One really important question in a young musician's life.

[gregmon79]

If you guys arent good enough to write songs together or at least cover some tunes well together, you may want to think about practicing more in your bedroom som more till you can do one of those two things or preferably both. About 7 years into my bass playing career I joined a project as the guitarist (I also can play the guitar some. At least enough to play and write songs) and the rest of the band aside from the vocalist was very inexperienced. Very. The vocalist didnt play anything either mind you. I gave it 6 months before I dropped out. I couldnt take it. It went nowhere every time we got together. I recently was told by the vocalist that they are fianally coming out with some material. 7 years later.

You have to have some confidence but you do also need to know a thing or two about theory or be really good at playing by ear. You HAVE to have one of these two things to get by in a band. If you dont, then again, go back to the drawing board for a little bit till you do. That is just my advice/the way I see it.

 

[lfmn16]

That IS how I reply. You do realize I'm not in the least bit popular around here, don't you?

Some people get very upset when they see someone else with high standards.

 

[mellowinman]

I just want to point out that when I say "around here," I don't mean talkbass. I mean the Fort Wayne music scene. If they are Vampires, I am Garlic. If they are Elephants, I am a mouse. If they are hot women, I am a Rush song.

 

[xgator4u]

If they are Vampires, I am Garlic. If they are Elephants, I am a mouse. If they are hot women, I am a Rush song.

Now THAT is FUNNY.

 

[Lownote38]

To the original poster... I have the most fun when the band I am in is putting in as much time as possible in order to be better. It's why I like to play in the first place. I love to learn and I like to be in bands where everyone feels that way and everyone continues to push one another to new heights musically.

 

[buldog5151bass]

The band has to be on the same page, or there will be frustration. To me, there is nothing better than muscians grooving together. I have my own expectation, as far as musicianship, professionalism, and amount of gigs. If the band is not in the same spot, and willing to compromise, I've found other opportunities.

 

[bevan lurrito]

If you want to be objectively better at anything, it helps to be around people who do that thing better than you do.

When I used to skate, I skated with people who were years ahead of me, because it pushed me. I got much better, much faster, than I would have skating with folks that were at or below my level.

It is tough to pull yourself away from mediocre players when all your peers are blowing sunshine up your a$$ about what a killer player you are, but keep it real. If you look at the biographies of the truly great musicians, so many of them had what could be termed "an apprenticeship" at the feet of a master. You see that again and again.

As far as being "in a band" goes... you can become a great technician sitting around in your underwear. YouTube has, if it has done nothing else, proven this fact. But if you want to become a great MUSICIAN you have to play out. Sorry, that is all there is to it. So even if you never are "in a band" as a sanctioned member with all that entails, you have to get out there and get on stage, or at least in a live recording situation with other good players.

 

[el murdoque]

I think i draw the line at the exact point where i draw the line.
I've been in a band where i started out as the worst musician of the lot, after a long pause where i rarely touched a bass. I invested lots of practice and the pace was breathtaking. It was 50/50 originals and cover, but the bandleader often had ideas of certain passages for each instrument (and he was doing a great job at it) and after each rehearsal, i had a load of stuff to practice in the week to come. I enjoyed that a lot and was looking forward to the next rehearsal each and every time. People were expected to practice their parts at home so once we agreed on who plays what.
That was a lot more effort than other bands i've been in before, but well within the limits of what i was willing to give. If that much effort had to go into some other projects i've partaken in, i would have quit on the spot - so there is, at least for me, no rule of thumb, only my gut to follow.

 

[Rich Terry]

Playing in a band is much like being married to a woman with multiple personalities. It either works or you go crazy. It's a hell of a lot of fun when it works and sometimes you need to get rid of one of the personalities.

 

[red_rhino]

When slackers ask me, "can't you just HAVE FUN?" I always want to reply, "how can I have fun when you're MAKING ME SOUND LIKE @#$@%@$??????"

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Basically, this sums up how I feel too. Just because it's supposed to be "fun", doesn't mean that it's not a professional endeavor. After years of putting up with the "I just want to have fun" attitude, I now refuse to be part of someone else's train wreck, or drag people behind me like a boat anchor hoping that maybe someday they'll be inspired enough to pull their own weight.

It's taken me years to learn that lesson. Better late than never.

-Alan

 

[Space Pickle]

I'd say it depends, particularly if you're only doing this part time.

I do miss the hang from one of my old bands. The music was at a dead end, but it was a great group to hang with more or less once a week.

I guess you have to decide what you're in it for - is it more important to be right, or to have friends?

 

[zombiecatz]

If you want to be objectively better at anything, it helps to be around people who do that thing better than you do.

When I used to skate, I skated with people who were years ahead of me, because it pushed me. I got much better, much faster, than I would have skating with folks that were at or below my level.

It is tough to pull yourself away from mediocre players when all your peers are blowing sunshine up your a$$ about what a killer player you are, but keep it real. If you look at the biographies of the truly great musicians, so many of them had what could be termed "an apprenticeship" at the feet of a master. You see that again and again.

As far as being "in a band" goes... you can become a great technician sitting around in your underwear. YouTube has, if it has done nothing else, proven this fact. But if you want to become a great MUSICIAN you have to play out. Sorry, that is all there is to it. So even if you never are "in a band" as a sanctioned member with all that entails, you have to get out there and get on stage, or at least in a live recording situation with other good players.

Before I met the guys im in the band with I used to hang with the best players in my town. I did learn alot from just listening and joining on some jams it was an awesome experience which is why I even became good enough to make my own band.

 

[Muttleybass]

When slackers ask me, "can't you just HAVE FUN?" I always want to reply, "how can I have fun when you're MAKING ME SOUND LIKE @#$@%@$??????"

EXACTLY!!!

 

[podiumboy]

My band started as an originals band, and we never really stopped writing songs, but eventually we realized that playing covers got us better gigs and made us actual money.

But I'll be honest, we have more fun and play better when we play originals. Last night's rehearsal really drove that point home to me. We were trying to work out some new cover for "Sugar we're going down" by Fallout Boy, and it wasn't working out. Moral was low, we were getting frustrated, so we quit and started playing an original just to move on to something different. That lead to another original, and another, and "hey, remember when we used to follow that song with this one?" and play another original. It was fun.

After rehearsal, we ordered a pizza and had a little bit of a social hour. Our drummer (was at his house) popped in a video from one of our old gigs from 2008-9. Watching back, you could tell we just had more fun with originals, judging from the body language, the musicianship, the way we'd communicate with each other while playing. We're all in our early 30s, and it's very obvious we're never going to "MAKE IT" and we're fine with that. I'd rather stay in the drummer's basement and play what we want to play than play another half crowded bar and a bunch of songs we didn't write, and in some cases, don't even like playing.

 

[mambo4]

It is possible for a band to focus too much time and effort on perfecting musical ability.
beyond a respectable level of competence, how well you play has little to do with success, career-wise.

imagine 2 bands that dedicate 8 hours every week to band stuff.
Band A rehearses 8 hours per week
Band B rehearses 2 hours per week, and spends 6 hours pursuing gigs, making connections, deliberately fostering a presence in the local scene.

Band A will probably play better
But B will probably play more

(...and , eventually, B will probably become better than A by virtue of on the job experience)

 

[chuck norriss]

CONFESS

 

[DavC]

if we are enjoying ourselves and our music while on stage ... the audience will more than likely enjoy it also .. positive energy gets more positive energy ... that is , of course , if the band doesn't just really suck .. ! ha ... or you've been booked at the wrong type of place ... like a metal band at a country bar !?

 

[ArtechnikA]

I think I've said this before, but in the ears of the audience, there is _no_ difference between an original and a cover song they haven't heard before... If it's new to me, I don't know if you wrote it yesterday or if it's been on the radio for a month and I just never heard it (I don't hear a lot of new music except the syrupy cr&p at the haircutter every 6 weeks or so...).

If you're playing well-crafted songs and selling the performance, I'll probably like it. And yeah, it would probably do you no harm to play 'a standard' every now and then, just to give the audience an occasional musical reference.

As long as I'm on my roll...

I have a day job. If I'm going to give that up and dedicate myself to a musical project with the same level of intensity and dedication I've invested in that for 40 years, it's going to have to provide some major fraction of the income... There are lots of deeply invested, incredibly earnest, sincere, and hardworking (yet poor) would-be artists - to the point it's a cliché. This is the _standard_ dilemma. Do you dedicate your life to the purity of your art form, or do you 'sell out' and actually make a living? High-principled cliché starving artists always speak of this dichotomy - the word 'balance' is never to be found...

If your art is your life, how are you making a living? If you have a life without art, is that living?

A deeply personal question each person must answer individually. Each time the decision is made it gets harder to change the path. I'd advocate balance, but this compromise is not tolerable to purists. I wonder how many purists are truly happy - I expect I'll never know...

 

[squidtastic]

I have a day job. If I'm going to give that up and dedicate myself to a musical project with the same level of intensity and dedication I've invested in that for 40 years, it's going to have to provide some major fraction of the income... There are lots of deeply invested, incredibly earnest, sincere, and hardworking (yet poor) would-be artists - to the point it's a cliché. This is the _standard_ dilemma. Do you dedicate your life to the purity of your art form, or do you 'sell out' and actually make a living? High-principled cliché starving artists always speak of this dichotomy - the word 'balance' is never to be found...

If your art is your life, how are you making a living? If you have a life without art, is that living?

A deeply personal question each person must answer individually. Each time the decision is made it gets harder to change the path. I'd advocate balance, but this compromise is not tolerable to purists. I wonder how many purists are truly happy

Great questions/points. Reminds me of a story I occasionally share with my musician friends who wonder whether they're spending their time "right":

About 18 years ago, I was on a gig with a drummer who worked with some of the greatest musicians ever, e.g., Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin. I was working part-time because I just couldn't bring myself to let go of the security of a steady check (small though it was). This drummer was a full-time musician, and I was so envious of him. We were chatting, and I told him how envious I was and that I wish could bring myself to take the plunge into the full-time musician pool to try to "make it". To my complete surprise, he said he envied me -- wait, what?

Long story short, he said that he had to take gigs that he didn't want (including teaching gigs) to ensure that the money kept coming in -- gotta do something to make money between the awesome Ray Charles gigs. He envied me because I didn't have to take gigs I didn't want. It got me thinking about what I really wanted, and I realized that, no, I didn't wanna have to teach and have to take lame gigs just to make a comfortable living. He did a lot to help un-romanticize the full-time musician thing for me. I realized that I'd rather have that steady check and play with people like him and have fun doing it.