Starting a band [merge]

"BrooksB" · 01-23-2003, 08:39 AM

No egos, sure, but someone has to be the leader, so to speak. Not necessarily the dictator, but the main thing is that, for things to be easy, there can't be a power struggle. You know the saying, to many cheifs not enough indians. It's best to have one (maybe two) person that pretty much controls what goes on. I know it sounds bad (especially if you're one of the people that's not that leader) but it usually just has to work that way, or no one's happy.

.torrin. · 01-23-2003, 09:21 AM

- find your people to play with you, and make sure they have gear

- make sure everyone is committed to the band and to practice

- if you are starting the band, then most likely the others will look to you as a sort of informal leader. So organize practice, lead prayer, do what needs to be done

- Make sure everyone is on the same page as far as reasons for the band. Whether you are a christian band or not, make sure everyone is on the same level of committment and such.

- book shows after lots of practice. Your youth pastor, or a local christian bookstore can really help. Talk to lots of church youth groups, or just put on a free concert in your garage. Advertise the heck out of it. Promote your band everywhere, and play for anything. Soon, you will meet more bands and they can help you as far as getting shows. You can start charging for shows, but don't do it to soon, or charge more than you are worth as a beginning band.

- Work on the aspects of your live show. It's a lot more than just playing the songs. Work on movements, and how you will play to the crowd.

- Get your image. Find what you want it to be and then put it into practice. Believe me, there are so many good bands still on the indie scene because their image isn't down. If you want to be discovered, the labels are looking for a product to sell, i.e., your image. I'm not talking about selling out, but if you are in a hardcore band, then look like it. If you are in a pop band, then look like it.

- Stay close to your fans. Get their e-mail addresses, and e-mail them. Fans are the water to a band. You can't survive without them.

All that if just what I've learned from personal experience. Hope it helps

BTW...

Check out SplitbAck!

Awzmgd117 · 01-23-2003, 09:34 AM

maybe i can help with that
it all depends on if you want to do covers of songs or write your own if your writing come prepared to practice,
assuming your starting with covers though
here again it depends lets just say though that your set up is a drummer, bassist, electric guitarist, and acoustic guitarist, adn then vocals if none of you can sing (i use this cause its pretty common to the style of music you say you like)
so come to practice knowing what songs you want to work on and it really helps if everybody has heard the song before hand, here i send out an email so that if they haven't heard it they can borrow the cd or get the mp3,
from there, the acoustic and electric guitarist should know the chord progression as well as the bass guitarist, and the drummer needs to know the overall beat, if then your not going to drastically alter the song the drummer sets a beat the bassists works out a tight bass line while the acoustic plays the main progression, then the electric has to be able to know where to work in when to play a riff, lead, chords, when to use what effects, i would say he needs to be the most mature musician of the group in order to know when to play and when not to and remember to leave space for the vocals
you really need to find musicians capable of doing these things and that are comfortable taking a progression and improvising some stuff of there own in other wise the band won't really work the way you want
:kcool:

nate95366 · 01-23-2003, 09:58 AM

Quote:

or just put on a free concert in your garage.

Just check in with your local homeowners association or about a dozen of your nearest neighbors before doing this...

And if you're not feeling that courteous, at least schedule your concert for an hour when most people aren't going to get ticked off if they're a captive audience...

Nate

Daniel Horney · 01-23-2003, 04:58 PM

here are a few things i wish i had known when i first started.

1. Dont start out with permanent members. If you are starting the band or you and one other person are starting it, make yourselves permanent members and shop different lineups. There are several good reasons for this. Some lineups will have much better chemistry than others just because of the personalities. Also, people you love hanging out are not necessairly the people you will like playing with.

2. Play as much as you can. Nothing is too small. Open for as many bands as you can. Building relationships with other bands is essential.

3. Practice. A lot

smitty2622 · 01-23-2003, 07:14 PM

Some basics, find people who can play they don’t have to be great but they do have to keep time. Start out informally have some jam sessions and see where everyone is musically. You’ll need a place to practice where people won’t complain about the noise. Make up some sets of songs maybe start out with 5-10 depending on the talent and motivation of the band members let everyone be involved in picking the songs. Don’t get discouraged when things don’t sound just right. Forming a good bad takes time don’t rush it. One more thing the closer you get to your band members the better it should be like a family you guys will spend lots of time together and you want to make sure you get along. Then last but not least have fun after all music should be enjoyed…

Peace

smitty2622 · 01-23-2003, 07:17 PM

Have you thought of joining an already formed band? This always seems to work best for me.

Peace

jc_passion · 01-24-2003, 03:44 AM

hey thanx...how about the resources for band materials...like maybe hillsongs , paul baloche...yah...where exactly do u recommend to get the music scores?

Awzmgd117 · 01-24-2003, 06:27 AM

well this site and worshiptogether.com are 2 good places really your not goin to get complete an accurate scores without spending some money but once you have the general chord progression and if you can listen to the song and work with that that should be all you really need just remeber that not every tab on the net including ones on this site are accurate **look of astonihsed shock**
hope that helps
:kcool: