Rehearsals +Cover Bands (not equal) Success?

[glocke1]

Just wanted to get the collective opinions and feedback.

I'm a cover bass player. One thing I've discovered is that any band I ever made money with never rehearsed. and conversely, every band I rehearsed with never made a dime.

The band I am in now never rehearses. I did one audition and one little practice session so he could show me how he arranges the songs. that was a year and about 100+ gigs ago.

Since I been in AZ, I got with a few other players and without exception, the ones that rehearsed relentlessly never played a gig.

I'm not saying this applies to original or pro level artists, or theater gigs.

I'm not complaining, but anyone else out there have this experience?

And I have nothing against rehearsing. Especially new material. I like playing so rehearsing once or twice a month (or year) is no problem for me.

Thats been my experience also. Years ago I played with a group of guys who were insistent on rehearsing every single Friday night. It was a great setup, big old farmhouse full of PA systems and all kinds of amps. All a guy had to do was show with his instrument. However, they were always turning down gigs, and always coming up with excuses to not gig...they pretty much felt that most gigs were "beneath" them, or we were not tight enough, etc. yet they were always insistent on a rehearsal every Friday.

Obviously it never went anywhere, and when I realized that they were basically just interested in renting a hall and playing out once a year to friends and family, I left.

After that I started doing some pickup gigs in a grateful dead cover band. I would basically book a gig, and than call up musicians I know to go play it. We hardly ever rehearsed, but we had fun and made some money to boot.

 

[MatticusMania]

Yes I have experienced this. I couldn't find the exact post I was thinking about, but in short, some folks here have expressed it in that they see an inverse relationship between the amount of gigs a band plays and how often they rehearse.

I play in a couple cover bands for many years, and we hardly rehearse. Between both bands I'm gigging usually every Fri. & Sat. The only time we rehearse is if we are adding new songs.

Well, Im not in a cover band, so my info/situation may skew any statistics someone may try to compile from this...

My Improv Rock Band could go either way with rehearsals. Everything we play is made up on the spot. 'Rehearsals' are pretty much just jam sessions and are just as much about the hang out as they are jam time. Its about building that bond between the 5 of us. We try and jam at lest once a week, its nice especially if we dont have a gig that week. If we dont jam, no big deal, we'll see ya at the show.

 

[bucephylus]

It is certainly true that setting up gigs with club owners is an onerous task that someone has to belly up to. So, a lot of forming inexperienced bands never get past that barrier and do end up with a lot of rehearsal and no gigs.

That said, if a cover band is playing well known R&B stuff that everyone knows, then no, you don't need a whole lot of rehearsal other than maybe for vocals; unless everyone sings like the Vienna Boys Choir - hey Motown has some really challenging vox if you actually listen.

Then, if the cover band is consistently adding new material, and instrumentation is different than the covered band, then somewhat regular rehearsals are necessary to sound tight and get used to things sounding different.

Guess I think it really depends on the material, the players, and the situation. I'd be hesitant to be categorical. I don't like rehearsing any more than necessary, but I also dislike playing in "good enuff" situations.

Here's an example: take Unchained Melody; how many times have you covered that and no one plays the keyboard counter melody? Heck, I've started playing that along with the bass line because I've gotten tired of guitar players never learning it. Anyhow, that's the type of thing that should at least get discussed in rehearsal.

So, I don't see a problem with rehearsal as long as it is complimentary to gigs. But, yes, no gigs = why rehearse for sure.

 

[Munjibunga]

If I were playing 100 gigs a year, we wouldn't have many rehearsals either. Many times, you can tell a band that has first-rate musicians but doesn't rehearse. The music sounds fine, but isn't as tight as that of a band that works out the nuances. Of course, at a hundred gigs a year, it's going to be mighty tight. I'm talking about combos that come out of the union hall, and play with each other only occasionally.

 

[troy mcclure]

I almost agree...my band gigs every weekend pretty much and we rehearse only when learning new songs or breaking in a new player.

 

[Stumbo]

Nothing like an upcoming gig to get a new group off the stick. Why wait to have 80 songs to start gigging? Get 30, extend a few to cover the night and line up a gig asap. Rehearse for a couple of weeks straight and get it done and up an running.

IME, people lose interest if you're not gigging (soon).

 

[JimmyM]

my regular band rehearses at bowzer soundchecks that we hijack or in our hotel rooms. once in a while we do unplugged shows where we do a bunch of stuff we have never done and we rehearse there, but otherwise it's strictly on the job. we have fairly involved vocals so we will go over them, but we never call rehearsals under any other circumstances. if i'm subbing, i get a songlist and i learn whatever songs i don't know on my own and i show up and do the gig. or else i'll read charts, or else it's lowest common denominator songs every musician should know. if a band i get a call for wants to rehearse anywhere else but on the soundcheck the day of the gig, it's a deal breaker.

this dude i know on alt.guitar.bass calls it the "inverse law of cover bands." the more you rehearse, the less you gig. i have found it to be 100% absolutely true.

 

[seanm]

this dude i know on alt.guitar.bass calls it the "inverse law of cover bands." the more you rehearse, the less you gig. i have found it to be 100% absolutely true.

In the bands I am in it is the opposite. If we gig, then we don't have to practice the next week. Unfortunately, neither is gigging as much as we would like, so we are practicing more than I would like.

 

[JimmyM]

In the bands I am in it is the opposite. If we gig, then we don't have to practice the next week. Unfortunately, neither is gigging as much as we would like, so we are practicing more than I would like.

right. the inverse law of cover bands at work

 

[KillerQuebec]

Hey Everybody,

Thanks for confirming this. On this last band, I actually starting thinking about this. i went over all the bands I practiced with forever that NEVER played a gig.

I might have had an idea of this about ten years ago, because after a particularly bad stint with some guys who couldn't get out of the garage, I did start insisting on auditioning people only at open mic's to determine if they could even put one song together for a live performance.

Although, when I instituted this policy, a lot of people never showed up. However I did support the local "open mic" scene, I could see if a guitar player could get himself set up in less than 2 hours, and I could find out immediately if the person had stage fright (this has happened to me twice in my youth).

I guess from here on out, if they practice, they don't really play out. I guess if you've been doing this long enough, you really shouldn't have to practice together. Since they are cover tunes, and you should easily be able to practice on your own. What is really the point of a face to face practice? You're either going to know this stuff, or you're not.

Maybe this should become an actual law or theorem? A maxim?

 

[MNAirHead]

Maybe this should become an actual law or theorem? A maxim?

a "maxim" I'm still laughing

 

[MNAirHead]

Well, Im not in a cover band, so my info/situation may skew any statistics someone may try to compile from this...

My Improv Rock Band could go either way with rehearsals. Everything we play is made up on the spot. 'Rehearsals' are pretty much just jam sessions and are just as much about the hang out as they are jam time. Its about building that bond between the 5 of us. We try and jam at lest once a week, its nice especially if we dont have a gig that week. If we dont jam, no big deal, we'll see ya at the show.

Matticus...
Not sure if the title was read.. it specifically asks for cover bands.

Jams and originals often become an orchestrated form of busking. Kind of different rules apply.

 

[MNAirHead]

Re Jaywa's post above, our band, b side bandits, practiced 80 songs over a 5 month period and has gigged good paying gigs ever since, so the one month rule isn't hard and fast

There's always an exception --- and truth in stereotypes.

I played in a band that took us 4 months to get out for 2 sets.. this was where we had tight 6 part vocals. If we would have gone the average route out the one month rule applies.

 

[bassbully]

Thats been my experience also. Years ago I played with a group of guys who were insistent on rehearsing every single Friday night. It was a great setup, big old farmhouse full of PA systems and all kinds of amps. All a guy had to do was show with his instrument. However, they were always turning down gigs, and always coming up with excuses to not gig...they pretty much felt that most gigs were "beneath" them, or we were not tight enough, etc. yet they were always insistent on a rehearsal every Friday.

Obviously it never went anywhere, and when I realized that they were basically just interested in renting a hall and playing out once a year to friends and family, I left.

After that I started doing some pickup gigs in a grateful dead cover band. I would basically book a gig, and than call up musicians I know to go play it. We hardly ever rehearsed, but we had fun and made some money to boot.

Wow,you story is allot like mine. I was in a classic rock band about 5 years ago who sound exactly like the band you were in. The practiced on Fridays in an old barn/shed lots of equipment they turned down gigs, went nowhere to play a party once a year for friends I did book 3-4 gigs for us and they all went bad so i left.
The funny thing is the drummer tracked me downl this year to come back and practice for a few weeks with the "old band " for his annual outdoor party this summer...I said ..thanks but no thanks.

 

[davidb]

Gotta say I disagree with a lot of the opinions here. We started out in clubs, put in the reasonable practice hours.
Now we haven't played a club in years. We travel all over the world playing weddings, conventions, music fests, backing other artists....etc.
The money has improved greatly. We still rehearse.
I firmly believe 'the more you give for what you get-the more you get for what you give'. Peace

 

[EastCoastThump]

IME, one bedrock truth of playing covers is that beyond a certain level of musical competence, most audiences can't reliably tell the difference between a competently pro cover band and a really top-notch pro cover band. If your singers are good, you cover the structure of the song and the signature instrumental parts/tones, and you're smart about matching the set list to the gig, then the punters tend to go home with the happy, warm feelings about the musical experience. (This obviously opens the door for stagecraft and showmanship to be crucial for cover bands.)

Consequently, it's tough to find working pros in many scenes who are willing to invest in regular extended group rehearsals for a cover band--especially when that investment isn't likely to produce more or more lucrative gigs. You could work out alternative arrangements, reharmonizations, complex vocal arrangements; but if you're already working with multiple gigging bands and fully booked, the payback is mostly intangible.

Of course intangibles can be important, but bread-and-butter CB gigs aren't typically where you go to stoke those fires.

 

[woodsideh]

I have played over 100 shows with my current gig. We rehearsed for for several months before the first gig partly because we went through 3-4 different keyboard players before we found the right one. Since then we only get together to go over a new tune.

I think for some guys it really boils down to confidence. I hooked up a few years back with what ended up being a practice band. I think we gigged once after 8 months. I ran into the band leader/drummer a month or so ago and asked him how it was going and believe it or not he said they were getting close but still had a few more kinks to work out before they started gigging.

 

[jaywa]

IME, one bedrock truth of playing covers is that beyond a certain level of musical competence, most audiences can't reliably tell the difference between a competently pro cover band and a really top-notch pro cover band. If your singers are good, you cover the structure of the song and the signature instrumental parts/tones, and you're smart about matching the set list to the gig, then the punters tend to go home with the happy, warm feelings about the musical experience. (This obviously opens the door for stagecraft and showmanship to be crucial for cover bands.)

Consequently, it's tough to find working pros in many scenes who are willing to invest in regular extended group rehearsals for a cover band--especially when that investment isn't likely to produce more or more lucrative gigs. You could work out alternative arrangements, reharmonizations, complex vocal arrangements; but if you're already working with multiple gigging bands and fully booked, the payback is mostly intangible.

This is the best articulation I have seen yet of the prevailing mindset among the steadily working cover band musicians I know (as well as myself). This is exactly the thinking that goes into decisions on if/how often to rehearse. It's really a diminishing returns thing at least on the cover band scene. Sure you could rehearse to get the material 5% better, but if all that work doesn't show up in the bottom line, what's the point? Especially if those rehearsals are eating up time that could be spent playing (or scoring) other gigs.

 

[invader3k]

I was once in a band that practiced twice a week, every single week. The problem was that there were people in the band that shouldn't have been in a band to begin with. They just weren't very good, and weren't practicing on their own time. This necessitated practicing twice a week. It took forever for us to finally play out, and when we did, the gigs pretty much sucked. It was so frustrating because I knew all these songs like the back of my hand, and had been in the group for a much shorter period of time than most of them. Eventually they wanted to move to a practice space two hours from my house, so we could practice even more doing the same lame songs, and I just up and quit. There was no way in hell I was going to put up with it anymore. It ended up being a huge stress reliever for me, being done with that "band."

Usually a band that has to practice relentlessly just isn't very good. The other thing that can happen is that some people are more about hanging out and pretending to be rock stars than actually getting serious and doing gigs.

 

[StuartV]

Put me down as the second exception. My current band is (and has been for over a year) gigging 1 to 2 times per month. Sometimes more, but usually not because I'm too busy with other things in my life to gig more than that.

We have been rehearsing once a week since the beginning, 2 years ago. We played one free gig after 3 months, then our first paid gig at the 6 month mark. We've had regular paying gigs ever since, and we still rehearse every week.

I think, for us, since we can only gig 1 - 2 times per month (mostly because of my schedule), we all enjoy rehearsing every week because it's a chance to play.