The main band I am in has had keyboard player problems ever since I joined them. The first keyboard player didn't do any homework, just looked at chord charts and played changes. He was good at certain things, but very limited. Didn't like to solo, didn't know his way around a B3 sound- at all. After several talks with him nothing got better, and he eventually decided to quit so that he could focus on his solo career, which is his comfort zone.
Enter keyboardist #2, who I invited to check us out. I play in another band with her. She's a much better player, kills the solos on the piano and organ stuff, but now that she's with us it's clear that she's also primarily interested in skating by with chord charts and doesn't want to do any homework between rehearsals to learn signature parts of songs. We need someone who can be versatile, do horn parts where needed and at least learn the important glissandos and changes that give a song its flavor. Playing your chops on the 2 and 4 in the wrong octave when they're supposed to be on the 1 and 3 isn't going to work in this band; we know what the music is supposed to sound like. We're not asking for you to play it note-for-note, just pick up on the key things that are important. Is it too much to expect a band member to actually listen to the covers we're playing to learn how they're played? Apparently it is.
She has also bailed on a few rehearsals at the last minute. She's retired and very busy with life, and last night her reason was "too busy with other stuff and getting ready for her holiday vacation." So when the rest of us got together last night I figured that, since I'm in another band with her, it was my responsibility to bring up the problems and I told them I don't think it's going to work out.
Everyone agreed, and we're going to play the January gig we have on our books with the old keyboard player, who at least knows our original material and most of the covers we know and texted us that he's willing to do it. I have to talk to the new keyboardist and tell her that it isn't working out. She's on her way to her vacation and I'm not going to ruin her trip but I'll have to do it once she gets back. It's a bit awkward because of the other band, but I'm not married to those guys and their original bass player would like back in so I've been thinking of leaving that band anyway. I sense she might actually be relieved because this band might be more pressure than she was expecting.
In the meantime, I have put an ad up on Craigslist hoping that we can recruit someone who's actually willing to do more than just read chord charts. I've spelled out pretty much all the requirements in a nice way. So far, no responses and the last time we were looking we also heard from no one.
Why is it so difficult? I don't understand. For me, part of the fun of being a musician is learning new things. I enjoy doing my homework. I know good keyboard players are hard to come by but there's got to be somebody out there who's looking to have a little musical fun. Right?
Enter keyboardist #2, who I invited to check us out. I play in another band with her. She's a much better player, kills the solos on the piano and organ stuff, but now that she's with us it's clear that she's also primarily interested in skating by with chord charts and doesn't want to do any homework between rehearsals to learn signature parts of songs. We need someone who can be versatile, do horn parts where needed and at least learn the important glissandos and changes that give a song its flavor. Playing your chops on the 2 and 4 in the wrong octave when they're supposed to be on the 1 and 3 isn't going to work in this band; we know what the music is supposed to sound like. We're not asking for you to play it note-for-note, just pick up on the key things that are important. Is it too much to expect a band member to actually listen to the covers we're playing to learn how they're played? Apparently it is.
She has also bailed on a few rehearsals at the last minute. She's retired and very busy with life, and last night her reason was "too busy with other stuff and getting ready for her holiday vacation." So when the rest of us got together last night I figured that, since I'm in another band with her, it was my responsibility to bring up the problems and I told them I don't think it's going to work out.
Everyone agreed, and we're going to play the January gig we have on our books with the old keyboard player, who at least knows our original material and most of the covers we know and texted us that he's willing to do it. I have to talk to the new keyboardist and tell her that it isn't working out. She's on her way to her vacation and I'm not going to ruin her trip but I'll have to do it once she gets back. It's a bit awkward because of the other band, but I'm not married to those guys and their original bass player would like back in so I've been thinking of leaving that band anyway. I sense she might actually be relieved because this band might be more pressure than she was expecting.
In the meantime, I have put an ad up on Craigslist hoping that we can recruit someone who's actually willing to do more than just read chord charts. I've spelled out pretty much all the requirements in a nice way. So far, no responses and the last time we were looking we also heard from no one.
Why is it so difficult? I don't understand. For me, part of the fun of being a musician is learning new things. I enjoy doing my homework. I know good keyboard players are hard to come by but there's got to be somebody out there who's looking to have a little musical fun. Right?
