That is great. Trying to never let my skills (I’m not very skilled right now. Lmao) get to my head, even when I become a decent guitarist is my true goal.
My friend was doing sound for a touring musician. She had hired her backing band and they were all great. One gig she (singer/acoustic guitar) puts the capo on a different fret without realising. The backing band are all now transposing on the fly and the gig went well but not flawlessly. She made them all apologise to her for a bad show. I was so mad hearing they all just submitted to her demand and apologised. It was the perfect time to be assertive and ask: "What's the reason all our gigs have been in the same key but today you raised them a semitone?"
Hired working musicians often want to get hired again. Picking a fight with the person doing the hiring (and let's be honest, it would have absolutely picked a fight) is likely to accomplish the opposite. It's not great and it's not fair, but it's no different than any other job...the boss gets to be right even when they're not, a lot of the time. "Be assertive with them or they'll just do it again" sounds like great advice when it's coming from a 3rd party, but it's a lot different when it's one's own paycheck at risk. Not saying you're wrong, but I entirely understand why they just sucked it up, too.
@@ryanevans371 I can fathom why they did. Maybe I struggle with that situation because I respect people who point out when I'm wrong. 'Yes Men' don't help anyone. She may have gone "Oh my goodness! And you all changed key on the spot?! Wow, I'm so lucky to have you as my band." or "Don't talk back to me. You're fired." or something else we can speculate. The delivery of that keystone of information would make the difference.
@@Nutsaur They work with her, they know who she is. They know whether she's a good boss or a bad boss. I wouldn't have apologised but it's also pointless to point things out to these people sometimes because they're dumb enough to make the same mistake again even if you do tell them.
My wife and I are both musicians. We had a tracked duo for years. We played live instruments, but the tracks were always consistent. 15 years ago, we joined a fully live tribute band. The band leader is a very stream of consciousness in the moment type of entertainer. About 80% of the time he’ll stick to the Setlist, but that other 20% is up for grabs. Even within songs, he’ll change arrangements on the fly, adding or subtracting measures, versus, or completely changing the intro or ending without warning. Sometimes he does this consciously but often he’s just so in the moment he doesn’t realize it happened. If something unique happens during a show, he will occasionally make up a song about it right on the spot. It drives me crazy, but he is so good at endearing himself to an audience that it works for him. Some of the best audience reactions of our shows can come from his spontaneity. Coming from a backing track history where we had control of everything and nothing ever changed, this was quite a culture shock. I’m also the personality type who likes to be in charge and that definitely doesn’t happen in this band! Lol Luckily, 90% of the time he leaves us alone as far as our interpretation of the songs and how we play our parts. As long as we pick up the flavor of the tune he’s happy. The music of the artist we cover is conducive to this approach. On the bright side, we stay busy and get to travel all over the country and do really cool concert venues. Lots of theaters, festivals and tons of corporate work. My wife and I recognize this special opportunity to work and travel together playing music so we have learned to suck it up and put in our two cents when we can and just go with the flow otherwise. We have a lot of fun and it’s definitely worth it.
Me and musical friends of my sister decided to be her wedding band when she had set a date and a venue. I normally play rythym guitar but, because the singer was playing guitar, I had to step up and learn how to do lead. This wasn't too much of a problem for most of the songs we were doing. However, "Whole Lotta Rosie" was quite a challenge and really pushed my comfort zone. So I learn it, not amazingly but passable. Only for the drummer to decide we were only going to play as many bars that was half of the solo. Half of an AC/DC solo! That I'd learned and mentally adjusted for being a "guitar hero" for. I'm totally not a show-off by the way. I ended up just improvising a totally basic pentatonic line, in between the recognisable bars at the start and the end of it. On the night it came out alright. Most people were too drunk or too chatty to care. Only one guest noticed. Obviously an AC?DC fan!
I fill in, on bass, with another band sometimes. One time, I was rehearsing with the guys and we were going over a new song that they were still a bit sketchy about, and I knew the song back to front, so when they played a certain section different, I said that it was supposed to go a certain way, but they said they changed it for vocal reasons. After the rehearsal was over, I apologized to the band leader, saying that I felt I was being disrespectful in their house, and they were super cool and said that they discuss things like this and that I was in no way disrespectful by piping up. Never been in a band like that before and I will try to keep that in mind in the future.
It's better to voice your concern then to just let it ride and bubble under the surface IF it isn't right. Some people might get kinda weird about that but if they do in my experience they're not the kind of guys you like to be playing with anyway. Real deal musicians check "taking things personally" at the door, in exchange for getting it right!
Any musical correction should never be personal or be taken as such. It should always be purely professional. Everyone should want the song to be as good as it could possibly be. Unfortunately, sometimes, some people have such sensitive egos they don’t want or can’t handle that feedback ever, no matter how it’s presented. I tend to not perform with anyone like that.
Insensitivity to feedback should NOT be a normalized thing in the music community. I don’t understand people who are hostile towards talking about arrangements.
I hate these guest performers in my band as well. What’s the point rehearsing when it’s not actually what happens at the show? We were at this gig and our singer invited this old slide guitar guy to play on our gig out of the blue. He didn’t tell any of this until right at the beginning of the show because it was like a surprise. Like he thought we would be pleased about it. They guy came with his combo amp and because he wasn’t even at the sound check, he just plugged his amp at the center of the stage. It wasn’t miced or anything. Nothing was agreed on what he would play and he didn’t even know the songs we were playing. So what ended up happening we tried to play our show like normal and this guy was just screeching his slide guitar drunk or high on the top of everything. It sounded like shit. Well, our singer liked everything this guy brought to the show and he even turned his amp LOUD AS FUCK and there was nothing our sound guy could do about it because it wasn’t miced. Our singer even started to not sing on some verses because he wanted to give room to this screeching out of tune slide guitar. Our audience didn’t know what was going on and started walking out because every song sounded horrible because of that slide guitar all over everything. Our drummer and I started to just play the song as normal just to get it over with. Even if our singer missed the verses. I sang my backing vocals where they should be whether or not our singer decided to sing or not. Our singer had no choice but to just sing along. There weren’t many gigs after that for that band. I quit the band and started a new band with our drummer. Now we have all pros and shit like this doesn’t happen anymore.
You had just too big of an ego to not take it lol. Haha. I can't get my head around the logic that goes to these kind of changes everyone here on the comments tell people do. Doing something just so you can do something different? If it was a percussion player that suprise would be cool but playing other than jazz on melody instruments you have to know the chord changes! You guys should have started to follow only the slide player what he was doing and turn the whole gig into a free jazz experiment :D and seen the steel players face trying to follow you following him. Maybe the singer would have loved it :D then get a better singer after if he would not realize what just happened
Valuable lessons here about working with bands. Self-preservation probably makes sense long term when you aren’t the boss or have shared input in the final say. I think they call it a “yes man,” lol. To be fair, if the song really ends up stinking, you come up smelling like roses because you didn’t have a say in the choices being made - and if it turns out great, you also come up smelling like roses because you didn’t put up a drink or get mad about it, and the end result worked on stage and made the crowd happy. 😂👍🏻 Btw, who doesn’t play the intro to Nothing Else Matters?! That’s SO iconic. I don’t even see how you can just do a cold start at the verse. I’d love to hear how that went, lol.
I've been in the reverse situation when having to play with musicians far above my own level, it is what it is, to see it positive it's educating and humbling :)
Remember kirk Hammett speaking up about having no guitar solos on st. Anger? He was so right but when you are between two really talented and opinionated people it must be so hard. That was the pure example of restraint.
@@MrCold012 Without the solos the songs themselves became repetitive. 6-8 minutes of verse-chorus-verse. Playing the pentatonic scale with a wah pedal would at least provide a break between two giant sections of an already long song.
I have had a hybrid situation. I put together a band for a series of charity events playing covers but we didn't have the means to be note perfect against the originals so we messed around with the songs and made them our own. We changed the feel, did mash ups and generally tweaked things to work for us. Because I had set things up there seemed to be a deference to my views but I tried to encourage ideas from everyone. If someone did something daft in rehearsals but it sounded good we used it. We stumbled upon our first mash up when I was going through the guitar parts with our rhythm guitarist and our lead singer started singing a completely different song over the top. It sounded cool so we worked it in to the set. There is no way I could have got all the decisions right but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves so hopefully I got enough of them right enough of the time but it was hard to balance my vision against the collective contribution.
Some musicians are simply happy to go along with the plan. Others are _Noooo !!!! It _must_ be played THIS WAY !!! I do my best to avoid the latter. It’s good when someone has an idea, and you try it, and it works. You adopt it into the tune / arrangement. I’ve never run my own bands as a democracy, rather than a consultative dictatorship. In other words, I’ll listen to your ideas, and if they have merit, they’ll be included importantly with attribution, but the buck stops with me. That said, when we are playing live, there are no mistakes. They’re just things that can be played more optimally next time. I didn’t care about what you just did, just be strong on the next 1. Gives everyone the freedom to stretch out and push past things they may hold back on. Brings out the best in the players and makes it fun. That usually translates to the audience enjoying the show. They remember the good bits.
Love this. Congrats on 889k Subscribers! Love the sword hehe. That last minute change of an additional guitar player sounds like a nightmare haha. I know your personality type, and how you like to be in control of the situation. I'm just the same. I think I'd start internally panicking a little bit and mentally running away with the potential scenario and disasters that could happen. So glad you were able to learn how to navigate and deal with those types of situations.
I’ve been in both cover bands and original bands. I’ve been in bands that played songs WE liked, and bands that played songs the AUDIENCE liked. (the latter was a better paying gig 😂) I’ve also been in bands that I formed (my recruitments) and bands that were musical chairs with a couple of core members. My best time was had in a band where the players weren’t friends, didn’t hang out together at all, only seen together at rehearsal or gigs. It stayed all business and feelings weren’t an issue. Lasted several years and when players needed replacement, there wasn’t any hurt feelings.
I know what you mean. My remedy for this problem was the fact that I've always been a huge KISS fan and I always thought it takes a few completely different people with different music tastes to create something interesting. When you have 4 or 5 guys and they're the same, look the same way, listen to the same stuff, it's cool but boring. You need a guy who'd join a heavy metal band and add some Radiohead vibe to the solos :) At least it will sound interesting and kind of new...
I'll say it again - this is why your channel is the best on TH-cam. Whether it's this video, or "How guitar kept me from becoming an Incel", or "The time I cried after a gig and almost quit guitar" your channel teaches music, guitar and real life experiences. You rock Mike 🤘
love this video, as a type - a in music situations I've had my share of embarrassing moments when I realized it was ME that was killing the vibe for no reason. worked hard to learn how to go with the flow and it's been a net positive overall. had I learned this lesson sooner who knows what cool experiences I could've had.
@TheArtofGuitar Love the sword hehe. That last minute change of an additional guitar player sounds like a nightmare haha. I know your personality type, and how you like to be in control of the situation. I'm just the same. I think I'd start internally panicking a little bit and mentally running away with the potential scenario and disasters that could happen. So glad you were able to learn how to navigate and deal with those types of situations.
Once I got all jacked up about who was gonna do the splitz-kick off the drum riser when the fireball pyrotechnics went off and I was screaming about it until this kid finally says “Sir - this is a Wendy’s”.
35+ years as a gigging musician and this is EXACTLY my musical "journey" lol I've slowly come to the realization that not everyone approaches a song like you do. Especially when it comes to covers lol Letting someones musical "artistry" be a part of the song is all well and fine AS LONG AS its done in a professional manner and not as that person's way of satisfying their own personal muse at the sake of the the band or more importantly, the song. Always serve the song first 🤘❤
I can totally relate to your experience. I put so much pressure on me and have to keep myself in check to not put the others in the band under the same pressure. Control is just an illusion anyway! Almost every time we gig something wild happens or goes wrong. In that situation the real magic happens - when you adapt, overcome and grow afterwards. I even start to think that the gigs where everything went fine and no major misstakes happened are the ones that are more or less meaningless. I mean, what great stories can you tell from that?
I know the feeling. As a person who produces beats for artists, sometimes certain things they want you to add in, is completely out of this world...and makes no sense but just got to keep it movin because they are paying you.
I've done a lot of orchestra work, so I'm sort of used to curveballs like this - when I show up, I'm beholden to the score, and to the conductor. Cuts happen, vamps are added, changes are made, sometimes the charts have a mistake, so I try to be flexible. I've always approached my work in bands the same way, when I'm not the 'leader'.
Sounds like the same lessons I learned before I was 10 years old playing team sports. Things work much better and go more smoothly when everyone contributes and can understand that working something out is not a direct attack on you just because someone added or took something away from your idea to make it work better for a particular situation.
At music school we were told to learn Green Day's Minority. I just couldn't get that intro down when I was practising it. The next day at rehearsal I asked the other guitarist how it went for him. "I didn't practice it." I said "Well, you're playing it then!" like the askhole I was. Little bothered me more than someone not practicing before a band rehearsal. When we performed it he played it wrong and I made eye contact with another student. Both of us thinking 'Yep here he goes again not quite getting it.' Instead of rising to the challenge I let him take a fall. Not my finest hour.
That's the worst thing, when you're putting in your effort and someone else isn't. Making him take the fall wasn't right but it sounds like you know that. With that, I totally understand the frustration of someone not giving any effort. I can't play everyone's instrument for them on stage all at the same time and sometimes believe me I wish I could..
Ego is one of the most aggravating things to deal with as a musician. Your own ego and the people you play with's ego's. Its always been impressive to me when the people who contribute the least think they deserve the most. "My songs deserve to be played in the band too" well why? Are they good enough? No. Then why are we having this conversation? Ego. "Ive been in the band 5 minutes and even though i cant sing i wanna sing half the songs" its truly a thing to witness
As a perfectionist myself, here's something that I realised just a few months ago that completely changed my perspective on things: When someone has a different approach than you do, just know that THAT approach, in their eyes is the most perfect. "Perfect" for everyone is different, and maybe other people will also find that that person's approach is the most "perfect".
I had a related thing happen one time when I played a small house show, it was at the drummer's party and his other band had rehearsed a lot more so they played 6 songs while the band that he played in with me only has 2 lol. I offered to play rhythm guitar for the other band's set but their guitarist had some... ego issues. He was basically your pedalboard guitarist but I was the one trying to join last minute. He got his way and I didn't play for most of their set, but I did end up playing on a cover they did at the end of the show. I did great, he did great... but he was awkward and kinda resentful the rest of the day. And I actually ADDED to the song!
9:11 Yes, I've definitely over-prepared for song performances that turned out differently than I had practiced. The most memorable one was about thirteen years ago when a group I was in did a gig where Huey Lewis was set to be a guest jammer on a few songs (long story that I won't go into here). I was playing bass in that band. The lead guitarist and I put our heads together for an hour or so right before the rehearsal sweating it out, "How many Huey Lewis and the News songs can we whip out?" only to have the man himself show up for rehearsal and tell us, "Nah, I play those songs all the time - let's jam, man!" You never know, do ya.
Great vid! From my experience it's very rare for complete creative democracy to lead to a cohesive style/direction in a band. A strong, single vision (with some compromise and the appropriate musicians) generally leads to the best result
I've been in situations where yes I took the time went as far as slowing the song down to learn the parts and do my homework to be met with lets just do our own version of it. I used to get mad but honestly being somewhat self taught I decided to just roll with it because it helped me at times I could play a less stressed.
In a similar, but different, area of expertise, I will have people tell me what they want for an art project. I listen, take notes, and offer advice. At the end of this, they will still ask for what they wanted originally. The "Are you sure?" part comes into mind. I used to do two workups; one of theirs and one of mine. People would acknowledge that mine was better, but would still choose theirs, which is always a great WTH moment. Older and wiser me just gives them what they want without wasting my time anymore.
Once, I was brought in to play guitar regularly with a singer that just left her band. Apparently it was a bitter split, and she had a chip on her shoulder. It seemed like it would go pretty well at first, as she was talented and I already knew about 60 of her songs on her list that she sent. But when we got the week of the first show and she sent the set list, it had about 15-20 songs I hadn’t played or even heard before and none of the rest of the band knew them either. I voiced that I would like more time to learn those before they’re played on a gig, but I would do my best. I’m not opposed to learning new songs even if it’s unfamiliar, and you never know if they could be big crowd favorites. The band did the best we could, but we didn’t even end up playing half of those tunes. So I was frustrated about trying to cram them, then frustrated that we didn’t play most of them (which we didn’t need to do in the first place). That kind of thing is a big peeve because it’s disrespectful of everyone’s time, but I just thought once we learned them, things would go smoothly, and the mistake was just trying too much new on the first gig. But every gig was the same. She would include at least 10-12 new songs randomly, not always in original key, they were never standard covers, and we would just be expected to show up and know them. We didn’t even regularly play those extra songs on the first list, if we played them at all. I really thought a lot of this was just her trying too hard, and she’d never been a bandleader before. I tried to help and explain why this wasn’t working, and suggested multiple different things that would make the band’s jobs easier. She remained insistent, and even said to me that people just want to dance and hear a good singer and performance, and that they don’t really care if the band isn’t that tight or messes up because nobody really cares about that if the singer and songs are good. I was totally fine not being in control, and could have stuck around if even a few things were done differently, but I’m never going to stay in a situation where I’m disrespected or constantly put in a position to not succeed. The whole band eventually left and she’s replaced all instruments multiple times since this.
Rolling with the on-the-fly, last minute musical changes used to be the norm for a majority of in-the trenches working musicians and even more so for studio musicians. The opposite is the established band member way of looking at things, IE:, The expectation to have everything inflexibly set and decided and unchangeable. Both have worked and can work just fine but the video presenters learned flexibility is more conducive to opening yourself up to experience more varied, growth oriented musical experiences. And yep, for that growth the ego has to be left at the door.
I'm not even a pro, but even jamming, playing house parties and other small events, we for sure had situations like that. I knew a guy who was an amazing keyboardist, and he would just improvise and take off while the rest of us kept the groove, and I'd be annoyed at first, but eventually ran with it. All that being said... leaving out the intro to Nothing Else Matters?! That's probably my favorite part!
As a hired guitar player, I’m super chill about these things you talk about. I do have my own band with my own control, so that helps. That said, I have my peeves, and playing Unforgiven without the intro is unfathomable to me and objectively bad lol. It is the single best part of that song. I would be nice about it, but in person I may ask why they didn’t play that since it’s the best part of the song.
5:23 Oh man, I've had that kind of "...that sucked" moments before. I was not the leader and ironically I was on bass for that gig! I just figured, I'll do my part with as much excellence as I can and heck I'm not responsible for the outcome of this as a whole, the "leader" is. I did gently mention to the leader with the approach of being helpful, but at the end of the day the leader made the call and I was good with it. Great stories. Chalk it up to being a little bit older now.
My approach is very much the same. Try to nail it note for note and if we miss it, it still sounds great. But it only takes seconds to say, "What do you parts do you want me to play?" I don't feel like that is bothering anyone and is quite helpful to sort out parts and save time rehearsing. Then you have more time to watch TV! :)
I feel that. But also when everything has to be approved by everyone in the band that can be annoying too. There are some things that are just not that important. And I do have an opinion on those things but I rather keep it to myself and just say "I trust you guys will make a good decision" It sometimes speeds things up a bit and also my band mates seem to really appreciate me saying that.
99.99% of the audience doesn’t give a shit if the guitar solos sound like the record, actually I think most people think guitar solos are boring and would rather hear the singing and verses. I have been in rock bands since the late 60’s and have played pretty much most types of rock like pop dance, top 40, metal, southern. I always try to catch the signature riffs in every guitar solo and play in the same tonality as the original solo. Always met with positive response from the audience. There are some solos you have to copy as exactly as you can, like Stairway to heaven but some others that sound like the lead player just went free form in the studio, well, I do the same! I will be 71 soon and I still do a classic rock show with backing tracks ! Playing alone I have 100% control over what, where, when and how I play! Good luck! Rock on!
Yeah, I know the intro to Nothing else matters, a bunch of Rush and lots of songs I will never play live. I guess I figured them out for the challenge and fun of it!
I was in a grunge band for like one gig. And we all had the whole set practiced and solid. Now the singer whose ego was not his amigo came out with “who’s ready for one more after we played the whole set. Proceeded to come out with smells like teen spirit which I never learned and which we never practiced as a band
Was it eat the rich. I knew the motorhead song and someone brought it up and was referring to the Aerosmith song. Which id heard but didnt know it was called eat the rich also. So i managed to play it for them mostly right. If i remember right the Aerosmith riff changes from minor to major when the verse starts. Ya its e blues pentitonic. But they play a g# when the verse starts but its rock so i guess its all chromatic. Once you play every chord a power chord you're breaking rules man. throw out the book its way more metal
I'm mostly a session player: I play miltiple instruments, specializingin jazz and swing. I was invited to play bass for a "project" by a "pro" singer. I was interviewed by the drummer over the phone; it was actually just him bragging about his accomplishments. I drove 2.5 hours to the rehearsal (prior rehearsal was canceled with no warning), was asked to bring my acoustic/electric fretless bass. I arrived early, as I usually do. There were no charts or song list. The drummer arrived very late: practice was nearly over by the time he was set up. He criticized my playing from the beginning, and turned to me and told me to "pop" the bass strings. On a fretless acoustic?I resigned on the spot. Is my ego out of control?
No. Some people are just unprofessional losers you don't want to waste time with - or be seen with. People that unprofessional are going to have a bad rep, and if "you're only as good as your last project", then you want to be mindful of what that project is.
Ive definitely gotten way more chill over the years. Come to realize that maybe i dont always know what's best. I'll offer my insight if it's asked of , e but unless im really steering the proje, t i just try to go with the flow and serve the bandleader the best i can.
I did a lot of recording for other artists, they'd send me the track and I'd add the kitchen sink and then they'd just use whatever they wanted to, well this one guy in particular would never end up using most of the tracks, and I started getting pissed, you know with the all the time and effort I put into it and we had little bit of a falling out. Well That was a powerful lesson to learn, it wasn't my music and he used what he thought was best for HIS SONG! We're still buddies, so it worked out great in the end but it sure hurt my little ego at the time!
I've been in bands since I was 19. I'm 42 now. I'm too old to give a shit if you wanna ruin the awesome tune we were jamming. I have my own band and I call the shots. Why would I care if the person who hired me for their project have bad taste or overkill every time? I have my own band to worry about. The only thing I care about when gigging for somebody else is: know all the material in your sleep, be reliable, be fun to hang with. That's it. That's my job. If the show is shit or the songs got poor taste arrangements, that's none of my business. My bussiness is to be a great hang who is always on time and knows all the tunes inside out. I got my own band to worry about.
Personally I'm completely fine with someone taking the reins and I only do so when no one else's stepping up to the plate but the problem has been, in my experience at least, that this "power" often goes to the head of whoever happens to be leader & it just destroys everything for everyone🤷♂️ ...my 2ç
Wow! it took a lot of guts to tell that story. It sounds like you were a total F-ing A-hole to work with prior to your revelation. Okay, maybe I'm looking back after decades of various bands, and call-in gigs. When I got done watching the video, I thought, "how old is this cat?" Don't get me wrong, i get where you're coming from. But, it really is a question of talent over temperament. I was very fortunate to have wonderful musical mentors in my life. Perhaps the best advice I ever received was, "what you do on the bandstand is only a fraction of why you earned your place in the band." I'm really happy for you that you had this epiphany. I've done session work, for complicated stuff, and we didn't know what key it would be in until the singer literally got behind the mic! Wanna talk about maddening! After putting in hours practicing it in 3-4 of at least possible keys! But you gotta chill. It ain't your gig. They wouldn't have called you in if you couldn't do it. The lesson I learned is too 'not practice before band practice'. It dosen't matter what chart someone hands me. First time through, I WILL SUCK. Second time through I find my groove. If we run it a third time through I'm sharp and ready for performance. It's a real gift that you told this story. I hope it saves someone from the anguish you went through. A tiny bit about myself, I'm a 56 yo upright bass, and electric bass player in south Florida. From rock, jazz, latin, funk, klezmer, gospel, country, Mexican traditional... suffice to say I've played some different stuff. If it ain't your band, it ain't your problem. Just do your job the best you can, and be a member of the team.
Yes, I had this too lots of time and I also learned to adapt to situations. At the end it's all about a good performance as a band. But if there's one member in a band going for all the glory for himself it could hurt the band in the area in a bad way.
The beauty is when YOU are the band at the end of the day YOU can do whatever you guys want with any song! You are the monkeys in charge of the bananas as it were lol
I had the key change one when I was subbing/depping for another band. Only we didn't have a rehearsal, and they told me SECONDS before I was supposed to start the song. Alotta math going on in my head trying to get through 🤣
I've never been a full time pro or toured with any, but I'll take this opportunity to rant anyway. One band had a leader insisting we have 3 guitar players. During rehearsal at one point I just stopped playing and kinda' danced to the groove. When asked, "why aren't you playing anything?", I replied, "you guys are playing everything, I don't need to..." One band expected me to learn a couple of solo breaks note for note. I worked hard and about the time that I got them down pretty good, they decided not to play those tunes anymore... Or a guest guitar player who tuned down 1/2 step to Eb insisting we play in that key. We were already tuned down to D for our own purposes and reasons. Playing equivalent fingering in F can be a real pain in the ass.
All true...HOWEVER...there's the other side of the coin. That laissez fare attitude is indicative of amateurs. It's the "it's all good" response that everyone goes along with. But on a pro level, it won't fly. Top players know when something is jive. And even the audience, though they may not understand the particulars, will know when something isn't quite right. So maybe an even deeper lesson might be -- how much do you compromise to appease the majority and maintain mediocrity? As a sideman, a certain amount is necessary. But if you want something of quality, attention to the little details is a must.
I am surprised to hear this from someone else because that's what broke my last band up - and pissed me off to no end after investing so much time. I suggested we all come to practice with our part rehearsed and ready but that didn't go over well because it wasn't "fun". I approach it as work and become obsessed. I guess that's my problem.
A few years ago, I was one of a handful of musicians who a singer/band leader of a covers band would call up when he needed a bassist to step in. The set was Sabbath, Dio, ACDC, Ozzy, Maiden, Purple, Whitesnake, Rainbow etc etc (they were called Black Rising, you get the idea 😂). Almost every time I was asked to play with them, the singer would ask for a list of the songs I had done with him before so he could work out a set list for the gig. As I said, I played with them several times so my list was around 40 ish tracks and almost invariably he would say “do you know [X]?” My response, jokingly, was usually “if it’s not on the list then, no”. Anyway, this one time, he asked if I knew Heaven and Hell by Sabbath. It’s not on the list so…but, I was quite au fais with the song (I prefer Ozzy era but H&H and Mob Rules have some great music on them). I had two weeks before the gig, so I set to learning it and got it totally nailed. Fast forward to the gig. In a pub in my hometown. Heaven and Hell was on the set to be the first song of the second half. In the break between sets, the singer says to me…”our regular bassist’s son is here and he plays too. Is it ok if he gets up to do a song?” Yeah, sure. Which one? says I… “Heaven and Hell”, says the singer! 😳😱 You mean the song you asked me to learn two weeks ago that wasn’t on the 40+ long list of songs I already knew?!! 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻 Anyway, I let the guy get on and he played the song…and was obviously blagging it all the way through. Root notes and random fills where there shouldn’t have been any, and the ones he put in weren’t any of Geezer’s from the record. I got to play it a few weeks later though. And I’ve played it as recently as this year (there’s a video of that on my TH-cam channel 😉 [look for Meanstreak - Heaven and Hell] plug plug lol). Also, I now regularly play that song on guitar in one of my own cover bands. So, I’m certainly getting the most out of those two weeks I spent learning it 😂
Please look up a band called Leave Those Kids Alone...they are between the ages of 14-18. And plays classic rock tunes perfectly... Van Halen...Ozzy... Pink Floyd... Frampton etc..good to see young people learning old tunes...Do a video about them please
We had a guy at a club we played that asked to get up and play '2 Tickets to Paradise' by Eddie Money... I'm like I don't know it but I'll give it a shot, our bass player could play anything, He got up and was great to where it became part of the set at that club, but if he didn't show up, our singer and guitar player didn't get their break...lol
I get that when you’re not the leader, but some cover songs require the solo. Take “Marry Jane’s Last Dance” for instance. You gotta do the bendy 5th thing. It’s as integral as the verses to me. You don’t have to do the second part of the solo as is. Have fun with that.
I remember playing bass in our classic rock cover band. It was a good time. After the lead guitarist/lead singer left, I filled his role. Now I didnt do solos note for note like he did. I decided that had already been done and wanted to do my own thing. But after our rhythm guitarist left, the bassist and drummer looked to me. I realized I was done at that point. I didnt want the responsibility to hold it all together. That being said, I enjoyed my time. Kudos to you for not letting your ego overtake you. So many people dont check their ego at tbe door...and it shows..
It's hard to be a harmonica player and not be in competition with the lead guitar even on songs where your just playing background . As a harmonica player I have found it works better to not be in a band but just do sit ins . I don't like to make waves , but I'm not gonna hold back to kiss butt . There is no such thing as rhythm harp , even when you try . Have a blessed one .
I'm the same type of guy you used to be. I still cannot let go when there is so much crap coming from someone because they are just lazy or think they can fake something when I actually put the work on. Maybe one day I'll learn to let go... Hopefully.
Well, I just learned the hard way that you have to know how to pick your battles. If it's not your project and the leader is cool with it, just think "Okay, it's your thing man." But once it's your project, feel free to be like, "Oh hell no, you're not just gonna fake your way through this Rush song." ;)
I agree as a pro musician you need to adapt on the fly and be a musical chameleon but at the same time communication and preparation is key in a band. If I was in a band and worked my ass off to learn/play something for them and someone is calling audibles that may jeopardize your public performance and then therefor the bands as well or a member shows up less prepared/half ass performs/phones it in you can bet that's the last time I will be jamming with them, money or not. Not about being too serious or ego it's about pride of ones work and all the years you invested. If someone screwed with me like that publicly, we done.
You don't seem like a narcissist. Control freak telling people what to do. Narcissist suck all air out of room. Instead of trying to fix a problem situation. Narcissist will escalate petty stuff into full blown nightmare. When a Narcissist meets someone (they want something) They can be overly charming complimenting that person as if greatest friend. The next day they show up knocking. But you never told them where you live. Cable guy, but he duck tapes, ties you down when your sleeping.
Remember what, Paul, that watering the snare wasn't as great as AE?! Or why 'All along the what-so-ever' was tributed to the Grateful Dead instead to Jimi, because of waterboarding?! I don't know. Namastè.
I will say that if you want me to play a song differently than the recorded version you need to tell me that we'll in advance so I can learn how you want me to play it!
Recently I had a friend who’s the lead singer of a band call me up and ask me to be their bass player for their upcoming tour and possibly come on as an official member after that. So I spent the time to learn their whole album and then they decided that they didn’t even want me to audition… w/e, guess I’m probably dodging a bullet…
In that first situation, I can understand why anyone would be upset. It's a definite WTF moment. I'd maybe let the first one go, but if it happens again I'm out.
I was a bad bandmate. Nothing sucks more than spending hrs getting down changes, fills, solos & tone then rehearsal day...... someone didn't learn that one, lets drop it😠
!["สนธิ" ห่วงมีขบวนการปกป้อง "ทนายตั้ม" : [THE MESSAGE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2GQNp3EoMc0/mqdefault.jpg)
"Is this really happening? Cause that sucked" 😂
The ego is not your amigo
👍😂
That is great. Trying to never let my skills (I’m not very skilled right now. Lmao) get to my head, even when I become a decent guitarist is my true goal.
You’re right.If one knows something and they are trying to share it one should listen though.
However...Jesus is my numero uno amigo
@@Reed5016 its not about letting your skills get the better of you, its all about staying as humble as how you once were (where you are now!)
My friend was doing sound for a touring musician.
She had hired her backing band and they were all great.
One gig she (singer/acoustic guitar) puts the capo on a different fret without realising.
The backing band are all now transposing on the fly and the gig went well but not flawlessly.
She made them all apologise to her for a bad show.
I was so mad hearing they all just submitted to her demand and apologised.
It was the perfect time to be assertive and ask:
"What's the reason all our gigs have been in the same key but today you raised them a semitone?"
Hired working musicians often want to get hired again. Picking a fight with the person doing the hiring (and let's be honest, it would have absolutely picked a fight) is likely to accomplish the opposite.
It's not great and it's not fair, but it's no different than any other job...the boss gets to be right even when they're not, a lot of the time.
"Be assertive with them or they'll just do it again" sounds like great advice when it's coming from a 3rd party, but it's a lot different when it's one's own paycheck at risk.
Not saying you're wrong, but I entirely understand why they just sucked it up, too.
Taylor?
@@ryanevans371
I can fathom why they did. Maybe I struggle with that situation because I respect people who point out when I'm wrong. 'Yes Men' don't help anyone.
She may have gone "Oh my goodness! And you all changed key on the spot?! Wow, I'm so lucky to have you as my band." or "Don't talk back to me. You're fired." or something else we can speculate.
The delivery of that keystone of information would make the difference.
@@johnscott2076 doubt it.
@@Nutsaur They work with her, they know who she is. They know whether she's a good boss or a bad boss. I wouldn't have apologised but it's also pointless to point things out to these people sometimes because they're dumb enough to make the same mistake again even if you do tell them.
My wife and I are both musicians. We had a tracked duo for years. We played live instruments, but the tracks were always consistent. 15 years ago, we joined a fully live tribute band. The band leader is a very stream of consciousness in the moment type of entertainer. About 80% of the time he’ll stick to the Setlist, but that other 20% is up for grabs. Even within songs, he’ll change arrangements on the fly, adding or subtracting measures, versus, or completely changing the intro or ending without warning. Sometimes he does this consciously but often he’s just so in the moment he doesn’t realize it happened. If something unique happens during a show, he will occasionally make up a song about it right on the spot. It drives me crazy, but he is so good at endearing himself to an audience that it works for him. Some of the best audience reactions of our shows can come from his spontaneity. Coming from a backing track history where we had control of everything and nothing ever changed, this was quite a culture shock. I’m also the personality type who likes to be in charge and that definitely doesn’t happen in this band! Lol Luckily, 90% of the time he leaves us alone as far as our interpretation of the songs and how we play our parts. As long as we pick up the flavor of the tune he’s happy. The music of the artist we cover is conducive to this approach. On the bright side, we stay busy and get to travel all over the country and do really cool concert venues. Lots of theaters, festivals and tons of corporate work. My wife and I recognize this special opportunity to work and travel together playing music so we have learned to suck it up and put in our two cents when we can and just go with the flow otherwise. We have a lot of fun and it’s definitely worth it.
Me and musical friends of my sister decided to be her wedding band when she had set a date and a venue. I normally play rythym guitar but, because the singer was playing guitar, I had to step up and learn how to do lead. This wasn't too much of a problem for most of the songs we were doing. However, "Whole Lotta Rosie" was quite a challenge and really pushed my comfort zone. So I learn it, not amazingly but passable. Only for the drummer to decide we were only going to play as many bars that was half of the solo. Half of an AC/DC solo! That I'd learned and mentally adjusted for being a "guitar hero" for. I'm totally not a show-off by the way. I ended up just improvising a totally basic pentatonic line, in between the recognisable bars at the start and the end of it. On the night it came out alright. Most people were too drunk or too chatty to care. Only one guest noticed. Obviously an AC?DC fan!
I can't think why people want to make these kinds of "edits" to songs. Seems lot harder to remember some classic songs altered. Why make it harder?
I fill in, on bass, with another band sometimes. One time, I was rehearsing with the guys and we were going over a new song that they were still a bit sketchy about, and I knew the song back to front, so when they played a certain section different, I said that it was supposed to go a certain way, but they said they changed it for vocal reasons. After the rehearsal was over, I apologized to the band leader, saying that I felt I was being disrespectful in their house, and they were super cool and said that they discuss things like this and that I was in no way disrespectful by piping up. Never been in a band like that before and I will try to keep that in mind in the future.
It's better to voice your concern then to just let it ride and bubble under the surface IF it isn't right. Some people might get kinda weird about that but if they do in my experience they're not the kind of guys you like to be playing with anyway. Real deal musicians check "taking things personally" at the door, in exchange for getting it right!
Any musical correction should never be personal or be taken as such. It should always be purely professional. Everyone should want the song to be as good as it could possibly be. Unfortunately, sometimes, some people have such sensitive egos they don’t want or can’t handle that feedback ever, no matter how it’s presented. I tend to not perform with anyone like that.
Insensitivity to feedback should NOT be a normalized thing in the music community. I don’t understand people who are hostile towards talking about arrangements.
I hate these guest performers in my band as well. What’s the point rehearsing when it’s not actually what happens at the show?
We were at this gig and our singer invited this old slide guitar guy to play on our gig out of the blue. He didn’t tell any of this until right at the beginning of the show because it was like a surprise. Like he thought we would be pleased about it.
They guy came with his combo amp and because he wasn’t even at the sound check, he just plugged his amp at the center of the stage. It wasn’t miced or anything. Nothing was agreed on what he would play and he didn’t even know the songs we were playing. So what ended up happening we tried to play our show like normal and this guy was just screeching his slide guitar drunk or high on the top of everything. It sounded like shit.
Well, our singer liked everything this guy brought to the show and he even turned his amp LOUD AS FUCK and there was nothing our sound guy could do about it because it wasn’t miced. Our singer even started to not sing on some verses because he wanted to give room to this screeching out of tune slide guitar.
Our audience didn’t know what was going on and started walking out because every song sounded horrible because of that slide guitar all over everything. Our drummer and I started to just play the song as normal just to get it over with. Even if our singer missed the verses. I sang my backing vocals where they should be whether or not our singer decided to sing or not. Our singer had no choice but to just sing along.
There weren’t many gigs after that for that band. I quit the band and started a new band with our drummer. Now we have all pros and shit like this doesn’t happen anymore.
Oh man that sounds like it was painful jeez.
I would have unplugged his amp 😂
You had just too big of an ego to not take it lol. Haha. I can't get my head around the logic that goes to these kind of changes everyone here on the comments tell people do. Doing something just so you can do something different? If it was a percussion player that suprise would be cool but playing other than jazz on melody instruments you have to know the chord changes! You guys should have started to follow only the slide player what he was doing and turn the whole gig into a free jazz experiment :D and seen the steel players face trying to follow you following him. Maybe the singer would have loved it :D then get a better singer after if he would not realize what just happened
Well, now you know how we bass players feel most of the time. The key is relaxing and having a sense of humor. I really hate playing covers, though.
Valuable lessons here about working with bands. Self-preservation probably makes sense long term when you aren’t the boss or have shared input in the final say. I think they call it a “yes man,” lol. To be fair, if the song really ends up stinking, you come up smelling like roses because you didn’t have a say in the choices being made - and if it turns out great, you also come up smelling like roses because you didn’t put up a drink or get mad about it, and the end result worked on stage and made the crowd happy. 😂👍🏻
Btw, who doesn’t play the intro to Nothing Else Matters?! That’s SO iconic. I don’t even see how you can just do a cold start at the verse. I’d love to hear how that went, lol.
I've been in the reverse situation when having to play with musicians far above my own level, it is what it is, to see it positive it's educating and humbling :)
I thought I was the only one who had to practice intros and solos for hours. Hearing that a guy at your level does this as well is a confidence boost.
mike you are the best you truly inspire thank you so much
Remember kirk Hammett speaking up about having no guitar solos on st. Anger? He was so right but when you are between two really talented and opinionated people it must be so hard. That was the pure example of restraint.
Different thing. His solos became way too repetitive. Wah and penatonic. St Anger was an honest album, despite being polarizing as fck.
@@MrCold012 Without the solos the songs themselves became repetitive. 6-8 minutes of verse-chorus-verse. Playing the pentatonic scale with a wah pedal would at least provide a break between two giant sections of an already long song.
I have had a hybrid situation. I put together a band for a series of charity events playing covers but we didn't have the means to be note perfect against the originals so we messed around with the songs and made them our own. We changed the feel, did mash ups and generally tweaked things to work for us. Because I had set things up there seemed to be a deference to my views but I tried to encourage ideas from everyone. If someone did something daft in rehearsals but it sounded good we used it. We stumbled upon our first mash up when I was going through the guitar parts with our rhythm guitarist and our lead singer started singing a completely different song over the top. It sounded cool so we worked it in to the set. There is no way I could have got all the decisions right but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves so hopefully I got enough of them right enough of the time but it was hard to balance my vision against the collective contribution.
Some musicians are simply happy to go along with the plan. Others are _Noooo !!!! It _must_ be played THIS WAY !!!
I do my best to avoid the latter.
It’s good when someone has an idea, and you try it, and it works. You adopt it into the tune / arrangement.
I’ve never run my own bands as a democracy, rather than a consultative dictatorship. In other words, I’ll listen to your ideas, and if they have merit, they’ll be included importantly with attribution, but the buck stops with me.
That said, when we are playing live, there are no mistakes. They’re just things that can be played more optimally next time. I didn’t care about what you just did, just be strong on the next 1. Gives everyone the freedom to stretch out and push past things they may hold back on. Brings out the best in the players and makes it fun.
That usually translates to the audience enjoying the show. They remember the good bits.
One of the hardest lessons anyone will learn - and everyone is given ample opportunity to learn this - how/when to humble yourself.
Definitely a lot of growth in that! I like this video a lot
Love this. Congrats on 889k Subscribers! Love the sword hehe.
That last minute change of an additional guitar player sounds like a nightmare haha. I know your personality type, and how you like to be in control of the situation.
I'm just the same. I think I'd start internally panicking a little bit and mentally running away with the potential scenario and disasters that could happen.
So glad you were able to learn how to navigate and deal with those types of situations.
My favorite band brought friends of ours up. No EGOs. It was fun hearing another guitarist’s take on a solo or intro. I grew a lot as a musician.
I’ve been in both cover bands and original bands. I’ve been in bands that played songs WE liked, and bands that played songs the AUDIENCE liked. (the latter was a better paying gig 😂) I’ve also been in bands that I formed (my recruitments) and bands that were musical chairs with a couple of core members.
My best time was had in a band where the players weren’t friends, didn’t hang out together at all, only seen together at rehearsal or gigs. It stayed all business and feelings weren’t an issue. Lasted several years and when players needed replacement, there wasn’t any hurt feelings.
I really appreciate your insights. They go so far beyond just guitar playing and are useful in life in general.👏👏👏
Sometimes you call the labor; other times, you’re the labor that gets called.
You know you’ve done great when you can call playing an instrument work🤘
I know what you mean. My remedy for this problem was the fact that I've always been a huge KISS fan and I always thought it takes a few completely different people with different music tastes to create something interesting. When you have 4 or 5 guys and they're the same, look the same way, listen to the same stuff, it's cool but boring. You need a guy who'd join a heavy metal band and add some Radiohead vibe to the solos :) At least it will sound interesting and kind of new...
I'll say it again - this is why your channel is the best on TH-cam. Whether it's this video, or "How guitar kept me from becoming an Incel", or "The time I cried after a gig and almost quit guitar" your channel teaches music, guitar and real life experiences. You rock Mike 🤘
love this video, as a type - a in music situations I've had my share of embarrassing moments when I realized it was ME that was killing the vibe for no reason. worked hard to learn how to go with the flow and it's been a net positive overall. had I learned this lesson sooner who knows what cool experiences I could've had.
Love this. Congrats on 889k Subscribers!
@TheArtofGuitar Love the sword hehe.
That last minute change of an additional guitar player sounds like a nightmare haha. I know your personality type, and how you like to be in control of the situation.
I'm just the same. I think I'd start internally panicking a little bit and mentally running away with the potential scenario and disasters that could happen.
So glad you were able to learn how to navigate and deal with those types of situations.
I was in the same boat. But it dawned on me one day that I was playing someone else’s songs instead of originals
Once I got all jacked up about who was gonna do the splitz-kick off the drum riser when the fireball pyrotechnics went off and I was screaming about it until this kid finally says “Sir - this is a Wendy’s”.
WHAT'S UP, WENDY'S???
@@LucianoDurao Pooky, Chad AND Tyrone!
35+ years as a gigging musician and this is EXACTLY my musical "journey" lol I've slowly come to the realization that not everyone approaches a song like you do. Especially when it comes to covers lol Letting someones musical "artistry" be a part of the song is all well and fine AS LONG AS its done in a professional manner and not as that person's way of satisfying their own personal muse at the sake of the the band or more importantly, the song. Always serve the song first 🤘❤
I can totally relate to your experience. I put so much pressure on me and have to keep myself in check to not put the others in the band under the same pressure. Control is just an illusion anyway!
Almost every time we gig something wild happens or goes wrong. In that situation the real magic happens - when you adapt, overcome and grow afterwards.
I even start to think that the gigs where everything went fine and no major misstakes happened are the ones that are more or less meaningless. I mean, what great stories can you tell from that?
I know the feeling. As a person who produces beats for artists, sometimes certain things they want you to add in, is completely out of this world...and makes no sense but just got to keep it movin because they are paying you.
I've done a lot of orchestra work, so I'm sort of used to curveballs like this - when I show up, I'm beholden to the score, and to the conductor. Cuts happen, vamps are added, changes are made, sometimes the charts have a mistake, so I try to be flexible. I've always approached my work in bands the same way, when I'm not the 'leader'.
Sounds like the same lessons I learned before I was 10 years old playing team sports. Things work much better and go more smoothly when everyone contributes and can understand that working something out is not a direct attack on you just because someone added or took something away from your idea to make it work better for a particular situation.
At music school we were told to learn Green Day's Minority.
I just couldn't get that intro down when I was practising it.
The next day at rehearsal I asked the other guitarist how it went for him.
"I didn't practice it."
I said "Well, you're playing it then!" like the askhole I was.
Little bothered me more than someone not practicing before a band rehearsal.
When we performed it he played it wrong and I made eye contact with another student.
Both of us thinking 'Yep here he goes again not quite getting it.'
Instead of rising to the challenge I let him take a fall.
Not my finest hour.
That's the worst thing, when you're putting in your effort and someone else isn't. Making him take the fall wasn't right but it sounds like you know that. With that, I totally understand the frustration of someone not giving any effort. I can't play everyone's instrument for them on stage all at the same time and sometimes believe me I wish I could..
@@JeremyDeWallMusic
My tutor later said to me
"A reliable musician is worth their weight in gold."
Ego is one of the most aggravating things to deal with as a musician. Your own ego and the people you play with's ego's. Its always been impressive to me when the people who contribute the least think they deserve the most. "My songs deserve to be played in the band too" well why? Are they good enough? No. Then why are we having this conversation? Ego. "Ive been in the band 5 minutes and even though i cant sing i wanna sing half the songs" its truly a thing to witness
That's the story how CCR broke up
As a perfectionist myself, here's something that I realised just a few months ago that completely changed my perspective on things: When someone has a different approach than you do, just know that THAT approach, in their eyes is the most perfect. "Perfect" for everyone is different, and maybe other people will also find that that person's approach is the most "perfect".
I had a related thing happen one time when I played a small house show, it was at the drummer's party and his other band had rehearsed a lot more so they played 6 songs while the band that he played in with me only has 2 lol. I offered to play rhythm guitar for the other band's set but their guitarist had some... ego issues. He was basically your pedalboard guitarist but I was the one trying to join last minute. He got his way and I didn't play for most of their set, but I did end up playing on a cover they did at the end of the show. I did great, he did great... but he was awkward and kinda resentful the rest of the day. And I actually ADDED to the song!
9:11 Yes, I've definitely over-prepared for song performances that turned out differently than I had practiced.
The most memorable one was about thirteen years ago when a group I was in did a gig where Huey Lewis was set to be a guest jammer on a few songs (long story that I won't go into here). I was playing bass in that band. The lead guitarist and I put our heads together for an hour or so right before the rehearsal sweating it out, "How many Huey Lewis and the News songs can we whip out?" only to have the man himself show up for rehearsal and tell us, "Nah, I play those songs all the time - let's jam, man!"
You never know, do ya.
Great vid! From my experience it's very rare for complete creative democracy to lead to a cohesive style/direction in a band. A strong, single vision (with some compromise and the appropriate musicians) generally leads to the best result
A metaphor for life as well as music.
Dude im so glad ur comment on solomon chau's vids got me here. God ordained algorithm fs.
I struggle with the same perfectionism. I totally relate to your control issues. I am trying to change but it is difficult.
I've been in situations where yes I took the time went as far as slowing the song down to learn the parts and do my homework to be met with lets just do our own version of it. I used to get mad but honestly being somewhat self taught I decided to just roll with it because it helped me at times I could play a less stressed.
I know this is about music, but where can I get a Tanto/Wakizashi like that??? Lol XD
In a similar, but different, area of expertise, I will have people tell me what they want for an art project. I listen, take notes, and offer advice. At the end of this, they will still ask for what they wanted originally. The "Are you sure?" part comes into mind. I used to do two workups; one of theirs and one of mine. People would acknowledge that mine was better, but would still choose theirs, which is always a great WTH moment.
Older and wiser me just gives them what they want without wasting my time anymore.
Once, I was brought in to play guitar regularly with a singer that just left her band. Apparently it was a bitter split, and she had a chip on her shoulder. It seemed like it would go pretty well at first, as she was talented and I already knew about 60 of her songs on her list that she sent. But when we got the week of the first show and she sent the set list, it had about 15-20 songs I hadn’t played or even heard before and none of the rest of the band knew them either. I voiced that I would like more time to learn those before they’re played on a gig, but I would do my best. I’m not opposed to learning new songs even if it’s unfamiliar, and you never know if they could be big crowd favorites. The band did the best we could, but we didn’t even end up playing half of those tunes. So I was frustrated about trying to cram them, then frustrated that we didn’t play most of them (which we didn’t need to do in the first place). That kind of thing is a big peeve because it’s disrespectful of everyone’s time, but I just thought once we learned them, things would go smoothly, and the mistake was just trying too much new on the first gig. But every gig was the same. She would include at least 10-12 new songs randomly, not always in original key, they were never standard covers, and we would just be expected to show up and know them. We didn’t even regularly play those extra songs on the first list, if we played them at all. I really thought a lot of this was just her trying too hard, and she’d never been a bandleader before. I tried to help and explain why this wasn’t working, and suggested multiple different things that would make the band’s jobs easier. She remained insistent, and even said to me that people just want to dance and hear a good singer and performance, and that they don’t really care if the band isn’t that tight or messes up because nobody really cares about that if the singer and songs are good.
I was totally fine not being in control, and could have stuck around if even a few things were done differently, but I’m never going to stay in a situation where I’m disrespected or constantly put in a position to not succeed.
The whole band eventually left and she’s replaced all instruments multiple times since this.
I dislike that nobody cares attitude so much in music and life. It's just people not caring what they are doing them selfs
And always remember… “it’s only rock-n-roll, but (we) like it!”
Rolling with the on-the-fly, last minute musical changes used to be the norm for a majority of in-the trenches working musicians and even more so for studio musicians. The opposite is the established band member way of looking at things, IE:, The expectation to have everything inflexibly set and decided and unchangeable. Both have worked and can work just fine but the video presenters learned flexibility is more conducive to opening yourself up to experience more varied, growth oriented musical experiences. And yep, for that growth the ego has to be left at the door.
I'm not even a pro, but even jamming, playing house parties and other small events, we for sure had situations like that. I knew a guy who was an amazing keyboardist, and he would just improvise and take off while the rest of us kept the groove, and I'd be annoyed at first, but eventually ran with it.
All that being said... leaving out the intro to Nothing Else Matters?! That's probably my favorite part!
As a hired guitar player, I’m super chill about these things you talk about. I do have my own band with my own control, so that helps. That said, I have my peeves, and playing Unforgiven without the intro is unfathomable to me and objectively bad lol. It is the single best part of that song. I would be nice about it, but in person I may ask why they didn’t play that since it’s the best part of the song.
5:23 Oh man, I've had that kind of "...that sucked" moments before. I was not the leader and ironically I was on bass for that gig! I just figured, I'll do my part with as much excellence as I can and heck I'm not responsible for the outcome of this as a whole, the "leader" is. I did gently mention to the leader with the approach of being helpful, but at the end of the day the leader made the call and I was good with it.
Great stories. Chalk it up to being a little bit older now.
My approach is very much the same. Try to nail it note for note and if we miss it, it still sounds great.
But it only takes seconds to say, "What do you parts do you want me to play?" I don't feel like that is bothering anyone and is quite helpful to sort out parts and save time rehearsing. Then you have more time to watch TV! :)
I feel that. But also when everything has to be approved by everyone in the band that can be annoying too.
There are some things that are just not that important. And I do have an opinion on those things but I rather keep it to myself and just say "I trust you guys will make a good decision" It sometimes speeds things up a bit and also my band mates seem to really appreciate me saying that.
Reminds me of the story of Springsteen and Morello when they played The Gost of Tom Joad. Morello talks about it at the Howard Stern show!
99.99% of the audience doesn’t give a shit if the guitar solos sound like the record, actually I think most people think guitar solos are boring and would rather hear the singing and verses.
I have been in rock bands since the late 60’s and have played pretty much most types of rock like pop dance, top 40, metal, southern. I always try to catch the signature riffs in every guitar solo and play in the same tonality as the original solo. Always met with positive response from the audience. There are some solos you have to copy as exactly as you can, like Stairway to heaven but some others that sound like the lead player just went free form in the studio, well, I do the same!
I will be 71 soon and I still do a classic rock show with backing tracks ! Playing alone I have 100% control over what, where, when and how I play! Good luck! Rock on!
Yeah, I know the intro to Nothing else matters, a bunch of Rush and lots of songs I will never play live. I guess I figured them out for the challenge and fun of it!
…but seriously you gotta play the intro for nothing else matters 😂
I was in a grunge band for like one gig. And we all had the whole set practiced and solid. Now the singer whose ego was not his amigo came out with “who’s ready for one more after we played the whole set. Proceeded to come out with smells like teen spirit which I never learned and which we never practiced as a band
Was it eat the rich. I knew the motorhead song and someone brought it up and was referring to the Aerosmith song. Which id heard but didnt know it was called eat the rich also. So i managed to play it for them mostly right. If i remember right the Aerosmith riff changes from minor to major when the verse starts. Ya its e blues pentitonic. But they play a g# when the verse starts but its rock so i guess its all chromatic. Once you play every chord a power chord you're breaking rules man. throw out the book its way more metal
You are right, I need to be less controlling with my band too. I have to control that same voice that says, 'what the hell is even that?!' lol
I'm mostly a session player: I play miltiple instruments, specializingin jazz and swing. I was invited to play bass for a "project" by a "pro" singer. I was interviewed by the drummer over the phone; it was actually just him bragging about his accomplishments. I drove 2.5 hours to the rehearsal (prior rehearsal was canceled with no warning), was asked to bring my acoustic/electric fretless bass. I arrived early, as I usually do. There were no charts or song list. The drummer arrived very late: practice was nearly over by the time he was set up. He criticized my playing from the beginning, and turned to me and told me to "pop" the bass strings. On a fretless acoustic?I resigned on the spot. Is my ego out of control?
No. Some people are just unprofessional losers you don't want to waste time with - or be seen with. People that unprofessional are going to have a bad rep, and if "you're only as good as your last project", then you want to be mindful of what that project is.
Ive definitely gotten way more chill over the years. Come to realize that maybe i dont always know what's best. I'll offer my insight if it's asked of , e but unless im really steering the proje, t i just try to go with the flow and serve the bandleader the best i can.
I did a lot of recording for other artists, they'd send me the track and I'd add the kitchen sink and then they'd just use whatever they wanted to, well this one guy in particular would never end up using most of the tracks, and I started getting pissed, you know with the all the time and effort I put into it and we had little bit of a falling out. Well That was a powerful lesson to learn, it wasn't my music and he used what he thought was best for HIS SONG! We're still buddies, so it worked out great in the end but it sure hurt my little ego at the time!
I've been in bands since I was 19. I'm 42 now. I'm too old to give a shit if you wanna ruin the awesome tune we were jamming. I have my own band and I call the shots. Why would I care if the person who hired me for their project have bad taste or overkill every time? I have my own band to worry about. The only thing I care about when gigging for somebody else is: know all the material in your sleep, be reliable, be fun to hang with. That's it. That's my job. If the show is shit or the songs got poor taste arrangements, that's none of my business. My bussiness is to be a great hang who is always on time and knows all the tunes inside out. I got my own band to worry about.
Personally I'm completely fine with someone taking the reins and I only do so when no one else's stepping up to the plate but the problem has been, in my experience at least, that this "power" often goes to the head of whoever happens to be leader & it just destroys everything for everyone🤷♂️ ...my 2ç
Wow! it took a lot of guts to tell that story. It sounds like you were a total F-ing A-hole to work with prior to your revelation. Okay, maybe I'm looking back after decades of various bands, and call-in gigs. When I got done watching the video, I thought, "how old is this cat?" Don't get me wrong, i get where you're coming from. But, it really is a question of talent over temperament. I was very fortunate to have wonderful musical mentors in my life. Perhaps the best advice I ever received was, "what you do on the bandstand is only a fraction of why you earned your place in the band." I'm really happy for you that you had this epiphany. I've done session work, for complicated stuff, and we didn't know what key it would be in until the singer literally got behind the mic! Wanna talk about maddening! After putting in hours practicing it in 3-4 of at least possible keys! But you gotta chill. It ain't your gig. They wouldn't have called you in if you couldn't do it. The lesson I learned is too 'not practice before band practice'. It dosen't matter what chart someone hands me. First time through, I WILL SUCK. Second time through I find my groove. If we run it a third time through I'm sharp and ready for performance. It's a real gift that you told this story. I hope it saves someone from the anguish you went through. A tiny bit about myself, I'm a 56 yo upright bass, and electric bass player in south Florida. From rock, jazz, latin, funk, klezmer, gospel, country, Mexican traditional... suffice to say I've played some different stuff. If it ain't your band, it ain't your problem. Just do your job the best you can, and be a member of the team.
That very first part with the blade unsheathing 😄
Hello art of guitar
Musician or not, in life, sometimes you're the Indian, sometimes you're the chief. And you have to know your role, or the situation won't work.
Sounds like a typical day for a bass player.
Yes, I had this too lots of time and I also learned to adapt to situations. At the end it's all about a good performance as a band. But if there's one member in a band going for all the glory for himself it could hurt the band in the area in a bad way.
The beauty is when YOU are the band at the end of the day YOU can do whatever you guys want with any song! You are the monkeys in charge of the bananas as it were lol
I had the key change one when I was subbing/depping for another band. Only we didn't have a rehearsal, and they told me SECONDS before I was supposed to start the song. Alotta math going on in my head trying to get through 🤣
I've never been a full time pro or toured with any, but I'll take this opportunity to rant anyway.
One band had a leader insisting we have 3 guitar players. During rehearsal at one point I just stopped playing and kinda' danced to the groove. When asked, "why aren't you playing anything?", I replied, "you guys are playing everything, I don't need to..."
One band expected me to learn a couple of solo breaks note for note. I worked hard and about the time that I got them down pretty good, they decided not to play those tunes anymore...
Or a guest guitar player who tuned down 1/2 step to Eb insisting we play in that key. We were already tuned down to D for our own purposes and reasons. Playing equivalent fingering in F can be a real pain in the ass.
All true...HOWEVER...there's the other side of the coin. That laissez fare attitude is indicative of amateurs. It's the "it's all good" response that everyone goes along with. But on a pro level, it won't fly. Top players know when something is jive. And even the audience, though they may not understand the particulars, will know when something isn't quite right. So maybe an even deeper lesson might be -- how much do you compromise to appease the majority and maintain mediocrity? As a sideman, a certain amount is necessary. But if you want something of quality, attention to the little details is a must.
I am surprised to hear this from someone else because that's what broke my last band up - and pissed me off to no end after investing so much time. I suggested we all come to practice with our part rehearsed and ready but that didn't go over well because it wasn't "fun". I approach it as work and become obsessed. I guess that's my problem.
A few years ago, I was one of a handful of musicians who a singer/band leader of a covers band would call up when he needed a bassist to step in. The set was Sabbath, Dio, ACDC, Ozzy, Maiden, Purple, Whitesnake, Rainbow etc etc (they were called Black Rising, you get the idea 😂).
Almost every time I was asked to play with them, the singer would ask for a list of the songs I had done with him before so he could work out a set list for the gig. As I said, I played with them several times so my list was around 40 ish tracks and almost invariably he would say “do you know [X]?” My response, jokingly, was usually “if it’s not on the list then, no”.
Anyway, this one time, he asked if I knew Heaven and Hell by Sabbath. It’s not on the list so…but, I was quite au fais with the song (I prefer Ozzy era but H&H and Mob Rules have some great music on them). I had two weeks before the gig, so I set to learning it and got it totally nailed.
Fast forward to the gig. In a pub in my hometown. Heaven and Hell was on the set to be the first song of the second half. In the break between sets, the singer says to me…”our regular bassist’s son is here and he plays too. Is it ok if he gets up to do a song?” Yeah, sure. Which one? says I…
“Heaven and Hell”, says the singer! 😳😱
You mean the song you asked me to learn two weeks ago that wasn’t on the 40+ long list of songs I already knew?!! 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻
Anyway, I let the guy get on and he played the song…and was obviously blagging it all the way through. Root notes and random fills where there shouldn’t have been any, and the ones he put in weren’t any of Geezer’s from the record.
I got to play it a few weeks later though. And I’ve played it as recently as this year (there’s a video of that on my TH-cam channel 😉 [look for Meanstreak - Heaven and Hell] plug plug lol).
Also, I now regularly play that song on guitar in one of my own cover bands. So, I’m certainly getting the most out of those two weeks I spent learning it 😂
The band I'm in practices the songs…sometimes, but we never practice the show. Drives me crazy.
ease up, stick out the butt, relax, but prepare. valuable lesson.
Please look up a band called Leave Those Kids Alone...they are between the ages of 14-18. And plays classic rock tunes perfectly... Van Halen...Ozzy... Pink Floyd... Frampton etc..good to see young people learning old tunes...Do a video about them please
We had a guy at a club we played that asked to get up and play '2 Tickets to Paradise' by Eddie Money...
I'm like I don't know it but I'll give it a shot, our bass player could play anything, He got up and was great
to where it became part of the set at that club, but if he didn't show up, our singer and guitar player didn't get their break...lol
I was singing and playing rhythm guitar in a band about eight years ago. Twice, they decided to change the guitar tuning.
The night of a show.
What do you mean by 'change the guitar tuning'?
No idea 😂 maybe half step down from standard vice versa @@asw7696
I get that when you’re not the leader, but some cover songs require the solo. Take “Marry Jane’s Last Dance” for instance. You gotta do the bendy 5th thing. It’s as integral as the verses to me. You don’t have to do the second part of the solo as is. Have fun with that.
That solo is so easy you might as well 😂 but I get what you're saying. Some lead parts you have to know because they stand out so much
I remember playing bass in our classic rock cover band. It was a good time. After the lead guitarist/lead singer left, I filled his role.
Now I didnt do solos note for note like he did. I decided that had already been done and wanted to do my own thing.
But after our rhythm guitarist left, the bassist and drummer looked to me. I realized I was done at that point. I didnt want the responsibility to hold it all together.
That being said, I enjoyed my time.
Kudos to you for not letting your ego overtake you. So many people dont check their ego at tbe door...and it shows..
There are degrees. If a leader disrespects you- you take a walk. And most likely close the door.
someone compared my music to what youd hear on doom, so im happy
It's hard to be a harmonica player and not be in competition with the lead guitar even on songs where your just playing background .
As a harmonica player I have found it works better to not be in a band but just do sit ins . I don't like to make waves , but I'm not gonna
hold back to kiss butt . There is no such thing as rhythm harp , even when you try . Have a blessed one .
I think all of us Mike’s don’t like last minute changes lol
You should have done the intro, lol
I'm the same type of guy you used to be. I still cannot let go when there is so much crap coming from someone because they are just lazy or think they can fake something when I actually put the work on. Maybe one day I'll learn to let go... Hopefully.
Well, I just learned the hard way that you have to know how to pick your battles. If it's not your project and the leader is cool with it, just think "Okay, it's your thing man." But once it's your project, feel free to be like, "Oh hell no, you're not just gonna fake your way through this Rush song." ;)
I agree as a pro musician you need to adapt on the fly and be a musical chameleon but at the same time communication and preparation is key in a band. If I was in a band and worked my ass off to learn/play something for them and someone is calling audibles that may jeopardize your public performance and then therefor the bands as well or a member shows up less prepared/half ass performs/phones it in you can bet that's the last time I will be jamming with them, money or not. Not about being too serious or ego it's about pride of ones work and all the years you invested. If someone screwed with me like that publicly, we done.
You don't seem like a narcissist. Control freak telling people what to do. Narcissist suck all air out of room. Instead of trying to fix a problem situation. Narcissist will escalate petty stuff into full blown nightmare. When a Narcissist meets someone (they want something) They can be overly charming complimenting that person as if greatest friend. The next day they show up knocking. But you never told them where you live. Cable guy, but he duck tapes, ties you down when your sleeping.
Remember what, Paul, that watering the snare wasn't as great as AE?! Or why 'All along the what-so-ever' was tributed to the Grateful Dead instead to Jimi, because of waterboarding?! I don't know. Namastè.
I will say that if you want me to play a song differently than the recorded version you need to tell me that we'll in advance so I can learn how you want me to play it!
Recently I had a friend who’s the lead singer of a band call me up and ask me to be their bass player for their upcoming tour and possibly come on as an official member after that. So I spent the time to learn their whole album and then they decided that they didn’t even want me to audition… w/e, guess I’m probably dodging a bullet…
In that first situation, I can understand why anyone would be upset. It's a definite WTF moment. I'd maybe let the first one go, but if it happens again I'm out.
I was a bad bandmate. Nothing sucks more than spending hrs getting down changes, fills, solos & tone then rehearsal day...... someone didn't learn that one, lets drop it😠
Bro do you age? Seriously I’ve been watching you for years. Do you age?
Most of the people i know have aged 10 years in the last 4 years 😆
I didn’t think this guy ever gets angry
yo is that Joey Walker’s Gibson V?
This happens every time I play at my church.