Practice without a drummer

[zacclowes]

keep thinking I should learn drums for occasions like this.
I can play super rudimentary stuff and have played through a song or two when band mates have all switched instruments to mess around at practice

[molan]

We rehearse from time to time without a drummer. We use drum patterns from a keyboard and our singer is now a bit of a whiz at cutting the drums in places where there are stops and then bringing them back in on time - sometimes he even adds fills as well

[Pinball]

We often practice without either drums or keys as its really hard to get our whole band together. If we're missing our drummer we use software drum tracks that we have made when we're developing the tracks-many are based on the rhythms of our drummer. It's very useful as we have had to play without a drummer twice in the last 12 months. When playing live the whole band need to be able to hear the Software drums to avoid disaster so it can be tricky.

If you listen to The Angry Badgers Soundcloud link below all the demo's are software drums that we use and "Kill It" is the whole band. I much prefer real drums but we still manage to rock the house

Edited June 10, 2015 by Pinball

[jimbobothy]

I always prefer rehearsing with a drummer or percussion but as of late have been playing without one far too much, I feel sad . However am playing with one tomorrow so I feel happy lol!

[RockfordStone]

when we were faced with not having a drummer, unless we could cancel the practice we would do it acoustic.. it allows you to hear clearer what everyone is playing which is a good thing to do from time to time.

[MoonBassAlpha]

I've just used the drum parts from multi-track recordings to play along with in the absence on our drummer. Works a lot better than a metronome or drum machine.

[bigjohn]

I've done gigs without a drummer

In fact, we booked gigs and did them without a drummer. Ours had left. Blues / Rock band. Full on. Stuff that's much easier with a drummer.

That's how we got new one. He walked up to us after a gig and asked if we needed a drummer... well duh.

It's quite good fun rehearsing without too. Give it a go. What have you got to lose?

Edited June 11, 2015 by bigjohn

[Chrismanbass]

practice without a drummer

you should be able to play all the songs without him anyway

if you can't then [b]you[/b] don't know them properly and need to learn to count through the breaks where the drummer
brings you back in with a fill

it'll make you a better player

[BILL POSTERS]

The only problem I found with practicing without a drummer is you, or at least I, tended to fill in the gaps. Good to be able to do it but if practicing that way too much, for me at least, it became a difficult habit to break.

[scalpy]

You should practice without the drummer as a matter of course. Everybody in the band should be able to keep time, moreover be able to groove and get the song going without one. No machines, no shortcuts. Makes a huge difference to how tight your band is.

[Marvin]

If I'm in a band that intends to perform in public then I'm only interested in rehearsing (I don't do practises, that's usually a byword for someone tipping up not having done their homework) as a band. Everyone there or I don't turn up.

[Pinball]

C'mon "use your imagination" surely you can cover the drums and play guitars. Mr Boom can do it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUVm_I2r3OA

[tinyd]

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1434048639' post='2796313']
You should practice without the drummer as a matter of course. Everybody in the band should be able to keep time, moreover be able to groove and get the song going without one. No machines, no shortcuts. Makes a huge difference to how tight your band is.
[/quote]

I tend to agree - of course, the music might not sound 'complete' without the drummer, but as @scalpy says, keeping time and groove is everyone's responsibility. In the band I'm in at the moment, we actually sound better without the drummer as he somehow manages to extract time and groove from the music, but that's another matter....

[Truckstop]

It's a great opportunity to hammer out backing vocals, guitar and keyboard harmonies, structure issues, possible songwriting/discussing new covers, talking about future direction, drinking etc

There's lots of stuff that a band goes through that needs to be talked about but never does. Does your band have a contract that gets emailed to pubs/venues outlining everyone's responsibilities? Do you have a stage plan? Maybe someone wants to talk about stage wear, lights, uniform etc? I'd still encourage everyone to get together. Even if you don't play anything, it's important to keep the ball rolling and maintain pressure on the band to learn new things and think about what they want from the band.

[Nicko]

I think people are missing the original point (maybe I didn't explain properly) The band all know the songs and structure. Practice in this context is intended to get it really tight, and to be honest we can't do that without the stickman. Anyway, we cancelled last night and bonded over beers instead which was probably time well invested but its great to see everyone's views.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1434110145' post='2796787']
I think people are missing the original point (maybe I didn't explain properly) The band all know the songs and structure. Practice in this context is intended to get it really tight, and to be honest we can't do that without the stickman. Anyway, we cancelled last night and bonded over beers instead which was probably time well invested but its great to see everyone's views.
[/quote]
Might be worth discussing some new material & just meet up with instruments & no intentions?

[chris_b]

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1434048639' post='2796313']
You should practice without the drummer as a matter of course. Everybody in the band should be able to keep time, moreover be able to groove and get the song going without one. No machines, no shortcuts. Makes a huge difference to how tight your band is.
[/quote]

+1000

Sounds like the OP needs to rehearse without a drummer more often to get rid of this over reliance on a "timekeeper", improve his counting and to boost his imagination.

[Bilbo]

Any time practising is useful. Jazz gigs without drummers used to fill me with dread. Now I prefer them.

[Marvin]

Whether the remaining members of a band can go through the songs or no without a drummer is a total irrelevance. If a BAND is to sound tight and cohesive it needs to practice as a band, everyone listening to EVERYTHING that is going on, working together. Anyone who is absent will always feel they are playing catch when they get back, that can be a bad move IMO.

If anyone can't keep track of time then they need to sort that out in their own time. Rehearsal space isn't cheap for most.

[Thurbs]

Practicing without a drimmer / bass / whatever sets apart bedroom players and musicians.

Deffo do it,get outside the comfort zone, enjoy the space, enjoy being the song's driver and see what happens.

[JTUK]

Waste of time.. I'd call it off and find something better to do

[gjones]

When the drummer can't make it..........the bass player is in charge.

But don't let the power go to your head.

[zacclowes]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1434131908' post='2797069']
When the drummer can't make it..........the bass player is in charge.

But don't let the power go to your head.
[/quote]

This ^^^

[MoonBassAlpha]

Had to do a spot at a charity do yesterday that our drummer cried off in the morning (he doesn't miss gigs so must have been very poorly) so we re-jigged to just bass and acoustic. It went ok, but I'd forgotten how free and loose with timing my guitarist/singer is when left to his own devices. Can't say I really enjoyed it, though I could hear my singing better and it sounded (to me!) better than usual.