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problems already! ugh!

D

Drifta

Sep 13, 2006
721
6
South Florida
#1
So i've been looking for a reggae gig for awhile since i moved to orlando... Recently I started taking lessons, practicing better and more often(2 hrs a day or more) and my playing has excelled so much, it is amazing to me. To this point everyone i've jammed with has been better than I.

so this brings me to my situation, i met up with these guys off craigslist, this "singer/guitarist" had the drummer and me meet him @ the bar, we had a good time a few beers, they were cool so i said lets go jam @ my place...

So we jam, i had a few too many beers and herbs and i was just kinda groovin, My roommmate came out and held the Organ down and to be honest i could not hear the guitarist much(combination of the drunkenness & he was drowned out a bit by all of us... i told him to turn down when we first started as he was wayyy too loud)

so anyways, i and we all thought it sounded tight and good! so we meet up a second time, and this time i want to write some stuff not just jam and do some WORK! so i dont have any beers, they come over and we start to jam and damn... i hate to say it because he's a good guy, but this guitarist sucks! ugh... i had to tell him half way through that i don't want to be a guitar teacher, which i felt was a dick thing to say but i just don't know how to make someone understand major/minor/ chords on the fly....

Damn, but the drummer is really good and i only know him through the guitarist... thing is, the guitarist had some sort of accident years ago and can only play with like 2 1/2 fingers on his fretting hand so he can barely even play alot of chords//doesn't know how to over come his disability. so i feel kinda bad to turn this guy down, but there are a million good guitarists out there.....


sorry for the long winded rant! lol.
 
#2
One mistake (I’ve made similar) was to not have a ‘formal’ audition where you can keep your distance in case it didn’t work out.

I can’t give any advice on how to make it easy to dump somebody; I’m dealing with that myself right now and I’m not any good at it.


Live and learn, I guess.
 
#3
yeah i agree man... the hardest part is the drummer is good drummer and more than willing to 'fit' in on the reggae, meaning hes not trying to over play and his timing is the best i've played with, although he doesn't have mega chops or anything its exactly what i'm looking for! but i cant just steal the drummer from him. sucks!

guess i need to let these dudes down, and start from scratch and find my self a drummer and audition members my self.
 
#4
To avoid future issues, either make it a rule to not drink/smoke/etc while playing music, or *always* drink/smoke/etc while playing music! ;)

Honestly - when you are sober, everything sounds different - and you can hear what is going on better. I used to play with a band that was always on something, and we'd record a practice - and it sounded jamming while we were playing. Listening back afterwards though you couldn't even tell we were all playing the same song! :D

In your current situation, maybe keep the drummer, ask the guitarist if he minds just singing, and find another guitarist.
 
#6
Drifta said:
...the guitarist had some sort of accident years ago and can only play with like 2 1/2 fingers on his fretting hand...
Click to expand...

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath lost the tips of two fingers. +1 on Django (lost two fingers). They did okay.
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If the guy can do vocals, give him a break. Would you consider him for vocals?

Maybe take the E string off the guitar and possibly get a prosthetic for the 1/2 finger. See if he can play some basic rhythm.

+1 on getting a second guitar player.

You might have the nucleus of a pretty good band if you rethink it a bit.
 
#7
Stumbo said:
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath lost the tips of two fingers. +1 on Django (lost two fingers). They did okay.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

If the guy can do vocals, give him a break. Would you consider him for vocals?

Maybe take the E string off the guitar and possibly get a prosthetic for the 1/2 finger. See if he can play some basic rhythm.

+1 on getting a second guitar player.

You might have the nucleus of a pretty good band if you rethink it a bit.
Click to expand...
well has has his fingers, but his ring finger is only half usable he can barely bend it and his pinky is useless. havent really heard his vocals too much but i dont think he is what we need (vocally)

Either way, dude doesn't know a lick of theory, and its hard for me to keep telling him he's playing the wrong chord, hes got the root right but cant tell major/minor.

To be honest i'm pretty busy with stuff in my life lately, these sessions we have will all be headaches for me trying to explain to this dude what to play.

It was all good when i had him come up with the chords and i played along but then I came up with a killer banging bassline that had like 3 chords in it and a 2 chord chorus and the dude was looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooost. :atoz: seriously, can't have a band practice when the bassist is trying to teach guitarist how to play chords!!!!!



lol anyways thanks for the responses. I think i'm going to have to just find and create my own band starting with a drummer so i get into a situation i want.... Off to find a rock drummer to convert into a reggae drummer(since theres never any around!) !!! haha
 
#8
ashtray said:
To avoid future issues, either make it a rule to not drink/smoke/etc while playing music, or *always* drink/smoke/etc while playing music! ;)

Honestly - when you are sober, everything sounds different - and you can hear what is going on better. I used to play with a band that was always on something, and we'd record a practice - and it sounded jamming while we were playing. Listening back afterwards though you couldn't even tell we were all playing the same song! :D

In your current situation, maybe keep the drummer, ask the guitarist if he minds just singing, and find another guitarist.
Click to expand...
yeah totally agree, it was basically just i wanted to meet them somewhere before inviting to house and we went to bar.. one pitcher turned into two... then we stopped and got some beers before we even got to the house lol, so yeah it was a bit too informal from the get go- If i want to find a serious band i need to find some serious players.. they showed up to the second practice a bit late after they met at the bar(i declined this time) and brought beers with them again aswell.. lol.
 
#11
So i havent talked to them yet, but i was checking craiglist and saw this AD for reggae bassist

"
We are both in our 20's and our style is reggae jam band type style. we are looking for a bassist to join and then would like to start gigging around town. Im not looking for people who are so serious about music that they cant enjoy themselves... im looking for someone who doesnt mind screwing up a chord here or there or expierimenting with different sounds. if this sounds like something your intrested in let me know. "

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If this is them i don't feel so bad at all, maybe they got the drift i wasnt going to be down with it much longer after the last session..
 
#13
CharlieDog said:
Answer the ad and find out.
Click to expand...

i txted him and confirmed it. Whew. Now i don't feel bad at all. Just left kinda scratching my head, its like they claim they want to be serious and gig, yet don't want to play in the right key........

Txted the drummer, since he was good, and said "let me know when it doesn't work out, loved your drumming & theres way too many guitarists out there that actually KNOW what a chord is"
 

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