[Harp-L] Re:Practice

[Michael Easton <diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rick wrote:
> 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.
snip
...When I played varsity sports we practiced
> hard as a team, and when we were well prepared we did well.

> and Mike Rogers wrote:
> We work out all songs.  We don't do just blues, but some are blues.   
> I. M.
> O. a band that has tight breaks, intros and outros keeps the  
> audience's
> attention.  If you jam all the time, you sound like a jam band.

I couldn't agree more with the both of you. The last band I was in  
never practiced. The way we learned new songs is the leader would call  
a song out and we'd fuddle through it the next 5 or 6 gigs until we  
got it right.  The only time the band practiced was to be in the IBC  
competition and that was only 2 practices. The band leader thought  
practice would ruin the spontaneity of the moment.  He also thought  
getting stoned before during and after gigs would get him in the  
moment as well.  <sigh>

The current band I'm in is more like Mike's band.  We take a song and  
make it our own. We add tight breaks where there were non before.
We add horn like hooks where there were non before.  Our drummer is  
very good at arranging the intro's and outro's.  There is a real sense  
for everyone to get equal time on stage. A very democratic band. We  
are getting a lot of attention from the local blues fans because of  
our serious attitude to learn new songs, re work the standards, and  
put a twist in sometimes that no one expects.

Mike