General Music Chat

Now that we've got some gigs coming in, NOBODY seems to WANT to rehearse. This happens over and over again. I bust my ass going all over town getting us gigs. I land a few, then we STOP rehearsing. I don't get it. All of a sudden everybody's so good they don't have to rehearse. It's B.S....Bands wither away and DIE if they don't rehearse. I've been in this business for almost 30 years. You've got to keep adding tunes or everything gets stale. You've got to keep improving tunes or they get stale. And there's a LOT of competition out there. You HAVE TO get better and STAY better. Otherwise you wither away...

I dont know Bob, our group has done about 50 gigs in the last 2 yrs no biggie. We dont practice much probably 10 times total this whole yr. We play new stuff all the time. We agree on something and then just do it live, if someone doesnt want to do it they have the option of saying Im not ready for that song. But in my group when we all agree on a song, everyone knows that they better have it down. Cause they are going to have to put out when the time comes. I guess its just different mentalitys about practice, and besides how many times can I play the same thing over practicing. It gets old to me, not taking away form your post.

Last night we played this fall festival thingie and in the middle of Wont Get Fooled Again, the long key section we just went into this real jazzy deal that was freaking our singer out, cause weve never done it like that before, but then we weaved back into the riff for the big scream.

My acoustic show is really a hoot cause I will print lyrics and chords off the internet of songs Ive never even thought about playing and then wing them. They ussually come off good, but the other night I did the Johnny Cash version of Hurt and I royally sucked.

Nice subject but I would imagine once you get your set down its time to get out and do the deal and most people dont want to keep up a rigid practice schedule.

I hope you have some killer gigs, Im sure you will.

Keep On Rockin My Friend!

One night onstage is worth as dozen in the practice room.

I've done it just the way JW said and loved it. We all had to make sure we did our homework, then if we though we were all ready for a song we would try it during sound check then decide if it was ready for the show. Often if we all thoguth we could pull it off we would try something right out of thin air we had never tried before, onstage and under pressure...sometimes it would blow major chinks, but usually we could pull it off. But keep in mind this was a very talented band and really tight, you can't do this kind of thing until you are very familiar with each other and tight as hell as a group...and you know you can pull it off.

I prefer it that way too, practice maybe once a month at best after you get your songlist down, to add new material, and of course it's mandatory for originals, then just get out there and blow people away.

One night onstage is worth a dozen in the practice room.

Amen Bill I hope you are doing good!

Hell some of my favorite gigs are just out of the hat. Our singer got the flu a few weeks ago and had to cancell at the last minute. He was talking about taking a break from playing for awhile and I toyed with the idea of getting a sub singer for awhile. I had lined a guy up to come sit in for a set to see if he could handle what we were doing. On the way to the gig at 7:30 our singer called me and said that there was no way he could do the show. So when I got there the other dude and I sat down and built a set list from what he knew and what I knew my guys could pull out of the hat. We did a 4 hr show with a singer we had just met and it went off without a hitch, in fact fols that didnt know us said we sounded as good as anyone that came thru there. They freaked out and didnt believe me when I told them that we had jsut met our singer for the night and just winged it. But, I found out that it was best to put the band on the shelf until our singer was ready to get back into the game, weve been floating around for 22 yrs so I would never say that one gig was our last one.

I think with the proper people you can just do it, in fact I know quite a few groups that never practice and have rotating members cause they are pros. I consider myself a semi-pro cause I get paid but I make my real living elsewhere. But Im on the short list with a coupld of groups as a sub when their main guy gets a better paying gig and has to step out. I think sometimes people get a little hung up on loyalty and practice and all that stuff, Im almost 50 yrs old and I dont want to woodshed cause we might get a gig, Im out there doing gigs, cause thats what I want to do is perform.

Last night my band Aint Yo Mama did a Fall Festival gig, since our singer missed the last gig, the 4 of us hadnt played together in 5-6 weeks, It went off without a hitch, we rocked the house and hopefully if the same people organize it again we will have that gig to do again. Thats what I want to do with our band is get away from straight club gigs and do the bigger special events that pay better. We were the headliner and played for 2 straight hours in the cold. The guy that hired me said I thought you guys would take a break, I said hell we were just getting warmed up.

After the gig me and our singer stopped by a local club to play some pool. We had all our leather and stuff on, people look at you strange when youwalk into a honky tonk with all that stuff on. We were playing pool and one of the guys in the band was someone I had played with before, hes like you guys have to sit in. We got up there with them and played 3 songs and rocked the house as always. It was funny that we walked in and looked more like rock stars than the band that was playing, but it was fun and the standards we did came off without a hitch. I go to play a nice strat and was playing behind my back and head, this guy was freaking out. I know how it is when someone sits in to play, you wonder if this guy can play or not, but we were already warmed up from our gig so we were cooking.

I got a little long winded I know, sorry to take over your post Bob.

Must be that after gig glow you get for a couple of days when you have fun!

people look at you strange when youwalk into a honky tonk with all that stuff on

And to hijack Bob's thread yet again...sorry Bob...

I got out of a gig in Baton rouge, stage clothes still on. White pants with blue and red stars sewn on, Dick Tracy hat, long scarf for a belt hanging down on one side, glittered flip flops...and a cop pulled me over. I had put out a cigarette and it fell o n the floor instead of hitting the ashtray so I was all over the road for a few seconds. The look on the guy's face when I got out of the car (67 Mustang) was priceless.

He gave me a sobriety test, which I passed, since I had only had one beer about 6 hours earlier, and let me go. He wanted me to follow his ink pen with my eyes, and I think what told him I was sober was when I told him I could do it if he'd let me turn around, the flashing lights were in my eyes and I couldn't see the damn thing much less follow it...

People at gigs would see me before we got onstage and almost always say "You must be with the band"...

Then one night the metal band from down the street comes running in during theior break, they had heard of us, saw our name on the sign and timed it so they could see us during break. They actually had some guy come and find out when we started then go down the street 2 blocks and let them know so they could time their breaks to see us. Boy did they get some attention...80's hair band with spandex and all...it was fun, and they told us we had quite a reputation, they were amazed that we'd only been together for 2 months and one month of it was onstage. Hell, we didn't even have a full set list yet...I'd play 3 or 4 acoustic songs and we'd repeat a half dozen of the best ones the last set, always played early in the 1st set. And already had other bands coming to see us...

Yes, that was another one with minimal practice.

From an amiture and "originals" players point of veiw. I have to fully agree with what Bob is saying.
It is not that I doubt what John and Billy are saying. I just dont feel it applies in our / my case. We must continue to rehearse and improve our songs as well as create new material.
We could take our older standards and walk into a gig and just play .
However I don not believe we would be giving the crowd our best shot in that scenario.

George - That's what I meant by my comment "of course it's mandatory for originals." In that case you have to rehearse, you have no choice. Once the band gets their s&%$ all in one sock that's the only time I like to practice.

Even an original band just get a recording the way you want to play the song for everyone. Its really no different to me than covers. Not trying to be a butt hole or anything but I have done a few sitins with totally original bands.

In the end it probably just depends on the people in the band and not so much what you are playing. If I was playing super technical prog instrumental rock I would need live practice, but for basic rock n roll why over think it!

Of course I am talking about originals and doing very creative things with covers. It's a little difficult to put a bridge in a cover song that doesn't exist for the first time AT A GIG. You just might cause a train wreck unless every member of your band can read your mind. If you're doing classic rock or country covers that every band member knows it's understandable that rehearsals aren't really necessary. I don't like doing stnadard covers of anything. I get as much enjoyment at rehearsal as I do the live gigs. And I get even more enjoyment in the studio, and to get to the point where you're ready to do a legitimate CD, THAT makes rehearsal mandatory. I guess I'm just frustrated that I have a little higher goals in music than just doing cover gigs and the other band members don't seem to want to strive for something above and beyond that...

I've experieced both points of view. I think that it is important to rehearse regularly. As a matter of fact, I have a flute choir rehearsal tomorrow for which I will be late 'cuz of a doctor's appt. I would rather be late than miss the rehearsal all together because I am afraid that I will lose the assignment to play alto flute. However, I have also been in a situations where I have not rehearsed before a gig and all went well. BUT, the lack of rehearsal is a big risk, indeed.

I love rehearsals.
When I play in front of a crowd, I have to play the song.
When I play at rehearsals, we all try all sorts of newer and better stuff.
We experiment with things that could easily crash a song - stuff you'd never try on stage.
We have fun. We'll try different instrumentals, different harmonies, maybe a stuttering rhythm for a second, 7ths, Sus4ths, 9ths, whatever . . .
And - we mess up quit a bit in rehearsals - but, even in rehearsals, the song doesn't crash (unless we all wind-up laughing our asses off). . .

When we rehearse, I tell them to make all their screwups here and now. Be brave - try stuff you've never been able to do before, something new . . .
I feel that - if we're not falling flat on our faces every so often, we're probably not trying anything very risky . . .
I love 'mistakes' - you wouldn't believe how many new songs I've been able to write, from capitalizing on 'mistakes.'
Of course, we play a lot of unusual songs to begin with, and the songs offer ample areas for experimentation . . .
And often we find some really neat directions for a song, which we never would have found while performing.
.
I hear my guys saying "oops," a lot, during rehearsal - me, too.
But -what's really neat - is when someone does something really cool, and then apologize for a 'mistake.'
Huh? You call THAT a mistake? Wow - that was pretty cool . . .
I'll stop the song, and say, "Hey, wait a minute; maybe that's not an 'oops.' You play that same thing again, and I'll change one of my chords to fit what you just did."
Maybe if he does it by himself - it seems like a mistake.
But if it's a cool sound, I can keep his one 'mistake' chord, and change the entire rest of the song -
I'll play something to meet his chord, and the whole song may uncover new ground . . .
We need to be able to stop and talk sometimes; otherwise we're just kinda resting on our Laurels . . .
I encourage everyone in my band to experiment, and try new stuff - but we pretty much only do brand new stuff during rehearsal.
Once we find a better or more fun way to do a song - that's how we perform it.
But - with our catalog of 'mistakes,' - we can make some pretty impromptu changes, if we want.
Keep in mind the music that I play . . . I realize that this may not all apply to rock n roll . . .
ANYway - we have as much fun at rehearsals as playing live.
Just - when we play at rehearsal - we are playing for US.
.
But - if someone has milked a cover song as much as they can, and if rehearsals are just 'beating a dead horse' - then I can see why someone would be bored by rehearsals.

Bob,

(and no offense to anyone here) but it is about different levels of committment. Cover bands are not ever going anywhere, so why should they practice that much? They just need to please the crowd enough to get the next pay-day.

Sacrifice is not really required when that is the main goal.

But those who want to support themselves fully through music, and support themselves well. This requires sacrifice, and alot of it. If you are going to play the best venues, and concerts, and tour, and make it a living, you will need to be among the best out there.

A cover band just needs to be "good enough" for their local area.

They don't need to be great.

It's just different goals, and hence, different paths and perspectives.

If I knew I had no chance of going anywhere or making a real living through music alone, I probably wouldn't want to sacrifice any more of my days off than I had to either.

But I have goals more like yours, and so I agree with you... I want to practice as often as possible, to get the originals tight, and the chemistry tight, and perfect an original sound and then have an industry person see my band and say "You guys need to take this on the road full-time."

I don't have to have a number one song on the radio.

I would be happy with a tour bus, and playing gigs with 5,000 to 15,000 people at each stop, where I was paid good money, and the band making a grand or two on merch and CD sales at each gig added to it.

Sustaining that, well hell... GETTING to that, requires dedication and work. It's not going to be easy, because the pay-off is so much better, and as you rightly said, there is so much competition out there, that it requires sacrifice, to rise above the rest and have staying power, once you got there.

But if the pay-off was making a living completely by doing what I love, and playing to thousands every gig, rather than a hundred or two... it's worth it to me.

Easily worth it.

But finding others who believe in themselves enough, to pursue that kind of goal, well, that's not always so easy.

That's why it is important to establish with each band member what their personal goals are, from the get go. What they want, and what they are willing... or not willing... to do, to get there.

Alan is great at that.

He has a laundry list of questions he wants answered, before he will get involved with them.

I don't blame him.

It's heartbreaking when you want more than your band members do, and all they have accomplished is wasting months or even years of your time, and you end up having to start all over again, with the next musician.

.

"Whut we haave heere is a faailure too communicate"

That sums up just about everything in life to me, finding people with the same goals in music. I believe you have to do your homework for gigs no matter how it sounds from my post. Most of my rehearsal time is alone, sad but true.

My solo gig I am doing quite a few originals, and they change nightly on the spot to fit the mood at the time.

As Craig says anything worth anything takes huge committment, whether its music or relationships or business or pleasure, it doesnt really matter.

It is probably ill elephant to the main point but I / we have so much fun at our rehearsals and practice sessions I hate to even miss one.
Five different personalities in one room can be hillarious.
We were running a song weve played thousands of times one night, Ilet out a blood curdling rebel yell right in the middle of it.
The song crashed and burned as one by one the band members lost it in laughter.
I would never do that to them at a gig. Well maybe.

You have to rehearse to advance, plain and simple.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.