Approaches to band practice

[Oskar]

As I've gotten older and played more I have found myself wanting to take more time to work on a new song with my band. However, I keep coming up against one or another member saying "I'm bored, let's move on to to something else". Well, that's okay if we know the song well enough. But by the time next practice comes around and we try the song again, the same people who wanted to "move on" at the last practice have forgotten the chords and need to learn it all over again. Seems like a waste of time and energy to me.
I dunno, maybe it's my brain slowing down that I feel I need to go over stuff more, and yeah, I can get bored too, but I've also discovered that I learn the song better and play it better, and lo and behold, the band sounds better as well. Am I too anal about this?
Just wondering if others have this issue and how they deal with it. Thanks.

[Marc H.]

Oskar:

In my experience "I'm bored and lets move on" often really mean "I am having trouble figuring this out."

I find that there needs to be a delicate balance between songs that reflect the bands strengths and songs that stretch them out a little. For each song that stretches the band (ie takes more time to work on) find two that emphasize what the band is good at. This way you still make progress!

[Jakedog]

One for covers, and one for originals.

For covers, practice is what you do at home, REHEARSAL is what happens when we all get together. For covers, I make sure every member has a tape or CD of the new material, and a schedule of when we will rehearse it. They had better do their homework. Every one should come to rehearsal with their parts already worked out, so that all we have to do is tighten it up.

For originals, which, THANK GOD is all I am doing anymore, the approach is quite different. We start the "new music" part of rehearsal with a free jam, anyone can start it. It may start with a guitar riff, a drum groove, or a bass groove, that just loops while the rest of the members find their way. If it just doesn't fit, or it just doesn't work for any one member of the band, we junk it for at least a month. If it does work, and we all catch the groove, then we stop, and figure out where it should go next, then a bridge if we feel it needs one, etc. But we don't stop until we have the meat and potatoes worked out, and we are always rolling tape, that way, if we forget, we just pull the tape and it comes right back to us. Once the meat and potatoes are there, we are done with it for that night unless we are all really fired up about completely finishing it. I find it is best to REALLY start fleshing things out when you have a fresh mind, so that you don't get too much of the same thing in any one song, that is why I prefer the method of meat and potatoes, then desert another night. Also, putting the finishing touches on later gives me time to work on lyrics.

Jake

[BLACKCAT69]

until you think you've fleshed them out as good as you can get them, then introduce them. If someone isn't "showing an interest", give them them the part to play as you'd like to see it done. Hopefully that changes their view of it.

I'm not saying it'll work. Sometimes it just a matter of taste that's responsible.

[ddewerd]

One of the problems I have with learning new material is the order of all of the parts (was it Verse-Verse-Chorus-Solo?). And I have an even harder time trying to explain that to the other guys in my band - I guess we just think differently.

But I'm with the other guys here - get a tape and learn your parts, or at least learn them as best as you can. But also learn the order of the parts in the song. I usually don't have a problem with the individual parts per se, it's the transitions between them that can be tricky.

So I just write down the song structure on a sheet of paper - sometimes it has full lyrics, sometimes it's just something like this:

VC
VC
Solo
C
Br
C
C

That way when I'm trying to get one of the transitions down, I can point to the chart and say "OK guys, at the end of the chorus before the bridge we do this thingy 3 times instead of 2...." and they will know where in the song I'm talking about. It also helps me memorize the song layout better. And also, if one of us is having a hard time with something (like a BM solo that I could never play note for note in a thousand lifetimes...) we can look at the song structure and see where we might want to make changes. On some cover songs, you *have* to play it exactly like everyone's heard it on the radio a zillion times, but there's a lot of tunes that you have much more freedom to do your own arrangement, and I find that this visual approach helps me see the whole song structure at a glance.

One of these days I'm going to get a big ass flip chart with a bunch of colored markers and stick it in the corner of our practice room. Then I can just flip back to see what we did last time.

Just my 2 cents.....

Doug

[Chief Brown]

I'm guessing that the band members who want to move on really don't like the song, but don't want to hurt feelings by questioning another band member's taste in music... I've had it done to me, I've done it, not proud of it, quite the band over it.

[Big Cookie]

The CD's fly thru Fedex and MP-3's sail over the net.
Hear the tune add your part and send it on to the next guy. Fortunately we gig too often to have time to practice, we all HATE to practice. We do however run thru the newly assembled material at soundcheck.

[Oskar]

have been thrown out here. I've tried some of them, and will certainly try others. From what I can gather it also boils down to commitment. If people aren't really committed to working in a band then it's all a moot point and we might as well sit in our bedrooms noodling. One of the mantras I keep hearing is "Well, I want to have fun". Of course this person's idea of "fun" is jamming for 10 minutes while he tries running through bad leads for 8 of those minutes. We all have different approaches, I guess it's just a matter of finding what works best. I agree on the covers versus originals. We've been doing mostly originals lately and it's amazing how much time we end up spending on arranging just small parts of the songs. I like that because the final results pay off in a big way, and everyone is able to contribute something.

[TheGoodTexan]

I like what ddewerd said about using charts, but I take it even a step further. I've got a couple of dry-erase boards hanging on the wall, and I'll make notes about mistakes that are being made during songs, right out there in the open for everyone to see.

I also keep the set list written up there and check off songs that we've got learned.

[Oskar]

but having some "rebellious" types in the band they felt it was too much. I just throw up my hands at that point. It really does come down to a commitment, I think. If everyone is committed then they will put in the time and effort needed to be successful.

[trag-o-caster]

Or you can try the "Buddy Rich on the Bus" approach!

I'd leave a link, but it's pretty obscene language.

Do a google search. There's sites with audio of it. It ain't pretty.

[Jakedog]

Originally Posted by trag-o-caster

Or you can try the "Buddy Rich on the Bus" approach!

I'd leave a link, but it's pretty obscene language.

Do a google search. There's sites with audio of it. It ain't pretty.

That clip is hoot, I've heard it. Have you heard the Paul Anka rant?

"THE GUYS GET SHIRTS!!!"





Jake

[trag-o-caster]

Paul Anka??? Nope, never heard about that one! I can't imagine it being any better than Buddy's though.

I had a comedian friend, Joe DiCaprio, that opened for Buddy Rich for two shows. He supposed to do 30 min. which he did. The audience loved him and applauded wildly. Buddy was FUMING! He pulled him aside and said "Who do YOU think YOU are to have earned the right to go out and open for ME?". Well, ol' Joe just reached out and grabbed him by the collar and said "You gotta problem? You don't like it? I tell ya what. The next show I'm going out there and do 45 F-ing MINUTES!!!" Buddy's band was in the kitchen area applauding Joe's comeback!

[Oskar]

I laughed 'til I cried. Check it out.

"Don't make a f****ing maniac outta me!!!"

http://www.noisetank.com/integrity/