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Not if you think about it. If you practice just until you play something right once, you haven’t learned it that well. If you continue to practice it until you’ve played it right a lot of times, you know the material a lot better.
Well said, and something I've said for years. The average bar owner doesn't know the difference between a good band (unless he is a musician himself, usually) and a horrible one. They just notice how many people are there when the band is there in his place playing. That is his concern. Same with the average drunk patron. I've heard it said that if you nail the beginning and the ending, everything in the middle is filler. It's sad, but kind of the truth. The beginning grabs the listener "hey! I love that song!" The ending, they are getting to whoop and holler. In between, they are looking at their phones or talking to their friends.
As to the OP, there is a band in my area that is just like yours, except they actually rehearse, regularly. They just dont seem to care if they play the songs right or not. As long as there are a bunch of people there they are happy. I played with some of them for a bit and quit. Couldn't stand it. You couldnt practice the songs on your own because they made changes to do it "their way" (IE: solos where there aren't any, changed keys, improper chord progressions, etc). Still they get booked because they draw a crowd (mainly because they will spend as much or more than they make buying drinks for everyone in attendance.) One of the members is like you, and cant really decide if it's worth the effort or not.
BnB
They also practice, i.e. learning the song inside-out and upside-down and working through the "hard" parts until you can't mess them up.
That's not the same thing as rehearsals. Rehearsals are all about working out issues playing together, like how you're going to transition from one song to the next, making sure vocal harmonies work well, etc.
Everyone's time at rehearsal gets wasted if someone doesn't know the song or can't play their part.
Sounds like y’all are familiar with the little known 13th step in AA
“Don’t take yourself so damn seriously”
Not enough info - are there any hot chicks in the band or in the regular audience? Please advise.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I hope you are not taking money to play gigs if that is your level of proficiency. That's not a band - that's a group of people making noise.
The only thing you can control is yourself. As long as you stay in this band you are condoning and abetting this kind of behavior. If that's what you want to do, fine. If not, leave.
This sounds like the band from hell, sorry. Serious question... do you guys get repeat gigs? Everything you wrote shows how unprofessional your band is. Even easy songs should be rehearsed so to get starts, stops, accents, etc. down... anyhow, I think you need to have a band meeting and talk about improvements you can make, or bail.
Yeah. It’s a process called “ego tripping.” Some singers need to be reminded it generally shows better form if you wait until you’re famous and rich enough to pay your band before you start pulling that sort of nonsense.
FWIW Most of us don’t like dealing with the whole diva “It’s my show and all about me - so please keep up!” schtick unless getting being paid. And paid well. So you’re not alone.
Maybe your singer should take a yoga class.
Are these paying gigs? If so, I can't imagine these are well paying gigs. If they are freebies or battle of the band gigs, then no problem, nobody cares except you, but there will never be any motivation to get any better if you continue on the same path. IMO...
One of the working-est bassists of the past 40 years said in an interview that the hardest work he’d ever done in music was rehearsal in Carlos Santana’s band. When I read that, it was years ago, I reflected on the two bands in my past where everyone came to rehearsal, knowing the songs, their parts and being ready to work.
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It really just comes down to the musicians. I've played with bands that would never rehearse and still nail every show. I've played with bands that rehearsed alot and still made mistakes. The important thing is being self-aware. If the band can not rehearse and still sound great, perfect. However, if they're messing songs up, forgetting parts and arrangements, then it's obvious they aren't responsible enough to stay prepared, and rehearsal is probably necessary. Although, if they aren't preparing for shows, they'll likely be unprepared for rehearsal, which will just be a waste of time.
Train wrecks do happen, even with seasoned pros. Drummers are often involved. I watched Peter Gabriel stop a song due to a drummer trainwreck at the beginning of it. I think it was Jerry Marotta.
The drummer in one band I'm in is exceptionally good and has played major shows but sometimes he loses it when he has to cover one of his idols, like Steve Gadd. We've had two restarts due to him losing it on "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and I tried to keep that song off of our setlist to cut him some slack, but he just gets more determined to power through it. He always plays it well in rehearsal, so I think it's just the stress of performing it. Last time it was good, and he got a fist-bump. We'll see what happens tonight
In another band, with a different drummer who has also played MANY major tours, we were at the last song of the set and and he literally could not remember the correct beat to start the song with. He started it with the wrong beat three times.
There's really nothing you can do but laugh it off. I don't like restarts, I think they are unprofessional and never experienced them back in the day, but having experienced them more recently with some serious, seasoned players I have learned to accept that we're not always going to be perfect and, in turn, I can excuse myself for the mistakes I also bring to the table. The truth is that even those seasoned players have lives, and no one is making their livelihood in music anymore to the point at which they have the time to devote to making sure everything is absolutely perfect. Maybe we used to, but that ship has sailed for most of us.
Having said all that, there still does need to be, for me, a minimum level of effort being put in by everyone in order for me to stay happy. Right now I'm struggling with a guitarist who isn't a very good lead player, doesn't play scales or modes very well, and basically trainwrecks through multiple solos. He knows he's not a soloist but we've not been able to attract a good soloist, in part, because everyone hears him stretching beyond his ability and then no one with any ability wants to play with him. So we're really hurting in that department and I'm not sure how much longer I can go on with them like this, myself. I can't find a solution, since he's our main songwriter. Due to the drummer and singer being so good and me being able to lock in well with the drummer and blend harmonically with the vocalist, we still sound pretty good, but without that additional player we'll never get to the level I'd like to get to.
The drummer in one band I'm in is exceptionally good and has played major shows but sometimes he loses it when he has to cover one of his idols, like Steve Gadd. We've had two restarts due to him losing it on "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and I tried to keep that song off of our setlist to cut him some slack, but he just gets more determined to power through it. He always plays it well in rehearsal, so I think it's just the stress of performing it. Last time it was good, and he got a fist-bump. We'll see what happens tonight
In another band, with a different drummer who has also played MANY major tours, we were at the last song of the set and and he literally could not remember the correct beat to start the song with. He started it with the wrong beat three times.
There's really nothing you can do but laugh it off. I don't like restarts, I think they are unprofessional and never experienced them back in the day, but having experienced them more recently with some serious, seasoned players I have learned to accept that we're not always going to be perfect and, in turn, I can excuse myself for the mistakes I also bring to the table. The truth is that even those seasoned players have lives, and no one is making their livelihood in music anymore to the point at which they have the time to devote to making sure everything is absolutely perfect. Maybe we used to, but that ship has sailed for most of us.
Having said all that, there still does need to be, for me, a minimum level of effort being put in by everyone in order for me to stay happy. Right now I'm struggling with a guitarist who isn't a very good lead player, doesn't play scales or modes very well, and basically trainwrecks through multiple solos. He knows he's not a soloist but we've not been able to attract a good soloist, in part, because everyone hears him stretching beyond his ability and then no one with any ability wants to play with him. So we're really hurting in that department and I'm not sure how much longer I can go on with them like this, myself. I can't find a solution, since he's our main songwriter. Due to the drummer and singer being so good and me being able to lock in well with the drummer and blend harmonically with the vocalist, we still sound pretty good, but without that additional player we'll never get to the level I'd like to get to.
I wouldn't do this, even if most of our repertoire consisted of three chords and a beer.
It's a nice sentiment, but it has no basis in reality. I've seen plenty of professionals make mistakes at shows--including cracked voices, forgotten lyrics, and wrong keys--and have read many interviews with famous musicians who acknowledge mistakes during performances. The thing is, in most cases, the audience doesn't even know they happen.