You're gonna love this....

hotpickups

I said I wouldn't get involved with running a band again. However, I thought I'd help a new guy to the area who wanted to get a band together. All sounded good and thought I'd help him find a location that is cheap to hire for a jam and to also be his possible guitarist

That was going to be tomorrow night. Got an email from the so called band leader today to say if the venue supplied drum kit and amps etc. I said no as it's not an official rehearsal studio - a pub with a room to be precise (It just had a PA and mics). To which he said then we have a problem then dude 'cos my drummer doesn't have a drum kit  and won't have until March at least. WTF. Why do I always seem to pick up these friggin' people. What a cock. I've wasted sooo much time with this. Never again

randomhandclaps

Why do you always seem to pick up these frigging people? Because sadly they are everywhere.

Sporky

Doesn't he own a few saucepans and a wooden spoon or two?

Kids today. No sense of MacGuyvering.

hotpickups

They were out of tune apparently

Sporky;956319" said:

Doesn't he own a few saucepans and a wooden spoon or two?

Kids today. No sense of MacGuyvering.

markslade07

Is he 12? Seems to be similar to the average JoinMyBand advert!

hotpickups

Yep that's where he was from. So lame. 20's I think but with a mind of a 12 year old

markslade07;956322" said:

Is he 12? Seems to be similar to the average JoinMyBand advert!

markslade07

I want to start a band again, but this (as well as time pressures due to a 1 year old) massively puts me off. I just don't have the energy required to try and run anything, or sort out the basics for these people. I think I'm like you, in that now, I'd just like to turn up and play.

RedRabbit

Drummers with out their own kits or transportation seem more common than those that do have them.  Although those with one out of two aren't overly useful either.

One kicked off pretty badly when we told him we weren't prepared to wait for him to buy a kit or pick him up for rehearsals and gigs.

hotpickups

It's enough to make one go out with just some backing tracks and gig.

Grunfeld

randomhandclaps said:

Why do you always seem to pick up these frigging people? Because sadly they are everywhere.

They are indeed "everywhere."

I see this as a bit of a silver lining though.  Because what's needed for a band to work is some equation which involves its members having musical ability + professional attitude.  The latter is an important commodity and lack of it in "them" drives "us" nuts.

It basically means that if your musical ability is good enough, and maybe in addition you can hold a note doing BVs, you can still get the gig.  Because while there is always going to be someone who's better than you musically you can score great on being easy-going, reliable, having pro-gear (aka, it works and you've got spares), and transport.  It sounds pretty straight forward -- but so many good musicians are flakes. 

english_bob

Grunfeld said:

It basically means that if your musical ability is good enough, and maybe in addition you can hold a note doing BVs, you can still get the gig.  Because while there is always going to be someone who's better than you musically you can score great on being easy-going, reliable, having pro-gear (aka, it works and you've got spares), and transport.  It sounds pretty straight forward -- but so many good musicians are flakes. 

Yep. I don't care if I'm blown away by some guy's musical ability on the few occasions he actually turns up to rehearsals with a working instrument, isn't a dick to everybody and can afford to pay his share for the practice room.

hotpickups

To some degree I agree also. Although I do like a reasonable amount of musicianship namely a good ear at least and good time keeping (I don't mean being punctual). Just not enjoyable for me if those two check boxes aren't ticked

english_bob;957763" said:

Grunfeld said:



It basically means that if your musical ability is good enough, and maybe in addition you can hold a note doing BVs, you can still get the gig.  Because while there is always going to be someone who's better than you musically you can score great on being easy-going, reliable, having pro-gear (aka, it works and you've got spares), and transport.  It sounds pretty straight forward -- but so many good musicians are flakes.  Yep. I don't care if I'm blown away by some guy's musical ability on the few occasions he actually turns up to rehearsals with a working instrument, isn't a dick to everybody and can afford to pay his share for the practice room.

TheOtherDennis

Grunfeld said:

I see this as a bit of a silver lining though.  Because what's needed for a band to work is some equation which involves its members having musical ability + professional attitude.  The latter is an important commodity and lack of it in "them" drives "us" nuts.

It basically means that if your musical ability is good enough, and maybe in addition you can hold a note doing BVs, you can still get the gig.  Because while there is always going to be someone who's better than you musically you can score great on being easy-going, reliable, having pro-gear (aka, it works and you've got spares), and transport.  It sounds pretty straight forward -- but so many good musicians are flakes. 

That would be great for me if I could only find a band who agreed with you. I'm not a lead player, never have been, and whenever I've tried to be (last night, for instance), I fuck it up. I'd love the chance to be able to prove that I'm happy to play rhythm all night long, I'll always turn up, I won't start rows, if someone else says "That's not how you play it, it should be these chords" then I'll change to avoid the confrontation, plus I have my own kit, my own transport and so on, but I can't seem to get past the auditions.

Wondering if I've hit the point where I just have to admit that I am actually shit and should just sit down and stay quiet while the big boys get on with doing it properly.

Roland

To be in a band you need to turn up and play. Many people fall down at step one.

Grunfeld

TheOtherDennis said:

...I'm not a lead player, never have been, and whenever I've tried to be (last night, for instance), I fuck it up. I'd love the chance to be able to prove that I'm happy to play rhythm all night long... but I can't seem to get past the auditions.

Wondering if I've hit the point where I just have to admit that I am actually shit and should just sit down and stay quiet while the big boys get on with doing it properly.

@TheOtherDennis -- what do you reckon is going on here? 

Are these the "right" bands for you? 
-- When you look at other bands can you realistically see yourself doing what their rhythm player does?  Can you do that job?  For example, there are bands where I know I couldn't do that job.  But there are plenty where I could. 

Are there lead lines you can play where you don't f*ck it up?  There must be.  But it might take a re-think about what you're trying to do.  It's the same as the rhythm:  if you can't play like "player x" then play like "player y". 

hotpickups

If any of us are like this then I think you should give up. Although we've all been there (I know I have) :-

Danny1969

There's one guy I know, a friend of mine who would be the first to admit he's not exactly a great guitarist, far from it but he is 100% reliable on the chords, is punctual at turning up for gigs and rehearsals and never attempts to step on someone else's part. . He's been in gigging bands the last 20 years I've known him, cos those qualities are useful and the last thing you want is 2 lead guitarist in a band

Myself, I like musicians who are exactly that rather than just being a guitarist. I like people to be able to change key instantly if the vocalist needs too, people who know where all the notes are and know their scales. Basically people who can just do the gig without needing loads of time and money consuming rehearsals 

TheOtherDennis

@hotpickups - That is both funny and tragic at the same time.

@Grunfeld - I'm trying to find the 'right' band for me, but it's clearly harder than I thought it would be. All I'm trying to do is find somewhere where I can play the rhythm bit like the chap in @Danny1969's post. That's the guy I know I can be (and no, I don't take loads of time and rehearsal-consuming money in learning my parts, I work on them at home before I go and between rehearsals and gigs). I only apply for bands that look like they're playing stuff I have some hope of achieving reliability in, I'm not trying to get a job as a shredder.

Having said that, I can change key, and work out what I should be playing instead, but I need more than a moment's notice. The only time I've done it on the hoof is when I auditioned for a part as a bassist, and I'd learned the bass lines to Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out, and I had to change key from E to G. That was a doddle, once I'd got over my brain fart of thinking that starting the riff on the G string doesn't make it in G. Sigh. I do know that's not true, but in my nervousness, it's what I believed for long enough to put them off giving me the job. :-S

And I do also know that the others are probably thinking "Eesh, if he's this nervous here, he'll be worse in front of a an audience..." I won't actually, I've already played gigs in front of over 100 people without messing up, but I can't blame them for not believing me.

p90fool

Danny1969 said:

There's one guy I know, a friend of mine who would be the first to admit he's not exactly a great guitarist, far from it but he is 100% reliable on the chords, is punctual at turning up for gigs and rehearsals and never attempts to step on someone else's part. . He's been in gigging bands the last 20 years I've known him, cos those qualities are useful and the last thing you want is 2 lead guitarist in a band

Myself, I like musicians who are exactly that rather than just being a guitarist. I like people to be able to change key instantly if the vocalist needs too, people who know where all the notes are and know their scales. Basically people who can just do the gig without needing loads of time and money consuming rehearsals 

This is pretty much me to a T. I do have to play three solos each night, but I'm far more interested in making the singers sound good, and years of experience has made me adaptable rather than a hotshot.

EricTheWeary

We might be back to the old if you want to play guitar in a band learn to sing or buy a truck. I did a couple of rehearsals with a UB40 tribute via my band's old drummer. Anyway, the band was organised by the other guitarist. He found the people, sorted a free rehearsal space, organised the set list, ya da ya da. Even with me there he was almost certainly the worst musician in the room but he had effectively assembled a band around his limitations and made it easy for everyone else so they were happy to turn up ( rehearsal times were too awkward for me in the end).

With my band I know it's a limited operation but there's basically a sliding scale between talent and doing the other stuff. So our skilfull keyboardist pretty much turns up and the other end I do most of the organisational stuff.

Guitarists often tend to be stylistically too limited. I'm a blues guitarist, I'm an indie guitarist, I'm a metal guitarist, etc. With singers that's more excusable but as long as something is technically within your grasp then what you like to listen to and what you like to play don't have to be the same. Got a clear vision of the music you wanna make? Excellent, do that. Wanna be in a band? Answer that Lady Gaga tribute ad.

[disclaimer :all advice offered has not necessarily been strictly applied to myself B-) )

ESBlonde

I have two ongoing projects, one a country/rock band that gig about twice a year. They are very laid back and experienced so just playing guitar and a few harmonies is a good fit even if the material can be a bit staid. The other is a funk outfit that are in the heart of the next county and usually requires me to drive an hour in each direction for rehearsal/recording/local gigs. But funk is my thing and they are a great bunch of guys plus I chose to do the travel. If you look hard enough and put in the effort you will find a fit somewhere, if you want to do what everyone else does expect the competition to be fierce, otherwise good guitarist jobs exist.