Re: [Harp-L] Band Rehearsals -- What is your formula?

[Seth Galitzer <sethgali@xxxxxxxxx>]

I can maybe see why he is a "former member" of the band.

My band tries to practice once a week, when we don't otherwise have a 
gig, and as long as we can have critical mass.  With 9 of us, it can be 
tricky working around schedules and getting everybody together.

When we work on "old" songs, or songs that we've been playing, we might 
just do starts and stops, or iron out transitions.  If it's been a while 
since we've played a song, then we'll run it a couple of times, just to 
get it back into everybody's head.

When working on new songs, we'll work out a groove and style first, 
figure out what everybody will be playing and make sure what each is 
contributing makes sense.  Then we'll throw the lyrics in.  If it's a 
new original song, we'll hammer out the lyrics outside of practice.

When we perform, we hardly ever "jam" on anything.  We usually decide in 
practice who is soloing, and which order the solos are in (at least four 
or five of us can carry a solo at any given time).  Solos are almost 
always one chorus in a song, occasionally two.  Some songs I do call out 
solos on the fly at a gig, but still only one or two choruses, tops for 
each.  I think we have maybe only one song we have extended solos on (La 
Grange, ZZ Top). The rest are all pretty set.

We also write a setlist a week or so in advance of a gig.  Usually, one 
band member takes the lead in putting together the first draft.  Then 
we'll all email back and forth suggesting changes.  This "by-committee" 
approach can be frustrating at times, but at least everybody who wants 
to gets a say in what we play.  At the gig, unless there are extenuating 
circumstances, we stick to the playlist.

The important things is that we look like we know what we are doing and 
not just screwing around on the stage.  People have told us that we are 
very tight, even on nights where I've felt like we were all over the 
place.  I guess that means we must be doing something right.

Seth

On 09/16/2010 09:26 AM, Rick Davis wrote:
> I am having an interesting debate with a former member of my band -- a
> guitar player -- about band rehearsals. He is of the mind that that blues is
> so easy that it is never necessary to play a complete song in rehearsal.  He
> apparently wants to jam through live performances.
>
> My preferred method is to play a song, have everyone suggest
> changes/improvements to the arrangement, play the changed parts several
> times, and then play the song again all the way through to make sure the
> intro, changes, and ending are good and everybody has his parts down.
>
> Blues is easy, alright... It is easy to play badly. My philosophy about
> practice is a sports analogy:  When I played varsity sports we practiced
> hard as a team, and when we were well prepared we did well.
>
> How often does your band practice?  When you do practice, what is the
> formula?


--
Seth Galitzer
The beatings will continue until morale has improved.