Kissing frogs

[dclaassen]

I’ve been looking around a bit with an eye to getting in another band. I like everything about the guys that I play with, like the setlist,etc. However, we have not gigged or practiced since November. 
 

Went to have a play with some lovely folks about 45 minutes away. Right now, they are just guitar and vocals. No lead, no drums. They want to practice weekly but don’t anticipate any paying gigs.

 

Contacted some guys that have a similar setlist to my existing group, practice weekly about 30 minutes away…on Sunday morning…no exceptions.

 

 I’m thinking I need to keep looking, but am tired of not playing with a relaxed but gigging band. Am I being too picky? To me, the “ we practice once a week, period” thing is a red flag. Learn the setlist, meet when you want to work on stuff and after everyone has sorted their part out.

 

Thoughts?

[Lozz196]

Could be a couple of things, some bands acknowledge that if they don’t rehearse regularly they’re not as tight as they could be, whereas to some it makes no difference. Other bands like to rehearse regularly as it’s part of their social lives.

 

I used to want to rehearse regularly but nowadays I’m happy with just for new material or if there’s been a gap between gigs, I don’t think I’d want to be in a weekly rehearsing band anymore. It’s worth holding out for what’s important to you unless there’s no chance of that happening.

[TheGreek]

I like the social aspect of rehearsals - but generally those I've played with haven't been "my friends". Gives us all a chance to bond and get to know each other. Not everybody wants to gig - some are happy to turn up practice their art once a week and chill with other like minded musicians. 

 

Check what type of people they are, if they have different goals either move on or modify your own.

[Waddo Soqable]

I miss the bands I've been in where we used to play pretty much every day, and were 'proper' mates.. Not really experienced this kind of thing in the "modern" era, probably doesn't exist now

[chris_b]

If you want to be musically satisfied, or in a better band,  you've got to be picky.

 

Keep looking.

[tauzero]

I don't see a problem with practicing once a week if there's a purpose to it. Once up and gigging, if you're gigging reasonably frequently and varying the set then you should only need to rehearse to bring new material in, or maybe if a significant number of repeating mistakes start creeping in. Of course you might want to rehearse a bit more for the social side of it.

[NancyJohnson]

My perspective here.

 

Current band is trying to get one in each week (3-4 hour round trip) until we're gigging properly (end of the month).

 

I'm firmly with @tauzerohere; there has to be purpose to rehearsals. 

 

 

[iconic]

I thought this would be about the external search for that one bass that satisfies the GAS😉

[dclaassen]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

My perspective here.

 

Current band is trying to get one in each week (3-4 hour round trip) until we're gigging properly (end of the month).

 

I'm firmly with @tauzerohere; there has to be purpose to rehearsals. 

 

 

Yup....I want a band to sound as good as possible, but I do not like "Hobby rehearsals" too much...maybe because I teach music all day. My views might change once I am retired (one more year to go!!!!!)

[Dan Dare]

3 hours ago, dclaassen said:

Yup....I want a band to sound as good as possible, but I do not like "Hobby rehearsals" too much...maybe because I teach music all day. My views might change once I am retired (one more year to go!!!!!)

 

I think it depends how good the people you are having "hobby rehearsals" with are. If they aren't just trying to get their own parts right and you can concentrate on the arrangement and push yourself (and them) musically, it can be a rewarding experience in itself. However, if you teach music all day, you may well be more advanced than many who do it for a hobby.

 

My musical life has been a mixture of playing for a living and doing it as a sideline that helped supplement the salary from my "proper" job. Since I retired, I've tried on a few occasions to play with bands that were primarily social ventures with people who play as a hobby. Socially, they were enjoyable, but, no matter how much I told myself I was just doing it for the enjoyment and that I shouldn't expect too much, I would find myself champing at the bit at the lack of progress or improvement.

 

I realised it wouldn't have been fair for me to be too demanding of my band mates, so decided to bow out. At the same time, I want/need to play music (and with others - practicing/playing along with backing tracks, etc in solitary splendour doesn't cut it for me).

 

Not an easy situation to resolve. I'm still answering ad's, etc and hoping to find a bunch of older players or ex pro's in a similar position to me who are looking to play for the satisfaction of it and do a few gigs. Fingers crossed.

[Franticsmurf]

I used to be in a band that gigged regularly but rarely rehearsed. To be fair, because we were gigging 1 or 2 times a week, there was no need to rehearse the existing set but bringing new material in was difficult. The singer/guitarist didn't want to rehearse and liked to boast that he could 'wing it' with any song. Of course, he couldn't and the result was mostly awful hence 'I used to be in a band... '. The drummer and lead guitarist left with me.

 

I'm now in two bands. The Hulla rehearses fairly regularly; it's a 13 piece and more than half the band don't or can't practice other than during rehearsals. It works because the band is very relaxed and we're all in it for the fun and social element as much as the music. We get about 10 gigs a year and they're usually big ones, with all proceeds going to a nominated charity. As things stand we have 5 fixed bookings for this year and that gives me the motivation to rehearse. We are regularly adding new songs to the set so there is plenty to do when we get together.

 

I joined another band last year and we've had about 5 rehearsals but there's very little talk of gigging and I'm beginning to wonder if the enthusiasm is really there. The set list if straight forward and all we're really doing is getting the beginnings and endings right. 

 

I enjoy playing live and that's the main reason I play in bands. Rehearsals and practice are fine if there's some point to it. Without the goal of a gig (and ideally a deadline) I find it hard to be enthusiastic enough to put in the effort that a proper rehearsal (and my bandmates) deserve.

 

I don't think the OP is being picky. We all play for our own reasons. What works for me might not work for you and if you're not happy, you won't enjoy the experience and everyone will suffer. Chat to the rest of the band and see if there are others in the line up that feel the same. Maybe it's just nerves or a lack of confidence? Maybe they don't know how to go about getting gigs? 

[NancyJohnson]

6 hours ago, dclaassen said:

Yup....I want a band to sound as good as possible, but I do not like "Hobby rehearsals" too much...maybe because I teach music all day. My views might change once I am retired (one more year to go!!!!!)

 

My old band would do 1-2 a week and gig Friday and/or Saturday.  I'd say that live we were well rehearsed and pretty tight although we may have come over as a bit chaotic at the same time, but by and large we knew every song backwards and we were good enough to get out of jail if everything went down the sh*tter mid-song.

 

Right now it's a little different.  We rehearse in a recording studio, everything is miked up and we're all on headphones; it's a little bit clinical for me.  Last weekend we had a room in a proper rehearsal room and it was marvelous to be able to ramp things up and play through amps.  It made the previous studio rehearsals feel more worth it.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by NancyJohnson
Speling. Chubby finger syndrome.