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Presenting songs to the band.....some thoughts

jive1

jive1

Commercial User
Jan 16, 2003
12,525
4,060
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Alexandria,VA
www.jivesound.com
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Owner/Retailer: Jive Sound
#1
I've been seeing a recurring drama in bands that I have been in. I get the complaint that all my song suggestions get played, and that theirs get don't. It happens whether it's "my" band, or a band where I'm the new guy. I also find that it usually comes from the least experienced, or musically capable guy in the band (other than me ;)).

Made me think, why is it? Am I a just a pushy dude, or do I just do a good job of selecting tunes and selling them to the band? I'm too lazy to be pushy, so I'm thinking it's the latter.

So then I'm thinking, what is it that I do that others don't?
Here's what I do:
1) I learn the song myself before presenting it. Can't expect others to learn it, if I don't.
2) I'm willing and capable of teaching the song to others. I'll tell them the chords, ask the drummer to play a certain beat, give the timing of lyrics, etc.
3) I don't suggest too many songs, and when I do, I am very specific. I don't say, let's do a Zeppelin song. I say, let's do Rock N Roll in A, just like on Zeppelin 4.
4) I will play the song for the band on my instrument, and try to get them to join in and have fun with it.
5) I have the recording available.
6) I make sure the song fits the vocalist and style of the band. I really put thought into a song suggestion, other than it's fun for me to play it. I think about whether everyone in the band can pull it off, and enjoy it.
7) I take rejections lightly, never personally. Everyone gets a song rejected.

Just my thoughts on a Monday.
 
#3
"6) I make sure the song fits the vocalist and style of the band. I really put thought into a song suggestion, other than it's fun for me to play it. I think about whether everyone in the band can pull it off, and enjoy it."

That's solid smart thinking.
You might add to that: is it danceable and/or does it have a place in your show? (ie is it an opener, a peak, a valley, a set ender/climax or a guilty pleasure ;-)
 
#4
Proper presentation is over half the Battle. If you have most of the arranging done in advance, since the other guys won't have to work as hard, they will more readily accept your suggestions.
The other part is to realistically evaluate the skill level and abilities of the band to pull off a good cover. (i.e., don't suggest "roundabout" if your keyboard player is struggling with "Sweet home Alabama"):)
 
#5
"6) I make sure the song fits the vocalist and style of the band. I really put thought into a song suggestion, other than it's fun for me to play it. I think about whether everyone in the band can pull it off, and enjoy it."
Click to expand...

Exactly - doesn't matter how much everyone else wants to do a song If the singer can't (or won't) sing it - you ain't playin' it.

IME of course
 
#7
My band hates me. They never want to do anything I suggest. I fail to see what the problem with a heavy version of Cher's "Believe" sung by a fat bass player could possibly be, but they have one! I mean, C'mon!
 
#8
In fact, I find this a very interesting subject...

HOW TO PRESENT ORGINALS TO THE BAND AND GET THEM TO PLAY THEM??!!!

that's the real question... and playing bass makes it worst, since i can play them the bass part but they often struggle with the idea of making up they parts from a bass part... ;)

On the other hand, they look at me as intrusive if i grab their guitar and just play some arrengments to them...

On top of everything most of my compositions are instrumentals...


:scowl:

so I hope you don't mind if i try to hijack the forum... :D

HOW TO PRESENT ORGINALS TO THE BAND AND GET THEM TO PLAY THEM??!!!
 
#9
Noting wrong with how you're presenting your songs to the band - you're doing your homework, and they're not!

Originals - in the last band I was in, we started every rehearsal with ~20 minutes of jam time - good to get warmed up and really got musical communication going. We would take turns showing up with a bare-bones chart - no more than one or two chord progressions, if that much - the drummer would start a beat, the bass player would play a riff to it, and the guitars/keys would make up stuff to go along. It really taught everyone to listen to each other and complement each other musically.

We would always record these jams, make copies and listen to them between rehearsals to see what worked and what didn't - more often than not, that's where our originals would come from. Everyone dug it because everyone had a hand in creating it during the jam.
 
#12
Since the format of my bands are mostly original material, I'm expected to write songs for the bands. They are not required to like them & if they don't, we don't play them. Fortunately, they like most of them & the ones they didn't dig are signposts for future writing efforts. In other words I have learned what they don't like so I stay away from that sort of material. I can always get someone else's band to play the songs that my bands rejected. For three years I worked as a staff writer for a publishing company. I was required to write in many styles & genres so getting songs placed with other artists is a big part of what I do. I write things my band won't play all the time & that's totally ok with me. It can be more profitable the other way.
 
#13
With originals I'll present the song to one or other of the guitarists once I have it mostly finished, and they'll give me their input. (I usually decide who ought to play rhythm, based on the style, and approach them about it.) Then when we go to practice, there's already a bass and rhythm guitar to support the song, which is now more fully developed toward what I had in mind, and the band has a more accurate view of what I'm going for. It's not done in a sneaky way, of course, but it does mean that I get my way more often.

Conversely, the other writers will come to me when they have something in mind, and we'll go through the same process with their songs. We make it a point in my band to give every song a chance, to fully commit to it whilst keeping an open mind, and only after we've given it our best do we decide whether to keep it. Of course, we usually find out fairly quickly whether or not the song will 'survive'...

There are four of us and our final decisions are usually unanimous, although there are occasionally dissenting voices (our drummer).
 
#14
We are a 3-piece (mostly covers). I suggest about half the songs and the guitar player/singer suggests the rest...the drummer never seems to care what songs we play. When I suggest a song, I learn the bass line and the chord progression on guitar. I also make sure it is the right style and suits the singer's voice. I'll play the mp3 at rehearsal and if we all like the song I run upstairs to my PC and print the lyrics. The guitar/singer is talented enough that he can listen to the song once or twice and get it 90% right.

When the guitar/singer wants to do a song he just starts playing it at rehearsal and we join in. If we like the song as a band, then I will play the mp3 so we can hear all the stops and starts. I will learn the bass line correctly before the next rehearsal. The drummer only has to listen to it once or twice to nail the beat correctly.

We have actually listened to a song 2-3 times, played it 2-3 times at rehearsal, and then played it at the next gig. I love playing with these guys.
 
#15
We're developing originals, but if we were a cover band, I'd be thrilled to have a band member doing all the work you're doing, Jive! I mean, that's great to have someone thinking it all out and suggesting workable possibilities to fill out and/or liven up a set. I think the other band members should step up and do the same thing if they have suggestions of their own and not complain that your choices are accepted more than theirs. Pushy? Maybe in some circles. But where I come from, that's called being professional!
 
#16
TBrett said:
We're developing originals, but if we were a cover band, I'd be thrilled to have a band member doing all the work you're doing, Jive! I mean, that's great to have someone thinking it all out and suggesting workable possibilities to fill out and/or liven up a set. I think the other band members should step up and do the same thing if they have suggestions of their own and not complain that your choices are accepted more than theirs. Pushy? Maybe in some circles. But where I come from, that's called being professional!
Click to expand...

Thanks. But sadly, no good deed goes unpunished.
 

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