Joining a band

So I'm pretty excited to have the opportunity to play in a band for the first time in 30 years or so. The big difference here is this band will actually play in front of an audience. A local music store here has a small performing arts hall and as part of their music instruction they put rock bands together. They recently expanded it to adults and non-students. It's like the School of Rock if you are familiar with that.

It's for 8 weeks and we are assigned a mentor that will guide us along. He chose the first song for us to work on - "Wild Nights" by Van Morrison. Not on top of my list of songs to play, but this is more about the experience of playing with other musicians, not learning cool guitar riffs and stuff.

We will have 2 performances - the last one being a "headliner". It will be interesting to see what we come up with as a name for ourselves.

This is going to be so much fun! Who knows, this could lead to other playing opportunities.

My family thinks it's cool, but I think my 10 year old daughter will be mortified if any of her friends are in the audience :-).

That's really cool! Playing in a band can be great fun! Hope the gig goes well.
:)

Very Cool. Sounds like a ton of fun - good luck. If ur daughter goes - make sure you pull your pants up around your ribs ... and maybe some white socks. She will DEFINITELY remember Dad's concert. :)

Maggior,

Cool instant band family. Bands take a lot of time, hope you get the time every so often to update us. It would be cool to see a short (or more) video of the headliner show.

@fretsmith. I showed your post to my daughter. She didn't understand until I demonstrated, which earned an instant "ewwwww!". I promised I wouldn't do that :-).

@slipinlizard - Thanks, I hope it goes well. The fact that we have a mentor should help. If something isn't working for whatever reason, he's the disinterested 3rd party (or designated adult supervision) that can step in and tell us what needs to change to make it work.

@haghj500 - I'll definitely post updates. I'll definitely put an audio recorder someplace to record the gigs, probably the practice sessions too. The store may record video. Whichever, I'll post it provided it's not a total disaster. 8 weeks seems like a short time to get things together. Hopefully we jell - won't know until we get together to play for the first time in a couple of weeks. From email exchanges, people seem very engaged and enthusiastic, so we have that going for us.

Originally Posted by: maggiorIt will be interesting to see what we come up with as a name for ourselves.

.

What if you used the fact that you guys were introduced by a friend [the music store in this case] and came up with somthing from that ? You know , Blind date, Arranged Marriage [maybe say it in another language or something], or something along those lines.
Its just a thought.

JB

That's actually an interesting angle I didn't think of...thanks!!

Sounds awesome, definitely something I want to do at some point. Take pictures!

Originally Posted by: maggiorSo I'm pretty excited to have the opportunity to play in a band for the first time in 30 years or so. The big difference here is this band will actually play in front of an audience. A local music store here has a small performing arts hall and as part of their music instruction they put rock bands together. They recently expanded it to adults and non-students. It's like the School of Rock if you are familiar with that.

It's for 8 weeks and we are assigned a mentor that will guide us along. He chose the first song for us to work on - "Wild Nights" by Van Morrison. Not on top of my list of songs to play, but this is more about the experience of playing with other musicians, not learning cool guitar riffs and stuff.

We will have 2 performances - the last one being a "headliner". It will be interesting to see what we come up with as a name for ourselves.

This is going to be so much fun! Who knows, this could lead to other playing opportunities.

My family thinks it's cool, but I think my 10 year old daughter will be mortified if any of her friends are in the audience :-).

That's really cool and cool that you have a local store that does that.

I actually think 'Wild Night' is an awesome choice. It's very groovy and has some cool guitar parts in it. You may enjoy it more than you know.

Congratulations, maggior. You're very lucky to have a chance to jam with others. I've done it a few times myself, and I really miss playing with some like-minded people. Please share some of the music you make :)

Originally Posted by: JeffS65That's really cool and cool that you have a local store that does that.

I actually think 'Wild Night' is an awesome choice. It's very groovy and has some cool guitar parts in it. You may enjoy it more than you know.

Playing around with the song last night I came to that conclusion. You can play it pretty straight if you want or have fun with the rhytms and mix it up with different chord voicings. I already came up with a cool thing to do for the horn section when it comes in. We have 2 guitar players, so we can make it very interesting.

I am very fortunate to have this opportunity and I will definitely share recordings after our performances.

This may sound silly or pretentious, but I wonder which of my guitars I should bring (Strat vs. LP studio)? I think it would be bad form to walk in with both of my guitars. I can't imagine I'll be able to switch guitars during our 3 or 4 song set during our final performance. So I think I'm going to have to pick just one.

When I'm practicing on my own, I switch off every other day so I don't find myself able to play something comfortably on only one guitar. I'm also trying to really hone in on the sound and feel of each one so I can make intelligent decisions on which to use in a given situation.

I'm leaning toward bringing my strat because its tuning is more stable and it's a little more versatile tone wise. I also don't have a hardshell case for my LP, so I'm not too keen on bringing it out in just a gig bag.

It will feel strange to me because I'll be in a practice situation where I can't go grab a different guitar if I feel the need. I'll also be playing through an unfamiliar amp, so I'll have to deal with that too. I'm sure this is all part of the experience :-).

Thoughts?

I'd say you should bring whichever guitar you're most comfortable with playing on, but since you say that's evenly split between your Strat and LP, that's not a very helpful suggestion. You do bring up some good points for taking the Strat over the LP, though. As for playing through an unfamiliar amp, I know how you feel. I've tried it twice before, and it negatively affected my playing until I got used to the unfamiliar tone..

Originally Posted by: KasperowI'd say you should bring whichever guitar you're most comfortable with playing on, but since you say that's evenly split between your Strat and LP, that's not a very helpful suggestion. You do bring up some good points for taking the Strat over the LP, though. As for playing through an unfamiliar amp, I know how you feel. I've tried it twice before, and it negatively affected my playing until I got used to the unfamiliar tone..

6 months ago, I would have said the LP was my most comfortable guitar. Lately I find myself drawn to my strat now that I have it setup well. That's why I'm torn. Over the next week or so, I'm going to focus on which one feels the most comfortable to me and see.

The Van Morrison song has a really jangly sound to it, so I think the strat will be a safe bet there.

When I see what other people are playing, it may sway me. If they are playing strats and teles, I may bring my LP to balance it out and add some variety to the sound.

Yeah, I have to try to not have the different amp impact my playing. I also worry that I'll plug into the amp and fall in love with it and have to explain to my wife why I need to buy a new amp :-).

That's great!!! I think someone should video it and then you can link it. :)

Hey Maggior!

There is nothing more fulfilling, to me, than playing music with other people. Playing and practicing on your own is important, but working with others is really what you are working to be able to do.

I played for a few years on my own as a kid, but it wasn't until I formed a band with my neighborhood friends that I felt like everything really came together for me as a player. Other people inspire you, push you, and if they are on the same journey as you you both learn and gain a lot along the way. Those experiences of playing with my friends taught me so much, and to this day my good friends still push me to be a better player.

You made the right move, and if you have any recordings of videos of your performances please post. Good luck! :D

Hey maggior,iam real proud of you and most happy for you.with ur band i think thats great.can you give me a hint on how u played on that back track,and posted it for all too listen.do i need pro tools,thats what iam thinking.thanks my friend.

Hey, thanks Axe!!

Here's what you need:
- A PC
- An interface to connect your guitar to your PC. Many amps will do this today. I used my Zoom G5 pedal.
- Multitrack recording software. I used Adobe Audition. You can get a copy of this for free now, though it doesn't officially support Windows 8. The install generated some errors, but it works fine.
- A backing track

I downloaded the backing track and loaded it into one of the tracks in Adobe Audition. I then armed a second track to record. The backing track would play as I jammed over it and Adobe Audition would record what I was playing.

Basically, this all turns your PC into a multitrack recorder.

There are other solutions with Tascam pocket studio products and stuff. What I like about the PC solution is I can do a lot of post processing if I want.

Protools may do this for you too - I've never used it.

Hope that helps!

Can you bring your own amp?. And thanks for schooling me on how to record.thanks buddy.i think it would be cool for some of ur bud´s on gt too go see u play .rock out its ur time to shine.and don't forget to throw picks at the ,crowd..

I would love to be in a band.cause it s#@ks playin on poor quality back tracks.and it gets old after a while.u need ur band mates IMO thats what brings out the best of ya.i remember being in a band back when.and there was nothing like it. As far as my gear goes,the detective i spoke with told me to hold on tight,they still have to check all pawn tickets ,and if one was pawned which thats what there hoping for.BUSTED.so i haven't let go of hope,i want mine.again great opportunity for you maggior.