A List of Cover Songs for Bands Aiming for the Next Level

Whether or not you intend to perform live as a cover band, practicing cover songs as a full band is great exercise for leveling up. Even for bands that play original songs, it's a good idea to do covers periodically.

However, deciding on a song for the band to copy can be surprisingly difficult. Sometimes there’s a specific part that is too hard, or conversely, there might be a part that feels boring...

If the goal is to improve the skill of the entire band, songs where it’s difficult to lock in together and create a groove are more suitable than songs that only feature difficult techniques for individual parts.

This time, I want to introduce several songs that I felt were truly great for practice! If your band is struggling to choose a cover song, please use this article as a reference.

■ relive / toconoma

This band isn’t very famous, but they are a cool band in a subtle yet exquisite genre that can be considered as either funk or jazz.
Since they are an instrumental band consisting of guitar, keyboard, bass, and drums, they are suitable as a cover song for bands without a dedicated vocalist.

When people hear "instrumental band," many might imagine a group of super-virtuosos, but toconoma is a band that values the overall groove more than pure technical prowess.
Although this track "relive" does not require particularly difficult techniques, you will likely struggle to capture the right feel.

Thankfully, a band score made under the members’ supervision can be downloaded for free on toconoma's official website ( https://toconomamerch.stores.jp/items/5ec8f95f51576202b5c3df60 ).

■ DRIVE ME NUTS / PINK CLOUD

This is the ultimate rock trio band that has already become legendary.
Unfortunately, drummer Johnny Yoshinaga and bassist Louis Louis Kabe have passed away, but guitarist/vocalist Char is still active today as one of Japan's leading guitarists.

All members possessed high playing ability even among professionals, but PINK CLOUD's songs are not as difficult compared to recent technical bands, so many people should be able to cover them if they work hard. (Though the difficult parts are still difficult.)

"DRIVE ME NUTS" is a cool, rock-heavy song that features both a guitar solo and a bass solo.
Even on the studio recording, it feels like the three of them are playing without layering many sounds, yet the sound never feels too thin at all.

Trio bands struggling with a thin sound would learn a lot from covering several PINK CLOUD songs, not just "DRIVE ME NUTS."

■ “Ikiru wo Suru” / Macaroni Empitsu

This is a rock band where all members are graduates of a music college.
The band consists of guitar/vocal, guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard, but this song can somehow work even without a keyboard.
If you have two guitarists, it’s worth a try without a keyboard.

"Ikiru wo Suru" became famous as the theme song for Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, and as long as you only hear the TV-sized one chorus, it’s straightforward rock.

However, if you listen to the full version, that impression changes completely.
The rhythm patterns change constantly, and even the tempo shifts.
Since the original tempo is 220, it is quite difficult to stay synchronized when it changes so frequently.
As expected of a group where everyone is a music college graduate, they have a playful spirit.

If you can synchronize this perfectly, it means the entire band's breathing is aligned at a very high level.

■ “Utauyo!!MIRACLE” / K-ON!!

This is the second opening theme for the second season of K-ON!!, the pioneer of the girl band anime. The girls who started bands because of K-ON have likely become highly skilled musicians by now, haven't they?

Speaking of K-ON songs, "Don't say lazy" is often covered because of its lower difficulty, but girl bands aiming for the next level should take on "Utauyo!!MIRACLE."

This song has a staggering speed of BPM 323, and the instrumentalists dash through to the end with a sense of speed while constantly attacking with technical flourishes.
The vocals are also extremely difficult to sing due to the high key and fast-paced lyrics. If anything, the keyboard part is relatively easy as it consists of many whole notes.

It is a difficult song just to memorize, but it will feel amazing if you nail it perfectly.

■ “NO-NO-BOY (Pt1 & Pt2)” / ICE

This is a band with strong funk elements that few people know about nowadays.
Although they haven't officially declared a breakup, their activities have been limited to live performances every few years since the guitarist, Mr. Miyauchi, passed away in 2007.

The vocalist, Ms. Kunioka, doesn't rely on high tones or a unique singing style, but she exudes an extraordinary, sexy atmosphere.
Female funk vocalists are rare in Japan, and even when they do exist, they tend to be very hardcore and underground.

I don't know of any other band with a vocalist like ICE who sings in a funky way while retaining elements of pop and rock.
For that reason, I introduced them even though they are somewhat an older band now.

Since "No-No-Boy" is based on funk, the instrumental performance is not that difficult and there isn't much to memorize, so just covering it will be finished quickly.
From there, it is difficult to create a sense of unity as a band, but since there are few girl bands with funk elements, you can differentiate yourselves from other bands.

■ Summary

Since I added my own personal tastes to this article, the introduction became biased in terms of genre, but if I were to introduce songs from every genre, the word count would be terrifyingly long, so let's call it a day with this.

What I want amateur bands to be conscious of when doing cover songs is learning the professional ensemble and groove.

I understand the desire to quickly create many great original songs, but playing covers is necessary for that purpose as well.
To do that, start by listening to various types of music and looking for cover songs that will be educational for you.
Fortunately, nowadays you can easily search for various music through subscription services.

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