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Setting up a school band....help me !

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous [BG]' started by Gia, Jul 7, 2003.

  1. Jul 7, 2003 #1
    Gia

    Gia

    Feb 28, 2001
    roseability
    In September, when school starts again, my guitarist friend and I plan to start a group in school for everyone who plays a 'band' instrument: guitar, bass, drums etc.

    We want musicians of all different levels and they'll be from 12 to 18, and presumably all have different musical tastes and ideas.

    I need people's input on this because I really want it to be a success. There's never been anything like this in my school before and my friend and I are really enthusiastic :oops:.

    My queries are....do you think it would be a good idea to have different groups of people who would practice on different days, depending on their musical abilities, or include everyone in one group and have different people play easier or harder things, (like a 1st violin, 2nd violin arrangement) ?
    Of course this would depend on the level of interest and if we have varied abilites.

    My second question is..does anyone have any ideas, or know of any good songs we could start off by playing ?
    They must be quite well known, and give us the scope to let some people play easier parts than others.


    Thankyou muchly !

    Gia xx :)
     
  2. Jul 7, 2003 #2
    yoshi

    yoshi

    Jul 12, 2002
    England, London
    I know it may not sound too helpful, but hold a meeting and make decisions based on the viewpoints of those who attend regarding should skil groups be created and what songs to play.

    Although segmening skill level would be handy for obvious reasons, it'd probably be helpful to everyone if skill levels were intergrated so people can teach and learn from one another.

    Why not try to get a staff member involved?

    Good luck with it, any more questions just ask and I'll try mybest to help out!
     
  3. Jul 7, 2003 #3
    XxBassmanxX

    XxBassmanxX

    Nov 21, 2001
    Rosman NC
    Id say let them learn from each other. I agree about the meeting though, I think your best bet is to talk to the members and discuss this with them. Once you make your decisions you could come back here for more ideas. Since none of us are going to be in your band we cant be much help, but we can tell you about things weve tryed that worked or didnt work. It will take longer for the less experianced players to learn, but they will learn much more with the upper classmen then they will alone. Goodluck with your group, and tell us how it goes!

    Joe
     
  4. Jul 7, 2003 #4
    Aaron

    Aaron

    Jun 2, 2001
    Seattle, WA
    By band, do you mean rock band or concert band? If you are talking rock band, i think it would start to sound really cluttered if you have more than 4-5 people, unless they really have their **** together. So on that basis, i'd recommend that they be split up by skill because in a smaller combo situation, one person can really drag down the rest of the team. I know it might sound cruel, but that is the way it is. You could arrange different sectional days where all of the guitarists get together, then the drummers, the bassists, etc. where they could give advice and help each other out.
     
  5. Jul 8, 2003 #5
    Petebass

    Petebass

    Dec 22, 2002
    QLD Australia
    That's the go. Get the better players playing the trickier bits, get the newbies playing the simpler parts.

    Definitely an interesting idea. Our school band was huge - 2 drummers, 2 bass players, 4 guitarists. The big difference was that wea also had a million wind instruments and they kinda ruled the roost, if you know what I mean.

    Good luck. Keep us posted.