Learn Songs FAST (tips from 3 musicians)

In this video, I take you along to a gig with me as I play bass for singer-songwriter Sam Burchfield. Sam, our drummer Tony, and I talk about how we learn music fast and accurately. This video is a free music lesson and a gigging musician's vlog.

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[kbowen]

i can't begin to say how thrilled i am that you have been growing this channel. It's amazing to have a bassist playing the way you do on here and I can't wait to see what you do as time goes on!

[zakolache]

As a former house bass player for a couple open mic jams, and played in cover bands locally, the best way to learn songs fast (by which i mean nearly instantly on stage) is to already know a bunch of other songs! If someone says this is a 1-4-5-4 in G, already knowing a handful of songs with that kind of progression makes it easier to pick up a new one with that same kind of form & improvise something appropriate.

[ampthebassplayer]

I literally just got back from a gig where I only had one day to learn the music. Funny how we all live these parallel lives sometimes. Lots of great advice in here. This video is gonna help a lot of people if they take it to heart and put it into practice.

[alexo]

7:33 Philip the “ahhh” you gave when you heard the first 2 chords.

[Benny_Howie]

So cool to see some full songs left at the end! That Who cover was great

[oweneaton]

Love these videos Philip! I thought the singing the song advice was cool. I fill the gun for hire role a lot these days. In my opinion, it's especially important to know classic song forms. While songs can be open ended, they all have specific forms! Doing houseband gigs out at gaslight and smiths olde bar REALLY trains your ear to follow and predict whatever the singer-songwriter may do!

[danny]

Jmj roadworn mustang..nice choice. daphne blue with the nitro finish and rosewood fretboard just slaps something beautiful

[mtdawgy]

Excellent advice! Thanks for sharing your knowledge, experience and your friends theories and methods. When Sam called out a song you weren't expecting or practiced, I liked how you just repeated the chord progression and then listened, locked in with the drums and dropped into the groove. A true Pro! (I would have held my breath, Root/Fifth and tried not to panic :-D )

[watchmakerfs]

Great vlog man! I appreciate the soundboard audio.

[Robert_Charles]

More of this please. I love your perspective of learning and Tony’s was very interesting

[Billymfp]

That was a cool version of my generation. Thanks for sharing.

[petermcconaghie]

Another excellent vid Philip - learning a lot from these!

[dchauser]

Solid advice. The listening through the set-list is gold. I've found it really helps for finding the groove on the individual songs and for the set in general.

[borgesguerardi]

that bass tone is honestly everything i need to hear

[richsackett]

The short-scale is an interesting choice for a trio. Yeah Jack Bruce whatever.

Ear training for functional harmony has to be in place before you need to get a couple dozen songs together for the weekend. Tip for neophyte sidemen? Learn what iii sounds like. Related: learn what V/vi sounds like.

[tReShertReSh]

Hi)
Super enjoyed this vlogy format!
Reminds me about Rhett's videos, and this is really really good!
Exited to hear live music and backstage rehersals.
Love the simplicity of the music, but crazy-deep work on the details and feel of it.

[erstwhilerambler]

I’ve come back to this video several times in my brief bass career. I had only been playing bass (and really just messing around at that) for a few months when I was first asked to audition for a local cover band. I had played guitar, mandolin, etc., but bass was brand new, so I initially demurred; however, they needed someone quickly and for some reason believed that I could fill the spot, so I took on the challenge — which meant learning *lots* of songs very quickly.

This video helped a lot, mostly by teaching me to listen. I thought I was familiar with most of the songs, having grown up hearing them on the radio, but I had never *really* listened — and certainly hadn’t paid attention to the bass. (Honestly, I didn’t even know that a lot of iconic lines/riffs were being played on the bass; that’s how obtuse I was when it came to the instrument!)

Learning how to really *tune in* to the bass (something I first learned from Josh Fosgreen on BassBuzz) and then paying attention to the song structure (which I got from you) made it possible to absorb and remember material much more efficiently and effectively.

That was several months ago (almost a year now), so why am I back? Because I’ve had to do the same thing for the band I’m now working with. I had to master 13 songs in 5 days for my audition; that went well, so I had 3 more sets of 13 to learn (for a total of 52) for a 4-hour trial gig about 4 weeks later (we rehearsed together 2 or 3 times); and now (since I’m an official member!) I’m working to learn the rest of their 116-song master list, about a third of which are songs I’ve never (or barely ever) heard, much less played.

The singing trick is what I’m taking with me from this most recent viewing of this very useful and enjoyable video. I think I’ll not only listen and take notes but try learning the lyrics, too.

Thanks again!

[billhd]

Great advice and a really entertaining vlog. Not surprisingly given your experience in movie production, you combine those cinematically really well Phil. It strikes me too that your prior advice about playing lines that serve the song and being that kind of player, generally, in the rhythm section help a lot because one's impulse is to play maybe a little less and little more deliberately, which helps when you are learning fast and need to listen on stage.

I have a church gig where we play new charts every week with no rehearsal and often I'll have changes but no written line. So I'm always aware that the thing to do there is not to overplay!

Also good advice from the person below who says learn what the iii sounds like. I would add that you should learn to recognize major/minor on sheet music if you don't have chord symbols spelled out. A key signature is part of the puzzle but you also need to be able to scan the chord tones across a progression to know if you are in the major key or the relative minor. This is where your tip about being able to sing the melody also helps tremendously as it will be the best indicator of the chord qualities too.

Thanks so much for the video!

[brooksroman]

Man I wish I was there that show live, but I like this backstage view too! Good stuff.

[devilsboxcar]

Brilliant video…..that arrangement of My Generation is ace.