How to Have A Successful First Band Practice
Choose what songs you will be playing., About a week before you have your first practice session, get together and pick five songs you all agree on to learn., Agree which song you will learn first, then go home and learn your parts., Print out...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Choose what songs you will be playing.
Let's face it, this is how most bands get started and there's no problem with covering other bands songs.
But there is nothing worse than wasting an entire practice arguing over what songs to play, or not being able to do anything because you don't know the songs! , This shouldn’t be tough, seeing as you should have picked band members with similar musical interests as you. , It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it won’t be! But it’s good to have at least a rough idea of what you’re doing. , Guitar, Bass, Keyboard, Saxophone-whatever.
Have them with you, because when you all forget what you’re doing everyone will be grateful you brought them! , So you’ve all got the tabs/chords/lyrics/whatever else down.
Now you need to check you’re in time with each other, with some songs it’s fairly easy, but others will require you to have a metronome.
Don’t have one? Have your vocalist clapping to regulate your timing. , If you play it more than that, most likely you’ll all hate the song afterwards, you’ll all never want to play it again and it will be a waste of a perfectly good practice. ,,, Some bands write original songs right away, this is normally the approach of more seasoned musicians, but can be done by anyone assuming they know basic song structures and chords. -
Step 2: About a week before you have your first practice session
Also agree upon whether a single person will be doing majority of the writing, the band will all write together, etc. ,, If all else fails, bring a sheet with them on with you.
This can be done in two different ways, music first, or lyrics first.
The easiest way to create music is to strum guitar chords, other band members can then chip in with their own additions to the strumming with other simple parts.
It is a good idea to make a habit of recording/filming this for playback later when writing the lyrics.
So you’ve had a little jam session, sweet! Next up though is possibly the hardest part of song writing the lyrics.
So it’s time to playback what you were doing, sit around and see what you can all come up with.
There are plenty of other articles to advise you on the song writing process, so I will not cover it here. , But now it is time to edit the lyrics, get your vocalist to at last join in with you (these singers have it so easy).
Now the lyrics have a sound of their own, but it might now necessarily work with your singers voice.
Tweak the lyrics to fit perfectly.
E.g.; ‘Hating you is easier than gluing your singer probably, won’t be able to sing all that, so you change it so it does fit, ‘hating you is easier than glue’. , Record your song and slam it on Myspace or something ! Now lyrics before music can be tricky.
But it works for some artists better than the music then lyrics method.
So let’s assume you’ve written your lyrics with the band/on your own and everyone likes what the song has to say.
Most likely, guitar strumming to start with, much like in the first method.
You can add more depth and detail to it later.
Band members join in, you get the idea.
Now vocals: the music won’t fit first time.
This can assure you.
The music might be completely wrong.
But if you like the song, stick to it.
Keep at it until the music does fit.
It can help to have vocals first, this will give the other band members a vague idea as to pitch and timing. , Once again record your song and slam it on Myspace or something! -
Step 3: get together and pick five songs you all agree on to learn.
-
Step 4: Agree which song you will learn first
-
Step 5: then go home and learn your parts.
-
Step 6: Print out copies of all the parts and take them to practice with you.
-
Step 7: Make sure the band members are in time with each other.
-
Step 8: Once you’re all certain you're all in time
-
Step 9: play the song through a few times.
-
Step 10: Repeat process for next week
-
Step 11: but with another song you all want to cover.
-
Step 12: Remember to practice the first song you learned at your next practice session too.
-
Step 13: Consider writing your own music.
-
Step 14: Before you go to your first practice
-
Step 15: make sure you have all agreed on writing original songs.
-
Step 16: Ask all band members to bring lyrics/poems they have written to practice
-
Step 17: but be prepared that you may write new ones whilst there.
-
Step 18: Before you go
-
Step 19: make sure you have a basic knowledge of chords.
-
Step 20: So now you have lyrics and musical parts.
-
Step 21: You have it all
-
Step 22: lyrics
-
Step 23: vocals
-
Step 24: what are you still reading this for ?
-
Step 25: So now your song fits
-
Step 26: hopefully!
Detailed Guide
Let's face it, this is how most bands get started and there's no problem with covering other bands songs.
But there is nothing worse than wasting an entire practice arguing over what songs to play, or not being able to do anything because you don't know the songs! , This shouldn’t be tough, seeing as you should have picked band members with similar musical interests as you. , It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it won’t be! But it’s good to have at least a rough idea of what you’re doing. , Guitar, Bass, Keyboard, Saxophone-whatever.
Have them with you, because when you all forget what you’re doing everyone will be grateful you brought them! , So you’ve all got the tabs/chords/lyrics/whatever else down.
Now you need to check you’re in time with each other, with some songs it’s fairly easy, but others will require you to have a metronome.
Don’t have one? Have your vocalist clapping to regulate your timing. , If you play it more than that, most likely you’ll all hate the song afterwards, you’ll all never want to play it again and it will be a waste of a perfectly good practice. ,,, Some bands write original songs right away, this is normally the approach of more seasoned musicians, but can be done by anyone assuming they know basic song structures and chords.
Also agree upon whether a single person will be doing majority of the writing, the band will all write together, etc. ,, If all else fails, bring a sheet with them on with you.
This can be done in two different ways, music first, or lyrics first.
The easiest way to create music is to strum guitar chords, other band members can then chip in with their own additions to the strumming with other simple parts.
It is a good idea to make a habit of recording/filming this for playback later when writing the lyrics.
So you’ve had a little jam session, sweet! Next up though is possibly the hardest part of song writing the lyrics.
So it’s time to playback what you were doing, sit around and see what you can all come up with.
There are plenty of other articles to advise you on the song writing process, so I will not cover it here. , But now it is time to edit the lyrics, get your vocalist to at last join in with you (these singers have it so easy).
Now the lyrics have a sound of their own, but it might now necessarily work with your singers voice.
Tweak the lyrics to fit perfectly.
E.g.; ‘Hating you is easier than gluing your singer probably, won’t be able to sing all that, so you change it so it does fit, ‘hating you is easier than glue’. , Record your song and slam it on Myspace or something ! Now lyrics before music can be tricky.
But it works for some artists better than the music then lyrics method.
So let’s assume you’ve written your lyrics with the band/on your own and everyone likes what the song has to say.
Most likely, guitar strumming to start with, much like in the first method.
You can add more depth and detail to it later.
Band members join in, you get the idea.
Now vocals: the music won’t fit first time.
This can assure you.
The music might be completely wrong.
But if you like the song, stick to it.
Keep at it until the music does fit.
It can help to have vocals first, this will give the other band members a vague idea as to pitch and timing. , Once again record your song and slam it on Myspace or something!
About the Author
Kathryn Campbell
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow organization tutorials.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: