How do you know when it's time?

Simple question: Do you want to be on stage with a guy who doesn't know his stuff and comes to practice to learn the material?

1. If your answer is no, then you know what to do.
2. if yes, then keep on the path you're on.

FWW - no self-respecting band should practice to "learn".. you should practice to put the song together. To be sure, life's a b*tch and sh*t gets in the way of playing time, but anyone serious/mature about it will find the time or tell you'' "sorry guys.. didn't get time this week"... If that becomes a regular thing.. see #1 above.

Sounds like the RG is simply covering for not putting in the effort.

 

One thing I learned recently as a band leader that had to fire someone: Do it sooner rather than later. It's better for everyone involved. Check out the "How Do You Kick A Band Member Out" Thread.

 

>1. Isn't that great of a player and 2. Doesn't practice on his own.
The first point is kinda okay if he puts in the work. Judging by the second point though, he clearly doesn't.

I think that your approach is a good one. It's better to tell him first that you are moving on and he has to keep his pace up. At least it gives him an opportunity to show whether he takes the band seriously or not.

 

When you feel the need to come on this forum and ask this question, it's time.

 

I like this quartet of "band member retention"...

a) Counsel -- talk to him about it. Be frank, but kind, and create an atmosphere of safety when you do it.
b) Warn -- if he doesn't step up, warn him he's potentially on the outs.
c) Suspend or Fire. Make a judgement about whether to suspend him from the group or just fire him from the group if he doesn't respond after steps 1 and 2.

To me, this is fair. I consider it a misuse of power to outright fire someone without warning when their behavior isn't clearly fire-worthy or he hasn't been warned and given a chance.

 

I could have written this very same post last year. I really didn't want to hurt the rhythm guitarist's feelings, he's a great guy, but he was holding us back. Fortunalty he could read the writing on the wall. Unfortunatly he drunk texted the keyboard player and it was ugly. That actually helped me deal with it better. Either way, if you want to move the band forward, you need to do what's right for the band. It's nothing personal. We are a much, much better band now and we're getting gigs we only dreamed of before. It was a tough decision, but it had to be done. If it were me, my feeelings would be hurt, but I wouldn't want to hold back the band. If it's going to happen sooner or later, get it over with now and move on.

 

You learn your parts on your own tie l. Rehearsal (NOT called practice) is for putting the parts together. If he is unwilling to do that then he should be gone.

 

Sounds good to me as well. This is a fair and balanced approach, and doesn't seem like a knee-jerk reaction. He may see the writing on the wall himself and bow out gracefully.

I also agree that rehearsal is not the place to learn material. It's frustrating and counterproductive to the band moving forward. If the member has other priorities that are taking away from band time, then they should focus on them. It doesn't mean they are unwanted or unwelcome, but they need to focus on what is important and that isn't the band at this point in time.

 

I think you know the answer, time to ditch him.

The hardest part is separating the person from the musician, it's never easy.

He doesn't know the songs and he was there before you, that says it all.

 

I was in a similar situation not long ago, gui**** kept coming up with excuses not to practice, we were lucky to get together once a month. Ultimately the drummer moved on to another project, now the singer and I have to replace the slacker and a good drummer, basically start all over again.

This guy acted like our friend, but friends don't hold you back.

 

Sounds like he's just not that into your band. I would think the rhythm guitarist would be the easiest band member to replace. You could probably find one who contribute with vocals. Even if you didn't replace him, he's just wasting your rehearsal time, so you're probably better off without him.
Or you could call your rehearsals his lessons and he could pay each of you $50 an hour.

 

the cool thing about the new guy is that are exempted from firing anyone! at least thats how i think it works.

RE your prob. i have had a singer (that i posted around here) who was better than your RG, and wrote a lot of our bands material. but since she sucks, we just decided to "quietly break up" ... we cant use the material anyway cause she had major contributions to a lot of them

 

well, yeah, you could do what we did when we wanted to change drummers, who were both good friends of all of us. So we "broke up", then a month or so later just happenned to bump into the new drummer, and badabing badaboom we decided to give it another try.

 

In the words of some dumb business dude: "YOU'RE FIRED!"

 

You might not have to tell him anything if you do the "counseling" and "warning" steps well. You can tell him that the other three of you want to step it up and move forward, and that it's up to him to decide whether he has the time and motivation to put in the work that will be necessary to keep up. If you make it clear what you are planning to do and what you'll expect from him, he might decide to leave on his own.

 

Don't pull the "we're breaking us" line. That's cowardly bs, and when/if he finds out, you will feel more like [email protected] I think you have two choices - either he gets one more chance after the band telling him the condotions to stay, or he gets canned for his lack of effort. Either way, the whole band does it, in person.