Band Rehearsal Frustration Rant....

[BayStateBass]

But when we do a song in the original key, I don't think I should have to be every ones mommy and send out an mp3 of it.

I haven't read everyone else's response past the first page of this thread but to avoid frustrations you may want to send out an mp3 of each song you folks want to work on. It may upset the guitarist because they can't play some extended solo of another version but it means he/she'll either listen or consider their options in staying with the band.[/QUOTE]


I've been there, in a perfect world you wouldn't have to hold everyone's hand and provide them with material they should be getting on their own. It is a pet peeve of mine, but somehow it seems to be the norm that somebody will provide MP3's and chord or lyric sheets to the band members. This is most prominent in part-time or weekender bands, it seems.

 

[pablodellabella]

1) Send the versions ahead of time.
2) Establish how many songs are you learning that rehearsal, let's say 10 songs.
3) Divide the amount of hours you're rehearsing by the amount of songs. Ex. 120 minutes/10 songs
4) You get 12 minutes per song, whether the song is ready or not.

I've found this is a good method to keep rehearsal under control and productive among musicians.

Pablo

 

[Brad Johnson]

I just need to vent.

I play in a cover band twice a month.

We use email to decide what songs we will be learning each week and what keys the singers want them in.
Everyone learns their part and we show up before the show to go over things.
Everyone can play their parts ok, it's the structure of songs that always seems to be the problem.

When I suggest a song, I send a YouTube link of it to clarify which version.

Makes no difference.

Without fail someone learns the " extended live version" of a song
or a remake or some other obscure version and we spend the whole rehearsal
trying to nail down the structure to avoid a train wreck.

Is it too much to expect people to just learn the classic version?

It drives me crazy.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Yes, it's too much to expect that with some folks.

I have a weekly gig where the songs are emailed (youtube links) to EVERY BAND MEMBER. The email states that if you have a problem with any of the songs let the sender know. Without fail when we do our weekly rehearsal someone will say they didn't get a song or two while everyone else did. And that'll be the first time they've mentioned it.

That is just flat out lame. And most likely simply a lie.

I've offered repeatedly to send anyone mp3's of any song they have a problem getting, with the same result. So if you're going to receive an email, not be able to get the song and still not mention it... what exactly is YOUR problem?

Flip side of that is I have a friend I'm doing a gig with who won't send out specific links or files for a couple of obscure songs he's doing. I've reminded him of this a couple of times. So when he texts ME asking what keys the songs he hasn't sent me are in, I have to wonder if he was dropped on his head... recently.

Music isn't hard... musicians are. In many cases it's like dealing with toddlers.

 

[Brad Johnson]

You actually know what songs and what key? And you are complaining about structure? I would die to know which songs we are working on I almost always practice the wrong songs.

But, actually, I agree with you. Quite often we pick an obscure youtube version of a song. But I need an mp3, not a video. I find the audio on the youtube videos to be horrendous at best.

Really? I've found the opposite to be true.

 

[DWBass]

Yes, it's too much to expect that with some folks.

I have a weekly gig where the songs are emailed (youtube links) to EVERY BAND MEMBER. The email states that if you have a problem with any of the songs let the sender know. Without fail when we do our weekly rehearsal someone will say they didn't get a song or two while everyone else did. And that'll be the first time they've mentioned it.

That is just flat out lame. And most likely simply a lie.

I've offered repeatedly to send anyone mp3's of any song they have a problem getting, with the same result. So if you're going to receive an email, not be able to get the song and still not mention it... what exactly is YOUR problem?


Music isn't hard... musicians are. In many cases it's like dealing with toddlers.

Yep! Same deal with my band! As for mp3's, I typically grab a youtube vid and convert it to mp3 and send those out. Sound quality is quite good (I won't send out crappy mp3's or actual video audio).

 

[Brad Johnson]

I am not sure why a band is playing a live extended jam mix, doesn't make sense to me, but I'm old

Because they're playing live and they have time to explore the song. I don't know why some folks want to jam lots of short versions of songs together like a Vegas review.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Yep! Same deal with my band!

It's one of the main reasons I don't front my own project. I'm pretty good at holding my tongue as a sideman. In some cases I make sure my stuff is solid and let the chips fall. It's just baffling to me that adults can be this trifling.

Fortunately most of the groups I work in have folks with similar mindsets. None of us wants to be the unprepared person who causes the train wrecks.

 

[maxiegrant]

I last played in a cover band in 1988, but I remember the guitarist, who was one of those GIT guys (and I have never been impressed by GIT/BIT alumni, folks, just saying) could wank at a ferocious velocity all over his fretboard, but he could not get the little riff in "Any Way You Want It" learned correctly. He futzed with it for about 2 minutes, and then just made some **** up and went with it, and we even recorded the demo like that so 25 years later, I heard it again and it was still wrong.

However, as the sole composer in my band I can say that you need to have ONE member of the band in charge of your catalog. I'm not saying nobody else gets a say, just that one guy/gal needs to be the final say on how the song is arranged and which arrangement to use.

When more than one person starts trying to make those determinations, chaos results. And it is massively irritating to work on material that isn't going to be played live, when you have a limited time to practice.

 

[DWBass]

It's one of the main reasons I don't front my own project. I'm pretty good at holding my tongue as a sideman. In some cases I make sure my stuff is solid and let the chips fall. It's just baffling to me that adults can be this trifling.

Again, same deal here. In my case, the band has run it's course and it's why I'm jumping ship! Time to move on.

 

[two fingers]

Because they're playing live and they have time to explore the song. I don't know why some folks want to jam lots of short versions of songs together like a Vegas review.

I have been at this for well over two decades, and have played and/or attended literally thousands of shows. In my experience, an audience of any size prefers a medley BY FAR over an "extended jam" every time.

"Explore" on your own time.

Sure, small crowds of hippies in coffee shops like to noodle dance to 20 minute versions of Widespread and "Fesh" (aka Phish) songs, but that's about it. I have even been to Dead and Allmans concerts where the crowd got bored during those kinds of jams. And who has a more loyal following that those two acts?

(Asnwer: nobody)

 

[bumperbass]

It's happened to me, too! Good post.
I joined my current group a year and a half ago. First practice, we start into a song for the first time. I'm certainly expecting a big wreck, or at least a bump in the third measure that has to be ironed out. So I say, "We'd better listen to that part again". The singer says "We don't have it". Turns out they have NEVER had the actual song at practice or a way to play it back. No MP3 players. No laptop. No CD's. Nothing. I am astonished. I decided right then to bring an old laptop with our entire song list on it to leave there permanently, and when I find out what songs we're to learn, it's now MY job to transfer it to a flash drive and then update the laptop's band folder. Nobody else even owns a flash drive. Unbelievable. These guys have played out 5-6 times a month for years. After I was in this band a while, I noticed that they 'glazed over' a lot of parts in a lot of songs. Now I know why!
Sorry, but I guess I hijacked your thread!

 

[pedro]

To answer the original question - no we don't have that problem. We are in a 5-piece cover band. Keys player and myself the elders (he is 60 and I'm 57) the other three are in the 40's. Everybody has day jobs and we simply don't have a lot of spare time. We get one practice approximately every two weeks. Accordingly, unless otherwise specified, we are doing the original or the popular cover of the original, and if at all manageable in the original key. This saves time and allows for individual practice without having to worry about key changes/transcription issues, etc. Everybody has pretty good ears and usually are prepared. Our drummer has an encyclopedic memory for lyrics, arrangements which helps us considerably, especially when piecing a new song together. But because we are all working stiffs with families, etc. there are times when somebody will say that they just didn't have time to get to something, and everybody understands.

 

[Johnny Crab]

This is why some call it re-hassle.
What we do that works most of the time:
Agree on version and key with vocal parts assigned(or sorted out).
Show up and play it.
Our keyboardist/guitarist charts some new songs as does our drummer with stuff he is not familiar with but I "hear them in my head" and go with that.
Paying attention to others charts LIVE distracts me.

 

[electracoyote]

Is it too much to expect people to just learn the classic version?

It drives me crazy.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Yes. And it's one of the most frustrating time-wasting aspects of being in a cover band.

In my cover band, it finally came down to two members being put on notice (we actually auditioned their replacements to send a message) and I designated myself the gatekeeper on which version of a song we will use as our template when we learn it at home. No deviations until we first bring it into rehearsal learned the SAME WAY and we can play it to the version I selected. I send out MP3 or youtube links and I also include special notes about keys, vocals, guitar/keyboard parts, etc. so everyone has a heads-up and is thinking of the song the same way.

Our standard for which version to learn is: "Which version does our audience know and like the best?" And that's usually the one they've heard a billion times on the radio, MTV, satellite radio, etc.

We do occasionally embellish and alter songs before playing them live, but we learn the MOST POPULAR WELL-KNOWN VERSION FIRST. No exceptions.

Our rate of learning songs increased exponentially, and our rate of wasting time in pointless arguments decreased exponentially.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I have been at this for well over two decades, and have played and/or attended literally thousands of shows. In my experience, an audience of any size prefers a medley BY FAR over an "extended jam" every time.

"Explore" on your own time.

Sure, small crowds of hippies in coffee shops like to noodle dance to 20 minute versions of Widespread and "Fesh" (aka Phish) songs, but that's about it. I have even been to Dead and Allmans concerts where the crowd got bored during those kinds of jams. And who has a more loyal following that those two acts?

(Asnwer: nobody)

Many songs are only three minutes long. Anything longer than that would be an extended version. And an extended jam doesn't have to be anywhere near twenty minutes. I've been at this longer than you, have played thousands of gigs and apparently our audiences have differed greatly. The same is true of shows I've attended... I can't think of any where someone actually said they preferred a medley. Often the extended song can be the one that's going over the best at a show.

Then again it's not something everyone can do well.

 

[Munjibunga]

Get a Dropbox account, put the MP3s in it and tell everyone to learn them off the cuts in the Dropbox.

 

[Drunk Heffalump]

Cover band rule #1: all songs to be learned are to be original album release only.
Cover band rule #2: see rule number 1

Puts everyone on the same page from the get go. If you come in with some odd version only you learned be prepared to look like a Diddlyboob when we play it.

 

[Brad Johnson]

The version being played isn't the problem, basic communication and being responsible is. You can agree just as easily as a group to play a live version as a radio version of a song.

Besides, many people think they know versions of songs they really don't.

 

[electracoyote]

The version being played isn't the problem, basic communication and being responsible is. You can agree just as easily as a group to play a live version as a radio version of a song.

Besides, many people think they know versions of songs they really don't.

Good point.

"I Want You To Want Me" wasn't a hit until it appeared on Live At Budokan.

It is now the most familiar and popular version.

Communication, and agreeing and adhering to a standard, will eliminate 99% of these problems. Once the ground rules are laid down and agreed on, it's just a matter of holding everyone to them.

 

[scorpionldr]

The problem with my peeps is they don't even go to YouTube. They just go on memory.

Oh lord, fabulous. "We'll get it, guys!! With a flashlight and a shovel, we'll bury this song!!"

Notation, of any form, I expect. It just makes sense.

I believe some people get into a band situation just for the satifaction of saying " I;m in a band"

This has to be it