I started playing bass a few months ago. I had wanted to learn an instrument and mentioned it to a couple of my friends who heavily encouraged me. One of them took me shopping and really got me going with it. He and I started jamming together about once or twice a week. He started showing me some things and teaching me some songs. It was a lot of fun. He's a phenominal guitarist - played for 20 years and can play anything. Great musician. Great friend.
Eventually the 2nd friend finally started playing with us one night and we had a real good time. I was having trouble knowing when to switch chords, and the songs needed vocals, so we needed someone to sing. Well, "friend 2" jumped in with "i've got a mic and i can sing." (shortened version)
So, the 3 of us played together the following week, friend 2sang and it went real well. We played against a drum machine. He wasn't the best singer, but it kept our place in the songs and it just was a lot of fun (I figured he'd get better too). Then we decided we needed a drummer. I found us one (related) and the following week, he jammed with us. He's an amazing drummer. Everything clicked that first night. It was just so much fun. We decided we would start a band, picked a name, and have been practicing about once a week for the past 3 months. We just play covers right now, but as I improve and we play more we'll start doing our own stuff. We've been thinking about the future when we'll do bars and such. We've all got day jobs, this is just for fun, but we take it seriously.
The problem is...our "singer" (friend 2) really can't sing. We record our practices and anyone who's heard them says "get a new singer, but the music is awesome." So, I sent an email out to the band about maybe in the future we could look at getting a dedicated lead singer, maybe a girl who can play keyboards a little.
Well, our "singer" took this the wrong way. Apparently he feels as if he sang because no one wanted to and his role in the band is being challenged. He feels like he is a very good singer, and he's far too talented to just strum chords and play backup for some singer.
How do you tell someone who can't sing, that they can't sing, but their guitar playing and role in the band is still very valuable. He sings well enough he could do great backup singing, as does our main guitarist. I don't feel that not being the lead singer makes you less valuable. Our sound is awesome, and he's a good part of that sound. He's also a good friend.
We don't want to lose him, but he's also a sensitive person who is difficult to talk to and say things like "play it this way" or "you're playing that wrong" or "we need a new singer." So, what the hell do you do? Good friend, good guitarist, good value to the band, but only wants to play if he's lead singer. Also thinks he's a good singer when he's really (really) not. And sensitive about perceived criticism.
*edit* I should say, that 2 of the songs we do, he actually does a pretty good job on. Nothing outstanding or phenominal, but a pretty darned good job of hitting most of the notes. I think because there are a couple songs like that, he feels like he can do all.
Eventually the 2nd friend finally started playing with us one night and we had a real good time. I was having trouble knowing when to switch chords, and the songs needed vocals, so we needed someone to sing. Well, "friend 2" jumped in with "i've got a mic and i can sing." (shortened version)
So, the 3 of us played together the following week, friend 2sang and it went real well. We played against a drum machine. He wasn't the best singer, but it kept our place in the songs and it just was a lot of fun (I figured he'd get better too). Then we decided we needed a drummer. I found us one (related) and the following week, he jammed with us. He's an amazing drummer. Everything clicked that first night. It was just so much fun. We decided we would start a band, picked a name, and have been practicing about once a week for the past 3 months. We just play covers right now, but as I improve and we play more we'll start doing our own stuff. We've been thinking about the future when we'll do bars and such. We've all got day jobs, this is just for fun, but we take it seriously.
The problem is...our "singer" (friend 2) really can't sing. We record our practices and anyone who's heard them says "get a new singer, but the music is awesome." So, I sent an email out to the band about maybe in the future we could look at getting a dedicated lead singer, maybe a girl who can play keyboards a little.
Well, our "singer" took this the wrong way. Apparently he feels as if he sang because no one wanted to and his role in the band is being challenged. He feels like he is a very good singer, and he's far too talented to just strum chords and play backup for some singer.
How do you tell someone who can't sing, that they can't sing, but their guitar playing and role in the band is still very valuable. He sings well enough he could do great backup singing, as does our main guitarist. I don't feel that not being the lead singer makes you less valuable. Our sound is awesome, and he's a good part of that sound. He's also a good friend.
We don't want to lose him, but he's also a sensitive person who is difficult to talk to and say things like "play it this way" or "you're playing that wrong" or "we need a new singer." So, what the hell do you do? Good friend, good guitarist, good value to the band, but only wants to play if he's lead singer. Also thinks he's a good singer when he's really (really) not. And sensitive about perceived criticism.
*edit* I should say, that 2 of the songs we do, he actually does a pretty good job on. Nothing outstanding or phenominal, but a pretty darned good job of hitting most of the notes. I think because there are a couple songs like that, he feels like he can do all.
