Rehearsal: Yay or Nay? Like? Dislike?

For me it depends entirely on the circumstances. Big band rehearsals are generally fun for me, as long as everyone is a passable reader. Most - but not all - other types of groups don't have charts, and that's when things can go sideways. There is inevitably a need to do some arranging on the spot, specifically when the band's instrumentation doesn't match that of the group that made a recording. There's also the occasional need to change keys to fit the vocalists' range and to work out harmony parts. I don't mind time spent in rehearsal on those things and on dynamics, tightening up breaks, etc. I get impatient when players either don't know their parts or completely forget them from one rehearsal to the next. I also am not pleased with players who have no volume discipline. IMO proper volume for routine rehearsals should be low enough that you can hear vocals with no PA. "Dress" rehearsals, when required, would be a different matter. In a perfect world, that would be done in a rehearsal studio with a stage and PA and would only rarely be called for. In the real world (my real world), it usually doesn't happen.

One group that I played with for a few months was a horn band led by the singer. He provided charts for every tune we did. The rhythm section was solid, and the horn players were music educators and music performance grad students at UNT. The singer had quite a bit of difficulty reading and remembering rhythmic figures, however, and he wanted the rest of the band to rehearse endlessly while he tried to get his parts together. Although he got some decent gigs, the over-rehearsing got old really quickly. I didn't stay long.
 
I loathe rehearsing for cover bands but I’ll do it. 2 hours tops and no alcohol/drug use or Im out. I hate to be a stick in the mud but if Im somewhere to work, I want to do the work. Anything else, rehearse as needed but not just because. Time is money.
 
When I was gigging our rehearsals varied due to what was happening with the band. Some were writing, some were prepping for shows, others were simply just fun for everyone to bond and get tight with each other. We had several warehouses that we rehearsed in during that time, all gear was left set up. We typically rehearsed at least 5 nights a week and after that we hit the strip and catch other bands playing and promote our band. Had bunches of friends who knew not to show up until after 11:00 because we wouldn’t let them in until our work for the night was finished. Then the door was opened and in they came with booze and food. Many times we continued to play for them like it was a show. Got tons of experience playing in front of people that way. Being on stage was so natural because of this, didn’t matter if it was in a different city than where we normally played. Man what a time that was. Never a dull moment and more fun than anything I’ve ever experienced since. How we all survived is still a mystery. Nothing compares to living and experiencing socal during the 80’s and 90’s…nothing…
 
I love practice. We don't play any covers, strictly originals. and we're a jam band. We're all friends, play well with each other, and everyone is pretty reliable for hitting practice at least once a week if not more. We smoke, drink, explore and gig once or twice a month. Works for me
 
Our band is meeting with a singer-songwriter from West Virginia tonight. Moved up
this way and is looking for a band to work up some of his original material. Gonna get
together and run through some of his songs and see if we'll be a decent fit for one another. :idk

It's a lot of fun trying to work up parts for someone else's material.
 
la szum said:
Our band is meeting with a singer-songwriter from West Virginia tonight. Moved up
this way and is looking for a band to work up some of his original material. Gonna get
together and run through some of his songs and see if we'll be a decent fit for one another. :idk

It's a lot of fun trying to work up parts for someone else's material.
Click to expand...
That's the time when I need to have a recorder going, because I can come up with cool ideas (and some crap as well) that if not captured, will be lost.
 
I LOVE full band rehearsals........covers OR originals.

Why? I like playing guitar & music and in a rehearsal room there's no gig or venue pressure. We can play a song 5 times or only once as there's no rule. We can play as loud and for as long as we like.

I can try new things with gear and we can keep improving on our last gathering both with the music and team interaction.

Live band rehearsal is my golf, poker night, oil painting, running, gym, BBQ, drinking, talking shit with my buds, school work, physical workout carrying gear, discipline improvement session, mind improvement and socialising etc etc............. I see it as painfully sad and wasteful when I hear or read people saying they hate rehearsals. Many missed opportunities and they really don't give a fuck about their overall band performance OR self improvement. I do stand by these comments and no wonder I see so many shit bands live these days. Even the great successful and famous bands, both original & cover, know the value of rehearsals and THEY do it often.
 
TSJMajesty said:
Great point!! I don't want to use rehearsals AT ALL to learn songs (originals excepted of course.) Do that on your own time!! Rehearsals, imho, are for dialing in the EQ of the band, getting the changes and such right, working up how we're going to string songs together, set lists, OA dynamics, getting harmonies sorted..., that sort of thing.

I can't stand it when I'm standing there, (and I have to be quiet), while someone else is playing the CD, while they're figuring out their s**t. That's not fun.
Click to expand...

"You guys mind if we listen to that one more time?" :LOL:

At the mid-50s point in my life I am WAY less uptight than I used to be.
Nothing, and no one is perfect. I can deal with the occasional slight or
insult to my own preferences. What's 5 minutes? I can go have a smoke,
or take a piss outside if I don't need to hear it.

Getting along with others is hard. Sometimes impossible. A lot of my
effort in life these days is to NOT be that guy who huffs and folds his
arms and gets pissy because of this, that, or the other thing. Because
I used to be THAT guy and it wasn't fun for me or anyone else.
 
ManWithGas said:
I LOVE full band rehearsals........covers OR originals.

Why? I like playing guitar & music and in a rehearsal room there's no gig or venue pressure. We can play a song 5 times or only once as there's no rule. We can play as loud and for as long as we like.

I can try new things with gear and we can keep improving on our last gathering both with the music and team interaction.

Live band rehearsal is my golf, poker night, oil painting, running, gym, BBQ, drinking, talking s**t with my buds, school work, physical workout carrying gear, discipline improvement session, mind improvement and socialising etc etc............. I see it as painfully sad and wasteful when I hear or read people saying they hate rehearsals. Many missed opportunities and they really don't give a f**k about their overall band performance OR self improvement. I do stand by these comments and no wonder I see so many s**t bands live these days. Even the great successful and famous bands, both original & cover, know the value of rehearsals and THEY do it often.
Click to expand...

I love this post SO much. Thank you. I feel your love, Brother!! :beer

You said so much I wish I could have. I see bands (some with my friends in them)
who play the same material now they did 5 or 10 years ago. They put ZERO effort
into adding/improving their show/sets.

One of the sadder things is a lot of these guys are super talented. They are just
f'ing lazy and prefer to posture as being bigger than they are when they do a gig
and bang through the same 30 or 40 songs they can all play in their sleep. Yawn! :facepalm

"Show me you really care," I say. :banana
 
la szum said:
Our band is meeting with a singer-songwriter from West Virginia tonight. Moved up
this way and is looking for a band to work up some of his original material. Gonna get
together and run through some of his songs and see if we'll be a decent fit for one another. :idk

It's a lot of fun trying to work up parts for someone else's material.
Click to expand...
Lucky Bastard Comedy GIF by CBS
 
JiveTurkey said:
Getting a group of grown adults on the same page to select cover songs they can all stomach in the name of financial gain is still just this side of impossible :wat
Click to expand...

Truth. The struggle is real and ongoing. :idk

I don't dig my heels in anymore. I say my piece,
but I am such a "go along to get along guy" these
days, who is just happy to have a group of mostly
swell chaps to make some noise with. I ask myself,
"How can I make this better, even if it is not my thing?"

It seems to be healthier, more tolerable for others,
and more fun for me. Go figure!

Not into being the asshole with a Titanic full of
needs, demands, and expectations for everyone else
to meet. Besides, that ship always goes down. :LOL:
 
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