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On our current set, there's a section where the drummer and I vamp together to give the guitarist time to hit the latrine, and a point where he does a solo bit to give us time to do the same, but it's structured.
Careful, we're not allowed to criticize amateurish bands on TB.
Noodling for 15 minutes is ridiculous, IMHO. Even when I play guitar I get everything locked down in under a minute.
Our guitar player does it while we're setting up, louder than hell, it's annoying and it cuts into my time to get a good sound check on my rig, the drummer or myself will yell to him "practice at home"!!! it doesn't even faze him SMMFH...guitar players remind me of guys who drive big lifted pickup trucks with oversized tires, compensation compensation. ....
Never. I have found drummers are the worst offenders followed closely by guitarists.
Very shortly after I started playing live (1998/99), a much more experienced local musician I looked up to told me he thought my band was really good for how young we were (16/17) but it was obvious how inexperienced we were because of how much noodling we did between songs. I had never even considered this up to that point, but it made perfect sense. I insisted to my band that we keep our noodling to the rehearsal room from then on, and I've insisted on it in every band since. Nothing makes me more embarrassed on stage than a fellow band member noodling. I'd rather trainwreck an entire song than have a guy noodle in the dead space.
Only thing worse than noodling between songs is "giving away" the next song before you start it by playing a riff or "practicing" your part.
Silence...unless in a unpredicted wait state...then I may use the Yes Heart of the Sunrise riff kind of like the
jeopardy (wait) theme. Gets some interesting reaction as well.
jeopardy (wait) theme. Gets some interesting reaction as well.
its unbelievably amateurish and a huge pet peeve of mine. In my last band, the one guitarist would noodle between every song. He would start playing a part from the upcoming song on the setlist. He would also set up his stuff before the gig and full-volume solo for at least 20 minutes. Same licks every time too so we would know exactly what was coming. You would see people in the bar/club holding their ears and sneering. He was completely oblivious. The one bar turned up the house music so loud in an attempt to drown him out and when he came out of his solo, he was like ***? Why is that music so loud? Its a deal breaker for me.
- Oct 18, 2012
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Sound check is used for getting your sound. When you hit the stage, you should be ready to play. No noodling!
I'll noodle a bit at sound check, because the sound guy wants to get my levels right. Usually it's less than 90 seconds, and it happens a good 30 minutes before we actually hit. Other than that, silence! One of the nice things about the TU-3 tuner is that you can mute it. If I'm feeling iffy about a lick, I may play a little bit, but only with the mute on.
Oh, and if the BL gets into a dialog with someone in the crowd and it runs past the one-minute mark, I'll start playing--very quietly--"Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" and she'll hear it and either laugh or give me stink-eye...
Oh, and if the BL gets into a dialog with someone in the crowd and it runs past the one-minute mark, I'll start playing--very quietly--"Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" and she'll hear it and either laugh or give me stink-eye...
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Hate it at either rehearsal or in a show.
I recall a band rehearsal when the whole flipping band just would not stop doing it. I could see the BL getting more and more agitated by it. We paused whilst rehearsing a song to allow him and the backing vocalists to huddle centre stage and quietly work out the nuance of some tricky harmonies and, of course, the noodlers fired up to fill the quiet.
I quickly muted my tuner pedal, took my bass off and put it on the stand. Counted to ten while watching the BL get ready to explode. He spun round ready to rip someone a new one and first band member his gaze rested on was me. I opened my palms and gave him a look of "No bass... nothing to to with me!" then watched him storm off to the other side of the stage and give everyone else a proper shouting at. Very, very satisfying!
I recall a band rehearsal when the whole flipping band just would not stop doing it. I could see the BL getting more and more agitated by it. We paused whilst rehearsing a song to allow him and the backing vocalists to huddle centre stage and quietly work out the nuance of some tricky harmonies and, of course, the noodlers fired up to fill the quiet.
I quickly muted my tuner pedal, took my bass off and put it on the stand. Counted to ten while watching the BL get ready to explode. He spun round ready to rip someone a new one and first band member his gaze rested on was me. I opened my palms and gave him a look of "No bass... nothing to to with me!" then watched him storm off to the other side of the stage and give everyone else a proper shouting at. Very, very satisfying!
The biggest offender in my band is the keyboardist. He has to noodle between every song to make sure his settings are right. He's been playing since the early 70's and in this band he's played these songs dozens of time and he still doesn't know how to run his keyboards.
