Describe your typical rehearsal

[3Liter]

Yeah, I know everyone shows up 10 minutes later, drunk and/or high and didn't learn the songs. BTDT.

I mean the ones that work. I am auditioning for a band on guitar* that rents a space and thus they have told me rehearsals are work sessions. I'm good with that. I practice at home, I work stuff out, charts etc. But what actually goes on at your? Starts, stops, play through the whole thing?

I know that they will have a different arrangement than other band, I guess that stuff gets worked out? What else? I have been in bands where the collective group wasn't good enough or experienced enough to work out problems. I ended up leading the effort, but I'm not sure my approach was best. I wasn't the most experienced player (the bass player was) but I knew the music better, if that makes sense.

How do you all do it? Who leads the musical charge, who does the arranging?


One of the audition songs is ZZ Top's Jesus Just Left Chicago. The recording has a mix of 12 and 13 bars (to my ears anyhow). I have seen bands even that all out or otherwise dumb things down, I assume all that gets negotiated for the 5 people in the room. How do you all make these decisions, etc?



*I'm 50/50 on whether I'm up to the task, and I'm nervous as hell about it.

 

[PauFerro]

this is vitally important to me -- efficient rehearsal.

This is how it works. Before the gig, I send out a song list and youtube playlist. If charts are used, I sent those in advance as a scan. When musicians arrive, there are printed copies available if they are not the type of person who will print them.

At the rehearsal, I start with easier songs so we can create momentum and get off on the right foot. For every song, all the musicians give input into how we played the song. If the song is easy, we might play through it once, and at the end, decide on an introduction and an outro if it is not clear from the chart. Sometimes people change it for stylistic reasons.

Everyone has a pen and makes notes on the chart.

Occasionally, when I am rehearsing with less experienced musicians, we have a really hard chart with a lot of hits, complex structure, etcetera. In this case, I apply rapid learning principles from my teaching career. We play the song, and comment on how we did it, noting each person's deficits in the song. Then we leave it and do another hard song. Then we work on a new song, and then later, come back to the hard songs.

The more times the band retrieves the song from their memory, the faster they learn it. We don't stay on the same song, rehearsing a lot at once -- we cycle through it at different times in the rehearsal. They often leave with the song near perfect when I do that. This is normally only for zero to 2 songs in a rehearsal.

We can knock out as many as 15 new jazz songs in a rehearsal depending on difficulty and skill of the musicians.

When I play with really skilled musicians, we will often not play the song, but simply agree on how to start it and end, and make notes on the chart.

With my style of rehearsal, charts are critical, even for rock and dance tunes, as my dance band is staffed with jazz musicians exclusively.

And of course, there are tunes we don't even talk about until at the gig if they are from the Real Book or can be just sight read. We only rehearse the harder songs, normally "custom" transcriptions or vanity tunes someone wants to do, and created a chart for.

 

[JRA]

this is vitally important to me -- efficient rehearsal.

me too!

Yeah, I know everyone shows up 10 minutes later, drunk and/or high and didn't learn the songs

no one shows up unable to rehearse.

But what actually goes on at your? Starts, stops, play through the whole thing?

depends on the tune (difficulty). like PauFerro 's band: all tunes are charted. some tunes require more time and attention than others, of course. we'll play a tune/chart until: 1) it plays well, or, 2) until someone cries 'uncle' = "i need to shed this one before spending/wasting more time at rehearsal." we also use the 'lets come back to it later' style of cementing it in.

How do you all do it? Who leads the musical charge, who does the arranging?

the musical charge is generally led by the 'instigator' of a particular tune with help from anyone else who is uncomfortable with competency (their own or someone else's) on a tune or section of a tune. arrangements are done by the 'instigator' typically, but i do a lot of it --- and almost all of the charting.

How do you all make these decisions, etc?

corporate/wedding band: the purchaser often decides what tunes are necessary for the band to play: 2-5 special requests. the rest of the setlist for those gigs are the band's bread and butter tunes (archival). in this band there is a BL and a music director. i do most of the charting. (35-40 tunes per typical gig.)

jazz band: we all agree (or don't --- we vote!) on what constitutes 'worthiness' for a particular audience/venue/show. sometimes we cruelly put a member in charge of the setlist. since we never play more than a few dozen tunes (25-30) at a gig, the setlist is always a combination of our guaranteed crowd pleasers + newer stuff which we're ready to share with our audience (trial balloons). the audience reaction informs our next gig setlist = "they loved it" vs. "they were bored" vs "not ready for prime time --- needs more work/thought."

all rehearsals are around 2.5 hours. we rarely go past that, but we will if everyone is eager to resolve issues or the 'work vibe' is good. at both rehearsals: we allow for discussion at the end to talk about tunes/gigs/band biz. with both bands: we're glad to see each other as rehearsal begins, and we're glad rehearsal is over (we've all worked real hard!) when it ends.

lately with the jazz band: we might run a whole set just to demonstrate to ourselves that we have the physical capacity to do so!

 

[PauFerro]

me too!

all rehearsals are around 2.5 hours. we rarely go past that, but we will if everyone is eager to resolve issues or the 'work vibe' is good. at both rehearsals: we allow for discussion at the end to talk about tunes/gigs/band biz. with both bands: we're glad to see each other as rehearsal begins, and we're glad rehearsal is over (we've all worked real hard!) when it ends.

Right -- I find the musicians don't have the physical capacity to go beyond 2.5 hours. I can go for about 3.5 if necessary, but someone always shuts it down or says they have to leave in X minutes or something. I have to gauge their body language to know when to quit.

I get it - many get up early for work the next day, and so they can't cut into their slumber time.

 

[JRA]

I get it - many get up early for work the next day, and so they can't cut into their slumber time.

yep: and those rehearsals are hard work, usually, and don't have the 'lift' which we get on the actual gig. i might break a sweat at the gig...but i always do at rehearsal.

 

[Paulabass]

I haven't had a formal rehearsal for years (I like to fly by the seat of my pants) but in days gone by I had some hard and fast rules.
- Have a beer if you want, but sobriety is number one rule.
- Show up prepared. If you left the last rehearsal with new tunes, practice them. If you were told to bring some new tunes, bring them.
- Your girlfriend or wife will not help rehearsal one bit. Leave her at home, and take her to dinner afterwards.
- If all your friends want to see the band, and you have no gigs booked, have a monthly 'Hoot night' where guests are welcome, and put on a mini show. They don't want to hear you go over bar 54 seventy times.
- You only hear once. Turn down! You'll communicate better.
- Treat rehearsal as work.

I was invited to come down and jam with a local band. As soon as he said rehearsal ends when everyone to too drunk to play I knew there was no future there.

 

[Spidey2112]

We, as a band, try to dedicate at least one two hour rehearsal a week... not a lot of time, I admit, so they have to be efficient and productive... unsure how much time my other bandmates commit to practicing outside our group, but I put in 4-6 hours extra a week, depending on my schedule...

... I have to admit, all are professional and possess great attitudes... very easy to get along with, which covers the fun part... musically, a few things still need ironed out (from my perspective) and I note them, taking advantage of rehearsal time to... iron them out.

Individually, keys and drums currently play out in another group together, and guitarist has his own thing going as well... the four of us together have not gigged as of yet, but as soon as we can produce what we believe is a decent product (obviously, no guarantees... the basement and live are two different animals, of course) I'll present an update...

... I have no problem playing in front others, but it has been +25 years playing in a live environment...

... I can almost smell it... don't worry, good or bad, I'll present an honest report when it happens... maybe, even with some humor... ok, lots of humor... good, or bad.

Good luck, @3Liter!

 

[String Theory]

Typical rehearsals at my house are two and a half hours or less. We have a fixed ending time so if someone is late we start without them. This has really helped reduce tardiness because no one likes to show up and hear the band is already playing without them. It also sends the message that no individual is so important that the band can't play with out them. We warmup playing thirty minutes of songs straight through. Then we go back and work on the songs that need it. We then work on other songs or experiment with new riffs. We play mostly originals so before dedicating much time to a new song, the band member that comes up with the idea usually has most of it layed out. We end the rehearsal playing a thirty minute set straight through as if we are on stage. We fellowship on the one or two breaks. We rehearse about twice a month and play out about the same.

 

[Twobass]

I was in a cover/tribute band many years ago, and the rehearsal was work on songs that the BL/guitar player didn't really know. We would do a few songs in 3 hours minimum every week. Then by the time of the gig everything was out the window because no one remembered what they were doing,a lot of mistakes going on, mostly by the BL.

 

[Kro]

Fun thread. Not to brag (I know I have it good), but with my current main originals project, all of our rehearsals pretty much follow the same routine. I'm usually the one to keep the band on track during, but my guys are pretty responsible, so it isn't hard.

Step 1: prior to anybody even stepping foot in the rented studio, we agree to an objective. This is typically agreed on by quick text discussion. As an originals band, our sessions usually fall into some combination of three categories:

1. Rehearsing
2. Writing/arranging
3. Recording

A session can be a mix of any of the above, but we'll always agree: "alright guys, plan for tonight: run through the set twice, iron out any kinks ahead of this weekend's show, and then spend the rest of the time finishing arrangement of the new song".

During the same text chain, we usually agree to who's responsible for bringing "idea juice".

Typically members will show up a little early to the studio to set up and assess the brew situation, so we can generally start as soon as possible. We then proceed with the planned events, and wrap up after around 2 hours of solid work - at which point we typically finish our beers (never seen anybody have more than two) and talk strategy, promotion, shows, and such for a half hour before disembarking.

Anyways, TL;DR - setting and unanimously agreeing to a plan of attack before stepping foot in the studio is 90% of the battle.

 

[Kro]

We have a fixed ending time so if someone is late we start without them. This has really helped reduce tardiness because no one likes to show up and hear the band is already playing without them. It also sends the message that no individual is so important that the band can't play with out them.

I love this, and have been in bands that rolled this way in the past. Thankfully if somebody is running late, they let us know in advance and it doesn't happen all that often.

However, those times when I'm late for whatever reason (poopie happens), walk in to everybody else playing, and have to do a set-up-of-shame, it can really hit hard if you take pride in your being a team player and good band mate.

It's both an efficient use of studio time and also a quite effective natural deterrent!

 

[catcauphonic]

We usually do Sunday mornings from 11-2pm (which i refer to as Church), & the occasional 2hr weeknight rehearsal when we can all make it.

We usually warm up with a loose jam of something off the cuff for a few minutes, then run thru the set. After a 10-15min smoke break, we'll either run thru the set again (if we have a show coming up later that week), or use the rest of the time to work on any new material and/or discuss behind the scenes admin stuff.

Not much goofing off at rehearsal ... everybody does their homework on their own time.

 

[3Liter]

Who is the musical director of your effort as well? After I posted this, I played at church. The Choir Director leads everything and she plays guitar as well. When she's listening/watching/directing us at our warm up before hand her playing goes out the window.

I've seen that myself when leading something along. I'm so focused on listening to the whole mix, I have driven my own playing into the ditch.

Do you do cold stops to correct something, or plow through and correct at the end, etc? Band I recently quit had no ability to pick up in the middle of a song, but I have seen pointless discussion over "start at measure 54" at church practice instead of just rerunning the chorus.

I'm all ears, I have seen so many bad ways to do things...I'm very appreciative of the advice so far.

 

[AlexBassMP]

We recently moved to a new rehearsal space. Our last rehearsal space 's manager told us that we have to ve before Jan. 31th. and it sucks!!

We share rehearsal space with other band and they have more gear than us...so the space is limited.

We start our rehearsal complaining about how tight we are since we moved to this new place while we set up our gear as we can.. after that then we rehearse..

When the tribute band play , usually we play the set and make fun between songs... three of us have worked with the same producer and we say "Hey! If you screw up again we will tell Palau" (Palau is the producer's last name) . Lots of fun with these guys...it doesn't matter if someone miss a note..it's a rehearsal!!

When my other band play it's more or less the same...we set up the gear while we're complaining , we play the set and we make jokes between the songs.. In this case if someone screws up we finish the song and then we play the part again...No great arguments or discussions here...

 

[Lobster11]

Who is the musical director of your effort as well? After I posted this, I played at church. The Choir Director leads everything and she plays guitar as well. When she's listening/watching/directing us at our warm up before hand her playing goes out the window.

I've seen that myself when leading something along. I'm so focused on listening to the whole mix, I have driven my own playing into the ditch.

Do you do cold stops to correct something, or plow through and correct at the end, etc? Band I recently quit had no ability to pick up in the middle of a song, but I have seen pointless discussion over "start at measure 54" at church practice instead of just rerunning the chorus.

I'm all ears, I have seen so many bad ways to do things...I'm very appreciative of the advice so far.

If we need to go back and correct some part of a song, we'll usually pick it up in the immediately preceding section. For example, if the problem is in the chorus, we'll restart at the beginning of the preceding verse. I think it's important to work on such things in context: That helps everyone remember what comes immediately before the problem part, which helps them anticipate and remember whatever change/correction was made the next time playing it.

 

[Oneud]

This is for an original band....the typical rehearsal:

Open with an improvised jam, which will usually take 10-20 minutes, and we usually use that to listen to later to pick out little things we liked to potentially be used for future songs. Also works as a good warm up.
If there is a gig coming up, we'd then run through the set list that we have for that show(takes between 45-90minutes usually)
Then there is usually a break, where we just hang out for a bit.
Then it would working on/writing new songs together for a while, while also running through some older ones that need to be refreshed.

Usually takes around 3 hours total, I think....it's not always that same set up, but that's a good idea for a 'typical' rehearsal;

 

[sean_on_bass]

We tend to do combinations of full band and sectional rehearsals. I'll describe the full band rehearsals as the sectionals are bit more free form.

Usually we are doing full band to rehearse material for an upcoming gig. Material is pretty much arranged and parts are set at this point. We usually rehearse newer material first, then its pretty much open for folks to suggest other tunes they want to run through from older material. We don't rehearse established older tunes unless someone requests it, so don't run through the whole gig setlists unless we are just playing a single set at the gig, but not common.

While running through selected tunes we may stop mid song when major issues occur and rework those sections. If only minor issues occur then we provide the feedback after the tune is done and may rerun something. If no issues at all we move to the next tune. Pretty simple really!

 

[Pbassmanca]

Necessary and infrequent

 

[IamGroot]

Excellent advice from Pau Ferro. Agree and mark up those charts or you will be redoing it at the next rehearsal.

Consider rehearsing only the measures with problems, not the whole song.

Special Issues for cover bands.
As Pau and others mentioned, send out the list in advance with internet link. Note if key will be different.
Its good to make a barebones chart as a min for every song. Note the key and the song form (intro, verse, chorus, outro, etc).
May seem like a lot of work but it will save time in the long run. Even An easy song like "Sharp Dressed Man" will burn rehearsal time if everyone isnt clear on the song form.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Coming into rehearsal, people know what is on the agenda and is prepared. If it starts at 4, everyone (hopefully) in there, plugged in and tuned up by 4. There is always some BSing and joking around, but we make sure we get to what we are there for. Those things are the key.