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Is good enough, good enough?

#81
It's always a compromise between level of musicianship, song choice, genre, number of gigs, personality, and other factors. I've been playing in bands for over 35 years, and there has only been one band that dotted every "i*", and that was in college.

What do you think your odds are in improving?
 
#82
Back when I was actually gigging and leading my own band, this was a constant source of frustration. Part of my issue was the people I picked - musicians who were in multiple bands, all of them talented, but with lost on their plate. They weren't going tp put in the amount of effort I wanted, especially not for the money I was paying them - even though I fed them, paid them for practice, and paid them for gigs.

The other issue is that the people I picked were used to playing styles of music that didn't require memorizing a lot of intricate riffs and arrangements - it's easy easy to play Call Me the Breeze if all you have to do is play guitar fills and you're dealing with 3 chords. It's a much different thing to play I Melt with You, which despite being 3 chords, has a number of riffs, vocal harmonies, and starts and stops. These guys struggled with the details on those songs because they either wouldn't or couldn't put the time in. The least musical guy in the group, the drummer, was the guy who I cam to depend on to know arrangements - but this was his only band.

Why did I keep playing with them? The hang was good, the money was decent, and the pickings were slim. We were starting to get fairly tight as well, which is the other issue. Sometimes it just takes time to get things to truly gel.

Thanks,

kevorargh
 
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#83
Kevorargh said:
Back when I was actually gigging and leading my own band, this was a constant source of frustration. Part of my issue was the people I picked - musicians who were in multiple bands, all of them talented, but with lost on their plate. They weren't going tp put in the amount of effort I wanted, especially not for the money I was paying them - even though I fed them, paid them for practice, and paid them for gigs.

The other issue is that the people I picked were used to playing styles of music that didn't require memorizing a lot of intricate riffs and arrangements - it's easy easy to play Call Me the Breeze if all you have to do is play guitar fills and you're dealing with 3 chords. It's a much different thing to play I Melt with You, which despite being 3 chords, has a number of riffs, vocal harmonies, and starts and stops. These guys struggled with the details on those songs because they either wouldn't or couldn't put the time in. The least musical guy in the group, the drummer, was the guy who I cam to depend on to know arrangements - but this was his only band.

Why did I keep playing with them? The hang was good, the money was decent, and the pickings were slim. We were starting to get fairly tight as well, which is the other issue. Sometimes it just takes time to get things to truly gel.

Thanks,

kevorargh
Click to expand...
I believe every practice room needs a giant whiteboard and dry erase markers.
It helps immensely with songs with complex arrangements.
Like:
(Into, A, Riff, A, B, 1/2A, Riff, Solo, 1/2A, Outro.)
So much easier when it's written out. Lol
 
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#84
MVE said:
I believe every practice room needs a giant whiteboard and dry erase markers.
It helps immensely with songs with complex arrangements.
Like:
(Into, A, Riff, A, B, 1/2A, Riff, Solo, 1/2A, Outro.)
So much easier when it's written out. Lol
Click to expand...
That would be helpful! I give charts to all my band members that has all of that stuff. The band members just need to take time to sit and go over these things.
 
#86
Aceman said:
Said it before, I'll say it again:

A band of average performers, playing their versions of songs, that they OWN and play tight and with swagger, will KILL.

A band of Uber-players just slapping it together, playing loose, mailing it in, and missing it is "meh"
Click to expand...
A band of Uber-players playing totally unrehearsed material has created some pretty inspired music. Just because its "unrehearsed" does not mean it is "loose" or "mailed-in".
 
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#88
BassJuju said:
I've been involved in a few bands over the past years and one really talented team of people. I am by no means professional and certainly have not achieved perfection. Still, I do take pride in the product I present when playing in any situation. I guess what I am saying is that good enough, is not good enough for me.

The reason I ask this is because I am currently in a country cover band with some very talented people. Awesome players, a great lead singer, and yet there doesn't seem to be any drive to get tighter as a group. No desire to rehearse. We are playing gigs and there are a number in the upcoming weeks. I listen to our recordings and hear far too many mistakes. Again, no ones perfect, mistakes happen live, but little things that should never be acceptable are met with, eh, we will figure it out.

Is this normal? Am I expecting too much?
Click to expand...
Yes, it can be normal. Expecting too much? No. But my guess is we'd rather be in a band that continues to get better, adds new songs, drop the ones that don't work well and concentrate on getting better and better shows but...
There are bands that are happy whatever level they are at and happy to remain in stasis as long as the gigs and fans keep showing up.
I'm in the "continues to get better" crowd. As John Coltrain's brother was quoted as saying once, "John was so obsessed with improving and mastering new skills he'd practice 25 hours a day"
I'd practice 8 days a week if could and rest on the ninth. Oops.... magical thinking took over my typing
 
#89
Aceman said:
Said it before, I'll say it again:

A band of average performers, playing their versions of songs, that they OWN and play tight and with swagger, will KILL.

A band of Uber-players just slapping it together, playing loose, mailing it in, and missing it is "meh"
Click to expand...

Our band uses the above as our mantra, we have some decent players but being in the greater DC / Baltimore area there are a numerous cover bands that are great at covers. We are not in that market. We are more of a jam groove band with our own sound that respects the originals with our versions. As part time musicians we always work to give the best performance we can. Our gigs usually go over well, so I guess we are doing something right... That said I'm a believer in keeping the groove with a simple bass line rather than making mistakes trying to overplay in a gig. That's what practice is for... but you always want to be working to play the best you can.
 
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#90
if it doesn't meet your standards, you will only become more frustrated. and it's unlikely you will change the other members' practice habits (or lack thereof) or desire to "be better." you should probably walk now. You will end up doing it anyway. Either accept it for what it is (completely, without complaint), or walk. That's about your choices.

I have 2 very PT bands right now. A very high quality tribute, and a very mediocre one (and 2 very different sorts of bands, not the same tribute). I had to accept that the mediocre one was never really going to become better and I should just enjoy the occasional show and money and not worry about. Don't complain. Don't try to improve the singer (the real problem). Just go with it or leave. I decided to just pocket the easy money and not worry about the poopy nature of it.

but as you can see from another thread, I am trying out for a more standard cover band. the mediocre band, after filling my commitments this fall, will probably go by the wayside if this pans out
 
#93
I just texted our guitarist to see what version of a particular cover he is basing his guitar chords (riffing) on, because clearly he and I are not in sync. So he sent me a youtube link to the exact same version I am using. Which leads me to conclude he has heard the intro and (incorrectly) assumed nothing else is going on guitar-wise.

I will just adjust to what he is doing, in order to make it sound like we're all doing the same song. This is not the first time, in fact for another cover song all three of the others managed to not playa specific break in the song, which is decidedly there, and then argue that I was wrong.

With this particular band, I have accepted that things are the way they are. We don't gig often (pre-Covid), the hang is usually fun and I just throw in whatever licks or new bits of theory I have been working on, into the jam section of some songs. Oh and I get to play fretless exclusively, which is also fun.
 

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