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2 guitarists plus a Keyboardist?

#41
While the bulk of my gigging/touring/recording days was spent playing in a one guitar band, I always felt like one guitar bands sounded "empty", live.

Add a keyboard and it gets a little better, but I'm a "metal head" and very rarely does a keyboard add anything (to my mind) except in one small case whom most people have never heard of: L'Orme.

All that said, for most of my musical life, I have refused to be in any more one-guitar-bands.
 
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#42
It's all about the arrangement. Most of my favorite country groups have a frontman with a rhythm guitar, a lead guitarist, and a steel guitar which for many fills much the same role as keys.

I think two guitars is a great standard and third player on Keys, pedal steel, fiddle, etc can be a great addition if (and only if) you have a player who can tastefully background during singing and then fill in musically between lyirical breaks without clashing with the lead guitarist.
 
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#43
bassist 4 life said:
Hey, is there anything wrong with having two guitarists and a keyboardist? Some people say it will get really noisy. Anyways, its because an awesome guitarist wants to join my band, but I dont want to replace the other guitarist... Can you name some bands with 2 guitarists and a keyboardist?

Help Please :crying: :help:
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Check the link in my sig. My band had:
Two guitarists
Two keyboard players
A drummer
A percussionist
A female vocalist
A male vocalist
Two alto sax players
Two tenor sax players
A baritone sax player
Four trumpeters
Four trombonists
Plus some guy on the bass geetar
 
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#48
bassist 4 life said:
Hey, is there anything wrong with having two guitarists and a keyboardist? Some people say it will get really noisy. Anyways, its because an awesome guitarist wants to join my band, but I dont want to replace the other guitarist... Can you name some bands with 2 guitarists and a keyboardist?

Help Please :crying: :help:
Click to expand...

That is a pretty standard arrangement for big touring acts and anything with a reasonable budget. Country acts, pop acts, etc have that, and sometimes a second keyboard player to cover stuff that would have otherwise been tracked.

The only way that can get messy is if your guitar players don't know how to split the range. IE if you have someone playing cowboy chords, the other guitarist shouldn't. He should be playing accent parts and higher-voiced chords. Or just lay out if the arrangement calls for it.
 
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#49
Snarf said:
That is a pretty standard arrangement for big touring acts and anything with a reasonable budget. Country acts, pop acts, etc have that, and sometimes a second keyboard player to cover stuff that would have otherwise been tracked.

The only way that can get messy is if your guitar players don't know how to split the range. IE if you have someone playing cowboy chords, the other guitarist shouldn't. He should be playing accent parts and higher-voiced chords. Or just lay out if the arrangement calls for it.
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Yes. Everyone always complains about overlapping instruments, but it's called ARRANGEMENT, people! :D
 
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#53
Why not? It’s a normal lineup for prog, prog metal, rock opera, and symphonic metal bands. As long as you do arrangements for the instruments you have - and the bandmates are skilled and pro enough to know how to stay in their assigned lanes - it shouldn’t ever be a problem regardless of the music genre you’re playing.

Example:
 
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#54
Long time lurker, new member here. I play in a band with a drummer, bass player, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, violin, keyboard and lead singer. It only works because everyone listens and leaves their egos at the door. Otherwise, it's a recipe for disaster - volume wars, playing over each other, complaining about not getting enough lead breaks, etc.
 
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#55
KenSmithFan said:
It only works because everyone listens and leaves their egos at the door. Otherwise, it's a recipe for disaster - volume wars, playing over each other, complaining about not getting enough lead breaks, etc.
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Absolutely. I think one of the biggest differences between really experienced musicians and the rest is how they function in a musical setting that requires them to background themselves for a significant amount of a performance.

Listen to old live country performances of relatively large ensembles and the skill and tact with which each performer breaks in and out of prominence is really impressive.
 
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#56
Eilif said:
Absolutely. I think one of the biggest differences between really experienced musicians and the rest is how they function in a musical setting that requires them to background themselves for a significant amount of a performance.

Listen to old live country performances of relatively large ensembles and the skill and tact with which each performer breaks in and out of prominence is really impressive.
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I’m playing guitar in that band. They had a bunch of guitar players before me, but they couldn’t keep their egos in check. The keyboard player told me that the reason they like my playing so much is that I fit my part into what’s already there rather than trying to force something in or on top.

I’m lucky, I have a trio where I can do whatever I want and this band where I can just lay back.
 
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#58
KenSmithFan said:
The keyboard player told me that the reason they like my playing so much is that I fit my part into what’s already there rather than trying to force something in or on top.
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That's called being a musician!
Good on you.

KenSmithFan said:
I’m lucky, I have a trio where I can do whatever I want and this band where I can just lay back.
Click to expand...

I play steel and have an originals trio where I'm essentially playing lead guitar much of the time. At some point, I want to get in a larger ensemble where I can lay back and do the traditional style of steel interspersing of parts.

Ironically, the later ensemble would probably require me to be a more proficient player as my originals trio is not a traditional country outfit.
 
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#60
Here is the bottom line: Work Together. I realize that is a lot to ask of musicians, with egos and whatnot.

Guitars can play different inversions, riffs + chords underneath, harmony lines, rhythm + fills, double the key part with single note lines on one guitar. Add an acoustic, or anything other instrument needed if really only one guitar.

And...a guitar or keys can always SIT OUT if needed. Someone can sing harmony if they are not too busy playing.
 

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