Live Music Blog

If your band is in rehearsals, either planning for gigging, or practising new songs to add to your repertoire, the opening s are you’ll have to hire a rehearsal room. The costs of engaging a room can soon mount up if you don’t organize your time effectively. You can be was ting time and money going around in circles, with a rising frustration that your band doesn’t seem to be making any progress.

The answer is to set a Schedule for your rehearsals. in the absence of a schedule it is c hall enging to monitor progress if in fact any is made. Disorganized rehearsals can soon turn into chaos, with everybody throwing in pointers and playing varying things at the same time. The rehearsal is not the time for your guitarist to hone his right hand tapping skills, or your drummer to optimum his lightning fast paradiddles, it is valuable time for working together as a band, and ought to be used as such. performer members ought to have their personal private schedules for practising instruments and learning new techniques. During a rehearsal you ought to all be working towards the same goal and making each other sound as wonderful as possible. The rehearsal ought to never turn into a ‘who can play the loudest‘ competition.

What should your schedule consist of?

Set goals for your rehearsal times and WRITE THEM DOWN! You should know which tunes you are going to rehearse in advance. If you have planned your strategy, you’ll avoid getting stuck in a rut and your time will be used constructively. tunes you already know can be perfected and the little nuances worked on, stamping your own identity on cover tunes and putting the finishing touches to originals.

You ought to make a list of ‘finished’ tunes, ‘work in progress‘ tunes, and ‘new ideas’. As each one progresses, move it up into the next category, thereby revising the schedule for your next rehearsal.

I would suggest starting with 2 or 3 tunes you are happy and comfortable with, simply to give the band a positive vibe to build on, and then start work on new numbers. session aside a certain amount of time for each song, and then move on! Don’t was te time trying to best something that just isn’t working, you may come back to it later or at the next rehearsal. best the numbers that do work, and you will see positive results as your repertoire builds up considerably.

Always take regular breaks. Coming back to a number that has been n’t going too well with fresh ears might usually be all it needs to make a distinct improvement. If that doesn’t help, there’s no point in flogging a dead horse, so move it to the bottom of the list or contemplate dropping the song altogether and concentrating on another one.

Work on performer dynamics and expression, i.e. fast, slow, loud, and quiet. Get your fills as tight and as fluent as possible. What you’re working on is that elusive ‘feel’ that’s the club mark of a wonderful band. Everybody should not only be playing his/her own instrument, but additionally actively listening to the rest of the band.

Tape your rehearsal. You do not need any fancy recording equipment – a simple tape deck and mic will be sufficient. The idea is simply for the performer to be able to listen to their endeavors after wards. Listening to a song while you are not playing means you may listen more subjectively and discuss the merits. Take notes while you listen, that way you are already forming the schedule for the next rehearsal.

And finally, recall ; you are in a band! As such, the sum of the parts ought to be greater than the individual contribution.