Any tips for a first band?

OtterOnBass · Jan 18, 2009

Wait... they had too many bassists and you were the one forced to play guitar? How ironic. :smug:

Since you're coming from a bassist's perspective, you should be ahead of the game in thinking about the band's overall dynamics. That's a plus. As for advice... plan to spend 3-4 months getting good enough to play out (not perfect, but good enough), that is if you are playing songs that are already written. Get to know other bands in your area and where they play, especially the all ages gigs. Decide what your band's goals are. Play some parties for your friends birthdays (but not until you have enough songs for a show.)

nofrets5 · Jan 18, 2009

Another +1 on watching the amp volume. The louder you are, especially in most likely what will be a small rehearsal place, the harder it will be to hear the vocals, and THAT is the most important element of any band, for the most part. Singers have a tough time, so try and help whomever is singing to hear themselves.

ANOTHER +1 on getting the guitar player (you right ?) to roll bass eq out somewhat. Remember, the tone that you love when you practice by yourself, sitting in front of the amp is not the tone that will work in a band setting. Other instrument frequency ranges will cover up your tone, the bass players tone, so guitarists need to roll off some lows, bassists may have to add some treble (possibly) and very often some midrange for note definition and clarity.

Also, when the bassist DOES get what he feels is a good "band" tone, you may want him to back off the bass eq just a hair; it may sound a little thin or lacking bottom standing in front of the amp, but moving away and especially out in a crowd it can help immensely with the bass guitar clarity.

When you are ready to gig, practice as you plan to perform and video yourselves; watch it together as you find out how you really look and make changes to your "show" before you actually hit the stage. This can also save you ALOT of time and what I call "learning gigs"

HelloJerk · Jan 18, 2009

Quit now while you still have your whole life ahead of you. Become an investment banker, or a lawyer, or something that pays more than musicians earn eating Ramen gets really old really fast.

Seriously, my advice to you is advice that has been repeated over and over in this thread; have fun.

Saetia · Jan 18, 2009

There's a lot of golden stuff going on in this thread, so make sure to read every post and digest it... lots of knowledge tumbling around these parts of the net.

Practice as much as possible:

Practice by yourself, with your whole band, with just the other guitarist or bassist, with your drummer***(three stars because it's very important) and all combinations there of. It's important to be able to get one on one time with each member of your band outside of the band practice as a whole context. This promotes an interconnectedness and establishes interdependance between all of you on a musical and interpersonal plane.

It's also nice to be able to practice songs with just the strings and be able to play spot on without the drums. It also allows me to feel the pulse within the music when playing with the drummer and to further establish and write my part later (this goes for one on one and just strings). I tend to also write two completely different compositions for each song, one that I establish with my strings after hearing it played with the drummer and the one that I come up with after one on one time with my drummer. It may seem counter productive but it allows me to take both parts and come up with the final parts for the composition. It also allows me to have many different ways of looking at the song and if need be, different ways to play if we have to play a member down.

In the end, just have fun. That's what you'll remember of your first band 20 years from now. At least that's how I'd like to remember my first band, but I think there will be a few other things that superceed that.

Become friends, my bandmates are my best friends, I consider them family... Some of my other best friends are people that I've been in bands with in the past. You really get to know the people you're in a band with, this can be for the better or for the worse. More often than not for me, it's been for the better.

This is all IME and as always YMMV.

Hope you got something out of this.

-Benny

nicktheninja222 · Jan 19, 2009

dreadheadbass said:
be warned playing guitar for long periods of time can cause the arrogance gland in the brain to swell and can lead to shrinking of the genitals

HYSTERICAL!!!!!!!!!!!
No, I don't plan to quit playing bass, and I'd rather not boot the bassist, since he was in the band first.
I already have earplugs, I plan to keep my hearing thank you.
I shall now always feel an urge to play a bass any time I jump in a cold pool. Oh well... More bass is hardly ever bad. Except for volume-wise.
Any tips for finding/choosing a singer? So far it's just the three of us.

LilMissStrange · Jan 19, 2009

Remember that theres no "I" in band. Discuss and decide everything as a group and take everyone's input into consideration. Keep this in mind just in case someone else in the band has that "I'm the star" ego trip and tries to take over the band.

HelloJerk · Jan 19, 2009

nicktheninja222 said:
tips for finding/choosing a singer?

Of course don’t sacrifice talent if you can avoid it. But if you have to choose between talent and charisma, choose charisma – just my opinion.

nebzero · Jan 20, 2009

Play LOTS of video games together as a band. The inside jokes will make you seem cooler to the people who come to see you.

Wash behind your ears.

+1 to what everyone else has posted.

Bass_Mang · Jan 20, 2009

jsingles said:
dont play freebird

NOOOOOO

Learn a shortened version or something. It's always funny because it WILL be requested. Make a joke out of it, kinda. SHort version. not 11 minutes.

mambo4 · Jan 20, 2009

As you are 16 and this is your first band, I'll throw in this:

Do not tie all your hopes and dreams to this band. Do be professional in your work ethic, and carry your weight, etc. But realize that bands, like relationships, will come and go. People grow and change and sometimes things just don't work out. Let music itself be your constant.

nicktheninja222 · Jan 20, 2009

Wow. Some good advice. 30 second freebird, I think I like the sound of that. Lol.

Stumbo · Jan 20, 2009

Stumbo · Jan 20, 2009

Dave Muscato said:
Read this thread, all of it:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=429034

I suggest making a "band constitution" from the above thread so everyone knows how things will work. This will help reduce disagreements and smooth over arguments because everyone will be on the same page.

LilMissStrange · Jan 21, 2009

mambo4 said:
As you are 16 and this is your first band, I'll throw in this:

Do not tie all your hopes and dreams to this band. Do be professional in your work ethic, and carry your weight, etc. But realize that bands, like relationships, will come and go. People grow and change and sometimes things just don't work out. Let music itself be your constant.

+1
Great advice man! I too was in my first band at age 16, and I wish somebody had told me this then. Im dissapointed in myself for putting my life on hold because I thought this band was IT. Other members were a lot older and I trusted they knew what they were doing. I believed I would never have to get a real job because we'd be making good money playing music. Boy was I WRONG! I wish now, that I would have gotten a head start w/ a job instead of wasting my time with that lame band waiting to be successful.
Well, you live and you learn.

carlthegroover · Apr 3, 2011

ForSix said:
wear nice clothes.

Not if you're in a grungy band, you don't.

Chuck King · Apr 4, 2011

mambo4 said:
As you are 16 and this is your first band, I'll throw in this:

Do not tie all your hopes and dreams to this band. Do be professional in your work ethic, and carry your weight, etc. But realize that bands, like relationships, will come and go. People grow and change and sometimes things just don't work out. Let music itself be your constant.

This is really, really important. Since you're all 16, it's inevitable that at least some of you are going to continue to grow and develop as musicians. A very common situation that comes up is, some members in a band progress and move on, and others don't. It can be hard to kick, say, your childhood friend (or brother, etc.) out of a band because you're all getting better and he isn't, but you should be prepared to face that possibility.

Whatever you do, don't carry weak band members out of some sense of one-for-all-and-all-for-one loyalty. Sooner or later it will end badly---might as well have it be sooner.

Here's another thing to think about: when you start looking to play shows, first of all, figure out who the audience is for your music. You should be able to identify more or less the demographics of who will like what you do. (If not, you've got more work to do.) Once you've done that, try really hard to put your band in front of that crowd. It's pretty much a waste of time to take a gig just because it's a gig, if it's not calculated to give you a chance to reach the people who will like your music. A lot of bands, particularly new/young original bands, will take any opportunity to play, even if they know (or should know) that the audience is really not interested in what they do. People out to dance are not going to want to hear metal. Conversely, metal fans are not going to want to hear folk-country. Make sure your show is about the AUDIENCE, not just you guys getting to be all rock star on a stage.

That may be down the road for you guys, but, that's an area I see new bands misdirect their efforts.

Stumbo · Apr 5, 2011

OP is gone (he's a guitar player :eyebrow:

): Last Activity: 10-10-2010 11:59 AM

Let the zombie go...

dpbass613 · Apr 5, 2011

Beyond all these pieces of advice, i would say be patient, the first time you play with a band you really won't sound great, play with a metronome so that you all understand that you need to be playing in time (yes especially your drummer) Start off with something easy that you can all get through, even if its not everyones favorite song, Essentially you all just need to learn how to play together as opposed to four or five individuals playing the same song at the same time. A hard concept to explain, a even harder concept to do if none of you have any experience playing with like school concert bands, jazz bands, marching bands, orchestras.

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Any tips for a first band?

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OtterOnBass

nofrets5

HelloJerk

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nicktheninja222

LilMissStrange

HelloJerk

nebzero

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mambo4

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