Practicing/Jamming with just the drummer..

[wonderjosh]

Hopefully this is the best section to post this in...

The guys in my band are convinced that the only way for myself and our drummer to get better/tighter/more in sync is for the two of us to practice together without the rest of the band (like, in addition to full band practice). Our drummer specifically wants us to get together and just jam out, not work on our bands songs.

I'm not convinced that this is going to improve anything except my improv ability, which really has no place in our bands live performances (poppy indie rock). Our drummer frequently improvs or leaves parts out when we play live and we have told him to stop doing that, but he is defiant about it because of artistic reasons.

The band seems to think that me jamming with him for an hour a week is going to improve the issues he has, but I am not convinced that a drummer and bassist just jamming with each other is the best way for the band to be tighter.

Do you guys do this?

[MalcolmAmos]

Our drummer frequently improvs or leaves parts out when we play live and we have told him to stop doing that, but he is defiant about it because of artistic reasons.

Sounds like your drummer does not want what the band wants. I also doubt you being able to change that. Sounds like you don't have a strong director, time for him/her to talk to the drummer. It's really rather simple a band member is supposed to learn the material, show up on time, and play the selection given the way the director wants them played. It's the director's way or the highway.

O'h you say your all just a bunch of friends no one person runs the band we vote on everything. How long do you expect that to work?

Does this look familiar? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItZya...eature=related

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

O'h you say your all just a bunch of friends no one person runs the band we vote on everything. How long do you expect that to work?

it can work if no one person puts their own agenda above the band's. i've had leaderless bands before and they were pretty cool because everyone was concerned about the direction of the band and not just into glorifying themselves.

unfortunately, this doesn't sound like one of them. and practicing by yourselves won't solve it, though a lot of bassists and drummers do practice by themselves and it seems to work for them. this is more of a "you need to get with the program" type of situation. and if he doesn't, then you'll never get tight.

[mambo4]

I agree with the general sentiment : Drummer doesn't sound like he's on board with the idea of practicing the songs.

If it's like this:
Bass "Lets practice the material"
Drums "Nah lets just jam on stuff"

Maybe you can be a ninja about it.
Get together with him to "jam" but jam on the actual songs you need to practice. Eventually, his own unconscious desire to play something that sounds good may steer him towards actually playing the song. Just pretend its a jam. When he messes up, don't say "you are messing up that part" but rather "it would sound cool if WE played it like THIS" ...or ask him to participate "when i go from this part to this part, what can you do to make it super awesome?"


Beyiond that, The only thing you can do to improve things is whip out a metronome or drum machine and practice the material on your own, which you ought to be doing anyhow if are serious about performing. Maybe by being on the spot with your part and communicating via eye contact and body language to the drummer, you can keep him on track -but thats just compensating for his laziness.

[mpdd]

have a singer and rhythm guitarist who keep changing the riffs and arrangements when they practice together, real annoying, i don't really know what to do either, maybe a subtle nudge that it's not too fun playing when you are basically lost or relearning the same songs over and over rather than working and playing together as a functioning band on new material

[wonderjosh]

We tried it today and it went so-so. I see potential in the exercise though. Next time I want to have more structure, so we're going to run though some cover songs and also through some of our bands songs instead of spending as much time jamming. Hopefully he will chill out on the improvisation stuff. He's a pretty good drummer when he isn't trying to be a badass.

Malcolm, that video you posted was epic. Thank you for sharing.

[totallyfrozen]

Short answers:
YES, it can help you as a bassist. You don't have to jerk around with improve (if that's not your style). It might be best for the two of you do just see how tight you can keep ONE groove for 3 or 4 minutes. You don't need to work specifically on the band's songs; you can just work on your own timing and tightness in general.

NO, it's not going to make your drummer stop what he's doing. Only he can do that to himself. Don't expect that you can "train" him to quite doing anything simply by jamming with him.

--IMHO

[klokker]

You would get some benefit, but if your drummer won't work on the songs that your band is playing when you're together the benefits probably won't be worth the effort put in.

Seems the issue here is getting the guy to be a team player.