NWB - Community Blog

Easy to learn but effective, but im just lazy ;-)

Kev

Pick song you all like firtsly. You may get one of you that doesn't like a particular song, but if he doesn't hate it, you have to go along with it.

Fill your set with songs you all like is the first job. Once you have your set, then you can argue about people's personal choice. We used to do about 6 Kinks songs all my own choice, but that was because no one could be arsed to make better suggestions so I got away with it. :) Then I sneaked in some Slade, Then some Sweet. LOL. I love lazy band members. :)

1) take a few songs we like to next practice on CD. with chords and words if poss!
2) If 1 bandmember says "no" it's a DEF "NO!"
3) Jam it to get a feel
4) Is the Key fine for all?
5) Practice it and give it half a dozen runs out
6) If audience reaction is good enough (singing or dancing), it stays!
7) Go back to 1)
Strangely, we have picked some ( that seemed to us) cracking songs and they've 'bombed', yet we've tried pure cheesy singalongs in the past and they've been superb choices!....Weird!.... AND they will stay in the set till we've flogged 'em to death!
Pete the Bass

Everyone brings a list of five songs,then have a show of hands to get an overall list of about eight songs.
Give them songs a go and hopefully maybe three or four of them work.
Democracy rules.
I don't pick that many songs,but I am happy to go along with the others so long as I can sing them without killing myself.
Some of the songs that we do.I did not even like them 'til we had a crack at them.
Graham

If a band member doesn't like a song we don't do it. Everyone has to be happy to play stuff. We have a different way of working with things, so pretty much anything that's been in the top 40 from 1975 to now is workable. We have no musical integrity whatsoever, which gives us a definite advantage. :oD

i just keep going on and on about the song i wanna get in, with the enthusiasm of a tramp tucking into a fish and chip supper, with gravy. :0)

but seriously haha, if two or three of us have mentioned it on more than one occasion, it stands a good chance ! we get on so well and love lizzy so much anything by them is gonna be a win pretty much, apart from Sarah (which i actually dont mind..for the record haha) however it just wouldnt work live anyway!

Rob, get Nobody Told Him and Opium Trail in there! \m/\m/

ah bless, democracy is over rated.

As there are 6 of us we tried the democracy thing after a long run of me picking the songs ( I am the singer) but it took so flippin long with the lists and yes's and no's and who likes what and spread sheets and short lists we have gone back to the original method of me picking them and then getting buy in and justifying why they are right for the band and the band sound.

Have integrity in your 'sound; and your song brief, ours is: 'songs that make you say 'i havent heard that in ages - I love that song' and pick songs that fit. Your singer has to be able to sing them and believe them...thats the magic.

Saraban, don't limit your songs to your vocal range. It's not difficult to change the key on any song you want to do. We have a couple of songs we've taken through 2 or 3 key changes to get them into our singers range (he has a pretty good range anyway). If the song is worth doing, it's worth adapting :o)

oh we very rarely stick to the original version/key/arrangement! Most of the songs we do are originally sung by male vocal.
lol my band wish we were as straight forward as that :-)
I meant sing the song with integrity and believe and relate to it where he/she can. Thats the rule I stick to when picking songs and it works for us and it comes across to the audience.

Sarah from Saraban

Sarah, in that case we have a similar method, except your "integrity" is our "enjoyment". It's al about interpretation :oD

We just try and pick songs that are in my vocal range that people will sing along too!

My choice of songs is based on a few factors:

Most important is to believe in the song, otherwise you’re cheating the audience. (I won’t just sing any old shite for the sake of it, or just because it’s popular or easy).
How will it improve the set? (Is it rocky, danceable, funny, deep etc? (will it earn it’s keep?))
Does it suit my voice and is it at the top/bottom of my range? (my voice is a bit gravelly and that influences choices)
Will I be able to sing it night after night (my falsetto needs a night off after two or three consecutive gigs).

Sometimes you’ll spend rehearsal time on a song then drop it after you’ve gigged it a few times because it doesn’t suit you, even though you were convinced it’d be a dead cert.

In a band situation I wouldn’t put songs in a hat, you’re almost guaranteed to annoy someone. Make a short list that you’re all happy with and decide which to work on first…or duke it out in the car-park, either works.

MN

Tell them which song you are playing and send them youtube links to learn the songs. If they don't like it - sack them.

.....Well actually that's not the way we do things in The Cottonhouse Shakers but we are a bit different because we love jamming so we all know when something works and the songs generally pick themselves. I always maintain that the dictatorship is the best way, no arguments and everyone pulling in the same direction. This only works however if the band has faith in he dictator. Problems often arise when one band member suggests songs of a different style which goes against the original band plan.

you normally find a band establishes a song hierarchy - and there becomes a natural filter process; one person just won't learn it or one will say its not popular enough or bland etc. etc. So I find the best policy is just turn up and play!!!
You could debate for hours about what makes a good song choice - you can only tell by playing it live. Some songs work, some don't

Why not choose songs that fit your personality and playing style...make them your own and try not to get too caught up in trying to play note for note clones of someone elses songs and arrangements..This way you can still mantain some sort of originality and still fit into that "cover band" market.. Isn't that why you play music..to express yourself and ideas through your instrument??

Good point Midnight Johnny Band. The more you play your chosen songs the more they take on a life of their own. Just learn then enough so that you have the important stuff down (lyrics, melody etc) then play them loads of times 'til they've got your identity stamped on 'em.
MN

Ahhh... Someone that gets it!!!!! MJ

It's a democratic decision but I usually win in the end!! Ha xxx