Having a bar owner suggest a band take less pay because it is a 3-piece is incredibly stupid. That just really takes the cake.
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Covers bands: is a three-piece band going to hack it?
- Thread starter Fassa Albrecht
- Start date
A bar is hiring a band, not a specific number of players. A 3 piece band is doing the same job as a 10 piece band. I recently had another musician who books outdoor shows try to pull the I pay for the number of players nonsense and I said no way. Plus, we are one of the most well respected headlining bands and were voted the best band in the region - and we are 3 piece. I always respond with this question. Does that mean if hire 7 more guys to play the show that you will pay us as a 10 piece band? That always shuts them up.
If the bar hires a construction crew to do some remodeling work and they are quoted a set price, they would pay the same if the crew had 3 guys or 10 guys to complete the required job.
If the bar hires a construction crew to do some remodeling work and they are quoted a set price, they would pay the same if the crew had 3 guys or 10 guys to complete the required job.
Yep, I am definitely finding that as the economy worsens, the a***ole quotient of people hiring bands is going up.
I think as a 3 piece can work just fine but you, of course, ARE limiting the songs that you will be able to pull off. As far as needing a 2nd guitar, that--again--limits, IMHO, the types of songs you can pull off.
This is irrelevant: (but) if you were going to add another player to the group later, my STRONG recommendation is that you would add a keyboard player rather than another guitar. A keyboardist is often overlooked or underrated; however, it's a MUCH more powerful position to add than another guitar. You already have a guitar! A keys player can cover the rhythm guitar (I know cuz I've done it) and he/she can add a whole new dimension that a guitar just can't touch. Another guitar will fatten your sound but still limit your musical choices. That limit simply seems to disappear with a keyboard setup in the arsenal. Of course, I'm not talking about a piano or someone covering organ parts. I'm talking about a player with a synth/workstation MIDI set up who can bring a whole UNIVERSE of sounds into the mix.
IMHO, guitarists are overrated.
In any case, in your 3 piece (or any band IMO) all the players should be able to sing well (while playing).
In my three piece cover band I love the fact that I can play as many notes as I want to on the bass and throw in chords and arpeggios and other wankery. What would be considered overplaying with two guitars is now necessary to cover the rhythm section. And all three of us sing.
Quagmire show with me "overplaying". (shameless band promotion)
LLLOVVVE the tone on "Walk Away"!!You shameless wanker, you...Oh....Keep'a wankin'.
P.S.
WHOA,WHOA,WHOA....I just read your profile....Is your rig profile correct????2-12"Infifity Subs?????How's it sound????Which is it Infinity car,or home audio???
Very true... which is why you need to be very very careful in selecting a keyboardist. They can totally take over a band and make things miserable for you as a bassist. In principle, a keyboardist is almost always preferable to a 2nd guitarist but there are a lot of very mediocre to bad keyboardists out there who would make you wish you were still a 3-piece after about 15 minutes of playing. Tread carefully there.
I think it depends on your gigs. If you do weddings and corporate gigs, and they see a 3-guy band show up, they may feel short-changed.
Part of hiring a band is also the decorum. If they don't see a lineup with a drummer, bassist, 2 guitars or 1 guitar and 1 keyboard, plus a front person, they may think they're not getting a good deal, even if you rock the place after that, there will be an after taste.
Personally, if I hire a band for one of my daughters' wedding, I would expect at least 5 or 6 fellows to show up.
The other issue is with if you have to get someone to cover for one of the band members at the last minute. 1 spare musician in a lineup of 4 or 5 will less of an issue that in a 3-guy lineup.
A bassist asked to cover would have less difficulties if there is a rhythm guitarist to follow, even if it means spending the whole gig staring at his fingers, except for the songs he knows.
In any cover band, I usually know half of the songs myself, the other half I can get do by being told the chords and looking at fingers/using my ears.
Part of hiring a band is also the decorum. If they don't see a lineup with a drummer, bassist, 2 guitars or 1 guitar and 1 keyboard, plus a front person, they may think they're not getting a good deal, even if you rock the place after that, there will be an after taste.
Personally, if I hire a band for one of my daughters' wedding, I would expect at least 5 or 6 fellows to show up.
The other issue is with if you have to get someone to cover for one of the band members at the last minute. 1 spare musician in a lineup of 4 or 5 will less of an issue that in a 3-guy lineup.
A bassist asked to cover would have less difficulties if there is a rhythm guitarist to follow, even if it means spending the whole gig staring at his fingers, except for the songs he knows.
In any cover band, I usually know half of the songs myself, the other half I can get do by being told the chords and looking at fingers/using my ears.
Whether it makes sense or not, if you're getting wedding & corporate gigs through an agency, you can often make more per player by expanding your core power trio to get 7-10 piece gigs as opposed to power trio gigs.
...if you were going to add another player to the group later, my STRONG recommendation is that you would add a keyboard player rather than another guitar. I'm not talking about a piano or someone covering organ parts. I'm talking about a player with a synth/workstation MIDI set up who can bring a whole UNIVERSE of sounds into the mix.
IMHO, guitarists are overrated.
That's what we have and it works great. Guitar/sing, keys/sing, bass/sing and drums. Occasionally we will add horns and do a different set for special gigs.
That seems a little closed/narrow minded coming from a musician. Wouldn't you just want a good band - be it 3 piece or 10.
Then of course you have the 3-piece bands where it's drums/vox, guitar/vox and keyboard/vox with the keyboard player playing bass on the left hand. Yuck.
I disagree I think thats very cool. Most people are here are bassists with a bias though
+1 billion. I was a keyboardist in a blues based rock band for awhile. I tried to stay out of the way but it was a learned skill. It's way too easy to walk on the bassist. For me, I found it easiest to simply say (to myself) if I'm going to play anything low, it will be long, drawn out chords so that the bass can still be heard (e.g. string pads and the like). For the most part, I stayed out of the lower range and left that to the bassist. It wasn't hard for me because I played 2 keyboards simultaneously so I was on the upper register with both hands. Generally, I think the keys work better if they are playing in the midrange and upper range. Most keyboardists, like me, came from studying piano. So we're trained to play the whole song ourselves on the keyboard. You can't do that in a band. You have to stay in your lane. To be sure, keyboards should be played as a supporting instrument, IMHO. Fatten up the sound with some barely noticable pads or some tasty chords. For the most part, I preferred to let the guitarist (and bassist) play notes while I stayed on chords--except for my obligatory nightly solo. If you have to play notes and arpeggios, do it in a sound that has pretty much NO sustain (like a piano, organ, or similar sound). Sounds boring but it ain't. You can sound kick a** on keys using some tasty chords and exciting sounds!
But Jaywa's right. Keyboards are a HUGE instrument (sonically) so you need to be careful about hiring a keyboardist--or he'll bury you in the mix.
^
Totallyfrozen's post is dead-on. It should be a sticky or someplace handy where people can print it out and give it to their keyboardist.
Props on your musical sensitivity and maturity, my friend.
Totallyfrozen's post is dead-on. It should be a sticky or someplace handy where people can print it out and give it to their keyboardist.
Props on your musical sensitivity and maturity, my friend.
I have a Moog Taurus III pedalboard on order (for when they are produced later this year) for use in our 3-piece backup...does that make me a traitor?
But I plan to use it mainly for string pads or triggering sequences/samples, and not really playing bass parts...too bad I can't really play keys, though, or we could do Tom Sawyer...hmmm...
Fortunately, our keyboard player is also a bass player so he knows when to go low and when to stay out of my way.
I know, I am shallow, aren't I?
But you expect a wedding band to have at lest 5 musicians, that's just the way I see it, I could elaborate but that would go OT.
OK. This thread was dead, but I read it and was very interested. I am in a three piece and covering songs is no problem. The key is to pick the right songs. If you run through and it stinks, then can it. Some songs just have too much sonic stuff going on to be covered with just a guitar and bass. That said, my band is starting to work some sequenced stuff in and I am wondering if anyone else is doing that and how you are doing it from a technical standpoint?
