Members drumsnbeer Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 I should have thought of this sooner and posted regularly. It might make a good thread for discussion. I am 49 years old and this is my first band experience. I joined/started a cover band back in November. It started as me on drums a bass player and female singer. The bass player knew a lead guitarist that we added. We found our rhythm guitarist/male vocals through craigslist. We had about 30 songs ready to play did an open mic and the lead guitarist had to bow out. We put a craigslist ad for a replacement and after a couple of misfires played with a guy tonight. He worked out great. It looks like we are back on track. I had asked someone previously how long it would take to start a cover band and be ready to play out and they told me 6 months. I thought that was crazy but apparently he was right.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim_7string Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 Every band is different. It could take longer, it could be sooner. My current band, if you only consider the current lineup, is only a month and a half old. However, I started the band at the end of February last year with two other guys that left their band. The three of us were consistently together for a year, until I let one of them go. There were a couple other members but they didn't last as long. The drummer and I are still going since the beginning of the band. I can see this current lineup lasting for quite a while, as long as we all stay healthy. We get along really well. Good luck with your new guitarist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 Depends on the talent your working with and the complexity of the songs your trying to play so it's hard to put a time line on when to gig out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 There and back again took about 9 months until we were "out" Ostrich Hat was little over 3 months I think with one practice a week. we did 3-5 songs per week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kramerguy Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 I've spent a year in the basement, and twice in my life was in formation bands that put a full 4-hour setlist together in 30 days. It's all about the level of talent and how much spare time they have to cement the songs. Rehearsals aren't nearly as important as personal practice (they ARE important, for 30 days we did 2x week!). but for those players who "learn" the songs at rehearsal... well that's the band that takes forever to get out the door. Good luck with your band drums&beer dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim_7string Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 To expand on my band experience, the band I had in 2010 and early 2011 took about three months of practice to get up to speed. It was primarily due to the bass player, who had difficulty with some of the songs and remembering his parts. By contrast, the band I have now started at the very end of February 2011 and played its first gig in early April 2011, so it was basically five weeks and we were off and running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 Six months is probably about right--if not pretty quick, actually---considering this is your first band experience. It depends on the experience level of the different musicians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DarkHelmet Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 depends on the experience and musicianship of the members. we started out 2 years ago (ish) when my older brother (drummer) asked me to to fill in singing background and playing keys for a little side-project from his other band. my younger brother had picked up the bass a few months before and we worked him in... (he's probably one of the best bass players around in the realm of overal musicianship... he shames the both of us). Drummer's other band fell apart shortly after, and I moved to just being the front man, then about a year ago I picked the guitar back up and we (very congenially) left our other guitar player to do his thing. we'd have been playing out 9 months ago if I hadn't had so much to learn to just be a passable guitar player, but we've got 3 weeks to our first gig (charity show that was actually the impetus for the original project), and then we'll evaluate just what to do from there. we only practice about twice a month due to schedules, but because we can work around our (substantial!) egos as brothers there really isn't any drama and we have gotten pretty tight. so it's taken us 2 years, but it's been a very evolutionary track and really only a year of directed work to put together this configuration, and that includes me having to learn an instrument almost from scratch. and we're perfectionists... which is gonna be TOUGH to manage in a live environment. 6-months with experienced musicians (or at least pre-skilled) should be about right as long as you have good chemistry and can communicate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 992gnt Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 Was almost 5 months exactly with my current band. Practices once a week, all experienced musicians. At just shy of 45 I've only been playing in a band since 2009. Learned lots from the first two bands I was in, and a TON lurking around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JailTime Posted April 13, 2012 Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 It took me about 10 years to put together the kind of band I wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drumsnbeer Posted April 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 13, 2012 Thanks for the input guys. We have been practicing for 2 hours once a week. Everyone else in the band is my age or older and experienced musicians. Our songs are a combination of classic rock, blues, a few duets and a handful of quirky songs that we like. We want to have 40 songs ready before we play out and are just about there. The communication is good and we are very efficient with our practices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members msmooth Posted April 14, 2012 Members Share Posted April 14, 2012 My band started in May 2011 and we played a party on July 4th and started gigging regularly in September. However, 3 out of the 4 were vetrens of many bands and the drummer had been in one band with one of the guys. We started out by pickong songs that we already knew to get out there. Now that we are playing out, we have been adding new songs. Stick with it. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted April 14, 2012 Members Share Posted April 14, 2012 Thanks for the input guys. We have been practicing for 2 hours once a week. Everyone else in the band is my age or older and experienced musicians. Our songs are a combination of classic rock, blues, a few duets and a handful of quirky songs that we like. We want to have 40 songs ready before we play out and are just about there. The communication is good and we are very efficient with our practices. You might want to think about doing some yard party gigs as you are ramping up to being ready for prime time. family friends, etc. This will give you a chance to not only reherse in front of people , but also get your set up and tear down routine and practice on mixing your sound from stage etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted April 14, 2012 Members Share Posted April 14, 2012 You might want to think about doing some yard party gigs as you are ramping up to being ready for prime time. family friends, etc. This will give you a chance to not only reherse in front of people , but also get your set up and tear down routine and practice on mixing your sound from stage etc. Good advice. Playing a *real* gig has it's own unique set of stressors, but it's nice to have all that other stuff dialed in so you don't have to worry about it on top of the gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drumsnbeer Posted April 15, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 15, 2012 I'm thinking about having my own backyard party so we could play through our full set in a no pressure situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members maarkr Posted April 16, 2012 Members Share Posted April 16, 2012 keep the pressure on learning new songs... i live in an area where you don't get much by CL-ing for players, so it's taken us a year to get going... many players who quit or move on... but my guitarist friend works alot and doesn't have time to pick up songs too fast, so we're in the slow lane. what'a a guy to do? at least i'm in no hurry to gig out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drumsnbeer Posted April 20, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 We are practicing with our new lead guitarist this week. We are going to have a sit down after practice and get everyone on the same page. To keep the pressure on, I would like to start booking dates ( within a reasonable time frame ), we have one venue ready to book us. It will give us something to work towards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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