Being A Professional |
|
Being A Professional |
|
|
|
|
Jan 15 2013, 05:55 PM |
I would say that it's probably essentially true. I've heard it many times - it's never been disputed. It's also not a unique situation. The Michael Jackson, Jennifer Batton/Greg Howe story is obviously more high profile than most situations like that.
I was on a tour in 99/00 where the keys player got fired in the middle of it (common occurrence). A replacement showed up the next day. He also ended up being my room mate for the rest of the tour. He had maybe 36 hours to learn the record plus a few other tunes. There was our normal soundcheck at 4:00 pm then the gig. While this gig was certainly not as intensive as an MJ show, the guy had to cover keys parts as well as some horn parts, a lot of patch changes and some background vocals. Needless to say he nailed it all. I'm sure he knew the mistakes he made but they weren't apparent to any of us and we'd been doing the gig for three months at that point. Greg Howe 1) is an excellent all around musician - he also plays drums and keys. 2) He probably knew or at least had heard several of the tunes (Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad era MJ - each album had 5 hits on it and like it or not you couldn't escape them). 3) Everybody likes Michael - I'm sure he was totally into it. 4) The money and exposure (extreme in this case) is w/o a doubt a motivating factor. Don't lie to yourself about that - it is. His level of commitment to his craft is something that most definitely inspires me to work hard at this! Though I am no where near the caliber of a player like Greg Howe and will probably never have a gig as high profile as a Michael Jackson (RIP) tour, I learn sets of artists music in one day all the time. Sometimes the only 'rehearsal' I get is listening to a CD on the way to the gig and then a long (thank you!) sound check. This is totally normal as a freelancer where I live. When I do actually have to learn say from 10 to 20 songs in a day I don't do much of it on a guitar. I will confirm the keys and some of the unexpected chords/key changes (if there are any?) and any 'signature' riffs with my axe in hand but mostly, after I make sure of the starting key ... I write it down. Chord chart (with a voicing diagram if it's important), maybe a style reference note (for example: Prince rhythm style) and any necessary line I'll learn on the guitar and then notate it in some way that lets me remember it. Also, just the act of writing it down helps me learn it - listen to it, regurgitate it to paper, play it once - boom, I know it. I find that purposely not focusing on my guitar helps me learn the music. The music is what you truly need to be familiar with if you're only gonna get one or no rehearsal. This post has been edited by klasaine: Jan 16 2013, 03:56 AM -------------------- - Ken Lasaine
https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/foolin-the-clouds https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/surfin-at-the-country-hop Soundcloud assorted ... https://soundcloud.com/klasaine3 New record ... http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kenlasaine Solo Guitar ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...5iIdO2tpgtj25Ke Stuff I'm on ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...b-dhb-4B0KgRY-d |
|
|
||
|
|
|
Jan 16 2013, 03:46 PM |
That's a really interesting story Cosmin! Very inspiring. Once, I was adviced that I had to replace a guitar player in a cover band in 30 minutes. They were going to play 4 or 5 songs in an end of year event... I remember these songs and maybe we played one more... "Day Tripper", "Sweet Child Of Mine", "Seven Nation Army" & "What's up". I put my black trousers and went to the show!
-------------------- My lessons
Do you need a Guitar Plan? Join Gab's Army Check my band:Cirse Check my soundcloud:Soundcloud Please subscribe to my:Youtube Channel |
|
|
||
|
|
|
Jan 16 2013, 04:44 PM |
Hehe! Great input mate - I think it's important for the guys that have less experience in this field to learn from people that can have such a gig under their thumb in a flash. I was curious to ask - do you also play the piano? I play at the piano. I know where all the notes are, I can find melodies, finger some chords but I def do not 'play' that instrument. Just knowing the keyboard a little bit (where the notes are) can save your rear end on a 'pick-up' gig. If you don't know a song (and you're standing next to the piano player) watching their hands can seriously clue you into the chord structure. -------------------- - Ken Lasaine
https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/foolin-the-clouds https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/surfin-at-the-country-hop Soundcloud assorted ... https://soundcloud.com/klasaine3 New record ... http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kenlasaine Solo Guitar ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...5iIdO2tpgtj25Ke Stuff I'm on ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...b-dhb-4B0KgRY-d |
|
|
||
|
|
|
Jan 21 2013, 06:28 PM |
I too took piano lessons (and trumpet and flute and violin) as a little guy. didn't dig any of it.
I play the guitar because I LOVE the guitar and as useful as I realize the piano is, I get no joy out of playing it. Cest la vie. This post has been edited by klasaine: Jan 21 2013, 07:18 PM -------------------- - Ken Lasaine
https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/foolin-the-clouds https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/surfin-at-the-country-hop Soundcloud assorted ... https://soundcloud.com/klasaine3 New record ... http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kenlasaine Solo Guitar ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...5iIdO2tpgtj25Ke Stuff I'm on ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...b-dhb-4B0KgRY-d |
|
|
||
|
|
|
Jan 21 2013, 11:30 PM |
Well, dunno how it would've went if I would've been forced to play it as a kid, but I like the piano now
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
Jan 22 2013, 05:08 AM |
I wasn't forced. We had a piano at the house as well as other insts - guitar included. That's the one that 'stuck'.
I love piano in general ... I just don't dig playing it myself. -------------------- - Ken Lasaine
https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/foolin-the-clouds https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/surfin-at-the-country-hop Soundcloud assorted ... https://soundcloud.com/klasaine3 New record ... http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kenlasaine Solo Guitar ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...5iIdO2tpgtj25Ke Stuff I'm on ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...b-dhb-4B0KgRY-d |
|
|
||
|
|
|
Jan 22 2013, 04:33 PM |
Yeah, my father was/is a musician. Trumpet, double bass and a little piano. He also arranged/orchestrated parts. He's retired now. I didn't really start to play that early though. I strummed 5 chords or so from age 8 to probably age 13. I was into playing baseball. Once I saw that I got more attention from girls because I could play an Aerosmith song rather than field a ground ball I made the switch
-------------------- - Ken Lasaine
https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/foolin-the-clouds https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/surfin-at-the-country-hop Soundcloud assorted ... https://soundcloud.com/klasaine3 New record ... http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kenlasaine Solo Guitar ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...5iIdO2tpgtj25Ke Stuff I'm on ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...b-dhb-4B0KgRY-d |
|
|
||
|
|
|
Jan 23 2013, 06:17 PM |
Well, then how did you end up from Aerosmith to jazz? Because of my dad I was into jazz/improvised music from the beginning but all the kids at school and in the neighborhood were (naturally) into rock. It was the 70s. I liked R&R too and I to this day, even though I can 'intellectualize' the difference, I pretty much just hear it all as - Music. I still like Aerosmith ... and Miles Davis. I first heard them both at the same time. My first serious guitar teacher was the best. He taught me some piedmont finger style (Elizabeth Cotton - Freight Train, etc.) along with turning me on to Jeff Beck and George Benson. I can't thank that guy enough! when I was in the high school jazz band me and the drummer and one of the trumpet players would cut class, smoke some weed and go listen to 4 records over and over again - Count Basie, 'Easin It', Buddy Rich, 'The New One', Deep Purple, 'Made In Japan' and Frank Zappa, 'Roxy and Elsewhere'. All great and I still listen to all of them. *Caveat - I'm not advocating smoking weed or cutting class. I also found (at that time - 1970s) that girls liked guitar players in general regardless of the style . And in all seriousness eventually the music took over my motivation. This post has been edited by klasaine: Jan 23 2013, 06:35 PM -------------------- - Ken Lasaine
https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/foolin-the-clouds https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/surfin-at-the-country-hop Soundcloud assorted ... https://soundcloud.com/klasaine3 New record ... http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kenlasaine Solo Guitar ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...5iIdO2tpgtj25Ke Stuff I'm on ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...b-dhb-4B0KgRY-d |
|
|
||