Practice, practice, practice...

[firststringer]

I'm in a bit of a quandary regarding...practice.

My 3-piece band has been around for almost 6 years. Generally, we have maintained a schedule of one, 2 to 3 hour rehearsal per week but when we are getting ready to record (we're an "originals" band) we've often upped that number. When we first started we practiced a bit more frequently than we do now and during that time we wrote much - but not all of the material we still play.

From the start we've been good and tight and have had absolutely no trouble lining up gigs. We haven't made any money but we have played dozens and dozens of shows throughout NYC, including places like The Bitter End and CBGB's before they closed. We have a bunch of gigs lined up for the fall.

We recently found a new drummer who is an upgrade over our previous drummer and is a quick study.

The problem now is that the singer / guitarist is becoming more and more adamant about practicing at least two times a week. He keeps citing these videos he's seen on Nirvana and all these other bands where they talk about practicing endlessly before "making it" and he feels that doubling the number of our practices is the only way we will advance.

I believe the point he is missing is that these bands all formed when the players were all "kids" and most of the people in these bands seemed to have learned their crafts then.

We are all adults. He's almost 40 and I am 50 (our drummer is in his late 20's - we also feature an emcee on a few songs who is in his 40's). I feel that we've long ago done our "apprenticeships" and while there is always room for improvement none of us is going to become dramatically better players, and we are not going to become that much tighter by getting together twice a week.

I feel that he is being unrealistic about the cause and affect of increasing the number of practices. Because he has been bringing this up more and more frequently I also get the feeling that he is framing an argument that scapegoats me as the reason we can't advance.

At the very least I am sensing resentment toward me and I don't know what I can do since I simply do not have the $$ or the time to regularly double the amount of practices we have.

Has anyone else ever encounter a similar situation, and if so does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get my points across?

Thanks.

PS. Sorry for the length of this post...

 

[Marko 1]

What is his goal? “Advancing” to… what level?

He keeps citing these videos he's seen on Nirvana and all these other bands where they talk about practicing endlessly before "making it" and he feels that doubling the number of our practices is the only way we will advance.

Is he one of those…

I got stuck for a while with some guys, around 50 at the time (some has-beens who’d gotten signed back in the ‘80s, but didn’t go very far).

With me providing a (home) studio and writing lyrics, they thought they had another chance at “making it” and tried to get me and my buddy (their old lead singer) to chase this dream with them.

I have to say, watching grown men behave like kids with stars in their eyes was quite a pathetic thing to witness.

Anyways, they’ll just waste your time/effort/money chasing whatever this goal/dream is.

In my opinion, you’ve got your priorities far-more based in reality than your buddy.

As for advice, I got nuttin… but stand your ground; if he’s in another world, let it be his problem.

 

[BassistForHire]

I practiced (never played out) in a Django style gypsy band. The rhythm guitarist was an artist that painted formulaic type seaside landscapes that he sold to Florida retirees as "real" art. We practiced in his studio. He had this vision of us playing and looking like the the Hot Club with wing collar tuxes, but he thought we ought to practice 4 to 5 times a weeks to work up a show. Everyone else had a real day job with regular hours. I just thought where is this guy's head. I guess he smoked his breakfast. I just laughed at him and promptly got fired. Of course the whole deal fell apart then but it could have been something with a little flexibility.

 

[bluewine]

I got stuck for a while with some guys, around 50 at the time (some has-beens who’d gotten signed back in the ‘80s, but didn’t go very far).

I have to say, watching grown men behave like kids with stars in their eyes was quite a pathetic thing to witness.

Anyways, they’ll just waste your time/effort/money chasing whatever this goal/dream is.

Not to hi-jack your thread, but I have some personal concerns about "dreamers".

I am one of those closer to 60 than 50 guys. However, I have no aspiration to"make it". For most and for the sake of the argument that means becoming rich & famous. I just want to get back with a working band that is realistic, professional and focused.

I have found that the chances of me getting iinvited to join one of the area cover bands that are good and work 4 times a month is probably not going to happen.

So, I am looking into some of the start up opportunities.I think this is where you find a lot of these dreamers with ideas, but don't have the resources to execute.

I guess going into these auditions and it's not really an audition if the band is not working, asking whats your plan, what do you want to do and how do you plan on doing it. If they can't give an intelligent answer that makes sense they won't see me again.

Things to think about;

Do you have a decent place to rehearse?

How soon do you expect to start doing shows?

Who do you know in town, it's very competetive , even to get into most "whole in the wall" urine scented clubs.

Do you have your own sound solution for clubs that don't provide sound.

 

[blues.bass]

Is it practice or a jam session?

We have found that we practice much better and more productively when we set goals for our practice session.
It may sound a bit non-rock and roll, but like most we all have families and other commitments so band practice time is limited.

Those goals may be as simple as tightening up and nailing an intro or ending to a tune or, working out what happens when we come out of a solo.. do we hit the bridge or back into the verse?
Etc, etc…
Communicating those goals before the session can really make the most of limited practice time as you don’t ‘waste’ time deciding on what to play and playing over stuff you already you know and nail.
Also, guys can do their own specific swat beforehand.

I guess it's a case of practicing smarter... not longer.

Works for us anyhow.

 

[Quadruple Jay]

Is it practice or a jam session?

We have found that we practice much better and more productively when we set goals for our practice session.
It may sound a bit non-rock and roll, but like most we all have families and other commitments so band practice time is limited.

Those goals may be as simple as tightening up and nailing an intro or ending to a tune or, working out what happens when we come out of a solo.. do we hit the bridge or back into the verse?
Etc, etc…
Communicating those goals before the session can really make the most of limited practice time as you don’t ‘waste’ time deciding on what to play and playing over stuff you already you know and nail.
Also, guys can do their own specific swat beforehand.

I guess it's a case of practicing smarter... not longer.

Works for us anyhow.

I agree. I've gotten a lot more out of hour long, structured practices than out of 3 hour unstructured "jam sessions". It required more work outside of practice to nail parts before you do it with a band, but it can really end up saving you a lot of time.

 

[mambo4]

You need to keep a reasonable and considerate attitude backed up with a willingness to walk if necessary.
You: " I love what we're doing and will give it my best, but one rehearsal a week is all I can realistically make time for."
Him "but what about yaddah yaddah yaddah"
You: "I hear what you are saying, but regardless, one rehearsal a week is all I can realistically make time for."

You don't really need to justify it beyond that. Let him make it a deal breaker if he must.

 

[invader3k]

Yeah, if you guys are all veteran players, more than once a week is fairly unreasonable. Really, if you have "a lot of gigs lined up", that should make up for any extra practice that would be needed. Maybe focus on getting more paying gigs than doing freebies?

How many people "make it" when they're in their 50's anyway? How many people "make it" like Nirvana or whatever other bands he's citing? Not to rain on his parade, but it just doesn't happen much, and once you get past 30, those chances really go down.

 

[firststringer]

Good advice all the way around. Thanks, fellas. I'm gonna respectfully stand my ground and let the chips fall where they may.

We'll see what happens following the next set of gigs we have lined up. I wouldn't walk out on any commitments I've already made and i can't see them replacing me what with us having stuff lined up every other week until Thanksgiving.

But I am fully ready to walk if need be when our schedule lightens up...

 

[Jim Campbell]

I'm in a bit of a quandary regarding...practice.

My 3-piece band has been around for almost 6 years. Generally, we have maintained a schedule of one, 2 to 3 hour rehearsal per week but when we are getting ready to record (we're an "originals" band) we've often upped that number. When we first started we practiced a bit more frequently than we do now and during that time we wrote much - but not all of the material we still play.

From the start we've been good and tight and have had absolutely no trouble lining up gigs. We haven't made any money but we have played dozens and dozens of shows throughout NYC, including places like The Bitter End and CBGB's before they closed. We have a bunch of gigs lined up for the fall.

We recently found a new drummer who is an upgrade over our previous drummer and is a quick study.

The problem now is that the singer / guitarist is becoming more and more adamant about practicing at least two times a week. He keeps citing these videos he's seen on Nirvana and all these other bands where they talk about practicing endlessly before "making it" and he feels that doubling the number of our practices is the only way we will advance.

I believe the point he is missing is that these bands all formed when the players were all "kids" and most of the people in these bands seemed to have learned their crafts then.

We are all adults. He's almost 40 and I am 50 (our drummer is in his late 20's - we also feature an emcee on a few songs who is in his 40's). I feel that we've long ago done our "apprenticeships" and while there is always room for improvement none of us is going to become dramatically better players, and we are not going to become that much tighter by getting together twice a week.

I feel that he is being unrealistic about the cause and affect of increasing the number of practices. Because he has been bringing this up more and more frequently I also get the feeling that he is framing an argument that scapegoats me as the reason we can't advance.

At the very least I am sensing resentment toward me and I don't know what I can do since I simply do not have the $$ or the time to regularly double the amount of practices we have.

Has anyone else ever encounter a similar situation, and if so does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get my points across?

Thanks.

PS. Sorry for the length of this post...

while i agree with the mambo 4 post,i'd add that raising the bar temporarily before going into the studio would be a reasonable compromise.....a few extra days might save a lot of valuable $tudio time

 

[Mooch]

Our band is an originals band as well, we have 5 guys ranging from 32 to 22. While we sometimes talk about, "wouldn't it be cool if..." Us older guys have done this a lot more and know how it goes.

Its hard to get anywhere even playing a "hole in the wall urine scented club" as another poster said. We practice 2 times a week and are a newly formed band and trying to make a name is hard and others have helped.

If you guys have played the places you have played I don't know why anything is an issue. A lot of us on here would love to get into places like that.

If it seems he's got it out for you you need to ask him what his goal is. If you don't agree maybe its time to move on. Not talking about it like freinds will lead to a very unhappy ending.

 

[WardEarth]

You have to create music by yourself in between practices, bring that to the practice and make new songs out of it. The more time you spend, the more you focus, the more you will improve. There is no final plateau, there is always another hill to climb.

 

[omnimutant]

IMO you can never practice too much. I don't see the harm in it, unless you don't enjoy playing that much anymore. Then maybe you should be doing something else with someone else.

 

[dogofgod]

Practicing is something I just do because I always work on complicated passages and try to really understand what I am doing and what the writer of the piece I am practcing was thinking. what an accomplishment when you finally nailed it.

It really makes it easier to practice when you really love the idea of getting better and better. Some days I really find it hard to practice, but I am never dissapointed after though.

 

[steveksux]

You need to get your goals in line. It'll never work if you want to do this as a hobby and they want to make it big. You guys are adults, have responsibilities, this is for fun, it may be for money, but its up to you how much of your free time its worth.

Time to get your cards on the table, this is only going to get worse as the conflict drags on.

I don't want to make it big, I don't want to tour, I want to play some weekends a month in front of people for pay.

Let the guys that want to chase the dream go and do it, and the guys that like the status quo can stay.

That's a big difference, not seeing a compromise that would work here long term.

Randy

 

[RustyAxe]

If, after six years, I spent more time rehearsing than working paying gigs ... well, let's just say I be posting this in the "10 Signs It's Time to Quit Your Band" thread.