If a person cannot play at least 30 songs they are not ready to be in a band yet. A person has to be serious about playing for a long time to be able to do that. Those people are ready to invest the time it takes to be a band. Yes a band, not a jam group. A lot of short lived bands come from jam groups.
“By that guideline, it seems I'm not "ready to be in a band yet". I can play
fragments of a couple of songs, and there's a few songs I can play from start to finish (although I improvise solos on some of those...). I've seen that 30-song-guideline other places as well, but one thing I don't understand, is why it applies to people who mainly want to play original stuff on-stage. I can understand it when it comes to cover-bands since they play, as the term implies, covers.”
To me, you’re right you’re not ready. You are a perfect fit for a jam group. A band can be offered a 2 or 3 hour gig and they have the material ready to fill that much time. How many hours of writing new material and practice are you away from being able to do that? You are still learning how to learn new songs, how can you be ready?
No I didn’t write that to piss you off, I would say the same thing if I was sitting across the table from you drinking a beer trying to be a friend. You have been putting in the time to learn to play, you deserve to take pride in what you have learned, but you’ve got more to learn. Two years from now, think back to this and see how much more you have learned. Think about how much you have learned in the last 6 months.
A lot of people like what they are use to and avoid new things. There are a few people who seek out the unknown and listen to new music when they go out. But again most people when they go out want to hear music they already know and can dance to. That’s why most cover bands play covers and start adding in their stuff one or two songs per set and if that goes well, they will work in more. To test this pick a street corner near you and play original music, watch how many people stop to listen. Then play a cover song people walking by already know and watch how many stop to listen.
That will answer your question about original music and why it applies to people who want to play original music.
Kasperow, since the first time I ever reply to one of your threads I have always said what I said trying to help, I’m doing the same thing now.
