3, 4 , or 5 piece band?

[flip333]

Hi:

 

My only successful band started as a 3 piece. Me on guitar and vocals, bass, and drums. My vocals are a weak on some songs.

I am an average guitar player, but I occasionally get great reviews from people...frequently after they have drank a lot.

 

In my old band, we recruited a female singer who propped me up vocally, then we got a rythym guitar player who could sing well.

 

That's five. Good sound. Call backs for gigs. Lots of people bull{censored} though. Female crap... unreliability.....different opinions on what to do.....and they were chewing at the bit to go PURE COUNTRY.

 

OK, now I started different band with another guitar player-singer and a drummer. They both sing better than me, thankfully. The other guitar player and I trade every 6 songs on bass.

 

We had our first gig at a farm in Illinois last week. There were about 40 people. They loved our show. We play blues, classic rock and some oldies with just a little country.

 

What is the best way to keep a show simple and great? I recorded the show. Decent, but maybe not outstanding. I don't need to be in the best band in town if things are simple and reliable... but I don't want to be in a bad band.

 

Sometimes I am tempted to add another player. The guy I am thinking of is talented and just got out of a successful band. He is a radio DJ, and could book lots of gigs ( I hate booking gigs), and give us plugs on the local radio. Lots of pluses by taking him on board, but potential complications. Maybe I should not sell our current band short.

 

We have a job coming up at the local Eagles club. There should be 100-150 or more people.

 

What would you do?

 

flip

[GCDEF]

I wouldn't want to carry the show with just one guitar. If I were you I'd pick up a bass player. I play guitar and our singer goes back and forth among electric guitar, acoustic guitar and keyboards. There's very little we can't cover well with that arrangement.

[flip333]

I remember that it was easier to play leads or sing when another guitar carried the rhthym.

[ned911]

We are a 4 piece with only 3 instruments (guitar, bass & drums) singer is only a singer.

 

So far all is going well and I'm not very interested in adding anyone. If necessary I would add a keyboard player versus another guitar player. Keys would open up a bunch more tunes versus another guitar.

[tremendo]

We are a 3 piece, guitar, bass & drums, and have no interest in changing as of now. Once we got rid of our 4th player (keys & vocals), we started actually sounding better. We aren't playing bars and have no interest, but do some corporate events & parties. But, we get paid more than most 4-5 person bands around here and with only 3, it works out well. We're not living on this, mostly having fun. Yeah, on some songs I really have to practice to play the guitar and sing them at the same time, but I have the time and we are enjoying it.

[lefchr]

was in a 5 piece, 3guitars, bass drum, one guitar player was the singer. Now I play in a 3 piece, guitar, bass, drums, me and trhe singer rotate how sing by how wrote the song. He is a better singer, but we are doing it to have fun so...

[JBJ]

for our own stuff I play rythmn and backign vox, my bro plays leads, our bass player plays bass ( strangely enough) we could do it with 4 with me singing to an extent but some of our {censored} is pretty hard to hit and I'd rathe rhave someone in singing because the guitars do interwine and stuff it's not a case of, me play the chords, he plays the licks y know.

 

so for our own stuff my personal choice would be 2 guitars, bass, drums and vocals

 

for covers my bro sits behind the kit and i take the rythmn lea dand vocals on. we could find another guitarist pretty easilly but we've been playign together from the start so the cheemistry is already there, we know what we're all going to do before we do it, we have fun, there;s no serious arguments and I'd rather be splitting the green between 3 then 4 or 5.

[srsfallriver]

6 - piece. Lead guitar, drums, keys, bass, lead male voc/rhythm guit, lead female voc/percussion. We all add backing vocals.

 

www.the-RETURN.net

 

Though we once in a while play as a 5 (minus female), 4 (5 minus keys), 3 (4 minus lead guitar), or 2 (two guitars) piece.

[Cortfan]

There are 4 of us. I play bass, no vox, guitar player/vox, drummer/vox, female singer/enough keys to get by on. We are pretty tight, so we can get by like this, plus there is a lot less personality conflicts with 4 instead of 5 or more. 3 part harmony is more important than a rhythm guitar, or full time keys, imho.

[Lee Flier]

Well, if you and this other guitar player get along well and play well together, then by all means find a bass player. In my experience it's easier to find a bass player who isn't a personality problem and can do the job, than any other musician. Whereas finding a guitar team that is compatible is often VERY difficult.

 

My band is a 3 piece, and originally it was our intention to find another guitarist/vocalist and be a 4 piece. But the vibe between the three of us is so good that we're loathe to screw it up. We auditioned a few people at first, but none of them had any particular chemistry with us, so we finally just decided to go ahead and be a 3 piece, and I think that was a good decision as we've had very few issues and don't have to split the pay too many ways.

 

So... I'd say there's no harm trying to find another person if you miss having that element musically (and it is great when you have two guitars if they mesh well), but it's not worth adding somebody who's a weak link musically or personally, just for the sake of filling out the lineup.

[daddymack]

Currently a five peice. Guitar, keys, harmonica, bass, drums. Guitarist, keyboardist and harmonicist handle 98% of the vocal duites. I will never do the 'singer who only sings' thing ever again.

I think for what you do, 'perfect' would be a singing rhythm guitarist who could double on keys (I used to do that years ago). and a full time bassist.

[flip333]

Hey guys thanks for your input. Its nice to hear what other players have done and what you think.

 

I believe I will let this new guy come over to jam with us. I will not make any promises of being in the band. He would have to mesh with the others and fit in.

 

We will do our next gig as a 3 piece. That will be the test.

 

We will play tight, mix the PA system well, and command the audience to have a great time. Fortunately, this Eagles club likes to party.

 

They appreciated our last band very much...even the songs I sang!

[Guitar Centaur]

I just had my first practice with a new unit I was asked to join, and right now it's 3 piece.

 

Me and the bass player both sing lead & harmonize, so we can each do about 50% of the night's material to save our voices. The bass player is a morning DJ at a popular radio station in the area, so he has to be careful, as he makes his living with his voice.

 

The drummer we're gonna have to drag kicking & screaming into singing backups. He doesn't wanna sing at all. He also wants to eventually add a second guitarist, because he feels the sound thins out too much during solos.

 

While I agree to a point, and there's a certain "comfort" to having another guitarist to "hide behind" every now and then, I'm kinda digging the raw, "on the edge" feeling of having to cover all that sonic territory.

 

It's like standing at the cliff's edge, and just letting go. Sometimes you'll fly, sometimes you'll hit the rocks!

 

[tremendo]

 

Originally posted by Crustycabs He also wants to eventually add a second guitarist, because he feels the sound thins out too much during solos.

 

When we added a nice subwoofer to the PA, the bass guitar and the kick carry so much weight that no 2nd guitar nor keys are needed during solos. A nice PA helps our 3 piece sound much fuller.

[Carbophos]

More bandmemebers means obviouly more troubles and more problems with live mix and monitoring.

 

But after all, it all depends on music, band chemistry, band goals and priorities.

 

Obviously power trio cover band gonna earn more bucks per person.

 

And obviously 6-piece original band can play whatever they want

[Cortfan]

I was very fortunate in high school to lead a 7 piece band for 4 years with the same 7 people. I played lead guitar. We had an excellent rhythm guitarist that sang lead, a drummer that sang harmony and some lead, a classically trained keyboard player, the best bass player I have ever seen, to this day, and an excellent trumpet player, and a sax player. We made much more money then, than I make now. Of course we gigged every single weekend, plus some weekdays. I can't imagine having 7 people who could get along in a band now days. Our rhythm guitar/vocals went on to tour with a national act.

[KeysBear]

We have a 5 piece band. Drums, bass, lead guitarist, lead singer/guitarist, and I play sax and keyboards. The two bands we compete with for gigs the most are power trios.

[Blackwatch]

I had a 3 peice band that played together for 3 years and towards the end every single gig was a drama fest from the bass player.. He was starting to smoke a lot of spliff before every show and it was affecting him. I finally ditched him and played with just a drummer and loved it. I had so much freedom and for once the sound was decent.

Our gigs all started sounding better. I would love to have other players but for now at this stage I'm sticking with just a drummer. It's all original stuff, kinda a delta blues/ jazz/ acoustic and the arragement fits well. ...

[Meatball Fulton]

Size of the band for me is always a balancing act with the money.

 

It would be nice to always have a four-piece rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar, keys) plus however many more singers and players (horns, strings, percussion, whatever) appropriate for the musical style.

 

The drawback is ALWAYS the dough. I spent a few years in an 8-piece band (3 horns and female singer plus 4-piece rhythm) and on some gigs the singer and guitarist (who ran the band together) would take NO PAY to be able to pay off the other 6 guys. In some rooms we would play as a 6 piece (2 horns, no keys) and on some of THOSE gigs the leaders took no pay.

 

Simple formula: to pay everyone at least $100 the gig had to pay at least $800. With half the band members full-time and most rooms offering only $4-600 the band eventually bellied up.

 

This year that band reformed as a TRIO...guitar, bass and drums. The material that was horn oriented was dropped in favor of more guitar stuff and the drummer stepped up to the plate to cover for the absent female singer. They can go out and play for as low as $300 and still take home $100 each.

 

So in the end the size of the band really depends on how much money you can get paid.

[flip333]

 

Originally posted by tremendo When we added a nice subwoofer to the PA, the bass guitar and the kick carry so much weight that no 2nd guitar nor keys are needed during solos. A nice PA helps our 3 piece sound much fuller.

 

 

Yea, the best 3 piece bands have a solid sub. I saw ZZtop this summer, and they did not use the extra rhythm guitar and organ sounds that you hear on their CD's. It was FULL and awesome.

 

I think our last gig was improved by my upgraded PA.

[Terry Allan Hall]

 

Originally posted by tremendo When we added a nice subwoofer to the PA, the bass guitar and the kick carry so much weight that no 2nd guitar nor keys are needed during solos. A nice PA helps our 3 piece sound much fuller.

 

 

Indeed...that, and a bassist who knows how, and when, to fill-in the spaces. One thing that we do is have the bass play very simple things during the vocal part of a given tune, then when I take a solo, she "walks" or arpeggiates a supporting line. When she takes a lead, I generally fingerpick or arpeggiate an appropo background.

 

And sometimes we just leave a lot of space and let the percussion do something interesting.

[mightysasquatch]

I am the guitarist/lead singer in a 4 piece now. We do all original tunes, kind of a cross between Uncle Tupelo & Gov't Mule (only not as good,lol). The bassist is starting to sing lead on some songs, but I wish he would sing more (he has a very good voice, but he is shy). We have considered finding a keyboard player who could sing co-lead with me throughout the night with us alternating songs, but haven't had any luck finding anyone.

I'm hoping to talk our bassist into singing more instead, we will see. Our drummer doesn't even get a mic, he sounds like Edith Bunker............

[RupertB]

College (mid '80s) - Rock trio. Lots of gigs, good money. Not much polish, lots of fun.

 

After college

1989 - Solo

1990 - Acoustic trio (3 voices, 2 guitars)

1991 - Added a bass player

1992 - Added a drummer

1993 - Added a conga/percussionist

1994 - Added a sax player

1995 - Not making much money individually, but having a blast playing a weird mix of new & old rock/pop music.

1996 - Moved out of town (2 hours). Band disintegrates.

1998 - Revival of acoustic trio which has done 4-5 gigs a year ever since.

[CloseEnoughRocks]

 

Originally posted by flip333 ... and could book lots of gigs ( I hate booking gigs),.flip

 

 

I think that's the most important line in your whole post.

 

We kept a drummer for about four years because he kept us working. He was the worst drummer I've ever played with. The absolute worst. He knew one beat and used it in every song.

 

But...our goal was to gig. And we did. Cuz of him.

 

I quit this band to join a band that played more private parties and corporate gigs (my second gig with them was at Trump's place!). The WORST singer on planet earth fronted this band. But he kept us working and most all of the players were monsters. There was a bit of the revolving door thing going because he was so bad, though.

 

Luckily, there's no bad players in my current outfit and we have a booking agent to keep us busy.

 

Good luck.

 

SR

[Dave Martin]

Has anyone mentioned yet that the material that y'all want to play will have an impact on the size of the band that you need? For example, if you intend to play a bunch of Tower Of Power, Chicago, and Blood Sweat and Tears songs (or want to wrote songs that sound like they were played by the above bands), then a horn section is kind of a necessity. On the other hand, when I heard Lee Flier's's band, the trio seemed to be the perfect size for the music that they did. Some music requires percusssionists, other music doesn't need a bass player or drummer.