+1 to everyone who has suggested practicing new songs on your own time and putting it all together at rehearsal. I just left a band (because the majority didn't want to continue gigging with a substitute during a 4-month pregnancy leave) and it was the most efficient band at rehearsing I've ever been with. We used the following techniques:
Regular rehearsal time & place. We rehearsed weekly, on the same day of the week and at the same time, in one of the member's basement. We increased to two rehearsals a week when I or anyone else new joined the band, but usually only needed to do so for 2 or 3 weeks. Using this schedule and the others techniques listed below, we normally had new players ready to go in two weeks with the 35 songs or so necessary to squeak through a gig. Within 30 days, we were always able to acceptably play any of the 55 or 60 songs in our rotating repertoire. During these "ramp up" periods, we would typically work on 6-8 songs per rehearsal to reach about 95% of the proficiencey level at which we'd eventually perform them--which was always at a level acceptable to an audience. When we weren't "ramping up", we used regular weekly rehearsals to fine tune the remaining 5% of the songs (add/tighten harmonies, refine breaks and accents, tweak beginnings and endings, modify arrangements, learn new songs, etc.) There was always
plenty of refinement to do.
An observation: If you can limit the ways you begin and end songs to those on the existing recorded arrangements you're following (or to one of 2 or 3 "standard" starts or stops), and if everyone can sing and play the song in the same key as the recording, the "ramp up" process goes much more quickly and easily.
Spare equipment left at the rehearsal site. We kept backup keyboards and drums, practice amps and the PA set up at our rehearsal site, so guitar and bass players only had to bring their axes. I realize this is a luxury not everyone can afford. In fact, not all of our members could. Some schlepped their practice amps (along with their axe) to and from practice and a couple of members loaned their extra pieces of equipment to another member for use at rehearsal. To the extent you can leave your rehearsal space set up and ready to go, we found that attendance became more consistent and productivity increased due to decreased setup time.
Reference Recordings. For practicing at home, it really helps to have a copy of the recording you're using to learn the song. For original songs, even the author's homemade version on a CD, .mp3, dictating machine tape, etc. can help. With today's computer technology, these copies can easily be exchanged via CDs and .mp3s. It's simply easier and faster to learn a new song by being able to listen to it repeatedly, at your leisure at home or in the car or wherever, instead of having another band member try to sing or hum it to you at rehearsal.
Chord/Lyrics Sheets or "Charts". When someone brought a new song to the band and the band agreed to play it, that person had the responsibility to prepare and distribute a chords & lyrics sheets. I don't know many bands in which all the members read music well enough to use true charts, (though I do know a few horn sections within bands that use true charts, to the extent available, for their parts). Like "Nashville notation", chords & lyrics sheets consist of the song lyrics with the chords written above. (I prepared these for the drummer--who couldn't really analyze chords--when he occasionally wanted to suggest a song. We found countless ways for him to pay me back and he always supported my suggestions.) Use different
colors for the
chords and the
lyrics.
Make the font large enough to read at a reasonable distance. Make the font BOLD. If possible, return to a new line at the end of equal-sized musical phrases, rather than at the end of each sentence or phrase in the lyrics.
Set the Rehearsal Agenda in Advance. We almost always spent the last 5 minutes of rehearsal agreeing on the agenda for the following rehearsal. One member followed up with a written agenda e-mailed to the others later that night or the following day. This took some planning and discipline. Often I would have to e-mail .mp3 copies of a song I wanted us to learn to the other members 10 days before rehearsal so that we could agree to learn it, put it on the agenda, distribute the CD copy (if applicable) and distriibute the chords & lyrics sheet at the end of the prior rehearsal. It actually helped reduce disputes about new songs, however. Most prople won't do that kind of planning and prepare a recording and a chords & lyrics sheet more than a week in advance unless they REALLY want to lean and perform the song.
Record Your Rehearsal if you can. I was in another band that recorded a performance-length version of every song it rehearsed (2-3 minutes, or longer to include special features). We then bundled those recordings regularly on CDs, which were distributed to band members. Not only do these CDs tell you how your version sounds to others, it enables you to listen to and practice with your own arrangement of a song. That proves to be invaluable when you're back in a "ramp up" phase and can give CDs of your own arrangements to new players.
Obviously these kinds of processes require a collective commitment among band members, and they need to be modified to fit the peculiarities of individual ceircumstances. They can also be simplified somewhat if your band is a leader-with-sidemen rather than a partnership. And if being cool and laid-back musicians is more important than agreeing on a few methods to make your music easier to learn as well as sound better, you'll never agree on these suggestions anyway. But since you raised the question in the first place, I'll bet you have more productive priorities.
Good luck to you and your band. Let us know what you try and what works and doesn't work.
Bluesy Soul
