Not sure which category this should fall under and it doesn’t just apply to bass.
How do you keep your place in a song. For example, I’m a big Metallica fan and sometimes try to play along to Seek & Destroy on guitar and soon to try bass. This song isn’t that complex and has a lot of repeated rhythm parts where you play the same 2 bars upto 8 times.
Where I’m stuggling in general, is knowing when I’m up to last repeat so I know when to change to the next section of the song.
I guess this also branches into learning songs in general as you need to know the different parts, but if you don’t know when to change you’ll just end up a mess anyway.
I think the more repeats there are, the tougher I’m finding it to keep track.
Some songs are really challenging like this. ZZ Top can also be incredibly repetitive, then suddenly change. There are two things I do:
I count how many bars there are of a particular repeated ‘phrase’. When then play it, I will count 1-2-3-4 / 2-2-3-4 / 3-2-3-4 / 4-2-3-4 and so on. Requires a bit of concentration, especially when you get to 13-2-3-4 / 14-2-2-4 etc., but it works
listen to then song and pick out the drum fills or what the guitar / keys / vocals are doing. Often there are little tells that the change is coming. A small drum fill etc. Learn them
I have a friend who is a pro guitarist. I asked him about this. Bear in mind he has played professionally for 35 years, but he just said ‘know the song. Really know the song. And practice.” In fact his most consistent advice is that last word, practice!
She’s doing great. Almost back to her normal self. Still a bit bony but she has great spirits. The puppies are teething now so Luna will stopped producing milk very soon. The puppies are just awesome. We’ve been taking them to work with us everyday, they are well behaved.
Counting is what’s used when you are practicing and learning the song. In general, I learn most songs until it’s gig ready.
That’s when it happens subconsciously. When you are consciously counting and “aware” of your playing fretting and plugging, worse “pac-manning” notes you are going to be in the world of hurt on stage,
In a lot of songs like that (but by no means all) you’ll often find there’s a bit of a drum fill or similar marking significant changing points like that. Sometimes it’s as little as a single double beat on one of the tom toms, but that can help. You can get other clues from the lyrics but that only works when not in an instrumental solo.
The other thing I do sometimes that helps is pop in a simple little leading note every other bar. Something like this (imagine it going on for rather longer!):
You may recognise this simple line from one of Josh’s lessons!
Putting in simple little bits like that (that no one will probably even hear) can make that counting a little easier!
Another thing to help find / be reminded of phrase changes is to really listen to the drummer and/or guitarist. A lot of times there will be a tell when it’s time to switch from one section of a song to another, like a big cymbal crash at the start of the next section or a guitar slide. It’s not there all the time, but bands build things things in many times exactly to help themselves keep track of where they are in songs.
I like to think I know several tracks by heart; every change, every bridge every slightly different chorus. But when I’m playing, I still get tripped up. I attest that to still having to focus on where to put my fingers, remembering the riffs/bass line and not at the point yet, where I can just flow with the music.
Now what has helped me with certain songs, is to map them out. Intro, verse 1, 2, chorus, bla bla. Then simply assign them names or number according to their placement and have that on a piece of paper.
It’s a bit like a shopping list; if I don’t write it down, I will forget. Do I write it down I can forget bringing the list but still remember what I need.
I’ve recently started learning finger drumming to go with guitar and bass. Even though the drummer is often seen to be the one setting the beat, I guess the whole band needs to know where they are and they can work off each other.
Exactly. It’s incumbent on everyone to know the song, know its structure, know how to count and to know the cues.
When I’ve played covers with other people, we’ve agreed the version of the song (you’d be surprised how many different versions of a song there can be), then made sure we’ve all rehearsed our parts individually before bringing it together in a rehearsal setting. Simple things like the intro is 8 bars, the first verse is 12 bars, there’s a 2 bar pre-chorus etc. I’ve actually written songs out in the past, making sure I’ve in understood it, then sent my notes to band mates so we’re all, quite literally, on the same page.
Regarding the drummer setting the beat, the guy I’ve played with has a pretty cool app on his phone that actually tells him the bpm he’s playing at, plus his level of consistency. It can be fun to deliberately play a song quicker, or slower, than the original
