After another rehearsal this week it occurred to me that the post I did on how many words per session you should do when writing a book was based on the same premise as when you have band practices.
That is:
1) Taking time to work out exactly how much you are getting done and arriving at a time frame.
2) Then either adjusting your goals/expectations or your workload accordingly.
This gives you a definite plan and makes a huge difference to your chances of getting shit done. And, before we go further here are the premises:
You are not in a funded full time band. Your time is limited.
You are writing all original material. You are not in a bar-band or a jobbing musician.
With the example of the book we could use a word count to exactly quantify the whole process. But music is not as easy. Let's try something. Maybe your band meets once a week for a two hour rehearsal. Maybe you warm up with a jam. Then you get down to business. You play through a song or two you can do already, one time each. Lets say you have three songs. You try some new ideas. What do you think you achieve over four rehearsals, or one month?
Maybe play three existing songs 4 times each? Maybe have created a new song and pretty much finished it?
How long is an album of material, 8 - 10 songs?
What about a 45 minute live set? 10 songs at about 4 mins each with some breaks in between?
It's going to take you 6-7 months to write the material and even then it doesn't seem to me like there's enough repetitive practice for the songs to get tight. You're are probably going to have to stay together for two years before you 'get good' and even then it may not happen. Actually, this gels with many bands breaking through in Shanghai at the moment. A lot of Shanghainese bands who are now playing semi-decent shows have recently passed the 18 month or two year mark and have basically the same set as before. But most of them still can't play an hour and seem inconsistent to many scene observers.
Talking to the former singer of Chainsaw Kittens, Tyson Meade, confirmed what I always suspected was true. The bands who make it are ambitious and either have a driving leader figure or are all organised and professional in approach. So how can we help ourselves here?
First obvious point: Practice more. Going twice a week immediately slashes your development time in half. I'd say more as it's a curve and there's less time to forget stuff.
Second Point: Practice individually. Individual members should show up at the next practice having the previous session's material down. You should never show up having forgotten what you learned last time.
Next: Always come on time and don't bring friends. If the session starts at 6 - everyone should be in the room and ready to go - AT 6. Also, there should be no one in the room except band members.
Then: separate writing time and practice time and organise. Never just turn up and say 'what shall we do'. If you're going to work on new material, do it. At a writing session people need to bring ideas, fully formed passages, lyrics or whatever. Sure, there is the jam method - but for a part-time band who can meet once a week? At a practice session you need to play all your songs as many times as you can fit in, play three full sets in a row.
For writing, how hard is it for the singer and the guitarist, for example, to meet at someone's house on their own time and write some song ideas? Why waste the group time doing this? In fact playing with a full band in a room all amped up and loud often makes it harder.
Bonus: record all your rehearsals with a simple device stuck in the middle of the room. Then everyone can get a copy and use it to practice at home by themselves or to listen to over and over.
In summary:
Book two group rehearsals a week in an equipped room.
Have a third session in someone's house for writing and ideas.
Record all sessions and use the tapes to practice individually.
So, turn up at each session with the previous work down.
Treat rehearsals professionally, no hangers-on and be on time - and plan your tasks.
Set your goal at having 8-10 songs and being able to play them straight through in a set twice during a single rehearsal at performance quality.
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