A Little Courtesy at Rehearsal?

[GuardiansGuitar]

Shouldn't be too much to ask, right?

 

But in just about every band I've been a member of, there's one of those self-absorbed, clueless players who insist upon:

 

[1] Tuning at the same volume as performing a show. (Ever hear of those fancy little digital tuners that mute the output as you fiddle about?)

 

[2] Constantly practicing riffs, solos, or just spewing musical blather at high volume while other band members are trying to have a conversation.

 

[3] Trying out their pedalboard at high volume while the other members are setting up.

 

[4] Not listening to anyone about anything because they are too absorbed in refining their own partsâwhich may or may not work with the band arrangement as a whole, because, well, they weren't really listening when arrangements were being discussed.

 

[5] Pretty much NEVER allowing one f**king moment of silence the entire time they are in the rehearsal room.

 

Typically, guitar players are the main offenders here, but some bassists and keyboard players are also infected with the "It's All About Me" strain of jerk-hood.

 

**A funny sidebar: If a drummer similarly starts nattering about before a song starts, the butthead guitarist, bassist, or keyboardist who never shuts up is usually the first band member to bark, "Hey, stop it. We can't even f**king THINK in here with you playing that stuff!" Gotta love that...

 

 

[CEB]

Fire them.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Give everyone in the band a nerf gun. When someone won"t stop noodling, etc. when some quiet discussion is needed, shoot them.

 

(With the nerf gun, of course.)

[Caevan O’Shite]

Shouldn't be too much to ask, right?

 

But in just about every band I've been a member of, there's one of those self-absorbed, clueless players who insist upon:

 

[1] Tuning at the same volume as performing a show. (Ever hear of those fancy little digital tuners that mute the output as you fiddle about?)

 

[2] Constantly practicing riffs, solos, or just spewing musical blather at high volume while other band members are trying to have a conversation.

 

[3] Trying out their pedalboard at high volume while the other members are setting up.

 

[4] Not listening to anyone about anything because they are too absorbed in refining their own partsâwhich may or may not work with the band arrangement as a whole, because, well, they weren't really listening when arrangements were being discussed.

 

[5] Pretty much NEVER allowing one f**king moment of silence the entire time they are in the rehearsal room.

 

Typically, guitar players are the main offenders here, but some bassists and keyboard players are also infected with the "It's All About Me" strain of jerk-hood.

 

**A funny sidebar: If a drummer similarly starts nattering about before a song starts, the butthead guitarist, bassist, or keyboardist who never shuts up is usually the first band member to bark, "Hey, stop it. We can't even f**king THINK in here with you playing that stuff!" Gotta love that...

 

S0O0O0O0O0 been there, done by that...

 

Give everyone in the band a nerf gun. When someone won"t stop noodling, etc. when some wuiet discussion is needed, shoot them.

 

(With the nerf gun, of course.)

 

Nerf?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Blood on the carpet is NOT courteous, duh!

[Winston Psmith]

The Electronic/Experimental scene is overrun with guys (they're ALL guys, sad to say) who are no longer in bands because of exactly the sort of behavior you're describing: they're too loud, too self-involved, in short, they're not team players, so no team wants them. I play in an all-Improv Synth & Guitar duo, where if I'm not listening to my partner, it's going to be painfully obvious, in no time. We probably wouldn't still be working together after 3 years+, if I treated our Music, and our partnership, like that, either.

 

One of the greatest lessons I learned from listening to Miles Davis was to think about the space between notes, or even the space between whole phrases. Well-timed silence can create a sense of anticipation in your listeners, cascades of 32nd notes just create fatigue.

[Larryz]

In this context, I think that "Nerf" gun should be called the Nerd gun LOL! There is always a little tension in every band. Being in a Duo (or playing solo) limits the number of players and can be very rewarding and lower the tension. It has to be fun or I vote with my little feeties and walk away. I got together with 4 of my buddies yesterday (that go back to our high school band days circa '65), and we had fun while working on a plan for an upcoming gig. There were some corrections that had to be discussed, but we are always courteous and respect each other. We joke a lot too as old friends often do...

[desertbluesman]

I learned long ago that many players are ego freaks. I gave up trying to do the band thing in the late 1960's, even though I was in two good band efforts (although they were short lived). Both happened in the summer of 68 or 69.

 

My thing was to do all originals and try for a shot at the big time with new original songs. Most guys I knew wanted to play covers in clubs, which did not interest me a single bit. I tried the club scene with those two bands, but it was thankless work. Very little pay and no real interest from the boozers in the clubs.

 

However I did start my musical odyssey singing a-Capella in a street corner doo wop group called The Soundmasters. The biggest thing we did as a group was a gig on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City NJ. However they were all my childhood friends and the ego's were not as prevalent as it was in the fully staffed instrument bands that I played in later on.

[d halfnote]

One solution is for ll extraneous sounds (tuning, etc) to be done via headphones.

[skypuppy123]

These subjects are so common and so talked about - what hasn't there been a weekly TV series on this/? Man, the stories I could write. From obnoxious guitarists to egotistical singers to PITA wives of members to wanna-bee guitarists that are excellent drummers - I've experienced them all - the drama , the fights, the volume....