joining the choir here, either they didn't practice (at home) or they know the material so well they dont feel the need to rehears as a band unit, which to me is a "flake" and shows no commitment.
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Why Text every freakin' time to ask "Is practice still on for tonight?"
- Thread starter 51PRI
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wintremute
mediocrity at its finest
- Oct 16, 2014
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- Endorsing Artist: Langstrom Carrot Farms
I am curious, do you know if this texting is bothersome to other members of the band?
After reading through this whole thread, it really seems like it's all about context. For some in here, it's the professional thing to do, to text to verify everthing is still going as planned. For others, it's the professional thing to NOT communicate unless things are not going to happen - to just be quiet and show up.
My band has been together for years, and we all check in the day of practice to make sure it's going to happen. It's considerate to us. My geeky Dungeons & Dragons group has been together even longer, and is far my stable and less flaky. We play every Tuesday. That is set in stone. Yet we still all check in on Tuesdays to make sure everyone is going to be able to make it that night. It's considerate to us.
We're not looking for an out, or an excuse to bail. We understand that things happen in life and problems arise. Also, we're all pretty tight, so if someone cannot make it, we check to see if there's something the rest of us can help with. I especially appreciate it, as I usually have something going on every night of the week. If I know well enough ahead of time that something is cancelled, it makes it far easier to juggle my schedule in the morning rather than finding out last minute.
It appears that in your context, this behavior is not considered considerate. It almost seems like it's the opposite, it's considered rude. If your other band mates agree with you and think that this is rude, maybe you need to have a one-on-one talk with the texting member and let him know how rude he is being to the rest of you, and help him to see things from your point of view.
After reading through this whole thread, it really seems like it's all about context. For some in here, it's the professional thing to do, to text to verify everthing is still going as planned. For others, it's the professional thing to NOT communicate unless things are not going to happen - to just be quiet and show up.
My band has been together for years, and we all check in the day of practice to make sure it's going to happen. It's considerate to us. My geeky Dungeons & Dragons group has been together even longer, and is far my stable and less flaky. We play every Tuesday. That is set in stone. Yet we still all check in on Tuesdays to make sure everyone is going to be able to make it that night. It's considerate to us.
We're not looking for an out, or an excuse to bail. We understand that things happen in life and problems arise. Also, we're all pretty tight, so if someone cannot make it, we check to see if there's something the rest of us can help with. I especially appreciate it, as I usually have something going on every night of the week. If I know well enough ahead of time that something is cancelled, it makes it far easier to juggle my schedule in the morning rather than finding out last minute.
It appears that in your context, this behavior is not considered considerate. It almost seems like it's the opposite, it's considered rude. If your other band mates agree with you and think that this is rude, maybe you need to have a one-on-one talk with the texting member and let him know how rude he is being to the rest of you, and help him to see things from your point of view.
Good lord, the things people get worked up about. I'd rather see someone confirming that everyone's still on for tonight than wait until the last minute only to discover that the time I've set aside for this is now open too late to make other plans.
I juggle a lot of commitments. When someone cancels at the last minute, it annoys me because I've usually had to turn down other things that wanted to play through because I had the now-cancelled thing on my calendar. I'm much happier to find out my schedule has opened up sooner rather than later, because it improves the odds that I can do something else in that time slot.
Musicians are notoriously flaky. Just because you are not the flaky one is not sufficient reason to just trust to fate that things are going to run like clockwork when other musicians are involved. The odds are far better that someone will flake on a rehearsal date than not with certain groups of people, and even the groups that are filled with more or less responsible folks will sometimes mess it up.
I was supposed to do a photoshoot last night and the person hosting it forgot to tell me it wasn't happening. I spent a sizable amount of time doing hair and makeup and then texted him with a question and got back, "oh, don't worry about the photos, we're not doing those."
Really? You think I'm just walking out the door looking like I'm ready for a show without spending some time on that? I freaking should have texted THAT guy yesterday morning before I wasted my time getting ready.
This is a repeating thing with bands, and the people who are well-organized know it, and they are the ones asking this question week after week because they've been burned silly too many times. So now the responsible people in the band are being judged too? For being responsible?
Man, y'all get worked up over the silliest things.
I juggle a lot of commitments. When someone cancels at the last minute, it annoys me because I've usually had to turn down other things that wanted to play through because I had the now-cancelled thing on my calendar. I'm much happier to find out my schedule has opened up sooner rather than later, because it improves the odds that I can do something else in that time slot.
Musicians are notoriously flaky. Just because you are not the flaky one is not sufficient reason to just trust to fate that things are going to run like clockwork when other musicians are involved. The odds are far better that someone will flake on a rehearsal date than not with certain groups of people, and even the groups that are filled with more or less responsible folks will sometimes mess it up.
I was supposed to do a photoshoot last night and the person hosting it forgot to tell me it wasn't happening. I spent a sizable amount of time doing hair and makeup and then texted him with a question and got back, "oh, don't worry about the photos, we're not doing those."
Really? You think I'm just walking out the door looking like I'm ready for a show without spending some time on that? I freaking should have texted THAT guy yesterday morning before I wasted my time getting ready.
This is a repeating thing with bands, and the people who are well-organized know it, and they are the ones asking this question week after week because they've been burned silly too many times. So now the responsible people in the band are being judged too? For being responsible?
Man, y'all get worked up over the silliest things.
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In my last long-term band, rehearsal was every Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon. If someone couldn't make it, we rehearsed anyway. In a long-term band, there's always things you can work on, always some sections that can be improved or tightened up. Having just a subset of the band there can make breaking things down and focusing on honing a problematic section easier.
Everyone carrying around aportable tracking device cell phone these days seems to make some people more nervous, anxious, and less capable of operating independently, doesn't it?
But I'm not a child and don't really appreciate being nagged by a 'Mommy-substitute' to remember when rehearsal is.
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If whenever one person cancels, everyone else immediately wants to cancel, I'd suggest maybe finding ways to make rehearsals more fun and less like work.
Everyone carrying around a
But I'm not a child and don't really appreciate being nagged by a 'Mommy-substitute' to remember when rehearsal is.
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If whenever one person cancels, everyone else immediately wants to cancel, I'd suggest maybe finding ways to make rehearsals more fun and less like work.
I think some have to weed through enough vital texts, emails and calls each day that they appreciate keeping nonessential chatter to a minimum.
"Is practice still on?" can be about as annoying as incessant "Is it still available/for sale?" inquiries.
I know it's a different scenario, but maybe not that different: If I hired on for a specific gig, I'd probably not get hired again if I texted the BL, "Is the gig still on tonight?".
"Is practice still on?" can be about as annoying as incessant "Is it still available/for sale?" inquiries.
I know it's a different scenario, but maybe not that different: If I hired on for a specific gig, I'd probably not get hired again if I texted the BL, "Is the gig still on tonight?".
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You've missed 100 rehearsals?!!
LMAO! First perhaps I should have said "99.9% of the time"
Second - Love your Avatar Bass Viking . . . Of course I'm a proud (and ashamed) Minnesota Vikings fan so any hat with horns . . .
Man, my experience is the polar opposite of yours.In my last long-term band, rehearsal was every Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon. If someone couldn't make it, we rehearsed anyway. In a long-term band, there's always things you can work on, always some sections that can be improved or tightened up. Having just a subset of the band there can make breaking things down and focusing on honing a problematic section easier.
Everyone carrying around aportable tracking devicecell phone these days seems to make some people more nervous, anxious, and less capable of operating independently, doesn't it?
But I'm not a child and don't really appreciate being nagged by a 'Mommy-substitute' to remember when rehearsal is.
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If whenever one person cancels, everyone else immediately wants to cancel, I'd suggest maybe finding ways to make rehearsals more fun and less like work.
1) rehearsals for me are for getting together to make sure the parts everyone has been working on at home are gelling together. Sometimes you can have a partial group and accomplish something, but it's better to have everyone there if arrangements are being changed, etc. My bands don't rehearse weekly. We rehearse when we have a need. Otherwise we learn and practice independently.
2) the reason we're able to do it that way is because everyone has a cell phone / portable recorder and we record the arrangements we've come up with so that we can all practice independently with those recordings. It saves us so much time.
3) I'm not a child either but I have worked in plenty of bands with people who do need to be reminded. One guy had severe mental illness and his meds made him forgetful. One band has nine people in it and there's always someone who forgot or whose partner is mad that they made plans for a Sunday or whatever it is. Maybe you don't need to be treated like a child; why do you think those texts are aimed at you, then? They're likely needed by someone who is not you.
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I really don't know for sure. It's probably now just considered normal for this particular band member. I DO know that another band member responded with an emphatic "YES!" in less than a minute after he posted yesterday.
No, not rude, just unnecessary.
Sure, an early cancellation is much better. However, things can happen at the last minute even if everyone has confirmed early in the afternoon. Example...guitar player has loaded his amp and guitar in his vehicle to go to practice and his wife yells at him "honey, the sink is overflowing!" What does the guitar player do? He probably blows off practice to fix the sink and might not even take the time to let the band know.
Seems like an odd thing to get all torqued up over. Have you never driven a long way for something only to find out it's cancelled and you weren't informed? I certainly have. I confirm everything unless it being cancelled would be trivial to me (like, it's exactly on my way home from work at exactly the time I'll be going past there anyway).
If you complained to me about this, you'd get an earful and I don't think you'd like what you'd hear.
Yep this kind of thing.
OP, I suggest you get burned a few times with 2 hour drives to places in the middle of nowhere for things that don't take place, and maybe you can see the other guy's point of view.
I always think that a band group text, or really any group text, is to all of the members unless someone is singled out.
Yes. Not a long distance but still not cool. The person who can't make it to practice/rehearsal should be the one who has the responsibility to inform everyone, emergencies excluded.
How thoughtful. Oh, I understand the point of view, especially if a 2 hour drive is involved. (1) I would likely never get into a situation in which a 2 hour drive to rehearsal is required, and (2) if I did I would certainly confirm that practice was still on, and probably call about half way there to re-confirm.
Yup… We do play together in different configurations a fair amount. I sent out charts sometimes and we just play them, or often we just make up arrangements on the fly. The players are all top class and everyone does their homework.
Or ... The band is not as committed, and you realize going fishing is a better way to spend your time than sitting there waiting for the band to learn the tune that was agreed two weeks ago.
I have stopped preparing songs with my current band beyond the basic level, cos I know I'll be the only one who has heard the song (any given song) all the way through. It's tiresome to learn the breaks and changes only to arrive and hear a watered down derivative of a tune. And yes, we share YouTube links beforehand.
So in my case, with this band, any reason to cancel is fine. Rehearsal is a social gathering, but I need to pack stuff for it.
And people complain and call 'my kind' mercenary because I won't band-rehearse covers unless it's for the right gig(s).
The irony is the guys who just get a setlist with keys a couple nights before a gig are usually the ones who show up prepared.
I joined a jazz quartet last year in which the other players love to rehearse. For the comradery, exploring theory and generally to hang. They are not as experienced performing, so seem to get more out of the rehearsal experience. They are great people and I enjoy the rehearsal experience too but have limited time and energy.
I'm coming from a different background where practice is individual with minimal full band rehearsal and emphasis is on performing as much as possible (jazz standards). This is a new situation for me as I'm booking all the gigs.
Dudes in the band are sending me confirming texts on gig dates and times (we already covered this). I stopped responding and let them figure it out.
I'm coming from a different background where practice is individual with minimal full band rehearsal and emphasis is on performing as much as possible (jazz standards). This is a new situation for me as I'm booking all the gigs.
Dudes in the band are sending me confirming texts on gig dates and times (we already covered this). I stopped responding and let them figure it out.
I'm that guy. Why?
1. Burned in the past. 70% of the time, the leader puts out a reminder. When he doesn't by noon, I ask.
2. 7 adults with full rich lives. I find the humans can be a bit optimistic about what they can do in a single day, and fall short shortly before practice.
Generally, I travel the farthest to rehearsals and I've had rehearsals last minute canceled as I'm approaching the rehearsal site…With an upright in the front seat and electric and amp, as well as having taken time to prep, pull or scratch out new lead sheets. If no rehearsal, lots else I can do with my time.
1. Burned in the past. 70% of the time, the leader puts out a reminder. When he doesn't by noon, I ask.
2. 7 adults with full rich lives. I find the humans can be a bit optimistic about what they can do in a single day, and fall short shortly before practice.
Generally, I travel the farthest to rehearsals and I've had rehearsals last minute canceled as I'm approaching the rehearsal site…With an upright in the front seat and electric and amp, as well as having taken time to prep, pull or scratch out new lead sheets. If no rehearsal, lots else I can do with my time.
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