It's all about feel...

[Bartholomew]

Just did an audition with a wedding band that had completely no feel but good singers. The drummer had ok time but no balls, feel or creativity and the bass player was late so I was finished with my seven songs by the time he got there. Since they wanted to get started the keyboard player did his best mickey mouse interpretation of what he thought a bass player was...yuk.

 

Can't tolerate bands with no feel but on auditions we never know what is coming down the road - should have walked but never wimp out on anything and had nothing to do tonite anyways.. Am going to develop a questionnaire for these situations before I go in the door.

 

Imagine a "cocktail" band doing Honky-Tonk Woman - it was gross. Seems to be the norm for every wedding band I ever saw in this area - good technicians with no feel.

 

Even the cha-cha tune sucked - and these guys make big $$$ doing the Italian community affairs. "Doing them" would be the key phrase here.

 

 

[Caevan O'Shite]

So, you're not going to give it a go with 'em? Could they maybe be brought up to speed with a little seasoned guidance and good examples?

[Bartholomew]

It wasn't my best night, missed a few chords & just don't play well when there's no rhythm/groove so highly doubt they will call me back.

 

It's very difficult IMHO (maybe even impossible) to teach feel & rhythm - the concept of "coming down on the 1" seems to be absent except with the studio players I knew in NY.

[Eric Iverson]

Well, I don't think it's "impossible" to teach feel and rhythm if you sit down with people and point out to them which beats are accented, etc.

At least my flute teacher and the guy leading the jazz seminar I attend are always adamant about feel and phrasing. And it seems to be working, since last night I was there he said "it's starting to swing."

[Larryz]

Maybe ask if you can help with the equipment loading at the next wedding and check out how they sound to include their rhythm and feel, practice sessions don't always tell the whole story...see if it's what you really want to do (ie. play in a wedding band) and how they act and look on stage...

[pinkjimiphoton]

[quote=Eric Iverson]Well, I don't think it's "impossible" to teach feel and rhythm if you sit down with people and point out to them which beats are accented, etc. At least my flute teacher and the guy leading the jazz seminar I attend are always adamant about feel and phrasing. And it seems to be working, since last night I was there he said "it's starting to swing."[/quote] depends on how caucasian they are... ~pink ducks... ;)

[Bartholomew]

From what I've seen "here, there & everywhere" most players didn't get it yesterday, don't get it today and won't get it tomorrow - that's my impression from what I've seen and listened to in my part of the world.

[picker]

Even worse, being the new guy, you most likely will run into some "Hey, who asked YOU to teach us anything?" attitude, and rightly so. They are making money doing it, however wrong they may be, musically. That may be all they care about.

[Caevan O'Shite]

~pink ducks...

 

"~pink ducks"?! Oh, yeah?! Well, ~chartreuse loons to YOU, buddy!

[pinkjimiphoton]

~pink ducks...

 

"~pink ducks"?! Oh, yeah?! Well, ~chartreuse loons to YOU, buddy!

 

ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i meant duck, like so the empty bud bottles miss my head...

 

where a duck? there a duck!!

 

ummm...lol

[whitefang]

Consider yourself lucky. Wedding bands in MY day consisted of:

Drums

Bass guitar

Saxophone

Accordian

You haven't LIVED until you've heard "Proud Mary"(at around 10 o'clock)with THAT instrumentation!

Whitefang

[marvar]

"How are we gonna' play Stairway to Heaven without the accordion player?"

I was in a pretty good band, we were playing quite a bit, 4 piece, the 'leader' decides we need to expand, he calls his buddy, which is a horn player, he adds some cool things to some songs, but when he tried to put a horn part to STP's Sex Type Thing, I walked and never looked back.

I don't give a damn, 'bout no trumpet playin' band!, it ain't what I call rock and roll!

[p90jr]

I've gotten a lot of flack for having too much feel in those kinds of situations... usually playing bass.

 

but strangely even people I play rock gigs with lose any feel on wedding gigs. I think the prevailing mindset is that people want muzak, not music.

[p90jr]

]

 

depends on how caucasian they are...

~pink ducks...

 

Well, I'm a multi-racial Louisiana Creole, so I'll agree (ha).

 

I think a lot of people just seem to miss the entire concept of timing and feel and dynamics in music.

 

I said something here once - that someone or other disagreed with strongly - that the great guitarists I've seen had a picking/strumming hand that set them apart. I know a lot of people who can play fast scales but suck as rhythm guitarists. Given the choice for any band I was putting together I'd much prefer the latter.

[A String]

I know a lot of people who can play fast scales but suck as rhythm guitarists. Given the choice for any band I was putting together I'd much prefer the latter.

 

+1000

[SEHpicker]

I know a lot of people who can play fast scales but suck as rhythm guitarists. Given the choice for any band I was putting together I'd much prefer the latter.

 

+1000

 

Yes indeed. A good rhythm player is more valuable to a band than a shredder. And the best lead guitar players are usually masters of rhythm guitar...

[TuskBuffer]

IMHO, wedding bands don't necessarily have to be all that great musically--they serve a different purpose than playing in a club or a bar. The wedding band is there to provide the background music and make the evening fun for the guests, who are there for the bride and groom, NOT to watch a concert. It's a completely different environment than playing in a bar or club, where the focus for the patrons is to see the band. If the band can consistently provide a fun time for the guests...or better yet make the BRIDE forget how the flowers aren't perfect, the cake has a slightly noticeable blemish that nobody but her can see, somebody stepped on her dress, Uncle Frank is drunk again, etc., then they'll get a good rep and rake in the cash. Musical awesomeness takes a back seat.

[pinkjimiphoton]

lol...these days, at least around here, they want us to be background music, where the focus is on the bartender and patrons.

sux. it hasn't gotten better over the years, but worse...made the same bread in the late 70's as we do today, and the environments keep getting worse. it's ridiculous.

[Winston Psmith]

Ah, bro, I feel ya - my wife has a catering company, so when we do a wedding, I'm usually the bartender. Hey, as a New York Irishman, I was born to do one of two things, and I've never felt a calling for the priesthood, so . . .

 

At least, when I'm working, I can make sure the guys in the band have bottled water nearby, maybe send over some food during a break, whatever I can do to help my fellow musicians. I've seen how some caterers & wedding planners treat the wait staff & musicians - that's why I don't work for them.

[Eric Iverson]

In other words, you don't believe that mistreating and abusing hard-working musicians makes them play more soulfully.....

[Larryz]

Thank God for DJ's...

[Griffinator]

In other words, you don't believe that mistreating and abusing hard-working musicians makes them play more soulfully.....

 

Well, if they've never had any other reason to have the blues, I suppose beating them would work...

 

<-- glad he has some remote Negro in his bloodline.

[pinkjimiphoton]

[GuitarPlayerFL]

IMHO, wedding bands don't necessarily have to be all that great musically--they serve a different purpose than playing in a club or a bar. The wedding band is there to provide the background music and make the evening fun for the guests, who are there for the bride and groom, NOT to watch a concert.

 

This is the winning reply of the thread.

 

My one and only band is a wedding band. Wedding bands are on the same level as the flower arrangements, table cloths, and roast beef that is served to the guests. We are a product. We don't produce "ART".....we produce a good time for the guests.

[Gruupi]

I remember weddings as being some of the most fun gigs we ever had. We were a party band anyway so they knew what they were getting when they hired us. Just because people are older and dressed up doesn't mean they can't have fun. I think of rock music as participitory anyway, it's not a recital.

 

As to the original post, I think you are right not joining the band if you don't feel any chemistry. You will be unhappy, and you will probably make the other band members unhappy as well.

[TuskBuffer]

IMHO, wedding bands don't necessarily have to be all that great musically--they serve a different purpose than playing in a club or a bar. The wedding band is there to provide the background music and make the evening fun for the guests, who are there for the bride and groom, NOT to watch a concert.

 

This is the winning reply of the thread.

 

My one and only band is a wedding band. Wedding bands are on the same level as the flower arrangements, table cloths, and roast beef that is served to the guests. We are a product. We don't produce "ART".....we produce a good time for the guests.

Thanks for the "Blue Ribbon," GPFL! I was kind of concerned that people would take my reply as implying that wedding band members don't have musical talent, which of course was not my meaning at all. I'm glad you picked up on the positive difference I was talking about.