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Are you in a band that sucks?

bassbully

bassbully

Endorsed by The PHALEX CORN BASS..mmm...corn!
Sep 7, 2006
12,760
6,556
Blimp City USA
#1
I had to ask cuz i feel i am. I was in this rock covers and originals band a year ago and quit. Since then i have joined a very good giging country band which is my real love great vocals and musicians.

By total accident i went back to the rock band to join with them for a benifit show in memory of a friend who was killed last winter. I was to only do like 4 songs in his memory and to help raise money. A week before the gig the bass player who repaced me bailed and i agreed to do the whole 1 hour set which went well.

Well they begged me back and and i said i would stay as long as they looked for a replacement. I am still in the band as of this time so i juggle two with the country gig being #1.

The band is at ok at times good drummer ,decent guitar player who wont really learn the songs right. We did NIB by sabbith and he was playing thru not following my lead etc. The problem is the singer . She trys very hard but to no avail suks. She is off key to the point people are telling me and are even leaving gigs because of it. She is good sometimes for a while and goes off key after too many drinks and cigerettes.I do like the people in the band and consider them friends but we suk due to poor vocals and a guitarist that wont play the part. Some songs we are very strong on but all i hear is the music is good the singers bad. Even my background vocals are not helping.

Sorry for the rant anyone else in a band they think suks? I'm thinking bailing but i hate to let them down.
 
#2
bassbully said:
Sorry for the rant anyone else in a band they think suks? I'm thinking bailing but i hate to let them down.
Click to expand...

Anytime I've been in a band that's even getting close to sounding bad, I put my foot down - firmly: Either we whip this thing into shape and keep it there, or I'm outta there. Period. This is non-negotiable.

I refuse to gig with a band until it's ready. And if it's not, then we stay in rehearsal mode until it is ready. If we're not progressing rapidly enough, I'll try to fix it. If it's still not working, I'll walk away.

As for you, if you continue to play with these guys, you have only yourself to blame for all your frustration and disappointment. Sorry to be so brutal about it, but at a certain point, one is forced to choose between personal loyalty and good music.

As for me personally, I take a hard line regarding such things: No amount of personal loyalty can persuade me to stick with a band that sucks - especially due to such fundamental inadequacies as basic incompetence and lack of professionalism... :eyebrow:

MM
 
#3
Right there with you. I am playing in a band currently that is completely musically disinclined. The drummer can't play the same beat throughout a song the guitar player has no sense of time and his wife, the singer, is tone deaf. The only reason I am playing with them is that I recently moved to northern California from LA and desperately needed to play music. I reluctantly joined a rock band because up here its either rock or world hippie nonsense and rock was the lesser of 2 evils. There are a lot of talented musicians here but pot runs so rampid here that nobody has the motivation to do ANYTHING. Sorry I feel much better now.
 
#4
im in a trio that started as a 4 piece(guit, drums, vox and bass) when bassist left we decided to have voxy play bass, then switched to me playing bass and vox learning guitar. (as we liked the way the band functioned as a 3 piece). weve been floundering a bit for the last few months. partially due to the drummer saving up to going overseas (6-7 day weeks at work). also due to the vox/now guitarist (also my girlfreind since well before the band) not practicing much guitar. this is because we decided that an open tuning and a slide could make for an interesting sound that wasnt too hard to learn. problem is there arent really any songs in such a tuning for her to learn about playing along to other instruments (such as along to cd's).
this makes it difficult at band practice when she doesnt pick things up as quickly. the drummer is also a reasonable guitarist, so the drummer will often make up riffs and chord progressions, which can often lead to the practice turning into drummer and i working on instrumental pieces, and her figuring out lyrics, and then haveing trouble laing and singing at the same time, as the guitar riff wasnt written with the thought of vocals being sung by the same person (who is finding it difficult coordinating the 2 at the same time when the melody is different between guitar and vox).
i also find that the drummer also wants to spend alot of time working on old songs so we can keep them polished, where i feel we need to write more songs so we can atleast have a set to play, and we can rehearse the songs we have when we have something to rehearse them for.

so yes, i guess we do suck, but the drummer is back from overseas as of a couple of days ago, and i plan on taking more control at band prac, as well as record the songs using my mp3 player, so that my girlfriend/guitarist/singer can work over the songs we write between practices, allowing her to improve more and become more confident with writing the guitar parts when at practice.

it seems like i am laying the blame on the others, but alot of it is my fault, as i should be giving the guitarist more direction in terms of what to practice, and set aside more time when were together to play guitar. i also dont do much outside of band for writing songs as i feel that the bass should be something to lock into the drums beat, and i need that first. i should probably bring up a format for how we write songs, as starting with a riff doesnt work very well with the writing from my point of view. i would like to be quite a minimalsitic band with driving drums and an interesting bassline, with vocals and guitar being used to add to the rythem section, but not neccesarily aways playing/singing. i should probably communicate that a bit better with the drummer on some things.

now that got me thinking about what i need to get this band back on track, as we have potential (great drummer, great singer, good bass player and a guitarist that is good enough for what i envision(hopefully the others too), and some creative people who are good to work with. just need some better structure for our work.

thanks for giving me a place to write this mess out
 
#5
bassbully said:
I had to ask cuz i feel i am. I was in this rock covers and originals band a year ago and quit. Since then i have joined a very good giging country band which is my real love great vocals and musicians.

By total accident i went back to the rock band to join with them for a benifit show in memory of a friend who was killed last winter. I was to only do like 4 songs in his memory and to help raise money. A week before the gig the bass player who repaced me bailed and i agreed to do the whole 1 hour set which went well.

Well they begged me back and and i said i would stay as long as they looked for a replacement. I am still in the band as of this time so i juggle two with the country gig being #1.

The band is at ok at times good drummer ,decent guitar player who wont really learn the songs right. We did NIB by sabbith and he was playing thru not following my lead etc. The problem is the singer . She trys very hard but to no avail suks. She is off key to the point people are telling me and are even leaving gigs because of it. She is good sometimes for a while and goes off key after too many drinks and cigerettes.I do like the people in the band and consider them friends but we suk due to poor vocals and a guitarist that wont play the part. Some songs we are very strong on but all i hear is the music is good the singers bad. Even my background vocals are not helping.

Sorry for the rant anyone else in a band they think suks? I'm thinking bailing but i hate to let them down.
Click to expand...

No, but I am in one band who has the capacity and ability to do so many things, and it's like we're running on 2 out of 8 cylinders!

Anyway, at some point, you have to think about your own development as a player/musician. I would make a reasonable effort to let them know that you're not "bailing" but to articluate your problems to see if that changes anything. If so, then great. If not, then you and the rest of the band may be in two different places, and it's time to move on for your own good, and perhaps for theirs as well. To some degree, I don't think you can help someone who isn't interested in helping themselves. Time will tell if this is the case with this band. I think it's hard to "let a band down" that doesn't pick itself up, or at least try.

Good luck with it.
 
#6
black_labb said:
im in a trio that started as a 4 piece(guit, drums, vox and bass) when bassist left we decided to have voxy play bass, then switched to me playing bass and vox learning guitar. (as we liked the way the band functioned as a 3 piece). weve been floundering a bit for the last few months. partially due to the drummer saving up to going overseas (6-7 day weeks at work). also due to the vox/now guitarist (also my girlfreind since well before the band) not practicing much guitar. this is because we decided that an open tuning and a slide could make for an interesting sound that wasnt too hard to learn. problem is there arent really any songs in such a tuning for her to learn about playing along to other instruments (such as along to cd's).
this makes it difficult at band practice when she doesnt pick things up as quickly. the drummer is also a reasonable guitarist, so the drummer will often make up riffs and chord progressions, which can often lead to the practice turning into drummer and i working on instrumental pieces, and her figuring out lyrics, and then haveing trouble laing and singing at the same time, as the guitar riff wasnt written with the thought of vocals being sung by the same person (who is finding it difficult coordinating the 2 at the same time when the melody is different between guitar and vox).
i also find that the drummer also wants to spend alot of time working on old songs so we can keep them polished, where i feel we need to write more songs so we can atleast have a set to play, and we can rehearse the songs we have when we have something to rehearse them for.

so yes, i guess we do suck, but the drummer is back from overseas as of a couple of days ago, and i plan on taking more control at band prac, as well as record the songs using my mp3 player, so that my girlfriend/guitarist/singer can work over the songs we write between practices, allowing her to improve more and become more confident with writing the guitar parts when at practice.

it seems like i am laying the blame on the others, but alot of it is my fault, as i should be giving the guitarist more direction in terms of what to practice, and set aside more time when were together to play guitar. i also dont do much outside of band for writing songs as i feel that the bass should be something to lock into the drums beat, and i need that first. i should probably bring up a format for how we write songs, as starting with a riff doesnt work very well with the writing from my point of view. i would like to be quite a minimalsitic band with driving drums and an interesting bassline, with vocals and guitar being used to add to the rythem section, but not neccesarily aways playing/singing. i should probably communicate that a bit better with the drummer on some things.

now that got me thinking about what i need to get this band back on track, as we have potential (great drummer, great singer, good bass player and a guitarist that is good enough for what i envision(hopefully the others too), and some creative people who are good to work with. just need some better structure for our work.

thanks for giving me a place to write this mess out
Click to expand...
a few things that worked for my band (also a three piece, soon to be four):
starting a kind of schedule (written on a big dry erase board)
nothing strict, just a way of setting goals type thing

i would encourage your guitarist to come up with riffs on her own. And experimenting with open tunings too, that's a lot of fun. That way, the music becomes personal for her and she can work out playing and singing at the same time. Plus, that style of playing, once she gets the hang of it, will be the easiest thing in the world because that style is extremely expressive in it's sloppy-ness.:D

sorry for the long sentences
and I wish you guys luck, hope this helps:bassist:
 
#7
One of my bands totally sucks!! but not because they can't play or arent nice people. They just don't want to learn anything. or book gigs, or do alot of things you would want out of a band of semi-pro (and very talented) musicians. I actually wrote a very long post but apon re-reading it sounded alot more like a very mean angry rant (not that it was not true).
Why can't everyone be like the bass players? ;)
 
#8
Yeah, most musicians at some point in time go through bands that aren't as good as other bands they have been in. The idea is to learn from it. If the guitar player isn't playing all the parts right, then you know what you DON'T want next time. If the singer is off because of drinking and smoking, then take that in consideration for your next band. My only question is, this of course wasn't a sudden thing that happened, so knowing the baggage that came with the band, why did you agree to join or help?
 
#9
ben_the_bass said:
a few things that worked for my band (also a three piece, soon to be four):
starting a kind of schedule (written on a big dry erase board)
nothing strict, just a way of setting goals type thing

i would encourage your guitarist to come up with riffs on her own. And experimenting with open tunings too, that's a lot of fun. That way, the music becomes personal for her and she can work out playing and singing at the same time. Plus, that style of playing, once she gets the hang of it, will be the easiest thing in the world because that style is extremely expressive in it's sloppy-ness.:D

sorry for the long sentences
and I wish you guys luck, hope this helps:bassist:
Click to expand...

thanks for the tip. she has been writing her own riffs, and adding vocals to them, but seemed to reach a bit of a block in terms of difficulty levels, and writing more complicated riffs. i feel she needs to learn a bit more about what she can do, before doign it, and needs to be shown some more complicated riffs. thats where ive slacked off a bit i'd say.

know what you mean about the open tuning and its style allowing for sloppyness. she has a great ear for hearing music (from alot of vocal training over the years). i just need her to feel confident to explore different styles a bit. i feel that the drummer may chip away at her confidence with guitar. this happens when the drummer suggest other riffs as we are working with one that singer/guit has thought of. drummers riffs are good, but make it difficult for her to sing and play at the same time. i think we need to get thigns a bit better organised
 
#10
Thanks for the replies and i see this might of helped a few others here as well.

I didnt want a huge thread on this i will try to get to the point.
I joined the band 2 years ago after quiting my first real band in over 25 years of not playing music.The first band was classic rock older players pretty good .I stuck it out over a year with them honed my chops and seen they were going no place so i moved on.

I joined this band I am posting on now. At the time the drummer and guitarist had a decent setlist and a hot kick ass singer (female). I liked the music and we jelled quick but after only one gig the singer left to finish school and tend to her sic father :hmm:

We added the singer we have now who had little experience but trys so hard and really gets all the gigs and works for the band.After a year of giging we were doing pretty good not great but this band knew the tunes and material. The singer wasnt great but decent. I did hear the music was better then her vocals a few times thou.
I left the band when the guitarist had a mental meldown at a gig and i had enough of his childish ways. I then went to Country music landed a great gig where i am now....this is where the thread i posted starts from.

Since i came back we have been giging..we know the tunes but the guitarist is messing up. Even the steady drummer was off a few gigs and the singer is going downhill. Im not perfect but i know im holding my own and added alot of vocals i never did before to help the singer. People are saying this helps but shes still struggling to sing well most nights.

In a nutshell i like the band but am starting to see I'm supporting and maintaining something I am not so sure is good. Like being on a bad baseball or football team. Everyone is trying but the results are not good enough....we fall short. On some night we sound pretty good but not consistent. Practice wont help...they know the setlist and are stuck in their ways.

I am glad i have one good gig at least and need to sever the other but i am having fun with them even thou i wonder what people think of the band im playing in and if we will get rebooked?
 
#17
The Golden Boy said:
I've been in bands that sucked, and I've been in bands that have ruled the universe.

Oddly enough, the band I thought sucked the most had an awesome draw and we did really well. The band that I thought had the best songwriting and the best musicianship drew flies. Go figure.
Click to expand...

:D Funny i have heard this before. The one thing i need to point out also is my area is musicly dead...DEAD! I have seen kick butt bands playing to 25 people and wonder why. The smoking law came in last year and wiped out 30-40% of the crowds say the bar owners. With few places to play its hard to get up for shows.

A few weeks ago this band was hot in a local club playing to only 30-40 people (alot were drunk). the last 2 shows last weekend the crowds were light and dead nobody gave a care if we were on stage but our family and friends. Maybe its not all us..its tuff to play to crickets.
 
#18
I was recently in a band that was great, but the guitarist started slacking, to the point where he wasn't touching his guitar outside of practice. During one of his temper tantrums, we brought up that he was a downer and slacking. He burned it all to the ground.

Moral of the story.........you tell me! :eyebrow:
 
#19
bassbully said:
I had to ask cuz i feel i am. I was in this rock covers and originals band a year ago and quit. Since then i have joined a very good giging country band which is my real love great vocals and musicians.

By total accident i went back to the rock band to join with them for a benifit show in memory of a friend who was killed last winter. I was to only do like 4 songs in his memory and to help raise money. A week before the gig the bass player who repaced me bailed and i agreed to do the whole 1 hour set which went well.

Well they begged me back and and i said i would stay as long as they looked for a replacement. I am still in the band as of this time so i juggle two with the country gig being #1.

The band is at ok at times good drummer ,decent guitar player who wont really learn the songs right. We did NIB by sabbith and he was playing thru not following my lead etc. The problem is the singer . She trys very hard but to no avail suks. She is off key to the point people are telling me and are even leaving gigs because of it. She is good sometimes for a while and goes off key after too many drinks and cigerettes.I do like the people in the band and consider them friends but we suk due to poor vocals and a guitarist that wont play the part. Some songs we are very strong on but all i hear is the music is good the singers bad. Even my background vocals are not helping.

Sorry for the rant anyone else in a band they think suks? I'm thinking bailing but i hate to let them down.
Click to expand...

some people just have horrible ears. I tried to help a few of my friends that had reasonable talent in music, yet horrible ears.....needless to say there were very few covers
 
#20
In a word, yes. But we do not suck because of incompetence or anything, we suck because we are basically a one trick pony AND a young band: hard, simple, driving rock is pretty much all we can make sound good (or great). Don't give the drummer a balland, he'll stink it up. Don't give me anything that has hard vocals and a semi-complex bassline, I'll stink it up even worse.

We have a very big gig coming up in September and the truth of the matter is, we are not prepared to put on a 3 hours show of solid material. And even if we were, it would include way too much filler: we all have jobs and tight schedules and we just can't learn, rehearse and nail 20 songs in a matter of weeks. The band also has taken a new direction musically and it's a struggle to keep everything under control and not revert to bad habits (not tight, bad vocals, etc.).

With this in mind, we have decided to play 2 hours and have friends open up for us. I was ready to call it quits last week and the drummer pitch the idea, wich is great.

Concentrated goodness and the band having fun for 2 hours is better than butchering hastily learned songs for 3. The opportunities for 3 hours of playing in venues around here are inexistant, so we would basically learn 10 songs we would never perform again.
 

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