Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Gigging Musician Part II "The Song List"



When we last met we had just found our band mates and were trying to add songs to our "set list". A set list may be better known as a song list. It is just that, a list of songs that a band learns in order to play a gig. Keep in mind the "type" of band we will be discussing is what is known as a "cover" band, or a band that only plays other artists songs.

1. Checking out the Billboard List -
There are several ways to go about putting together a song list. You could just go through all the songs that you and your band mates like or enjoy listening to and put those on the song list. This usually is not such a good idea. It would probably be a jumbled list that is all over the place. To be a successful cover band, you need to be concerned with the popular songs or hits. The ones that the crowd can sing along to and will keep them entertained.

2. Club Hopping -
A better way to figure out what songs to add is by first figuring out what type of music you'd like to play - Classic Rock, Country, Pop, 80’s, Modern Alternative. You may want to investigate your favorite local venues and find out what kind of bands they are booking, and what goes over well there. Some venues only book cover bands, some only original bands, and some a mixture of both. A very good idea is to visit these venues, a lot. Go and see as many bands as you can. It will give you a good idea what type of music goes over well in each venue and it will also give you a pretty good idea what songs you should be adding to the list.

3. Getting their Groove Thing on -
How to pick the right songs? For instance, if song X gets everyone up on the dance floor you should probably think about adding song X. Song Y clears the dance floor, or worse sends people running and screaming for the door, then probably not a good idea to add this one. This is really what it is all about when playing in a cover band. You want people enjoying themselves. This means you want them dancing or at least out congregating on the dance floor. You’re not, at this point, a professional touring band that is selling out arenas, so in order to stay booked at the best clubs you've got to keep people happy. To keep the patrons happy you play music that they love to dance to. To keep the club owner/manager happy you keep people dancing and thirsty and buying lots of beverages.

4. PAR-TAY! -
Now the cat is out of the bag. You now know what it takes to be a huge success in the land of cover bands, at least in regards to creating the right song list. Make sure that the people at the club are having fun, dancing, and drinking and you'll have all the bases covered. I can almost guarantee that if you do the above consistently your band will have no problem staying booked.

One other thing, no one likes to be just another fish in the pond. You do want to be different and stand out from all of the other cover bands. When you have similar set lists, you might be considered just a dime a dozen. To make your band stand out, there are many factors that you can do to achieve that and we will be discussing those in further posts.

So lets recap for today:
-Select type of music
-Make a song list. To find songs, go out and see lots of bands, listen to the radio, research popular songs.
-Fill up song list with songs that people enjoy singing and dancing to.
Rock out!!!!

Obviously we've skipped the whole practice 'til your fingers bleed. You should already know and be doing this.

That is it for this installment. Tune in next time when we'll go over
practicing; on your own and with the band.

Until then, get out and SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC, originals or covers. If you’re already in a band, go out on weekends your band isn't playing and support your fellow musicians.



k-zen ohmmmmmmm.....

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