It has come to my attention, that if I want to grow as a musician, I need to play with a different set of folks than the ones in the praise band. One is a songwriter(acoustic guitar), one a high school student(piano), the lead has had training, but long ago, and is not "fired up" enough to stretch. Oh, and the lead singer is a former barbershop quartet singer. He is the one dragging down the tempo....
I seem to be the only one who wants to expand my horizons and stretch beyond what I now know, or do.
I have decided to keep the new Dean upright electric at work and ONLY play melody on it for a while. I will just bring in music books and play melodies until I get REAL comfortable on the instrument. That should pay tremendous dividends!
Anyways, one of the things I am thinking of, is putting out an ad to form a Gospel Blues Band. I tried this once before, and had folks ready, but it never got off the ground due to a trip back to SDak to be with my Dad during the loss of his leg in 94. It is now 12 years later and I am itching to try this again but I am worried about being "the guy" as I have no experience running a band. Obviously, with the nature of the music, it wouldn't be a bar band.
Any thoughts?
Stretching out
It sounds like a great idea.
It's a good opportunity to adapt to different circumstances & learn to 'read' other players (ie: ones you're not already used to), learn bits from them, teach them some of your own, etc.
It also gets you out of a rut & makes things feel new again to a certain extent.
It's a good opportunity to adapt to different circumstances & learn to 'read' other players (ie: ones you're not already used to), learn bits from them, teach them some of your own, etc.
It also gets you out of a rut & makes things feel new again to a certain extent.
Plus five minus five!
Charly, I concur. I have wanted to do the same. I have been with the same guys for, too long. A change is good. New learning experiences, new challenges and new sounds is a good thing.
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Music is too important to be left to professionals.
Music is too important to be left to professionals.
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lyle_from_minneapolis
- Advanced Member
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- Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:13 pm
Where bands are concerned, I have made many fresh starts over the years. The usual regret is that, once again, ground rules were not established well enough from the beginning.
Charly, since you are starting it yourself, you have the freedom to call the shots, and the responsibility to declare how things are going to work.
Musical groups are like marriages, only harder, because there are more than two people involved. Yikes! It needs a framework, a constitution. People need to be aware of it and agree to it when they join. Maybe that constitution resembles the Frank Zappa model: everyone does exactly what I ask of them--I am the final word. Maybe it is full-on democracy, ruled by majority opinion. Maybe it is something I once employed called "King of the Song" in which one bandmember has final say on the performance of a particular song (we were queenless). In other words, John calls the shots when we play "Revolution," but George is in charge of "Here Comes the Sun." Everyone gets a time to lead and a time to follow.
Each model has its pros and cons, and none of them eliminates arguments. So you need to find people you can communicate with comfortably, even in uncomfortable ways. It's good to ask up front how someone will feel about criticism of their performance, because criticism is necessary and unavoidable if a group wishes to hit a high standard. If people are just in it for fun and do not wish to "improve" they will get resentful of any critique.
Hope you find what/who you're looking for. It sounds like an exciting prospect. Good luck!
Charly, since you are starting it yourself, you have the freedom to call the shots, and the responsibility to declare how things are going to work.
Musical groups are like marriages, only harder, because there are more than two people involved. Yikes! It needs a framework, a constitution. People need to be aware of it and agree to it when they join. Maybe that constitution resembles the Frank Zappa model: everyone does exactly what I ask of them--I am the final word. Maybe it is full-on democracy, ruled by majority opinion. Maybe it is something I once employed called "King of the Song" in which one bandmember has final say on the performance of a particular song (we were queenless). In other words, John calls the shots when we play "Revolution," but George is in charge of "Here Comes the Sun." Everyone gets a time to lead and a time to follow.
Each model has its pros and cons, and none of them eliminates arguments. So you need to find people you can communicate with comfortably, even in uncomfortable ways. It's good to ask up front how someone will feel about criticism of their performance, because criticism is necessary and unavoidable if a group wishes to hit a high standard. If people are just in it for fun and do not wish to "improve" they will get resentful of any critique.
Hope you find what/who you're looking for. It sounds like an exciting prospect. Good luck!
Here is where I hide my music:
http://www.soundclick.com/MarkKaufman
http://www.soundclick.com/MarkKaufman
Follow you heart, Charly. With this honesty and a sharing of your feelings with others, the rest will take care of itself.
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm
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I say don't limit yourself, play in any situation you can find that will help you to grow. Just because you visit a barbershop doesn't mean you have to get a haircut. Also being a leader doesn't necessarily mean it will be a growing situation for you, may be the opposite, too many hats etc. Get in a good band with players who are better than you if possible, that'll really make you stretch.