A dreadful rehersal last night.......

2 hours of practice per week?

How many songs do you practice in each practice?

What kinds of problems are you referring to with the drummer?

Do you ever feel that you have practices that everybody's dead on?

These are some things you'll want to consider. Look at the quality of each practice. For example, if you aren't completely dead on, try to figure out if it's a particular song that always slips you guys up or a type of groove, or whatever.

2 hours per week won't solve ANY problems, but one thing you can do is to break songs down and try just grooving to a part of a song for several minutes. Try to get a part of a song tight. Then work on expanding that section, gradually incorporating more parts until you've got the whole song. Record the before and after...listen closely to how tight each piece fits together. This is not the time to compliment each other (unless it's deserved) but rather to critique the overall performance. Your band will grow by leaps and bounds if you utilize this tool

Mistakes are not corrected in a show. They are magnified.

 

It happens. Some practices we just arent clicking and on others we are dead on. We haven't had a truely horrible show yet, but we have had some truely horrible practices.
There is a superstitous belief that if your last rehearsal before a show sucks, then the show will be awesome, if your dead on in the last rehearsal, then expect some problems with the show.

 

try working together with the drummer by yourself. it takes a while to get acquainted to each other's style so that you can lock in, but once you do, it's all good. you'll find that everyone has their idiosyncracies that can't be fully realized without practicing a lot as a band, or a rhythm section. it doesn't matter how great a bassist you are...if you aren't familiar with the guys you're playing with, you'll never be tight. and yes, mistakes are magnified at a performance. practice, man! talk to your band about it...2 hours a week doesn't cut it as a band no matter how much time you spend practicing as an individual.

 

My experience...


If you guys have nailed the material in the past but just had a really bad rehearsal, the gig will probably go great. Bad rehearsals before a gig usually keep eveyone on thier toes. If things go too well sometimes people can get overconfident and then gigtime can be a huge disappointment.

If there's stuf that definitely needs working out and you can't rehease more than 2 hrs a week, then everyone should commit to working on their own and making sure they know the material well.

When we're desperate my band often has acoustic practices in one of our living rooms. The drummer plays on bongos or his lap, we use acoustic intruments, or real low volume electrics. Lots of stuff can get worked out like this - even if everyone can't make it and it's just me and one of the other guys.

Good luck.

 

Lord knows I've been in that situation. Frustrating isn't it? I've never found it to be too much of a problem, though. But I guess it really depends on what the cause of the scatteredness is.

Were peoples minds just elsewhere? Other things on their minds and not focused, or was more just unfamiliarity with the material? If it's just people not being "there" and focused I wouldn't pay it much mind. If it's the latter, though, well that requires a bit more examination.

Two hours of practice a week isn't very much, especially if there are problems with understanding the material. That is what I would look at first. See if you guys could get together at least one more night a week or something. I know that when I was with prior bands, if there was a gap between gigs, when we got close to the upcoming gig we would step up rehearsal to make sure we were up to speed - better safe than sorry, ya know?

Other than that, I would try not to stress too much. It definitely happens and is nothing to overly worry about, see what the next practice brings, try to relax and have fun! Good luck.

 

I can relate to some of this...that's why I'm temporarily bandless...

I'd say that if he's not much of a player, perhaps you can simplify your playing so you two are more together. You can help him grow over time, though I wouldn't expect much, based on what you've said.

But, at least by simplifying your parts, you'll give him a chance to keep up with you. Have fun with it, though...no matter what, since it's a hobby, make sure you at least have fun

 

Our band has a history of sucking at the last rehearsal before a gig. We always do great at gigs. In fact, we get worried if we have a good rehearsal before a gig. Go figure.