Posted in: Musical Ensemble by Bob Craypoe on June 10th, 2009 | 0 Comments
Most problems that occur in a band situation are not as a result of how it is being run but as a result of how it was formed. This article explains why that is and how a musician can avoid many issues that can cause a band to fail.
Now let’s say that you have finally gotten past all of the problems with the drummer and you want to start recording original material. Now the singer says that he really doesn’t like the kind of music you want to record. What do you do now? You just recovered from the situation with the drummer and now this has to happen. So the singer up and quits because you can’t resolve this issue. Now you begin the search for singer number two.
Things are going great now. You’re out playing clubs every weekend and you have a CD out. You’ve even built up somewhat of a following. Hey, why not go out on an extended tour? Unfortunately, the bass player really only wanted to do this music thing part time. With you wanting to make a career of music, you realize that you may have to get rid of the bass player now. Once you do, you have to work in a new one. So once again you take another step backwards.
So how could this all be avoided? There are no guarantees that all problems are completely avoidable but there are things you can do to make them less likely to occur. Here are suggestions regarding them:
Make sure you know what you want to do or achieve by having a band. Make sure you know what kind of music or bands you want to cover. Make sure you know what kind of style you want to do for your own original material. Make sure you know what your career goals are, if you want to make a career of it.
Once you have determined everything it is that you want from this situation, you need to find others that have the same goals. Plain and simple. You need to be honest and upfront about what it is that you want and you need to expect that from the other potential band members. This will help prevent future misunderstandings. You may even want to make an itemized list of what you are seeking to do. Then bring it to whatever meeting you have with the potential band members. Bringing that list with you will prevent you from overlooking certain points.
You need to take this approach with every potential band member. Also, if you have recordings of your original material, you should provide copies to each prospective band member so that they can hear for themselves the kind of music you want to do. Like I said, you need to be upfront about everything. You also need to ask as many questions you need to get all of the answers you want from each prospective band member.
You may be anxious to get out there and start playing. That’s fine, we’ll just call that ambition. But you will be only wasting your time if you end up rehearsing a few months just to have someone quit because he finally came to the realization that your musical goals don’t quite match up with his. Nobody benefits from a situation like that. The truth is that it ends up being a waste of everybody’s time.
Another thing that will work to your benefit is if you look for people who have already been in a band situation. They will have more of an understanding as to what it takes to get out there and play. If they’ve already demonstrated the level of dedication required to be in a band that’s out there doing regular gigs, then it’s most likely that they can do it again. You are obviously taking more of a risk with someone who has never been in a working band situation.
In conclusion:
There is no way you can completely eliminate the risk of misunderstandings that may result when starting a band. I do hope, though, that I have provided you with some ideas that you could implement that might allow you to reduce the likelihood of those various problems occurring. It all, however, starts with you knowing what exactly it is that you want. Then you look for others who want the same. That’s how your band’s success can be determined before it is even formed.
