- Yup, I think that sums up the whole definition of a band that's "tight". When a band is loose EVERYONE can hear it - musicians and otherwise. Music is defined as : the scientific study of TIME and sound. If you don't honor the time side of those elements - the sound side will suffer horribly.

All professional recording acts are "tight" - otherwise they wouldn't be worth recording .... but the band I use as my personal definition as the ultimate in "tight" .... is Huey Lewis and the News. Not my favorite band or even my favorite style but man.... if you listen closely they have some amazing playing on pretty complex arrangements. A perfect paradigm for timing and arrangement excellence.


Continued success on your project maggior - the big day is looming - TIME flys ... :)
# 9
ghostrider960
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ghostrider960
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03/13/2014 8:56 am
just remember to make a band work you and your fellow band members must be really good friends you have to be tight , you half to know what the others are thinking in case someone screws up . it happens . i always told my guys we would play till it wasnt fun any more . if you cant have a little fun while your playing its not worth it . anyway my band we were all bikers and musicians we partied like rock stars believe me , but we always had great crowds . well i had a lead guitarist that was another van halen he would show off to all the girls , like stand on tables ,slide up to girls on his knees just normal stuff but he had a sign on the back of his guitar he would flip over and it said smile ! well we took break one night went out to the bus for attitude adjustment so i snuck back in early and had another sign made and taped it over his other smile sign . well we were playing and he flipped his guitar over and the whole crowd started laughing so did i , i was rolling on the floor in tears . the sign i put over his said i got a little dick !!! he was pissed for awhile but still laughing about it to this day . i was always a prankster all in fun ..
# 10
fretsmith
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fretsmith
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03/13/2014 9:02 pm
:) That's funny as hell ! I'd love to find a gang like yours to hang with ... try not to use up all the fun - the rest of use want some too ....
# 11

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