Solo Performance Evaluation 2

Solo Performance Evaluation 2

My overall 20 minute solo performance went very well, although there was a slight issue that occurred with my Macbook Pro concerning Logic Pro X running slow which caused one of the backing tracks to stop working, it was a very good performance overall.
About a fortnight prior to my performance, I started gathering some songs together which was quite challenging since keeping an audience interested with bass covers is very difficult if the the songs are are repetitive, but after a few days I came to a decision.

The songs I chose for my solo performance were Chasing after you - VaShawn Mitchell, Locked out of Heaven - Bruno Mars, I call you Jesus - Israel Houghton and Crooked Smile - J.Cole. I chose these songs because they each play a part in adding variety to the whole performance which keeps it interesting. Also, each song that I chose either had the bass guitar naturally being the dominant instrument in the song or it had a simple bass line which could easily be manipulated in a way that I could make the bass the dominant instrument that could stand out the most.

I moved the selected songs onto Logic pro X and I used the equaliser to take out as much bass and low end of the tracks that I could in order to play along to it. I practised for about 2 hours everyday so that I could play each song without any problems as well as recording the whole set to check how long the whole performance would be.
The 2 hours of practise each day mainly consisted of sitting down listening to one song out of the 20 minute set and breaking it down into sections (i.e. verses, chorus and the bridge) and then learning each part that way which made it a lot easier to play the song the whole way through in the performance. Also, going through songs in sections helped because it showed me where there were spaces in the song that could be filled with runs and riffs to make the song overall a bit more interesting.
My practice schedule consisted of the technical excersises such as practicing scales, arpeggios, modes to create new runs for the performance. Using technology, I picked the songs that I was going to perform for the performance and moved them into logic pro X and equalised the the bass out of the songs.
I tend to focus on the areas which could be filled with runs, riffs or if it has a complex bassline (i.e. Chasing after you), I would practise the runs that could fit nicely in that section of the song so that when I come to perform the song, it won't be difficult which, I was able to do during Chasing after you and Crooked Smile.

During the performance, each song went well and the change and introduction for the next song was smooth and flowed well apart from I call you Jesus - Israel Houghton. The backing track for I call you Jesus kept crashing so I was forced to skip it which did cause me to lose some time on the rest of the performance but I managed to handle the situation well without showing the audience that I was worried.
The method of breaking each song down into sections that I used to prepare for my solo performance ensured the actual performance to be a success and I'll definitely use it again to prepare for future performances either solo or as an ensemble.