This post is so killer. So great to have the details and the road map getting dialed in for people getting out and playing.
The more times these trails get traveled, the better the maps get, the easier it is for the next person to go out and get playing.
Bravi Tutti!!!
Love it Phil! I’m in the age range between you and the guitar player - and it looks like fun to have some people to play with.
I keep checking back for updates on how the various band projects are going.
@Vik @joergkutter @erg @lee_editorial and anybody else.
How’s it going learning all the new songs?
Have you come across anything unexpectedly awesome in this process?
Have you come across anything unexpectedly awful in this process?
What do your band mates do that makes you want to pull your hair out?
What have you discovered that the rest of us need to know?
My major discovery was that it’s best to practice with a tape of the band’s rendition of the song, not the original. For example, I was learning and practicing Bobby McGee listening to Janis. Then I’d go to practice with the band and the singers would be murdering the song so badly I was completely distracted and couldn’t keep my place at all, adding the final death blow. In desperation I started practicing only to our tape of ourselves, loathing it the whole time, but finally learning to play to it and keep my place. My take home message for myself was in the future not to agree to do any songs I know and love very well.
The gig is this coming Monday, December 16th, so I’ll send an updated report after the event.
And thanks for the interest and for asking. It feels nice 
LoL! That sounds rough. Good luck. I look forward to hearing how the gig goes.
That’s an interesting point, and one which I hadn’t considered until now 
Thanks for your post and wishing you continued success, @erg
Cheers, Joe
Haha, I hope you all like dramas! Our drummer and I got along great, he is a true multi-instrumentalist, I’d hand him my bass so he could show me the basslines (all our songs are originals), and he can tear it up. But he told our band leader he needs to get paid to come to rehearsals or for shows - I don’t blame him, he’s good. So we’re looking for a new drummer. But in case a gig comes up, we have to figure out how to pay him, since he knows the songs. The show on the 21st was postponed to Jan 17th for some reason. And we supposedly have another one on Jan 19th too. Who knows what will happen between now and then though 
The lead guitarist we had didn’t vibe well with us, even though he was talented too. So, now, after just 2 1/2 weeks, I’m the most tenured member after the leader! We’re jamming tomorrow at the studio at 1pm, and I think we have a new lead guitarist (the band leader is rhythm guitar and vocals). But, he has informed me that he misspent all his money, could I cover the studio rental tomorrow? (It doesn’t help that he doesn’t own a phone, or, that he’s been getting rehearsal time on credit, being charming, and now it’s catching up with him). So I let him know I’m cool with it for this weekend, but I’m in no position to be the band’s sugar daddy 
But man, when we play, it’s just something else, another world - we’re all so “on”, and I love the songs, they’re really good. I’m even laughing at all the drama, I knew it was coming, and I wanted it, to be able to play with people who have the souls of musicians is just an experience!
Wow! 
Sounds as if you’re really totally involved, @Vik . . . band and interpersonal intrigue already! LOL
That’s the very BEST part to hear! 
Good for you and hope things keeping moving the way you want.
That is going OK, actually! Good thing is there is no rush to learn all the stuff for an imminent gig. On the other hand, it is all original music composed by the guitar player, and I had to develop my own bass lines (which is also great - he plays a bit bass himself, and could have told me what to play, but there is a lot of freedom; and he seems to like what I play (mostly)).
I think it is really awesome to see how the stuff I learned in Josh’s course comes “alive” in the context of real music (meaning outside of the course, and not in a playalong). In fact, some of the concepts only start to make real sense as I am trying to use them with the chords and chord sequences of the songs, as well as when I make sure to align what I play with the drummer - that is quite rewarding.
I wouldn’t say it is decidedly “awful”, but I am starting to notice that I tend to fall back to similar riffs and licks again and again - so, trading convenience and the fact that they have worked before for trying to be creative and come up with something different. I think I have to be very conscious of this!
Haha, no, sorry, no real drama here… I guess it helps that we are all a bit “older” and not bent on gigging or even earning some money with it. We are currently a trio and I like most songs as instrumentals, but the guitar player likes to sing and so many songs have versions with vocals as well. Now, he sings better than I do, but, erm, well… (why is it so many people can’t hear it or accept the fact that they really, when it comes down to it, can’t sing???)
Oh, and perhaps that I am spoiled by years of listening to perfectly mixed music on hifi sets, where you can hear where all the instruments are - makes it hard to get used to an often muddy sound in the rehearsal room. That is not necessarily my band mates fault; but it has to some extent to do with the fact that many amateurs tend to play too much (because it is fun), rather than trying to serve the music…
We try to rehearse about once a week - it is the highlight of my week! Get out there and find yourself people to play music with!!
My two cents worth on playing live:
Know the songs forward and backward - I remember the first time I played in front of an audience I thought I had the songs down but was so nervous that I screwed up a LOT!
Ignore the audience reactions - After we had played out several times we would get people saying we sucked and also people saying we were great. We knew when we did a good job and when we didn’t and you can’t trust the audience all the time.
Just have fun!
I have a somewhat similar experience as @erg … trying to play a “not so perfect” live version with others after practicing with the original studio version.
What has worked best for me is that once I have the new song sort of learned as best I can using the original, I try to find different live versions (from the same band) of that song on youtube and then play along. They all may be slightly different, have different tempos, different recorded mixes, etc. and that really helps because you are playing along with a live version, rather than just to the perfection of the original recorded version.
If it is a recent song, a lot of bands now will have studio appearance versions online of the same song where you get nice clean audio, but they are live recording with no audience. (great to practice with)
It also helps if there are any amateur band cover versions available online to play along with, since those will typically be radically different from the original- and the recordings will sometimes not have a loud bass in the mix so you can hear yourself. It’s also great practice if you can find slower, acoustic versions with no bass at all, so you are just adding live to what they are doing.
By practicing with different versions, it helps with flexibility so once you are in a live environment it should give you more focus if things don’t quite sound like that perfect studio recording. (I kind of discovered this quite by accident, so thought I would share)
This is an excellent thread. Please keep it coming with updates and advice.
@joergkutter I’m glad to hear it’s still going so well. Except for the singing, I guess. At least you’re getting a lot of good experience.
@Vik LoL! Man, that sounds so crazy Rock and Roll and really, so much fun.
That’s a cool idea -I’ll try it out.
By the way, I find that if I just play recordings through my computer or cell phone without added speakers, there’s not much bass sound anyway, so it doesn’t bother me.
Guess it’s time to report back about my first gig
A. I got through it! The major thing that made it possible was knowing the songs backwards and forwards - you could have woke me up in the middle of the night and quizzed me my part and I’ve have been spot on.
B. Being prepared meant I went on the stage not nervous, and got through the first song (Freedom) with no nerves. I was surprised that for the second (One, U2) I got nervous and my left hand shook, which worried me because it most complex but my top favorite bass line of the evening! Managed to get through it without anyone noticing, climbed to the top of my hill (Bobby Magee) (4th of the set, still didn’t get my miracle of a perfect rendition), and breathed my way back down the hill into the last of then (you oughta know), and stepped down very happy 
C. We (and I) got great feedback, including from a professional, who told me that of the 4 groups he liked us best, and particularly commended my playing for hitting the exact right bass place- the audience shouldn’t feel it when it’s there, but will notice when it’s not. In other words, Keep it simple, stupid
D. So it was great fun, and the next thing I noticed is that immediately following the gig the lead singer is exhibiting strong signs of LSD (Lead singer disorder), and that the 3 new songs we picked took me only a few hours to learn, compared with the first seven that occupied me for 3 weeks.
Happy holidays everyone!
Congrats, man! Keep on rocking 
Well done, and thanks for the self-review.
That’s really great to hear, @erg . . . 
I can just imagine that feeling of confidence if I had been in your shoes
Happy Holidays to you too!
Cheers, Joe
I have found going to your local guitar center and plugging in a bass, turn up to 10 and playing Stairway to Heaven or Iron Man will get you… oh wait…it will get you evicted from the store… never mind 