you're not out of line, but i think most groups playing out once a month aren't really in it for the money. as such they're typically gonna rehearse more often. it's "family and fellowship" time, as one guy once told me. :\
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
How often do you rehearse? (Vote! )
- Thread starter birminghambass
- Start date
-
- Tags
- vote
Rarely. If you've been doing this long enough and the other musicians are also experienced and know the material, rehearsal isn't necessary when you get to a certain level. And yes, the experienced guys sound better than the guys that rehearse the same songs twice a week until midnight. There's a long history of TB threads full of novices that don't think they're novices that don't believe this. Anybody that's been doing this actively for 10-20 years knows I'm not kidding.
Last edited:
There will always be a difference between "working" musicians and weekend warrior bands with regards to rehearsal schedule...nothing wrong with that. For many weekend warrior bands rehearsals are usually necessary, but they are also "Tuesday Bowling Band Night".
We've been together about 15 years. We used to practice every Tuesday which allowed us to practice and gig in the same week as well as go out to shows on the weekend without missing band practice. Went a years without missing a single week. These days we get together on the weekend, we play about one show per month and usually get together and run through the set the week before. The other two weekends per month are spent writing, recording, making videos. There are some weekends when we don't do anything because we're on family trips or have kids birthday parties. But when we're writing or recording it can be an every weekend thing.
I have to agree and disagree with the OP. If everyone is pretty solid sure you shouldn't have to rehearse as a full band a hole lot. At the same time I definetly think bands should actually rehearse their sets at some point before the show. If anything else just to iron out things like set time. I can't tell you how many times I've been at shows and seen bands get pissy because their set got cut "short" when they actually went over. I've seen bands only play 25 minutes when they were supposed to play 45 minutes. Also with our band the guitar player uses three different tunings so instrument switches are planned into the set. When we rehearse for the show we spend a few minutes picking the set list. We time the set with a cellphone, make any adjustments to the set; moving songs to minimize instrument changes, cutting or adding and song to meet the set time, replacing a song that didn't go that well and do on. And run through it again. So yes and no. You should practice as a full band but no you shouldn't have to do it all the time.
I have to agree and disagree with the OP. If everyone is pretty solid sure you shouldn't have to rehearse as a full band a hole lot. At the same time I definetly think bands should actually rehearse their sets at some point before the show. If anything else just to iron out things like set time. I can't tell you how many times I've been at shows and seen bands get pissy because their set got cut "short" when they actually went over. I've seen bands only play 25 minutes when they were supposed to play 45 minutes. Also with our band the guitar player uses three different tunings so instrument switches are planned into the set. When we rehearse for the show we spend a few minutes picking the set list. We time the set with a cellphone, make any adjustments to the set; moving songs to minimize instrument changes, cutting or adding and song to meet the set time, replacing a song that didn't go that well and do on. And run through it again. So yes and no. You should practice as a full band but no you shouldn't have to do it all the time.
So what does everyone assume the Big Name national acts do? You suppose they just show up and wing it or do they rehearse their asses off? My guess is that the real pros rehearse until it's as perfect as possible. Amateurs practice until they get it right. Pros rehearse until they can't get it wrong. I'm sure there are plenty who do/are able to just show up and go (the Stones might be one example) but plenty of others (Bruno Mars might be a nice example of the opposite end of the spectrum) who kill it because they're obviously thoroughly rehearsed. Which example would you prefer to be compared to?
I'm a weekend warrior cover band musician and I consider myself a solid but average bass player at best. But I strive to be as professional as possible and I expect the same from the people I play with. Am I not a "good" musician just because I'm a weekend warrior? Is trying to be as pro as possible despite that not a reasonable goal for an "average " musician? Why do you really want to perform publicly? What's it REALLY mean to you?
I'm a weekend warrior cover band musician and I consider myself a solid but average bass player at best. But I strive to be as professional as possible and I expect the same from the people I play with. Am I not a "good" musician just because I'm a weekend warrior? Is trying to be as pro as possible despite that not a reasonable goal for an "average " musician? Why do you really want to perform publicly? What's it REALLY mean to you?
Really big pro tours rehearse maybe one or two weeks, 8 hours a day, sometimes not 8 hours a day. Most of that is for production/lighting run-through. Then they hit the road. There's no need to pay top-flight players for a lot of unnecessary rehearsals. They got the gig because they're that good. If are backing a big-name artist, the artist isn't around for even half of that - the MD directs the rehearsals.
Last edited:
@inanimate_carb covered it. i'll add this quote from a very wise man: "if you're gonna do it, do it live on stage... or don't do it at all"
I totally get that. My band's just not there yet.
My original band will rehearse 1x per week, some weeks we'll do twice. When writing new material, it's definitely important to get together more often.
My main band does weekly rehearsals usually. Work on new material, linking blocks of songs together, changing up starts & endings, run through a song we haven't played in forever that could get the call sometime. The tightness aspect really comes together on stage when everyone is on the same page & knows whats coming as far as stops, dynamics, feel and changes. I feel practice with a live group of musicians is quite beneficial in excess of what one is able to do on their own practice. Don't dispute that experienced musicians can sound pretty darn good without much practice; many bands I see though could use a bit more time in the rehearsal room though if they are interested in taking their game to the next level.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I think there is kind of a reverse chic in rehearsing with some of the people here. If you are not gigging at least weekly, in most cases, you need to rehearse if you want to be tight. There is a difference between just playing songs, and a band playing them tight and right. If nothing else, beginnings, endings, harmonies.
I voted "rarely'
We're a cover band and out pretty much every weekend, usually multiple gigs. The band is tight.
We all have little kids (mine are 3 and 1) and like to spend time with our families.
We're basically only getting together when we add a song that we need to go over before we play it out.
I think our last official rehearsal was in September of 2015...so like 1 1/2 years ago.
We're a cover band and out pretty much every weekend, usually multiple gigs. The band is tight.
We all have little kids (mine are 3 and 1) and like to spend time with our families.
We're basically only getting together when we add a song that we need to go over before we play it out.
I think our last official rehearsal was in September of 2015...so like 1 1/2 years ago.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I don't think the majority of the people here are playing every week. That's great that you are.
That wasn't in response to your post. You're 100% correct.
I do wish that we got together a little more often than we do. I think an ideal level for me would be a 1x /month rehearsal where we go over 4 new songs. That's 1 song each week, and for "semi pro" level musicians that's nothing IMO. That would theoretically add 48 songs per year and be a great addition to any bands repertoire.
3 times a week on a good week or if we got new material to learn, a gig coming up or something similar. Often 1-2 times a week.
Both my main bands for the most part only rehearse when we need to add something or something needs to be touched up. Both bands gig regularly so there's no need for regular rehearsals. I've been in situations where there's just endless rehearsals and no outcome in sight. There's a point where it's almost counterproductive because you're not out in front of an audience to see what actually works and what doesn't. I also fill in with bands on a regular basis with zero rehearsal. I just get the set list and any other info such as key changes and transitions.
I haven't been in a band since 1983 and today is the first day of my semi-retirement. I hope to get back to playing in a band. With that said, I do have quite a bit of experience in playing bands and participated in more rehearsals than I can remember.
The last band I was in played clubs where we played four or five nights per week. There were also times where we played weddings, corporate stuff, etc. For many years, I played anywhere from 100 to 200 gigs per year.
In that band, we rehearsed twice per week if we were playing weekends and one time per week if we were playing clubs. Some of that was driven by the fact that we played a lot of Top 40 stuff so we were always learning new stuff. Some of that was driven also by the fact that we had 6-part harmonies on a bunch of songs. The rest of that was driven by the fact that we played a lot of fairly difficult music. Stuff from Tower of Power, Earth Wind and Fire, Steely Dan (the entire Aja album) as well as other difficult stuff that requires rehearsal.
For us, rehearsal wasn’t just making sure everyone knew their parts. It was sounding as tight as humanly possible. Think about Tower of Power songs. EVERY musician starts and ends a note at the exact same time. There were also times where we would have strictly a vocal practice. We worked on harmonies with just a keyboard playing very softly. No microphones – just getting the harmonies just right.
In addition, unlike most bands, we played a dinner set at weddings. We would play jazz and play it quietly. The jazz sets were not really for the audience. Rather, it was for us. It was the sole time that we got to play music that we truly liked. We played our fair share of stands like Satin Doll, “A” Train, etc. Nevertheless, we also played very intricate stuff like Blue Rondo Ala Turk from Dave Brubeck, Skunk Funk from the Brecker Brothers, etc. It helped keep us sane.
Therefore, for us, cutting back on rehearsal was simply not part of the equation. It was required to play the kind of stuff we played and to play as often as we did. To this day, I am convinced that we played as often as we did because of the way we approached being a band. Even doing 100 to 200 gigs a year, we turned down more work than we accepted.
Keep in mind that I am not saying that every band should do what we did. It worked for us and it worked well.
The last band I was in played clubs where we played four or five nights per week. There were also times where we played weddings, corporate stuff, etc. For many years, I played anywhere from 100 to 200 gigs per year.
In that band, we rehearsed twice per week if we were playing weekends and one time per week if we were playing clubs. Some of that was driven by the fact that we played a lot of Top 40 stuff so we were always learning new stuff. Some of that was driven also by the fact that we had 6-part harmonies on a bunch of songs. The rest of that was driven by the fact that we played a lot of fairly difficult music. Stuff from Tower of Power, Earth Wind and Fire, Steely Dan (the entire Aja album) as well as other difficult stuff that requires rehearsal.
For us, rehearsal wasn’t just making sure everyone knew their parts. It was sounding as tight as humanly possible. Think about Tower of Power songs. EVERY musician starts and ends a note at the exact same time. There were also times where we would have strictly a vocal practice. We worked on harmonies with just a keyboard playing very softly. No microphones – just getting the harmonies just right.
In addition, unlike most bands, we played a dinner set at weddings. We would play jazz and play it quietly. The jazz sets were not really for the audience. Rather, it was for us. It was the sole time that we got to play music that we truly liked. We played our fair share of stands like Satin Doll, “A” Train, etc. Nevertheless, we also played very intricate stuff like Blue Rondo Ala Turk from Dave Brubeck, Skunk Funk from the Brecker Brothers, etc. It helped keep us sane.
Therefore, for us, cutting back on rehearsal was simply not part of the equation. It was required to play the kind of stuff we played and to play as often as we did. To this day, I am convinced that we played as often as we did because of the way we approached being a band. Even doing 100 to 200 gigs a year, we turned down more work than we accepted.
Keep in mind that I am not saying that every band should do what we did. It worked for us and it worked well.
I am currently a member of 2 bands although one hasn't been active since last November due to the band leaders health. Both bands were already established when I joined them and to date , I have had one rehearsal with each band. One was to work up a particularly complex song and the other was to polish up some songs for a demo recording. Been with one band about 3 years and the other for about 2 years. Other than that , I'll get an occasional e-mail stating "We are doing this song next weekend." Everybody does their homework and so far there have been no disasters using this system. We did a gig last New Years Eve and the lead guitar players brother sat in with us. The guy plays an absolute killer fiddle and asked us to learn Charly Daniels "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." We nailed it. Not a blip anywhere in the song. Nice to work with people of that caliber.
I was in a band about 5 or 6 years ago that got together 2 or 3 times a week and would still screw stuff up at a gig. Glad they fired me.
I was in a band about 5 or 6 years ago that got together 2 or 3 times a week and would still screw stuff up at a gig. Glad they fired me.
I'm now in two bands. With the jazz 4tet we are trying to rehearse 2 times per months following our personals schedules. Other band members are in other bands too and it's sometimes not easy to set up rehearsals.
With the other band; afro ska reggae rock, all originals, i've learned the tunes, we have rehearsed 2 times and were ready for gigs, did several gigs. I was their sub and the drummer to. Then band has had a 6 months hiatus. Last month we have rehearsed one time with a new drummer and were ready. We since played 3 gigs mixed last year drummer (which is still the band sub) and the new one who is now the band drummer, and it's working well. I'm now in the boat. We'll probably rehearse from time to time only to achieve new tunes. The exact opposite of the jazz 4tet: less cerebral but more energetic music. I'm a bit schizophrenic
With the other band; afro ska reggae rock, all originals, i've learned the tunes, we have rehearsed 2 times and were ready for gigs, did several gigs. I was their sub and the drummer to. Then band has had a 6 months hiatus. Last month we have rehearsed one time with a new drummer and were ready. We since played 3 gigs mixed last year drummer (which is still the band sub) and the new one who is now the band drummer, and it's working well. I'm now in the boat. We'll probably rehearse from time to time only to achieve new tunes. The exact opposite of the jazz 4tet: less cerebral but more energetic music. I'm a bit schizophrenic
