Here's a list from Dave Barrett. He calls it the 'Blues Standards' List.
1) Ain't Nobody's Business If I do - Jimmy Witherspoon & Billy Holiday (*Granger & Robins) 2) All Your Love - *Otis Rush 3) Baby Please Don't Go - *Muddy Waters 4) Baby Scratch My Back - *Slim Harpo (a.k.a. James Moor) [F] 5) Baby What You Want Me To - *Jimmy Reed [E] 6) Blues with a Feeling - *Little Walter [A] 7) Boogie Thing - *Mat Murphy 8) Boom Boom (Out Go the Light) - *Little Walter [E] 9) Boom, Boom, Boom, .. - *John Lee Hooker 10) Born in Chicago - Paul Butterfield (*Nick Gravenitis) [A] 11) Caldonia - Louis Jordan, B.B. King & Big Joe Turner (*Fleecie Moore) 12) Chicken Shack - *Jimmy Smith [F] 13) Crosscut Saw - *Albert King 14) Driving Wheel - Jr. Parker (*Roosevelt Sykes) [D] 15) Dust my Broom - *Elmore James [E] 16) Everyday I Have the Blues - *Memphis Slim a.k.a. Peter Chapman, B.B. King & Joe Williams 17) Everything Gonna be Alright - *Little Walter [G] 18) Further Up the Road - *Bobby Blue Bland 19) Good Morning Little School Girl - *Sonny Boy I (John Lee) [A] 20) Got My Mojo Workin' - Muddy Waters (*Preston Foster) 21) Help Me - *Sonny Boy Williamson [F] 22) Hide Away - *Freddie King (Hound Dog Taylor is noted as originator) [E] 23) House Party - *Amos Milburn 24) Hoochie Coochie Man - *Willie Dixon & Muddy Waters 25) I Can't Quit You Baby - *Otis Rush 26) I'm Ready - Muddy Waters (*Marry Johnson) 27) It Hurts Me Too - *Elmore James [D] 28) Just Your Fool - *Little Walter [A] 29) Kansas City - *Wilbert Harrison 30) Key to the Highway - Little Walter & *Big Bill Broonzy 31) Killing Floor - *Howlin' Wolf [A] 32) Little By Little - *Jr. Wells 33) Little Red Rooster - *Willie Dixon 34) Mean old World - *T-Bone Walker, Little Walter & Otis Rush 35) Messin' with the Kid - *Jr. Wells 36) Next Time You See Me - Jr. Parker (*Don Robey & William Harvey) 37) One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer - John Lee Hooker (*Amos Milburn) 38) One Way Out - *Sonny Boy II & Elmore James 39) Reconsider Baby - *Lowell Fulson 40) Rock Me Baby - *B.B. King & Muddy Waters 41) Rock this House - *Jimmy Rogers (a.k.a. James Lane) 42) Same Thing - Muddy Waters & *Willie Dixon 43) Spoonful - Howlin' Wolf (*Willie Dixon) 44) Stormy Monday - *T-Bone Walker & Bobby Bland 45) Sweet Home Chicago - Magic Sam & Jr. Parker (*Roosevelt Sykes) 46) T-Bone Shuffle - *T-Bone Walker 47) That's Alright - *Jimmy Rogers 48) The Sky Is Crying - *Elmore James & Steve Ray Vaughn 49) The Things I Use to Do - *Guitar Slim 50) The Thrill is Gone - *B.B. King [Bm] 51) Walkin' Blues - *Robert Johnson & Paul Butterflied [A] 52) Walkin' By Myself - *Jimmy Rogers [A] 53) Woke up This Morning - *B.B. King 54) You Don't Love Me - *Jr. Wells ---------- Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy. -Dan Castellaneta
Might sound kind of mean but my first thought was, "If you need to go to a forum to ask for enough songs to play maybe you weren't ready to take the gig in the first place." It's also a bit lazy. In any event, it would be helpful to know what the situation is. Jam? Party? Club? Paid? Unpaid? Are you going to be the singer? How many songs can you sing now? What songs do the other guys know? Blah blah blah....
To give some rough guidelines you can figure on something like 10-12 songs per 45min set. It depends on how many soloists you have and how many solos you think you can get away with. Is it a crowd that will be different at the end of the night than the beginning so you can repeat songs? How good the frontman is at filling in dead air with funny patter, juggling chainsaws, etc.. All sorts of different tricks to stretch time. ---------- LSC
1. 12 bar blues 2. 8 bar blues 3. 16 bar blues 4. 1 chord boogie blues 5. random number of bars 'cos the guitarist lost track blues
Last Edited by on Jul 21, 2011 3:17 PM
hey yall thanks. @LSC the thing is that i want to eventually front a band currently i just play harp and sing 5 songs with the band im with. but i want to be able to sing and play harp and just have a guitar player with me. alot of the places out here are small and the pay is like 100-200. if all i did is sit on my ass all day then i would say yes a very lazy approch but i practice 6-8hrs per day EVERYDAY and take care of my 3kids and pregnant wife..... but i understood where u were coming from.
thanks for the songs ill end up doing most if not all of those.
I'm intrigued by Dave Barrett's list. I worked up something like that many years ago and one of my students typed it up. I'll have to dig it out. Here's DB's list with songs crossed out that I've never heard at a jam session or been asked to play on a gig:
2) All Your Love - *Otis Rush 3) Baby Please Don't Go - *Muddy Waters 4) Baby Scratch My Back - *Slim Harpo (a.k.a. James Moor) [F] 5) Baby What You Want Me To - *Jimmy Reed [E] 6) Blues with a Feeling - *Little Walter [A]
8) Boom Boom (Out Go the Light) - *Little Walter [E] 9) Boom, Boom, Boom, .. - *John Lee Hooker 10) Born in Chicago - Paul Butterfield (*Nick Gravenitis) [A] 11) Caldonia - Louis Jordan, B.B. King & Big Joe Turner (*Fleecie Moore) 12) Chicken Shack - *Jimmy Smith [F] 13) Crosscut Saw - *Albert King 14) Driving Wheel - Jr. Parker (*Roosevelt Sykes) [D] 15) Dust my Broom - *Elmore James [E] 16) Everyday I Have the Blues - *Memphis Slim a.k.a. Peter Chapman, B.B. King & Joe Williams
18) Further Up the Road - *Bobby Blue Bland 19) Good Morning Little School Girl - *Sonny Boy I (John Lee) [A] 20) Got My Mojo Workin' - Muddy Waters (*Preston Foster) 21) Help Me - *Sonny Boy Williamson [F] 22) Hide Away - *Freddie King (Hound Dog Taylor is noted as originator) [E]
24) Hoochie Coochie Man - *Willie Dixon & Muddy Waters 25) I Can't Quit You Baby - *Otis Rush 26) I'm Ready - Muddy Waters (*Marry Johnson) 27) It Hurts Me Too - *Elmore James [D] 28) Just Your Fool - *Little Walter [A] 29) Kansas City - *Wilbert Harrison 30) Key to the Highway - Little Walter & *Big Bill Broonzy 31) Killing Floor - *Howlin' Wolf [A] 32) Little By Little - *Jr. Wells 33) Little Red Rooster - *Willie Dixon 34) Mean old World - *T-Bone Walker, Little Walter & Otis Rush 35) Messin' with the Kid - *Jr. Wells 36) Next Time You See Me - Jr. Parker (*Don Robey & William Harvey) 37) One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer - John Lee Hooker (*Amos Milburn) 38) One Way Out - *Sonny Boy II & Elmore James 39) Reconsider Baby - *Lowell Fulson 40) Rock Me Baby - *B.B. King & Muddy Waters 41) Rock this House - *Jimmy Rogers (a.k.a. James Lane) 42) Same Thing - Muddy Waters & *Willie Dixon 43) Spoonful - Howlin' Wolf (*Willie Dixon) 44) Stormy Monday - *T-Bone Walker & Bobby Bland 45) Sweet Home Chicago - Magic Sam & Jr. Parker (*Roosevelt Sykes) 46) T-Bone Shuffle - *T-Bone Walker 47) That's Alright - *Jimmy Rogers 48) The Sky Is Crying - *Elmore James & Steve Ray Vaughn 49) The Things I Use to Do - *Guitar Slim 50) The Thrill is Gone - *B.B. King [Bm] 51) Walkin' Blues - *Robert Johnson & Paul Butterflied [A] 52) Walkin' By Myself - *Jimmy Rogers [A] 53) Woke up This Morning - *B.B. King
----------
To this list I'd add at least the following. Except for Tracy Chapman, these are all songs that I've encountered multiple times at jam sessions, on pickup gigs, and/or when sitting in:
Cissy Strut - The Meters My Babe - Little Walter Bright Lights, Big City - Jimmy Reed Gimme One Reason to Stay Here - Tracy Chapman, Jr. Wells Johnny B. Goode, Memphis Tennessee, or some other song by Chuck Berry The Stumble - Freddie King I've Had My Fun - (covered by lots of people) Put It Where You Want It - The Crusaders
Last Edited by on Jul 21, 2011 4:54 PM
I used the term "lazy" in the limited context of asking someone else to figure out what songs one should play which is part of the job of getting an act together. Not that you were sitting on your ass all day. Sorry you took it that way.
Just for information. I put my time in with kids, day job, a wife(ex)who's only occupation was literally being a witch, a full time band, mortgage, house, and all the rest for a lot of years. There was never 6-8 hours a day just to practice harmonica. Yet, the band played 2-4 gigs every single week regionally, and did extended tours throughout Europe. I did all the booking, wrote most of the songs, co-produced the albums, and held all the responsibilities of band leader as well as continually learning the other instruments that I play. Eventually I was able to go full time pro for a whole bunch more years. I'm sort of semi-retired now.
Listening is as much a part of practicing as playing. If you're open to suggestion, I would submit that part of the time spent practicing is searching for and learning new songs. The songs you choose will be songs that move you in some way. If you intend to be a singer they MUST move you in some way.
If you don't play guitar and intend to get a duo together then whoever you find as a partner should be contributing to the search and will probably already have songs to bring to the table as well.
BTW, I would highly recommend always having pen and a notebook to hand. You'll hear songs on the radio or another band playing or just what pops into your head and think,'Yeah! That's a good one, " but if you don't write it down I guarantee about the time three kids jump on your back yelling "Dad. Dad. Our Special Dad," you'll forget.
Having said all that, there's been some kinder people than me that have given you some pretty good lists to start from. But don't be afraid to throw out any song that doesn't work for you. Often what seems like a good song at the time just isn't right. Editing is part of the process as well.
All the best and good luck out there. ---------- LSC
@LSC very true i agree with your comments. i espeacaly like the part about not all songs will work or inspire me. that seems to be true also if it moves me i tend to play it better. as to the practicing so much....there are days i dont get the whole 6 hrs but there are days where i will play way past 10hrs and that includes listening to songs and learnign piano as well. i guess im obsessed i cant help it and i prob dont give as much to my famliy as i should but i know one day ill make a good living with my music one way or the other... fame? not so much but hey if it happens.... what i do is i use my phone to text myself songs that people request or that i hear on the radio.
I would recommend that you decrease the time that you are practicing and spend more time listening to music. Learning all of those tunes will be completely meaningless, if you can't pull them off. It's in your best interest to learn some tunes that are personal to you. ---------- The Blues Photo Gallery
6 hours of practice per day? Yikes!! Then I may never be worth a damn on my harp. I'm lucky I can get that in per week with my work schedule and other obligations. ---------- Tommy
no i didnt know they had that. i dont work so i stay at home with the kids and i get help from my parents for now. thats why i have so much time..... i hope its not all in vien......ive been playing for 7years. by year 15 i want to be making good money playing... thats my goal
I'd just like to add, since Sweet Home Chicago has been brought up, that sometimes it's good to localize a list. Find some songs from your home town. When you play them locally they go over huge, and I've always liked bands that seemed like they were from someplace. So have at least one about your home area and then some for the road to make people happy.
I'm in a songwriters' circle, and I'm usually the one stuck picking a topic for the next month. One of the things I've tried to do is to alternate in some standard themes, while still encouraging people to be innovative. We try to do the same thing with our list of songs we know.
A song about a place A song about cars A song about the country A song about the city A creepy song A song about rock and roll A song about the blues A song that's about sex without saying it's about sex A song that sounds like it's about sex but's isn't A funny song A famous cover played faithful to the original A famous cover turned on it's head A song about drinking A song about love A song about dying A song about partying etc.
The idea is just to make sure you don't have 23 songs about your girl leaving you all in a row. Also make sure you have a mix of tempos, rhythms, keys and major, minor, etc.
"I would recommend that you decrease the time that you are practicing and spend more time listening to music."
Yeah. If you listen to enough music, tunes get sort of engraved in your head and you can remember how they go with relatively little tune specific practice. It also gives you a wealth of ideas for improv.
Practice is great and absolutely essential. But facility at playing with others (a band) in a live performance context is a separate skill set. A less skilled player who understands how to play with other musicians in a group context is going to sound better (and is more likely to get hired) than a virtuoso player who doesn't play as well in a group situation. So, sitting in with different full bands as much as you can is a good way to learn how to work with a band. Duo gigs are a different skill set--more difficult in certain ways, easier in other ways. (Different equipment for each situation, too.) If you want to play for money, you need to get experience doing both if you want to be able to work regularly.
There's some very important stuff you don't learn by practicing. The ability to HEAR what the band as a whole is doing and how to play interactively and play off of what the other musicians are doing is not developed practicing 6 hours a day at home. There's a lot of wanna be harp players (some of whom actually have excellent technique) who get up to play with a band and sound like shit because they just play what they've practiced without understanding how to fit what they know how to play into an ensemble performance.
In this regard, if you are going to work playing for $, the reality is that you don't always get rehearsals before every gig. So while you need to know tunes you also need to understand how to play with other musicians even if you may never have played with those particular musicians before.
I'll second what hvyj says, especially in that last paragraph. I played in several bands in NYC during the 80s and 90s, but I played just as many "occasional" gigs where somebody like Irving Louis Lattin would say, "I've got a gig for you" and I'd show up and at least one of the guys in his trio, maybe two, were guys I'd never played with. I never rehearsed with Irving. I just figured out harp parts on the bandstand. He did some Bill Withers--"Use Me Up" (I think that's what it's called), "I Feel So Bad (Like a Ballgame on a Rainy Day)," R&B stuff. "Purple Rain." Not everything is a harp song; occasionally I'd just dance, not play. (By "dance," I mean I'd stand in place and act like I was enjoying the music, not pull a Ben Stiller and gyrate wildly.)
Attending lots of jam sessions in a given town will help you get a sense of the local common-stock repertoire. It's a good idea to have something you can play on "Johnny B. Goode."
Last Edited by on Jul 23, 2011 6:02 AM
Adam metioned 'Use Me'(its actual name),by Bill Withers-this is a GREAT people-mover. Play the melody line along with guitar in 3rd position. ---------- Todd L. Greene
i play out as much as i can. i play for free ALOT. mainly open jam night ill go out and play with what ever band is out at that moment. i agree with adam and hvyj. in my opinion i play alot better on stage with a band or with a couple of guys then i do in my living room. there is just alot on stage that there is not when im at home. i will be taping some of these once i get a good enough cam. some of the open jams get talked about all over town because of how cool they end up being. its sumthing about being up on stage that gives me this adrenalin to the point where it almost feels like i CANT MESS UP! see i live in lake county florida above orlando its so small that when i go to a jam im known as the BEST harmonica player in lake county lol.
to me listening to music is considered practicing so lets say i sit in front of my comp or in the shower singing and listening to music to me thats practice... i dont just play harmonica for 6hrs... idk tho to tell you the truth i tend to lose track of the time i cant really remember the last time i looked at the clock while practicing.. i just look at the sun. mourning afternoon and night.
Here's a vid of how I play Use Me in 3rd with my former band-We played it in D, which put me on a C harp for third. The melody part just seemed much more accessible in 3rd.
I had better recordings, but the guitarist got pissed and had them all taken down when Ms. Eudora fired the whole band, including the guy who started the band-me. :-D
As far as 'learning' and 'memorization' are concerened-Joe and others gave you the best advice:without even trying to play or sing along, get copies of the tunes you want to learn, and listen, listen, listen. But don't just listen to the vocals or harp parts-listen to what the other instruments are doing. Pay attention to the structure-does the song start on a I or a V, perhaps. What kind of feel would you call it-a shuffle, a rumble, etc. Listen to nucances and cue-ins. THEN start playing/singing along. Don't sweat it if you don't sound exactly like the artist performing the song-you're you, not them. Also, is the song comfortable to sing in the key the recording is in? Would you sing it better with your voice if it were transposed? Experiment- A LOT. Don't just learn songs-make them your own. ---------- Todd L. Greene
Thanks! That's a lesson in 'just play it'...I had no idea I was playing in 3rd until I played this along with a band years ago, and realized I wasn't in 2nd position! Adam's Thunky Fing, also in 3rd, probably originated the same way I would have to guess, as he doesn't normally play in 3rd. Just a cool melody line that works well, and placed with chorded instruments, just happens to place you in 3rd.
This song and others mentioned in other posts can 'liven up' a blues set, and mix well, although they aren't necessarily 'blues' songs. Plus, some are more cross-genre, mainstream songs that audiences may recognize, whereas, they might not know many of the more straight-up blues numbers unless they are blues fans. ---------- Todd L. Greene
"how long would it take you guys to learn one of those list?"
It depends. Some stuff is so simple I can get it note for note in about as long as it takes me to listen to the tune. Other stuff I'll struggle with for hours and may eventually need to have someone who knows the tune write the notes out for me. But once i know for sure what the notes are, i can usually get a tune down cold in less than an hour.
But, for some reason, in order to play them accurately I need to go over and over tunes that put me in 1st or 4th positions much more than i do in 2d, 3rd, 5th or 12th positions. i actually don't play in 12th all that often, but I don't seem to need the same high number of reps to play a tune accurately in 12th (or 2nd, 3rd and 5th) that i need in 1st and 4th.
In 1st and 4th, even after I've learned a tune, for some reason I need more practice to be confident that I'm always starting that tune on the right note. And if you are not starting on the correct note, the breath pattern you've committed to muscle memory for rest of the notes won't be right. One of the bandleaders I work with who has a Masters in Music told me that the way to work on this is to be sure I HEAR the starting note (in my mind) before I PLAY it. That does seem to help, but doesn't completely solve the problem for me.
Last Edited by on Jul 23, 2011 10:23 AM
Toxic, I love that song! We've talked about working up a cover but we never get around to it. She's got another one, For My Lover, that I've always wanted to cover, but the gender lines are all wrong. Actually, we've got a female vocalist friend who could probably knock it out of the park.
"That's a lesson in 'just play it'...I had no idea I was playing in 3rd until I played this along with a band years ago, and realized I wasn't in 2nd position!"
Perfect example of what I was saying in another thread (to an apparently not very receptive audience): For some tunes if you use a harp in the right position, the tune will almost play itself since it will be almost impossible to hit a really bad note. WHY? Because that position has put you in the same mode that is used to play the melody of that particular tune.
But, who cares about MixaMohegan, Dolorean, Fridgidarian and all that Greek crap anyway, right?
