what to do when the band gets a bit stagnant?

[stevedenver]

been working hard , rehearsing 2x per week 3 hours each session, had several gigs.
any thoughts on what to do when the chemistry begins to slow , or simply becomes more of the same?

2 of us are 'progressive' -grass up anything, love rock and pop, swing, etc
the others are good ole boys-pretty much strictly BG, with our bassist having a soft spot for 60s old folk coffee house music, and our budding guitarist of one years ecxperience being a former R and B drummer-odd bunch a ducks i guess

since we're not pro, or even semi pro,
and 2 of us have very demanding day jobs
and do this for entertainment,
the 'grind' of simply delivering a show isnt whats motivating my energy

were actually getting ...very workmanlike...deliver solid if not virtuoso sets and harmonies-weve worked hard to get this far, and i dont want to throw it out, but as BB said, the thrill is kinda gone

would love some sagacious comments

[Denny Gies]

Been there, done that. My experience is that bands do have peaks and valleys. Sometimes the staleness will just dissapate with time, sometimes sitting down and discussing the dips helps. There is no silver bullet, in my opinion, as to how to get through these peaks and valleys. Good luck. The fun should return if you guys stick with it.

[Fred Keller]

Sagacious? Ha! But I do have a couple thoughts and reactions.

1. You can have other members of the group run practice, focus on THEIR interests.
2. Take a break! practicing twice a week is a lot of work.
3. Be aware that if you're playing for an audience, if you have gigs, then the audience gets to expect you to put on a show. They don't necessarily care if you're tired or "the thrill is gone." You owe them. You don't mention what kind of gigs so I'm assuming people are choosing and/or paying to come to see you. That may be incorrect. But if you're struggling as a group to make the audience your focus, it could be gigging that's the issue. Maybe you just want to bank the band back to a jam session if that's the part that's providing the stress.
4. You don't say how your band is organized: is it a top down structure with a leader or more of a conglomerate/democratic structure? If one person--the leader--holds the vision of the band then that person gets to dictate who stays, who goes, and what kind of a band you are. If it's a democracy, you vote or come to agreement. Buy-in through discussion and voting can make for a powerful group but a top down approach can be fast, immediate and clear.

Good luck! It's not an easy thing to navigate.

[Rick Crenshaw]

1. Make sure every member has a few songs in the set list that they want to do. Everyone must feel they are achieving some of their personal goals.
2. If you're going to practice twice a week, make one strictly vocal practice. Vocals provide the most payoff. Make sure harmonies lines are correct, the blend is good, and the pronunciations and emphasis are the same.
3. Go thru your 15 or so main songs once. Then work on something fun... keep some freshness in it.
4. Joke, laugh, enjoy yourselves. This is supposed to be fun.
5. Make sure advice to improve performance is positive and done carefully to avoid hurt feelings... some musicians are very sensitive. It is doubly hard to improve band performance with members who take criticism of group performance and dynamics personally.

Good luck. FWIW, my group has really hit its stride now after about three years of regular 3x per month practice and twice monthly performances. We now play out a out 4x per month (more than what we originally agreed to as a band), earn more per gig, and turn down gigs. So keep at it.

[Jim]

2x practice a week is alot once you have your sets down, one a week should do it and you may be suffering burn out. Are your practice/rehersals goal oriented? If you are not working toward something it can be hard to maintain focus. If gigs are not available to work toward then perhaps focusing on recording a demo/youtube vid or similar project. Finally, composing your own music can light the fire again, particularly if everyone can contribute to the compositions.

[xiledscot]

I agree with Sagacious Fred. For a band that is not pro or semi pro,two rehersals a week is a lot of work!
I would advise caution with your gigs.If you are not giggin' regularly, it's easy to loose the "edge" !
Live performances generate a lot of energy and spontaneity that cannot be rehearsed for.
It sounds like you are all pretty competent at what you are doing already,so maybe take a break from rehearsing so hard.
You can fill in the time with looking up other avenues,styles,that interest you.
As the other guys have said,it's not easy and the music scene is littered with broken relationships,caused by the symptoms you describe.

All the best!

[stevedenver]

were a F)(*&ing democracy LOL

i think me (mando) and the guitar player probably 'drive the bus' most often, in terms of selecting and learnign tunes to teach the others, ie serve as a solid framework vocally and rythmically to hang one-i make a point every session to ask for new songs, suggestions, try to get the others to 'be bold'-we have all grwon hugely , but now theres a stasis


we all take lead vocals on differnt songs,
and all but me are playing thier instruments about a year or so!!!, so the hard work was really necessary to be workmalike and competant-


you know, sing, play the instrument, remember the lyrics, all the breaks etc-ie that synapsis development LOL

im the only one really able to jam in the sense of ability to improv- the banjo player being the second-and damned hard working and getting good-(shes retired so has more time to woodshed for real)

-so while i try to do this often-solicit and engage jamming or noodling -, theres is a limit, because they run out of 'tricks' and licks-

so, we actually play straight songs rather than noolde

and it then becomes a frustration i think-
were getting the audience banter down
we do podunk gigs, nursing homes, local cafes, token or no pay-by choice

we have recognized that having monthly gigs )(sometimes many more) gives us deadline not to humiliates ourselves, learn lyrics, practice the hamronies (which we dont do carefully enough-somone's always impatient or frustrated i suppose-and we play something else to get that feeling of movement in the session, if it begins to unravel)

i thank you all -its a 'passage' i guess
patience i guess too

youre feedback tells me what i think ive hoped-that this is not unusual

[Eddie Sheehy]

Fire the drum-machine. Seriously though, try putting together a few classical pieces for an ensemble - Pachelbel's Canon, or a Telemann or Vivaldi piece. Concentrate on dynamics and timing... A change is as a good as a rest...

[Austin Bob]

Concentrate on dynamics and timing... A change is as a good as a rest...

Very good advice here. I've seen way too many bands with GREAT musicians and singers that have one thing in common; the second set sounds EXACTLY like the first.

The reason is that there is no dynamic to the music. Rock bands have the same formula to every song, always with a guitar solo in the middle. Bluegrass bands do the same, with a solo from every instrument on every song. The banjo and the mandolin should not be afraid to take a back seat on songs, let the guitar and singers carry the melody. That is way more interesting to the average audience than song after song in G with breaks in the middle.

Next work on your appearance. You're gonna need some Monroe style bow ties, cowboy hats and boots.

[OldSausage]

Side projects can help - cut the practices with that band down and use the other evening for something else. It's healthy, because you can bring what you learn there to the other band. It can get old fast if you're a much better musician than the other members, so find people who are at your level or better to play with when you can.

[Beanzy]

Take time out as different formats of duo/trio doing the odd gig here and there. Mix it up a bit, duet iwith mando/bass or of banjo, guitar, vocals. You'll find songs and tunes and ways of working closely with other members that you can bring back to the ensemble.
We used to do this in Uni with the rock band I was bassist in. Our drummer and I formed a combo that would hook up with any jazz singers guitarists sax trumpet we could find and just try stuff. Still some of the best musical memories were those efforts.

Also if someone goee 'nude' and just does the vocals where they'd normally play an instrument, boy ther singing will improve. Nothing like not having an instrument to hide behind to make you sharpen up your vocals.

[stevedenver]

Take time out as different formats of duo/trio doing the odd gig here and there. Mix it up a bit, duet iwith mando/bass or of banjo, guitar, vocals. You'll find songs and tunes and ways of working closely with other members that you can bring back to the ensemble.
We used to do this in Uni with the rock band I was bassist in. Our drummer and I formed a combo that would hook up with any jazz singers guitarists sax trumpet we could find and just try stuff. Still some of the best musical memories were those efforts.

Also if someone goee 'nude' and just does the vocals where they'd normally play an instrument, boy ther singing will improve. Nothing like not having an instrument to hide behind to make you sharpen up your vocals.

thanks -im already on this path-not only the mix up with others, but a separate side group (with a former Bluegrass Boy here indenver!!!) and
ill try singing nekked-have done this time to time and man youre so right about suddenly hearing every flaw, tone ,etc

the hard part is avoiding relapse -ie the more comfortable and familiar

sometimes i play guitar or bass (my main instruments) and things change a lot-but the whole point of the BG band was to force me to really focus on mando-perhaps well try to add some jazz/swing to vary the sound-because youre dead right the first set sounds just like the third

[Laird]

There's a scene from the movie, The Doors, when the band goes out to Joshua Tree and eats peyote. That seemed to do the trick.

[Nevin]

Sometimes inviting others to sit in can had to a band. People want to be at their best for others.

[fatt-dad]

forming, storming, norming, performing

I think you are in "storming."

Take things as they are meant to go. . .

f-d

[Rob Meldrum]

We practice once per week and when things get stagnant we have one practice where everyone brings two new songs with tabs and we play each one through twice. We then do two good things: one, we agree on which songs have a chance to work for our band and add them to our practice list; two, we agree which songs we have been working on just aren't quite hitting the mark and we wave goodbye to them. There are always a few songs that we thought would never sound good that end up being great for our band, and a few songs that we all assumed would be winners that never quite work out for us. It keeps us fresh. :-)

[chip]

How long has the band been together?

[Astro]

There are some great suggestions here. Our band just broke up after 8 months. Thats certainly one way to keep things fresh ! We practiced 3 hours solid per week and we were starting to gig out about twice a month.

I go to a jam a couple times per month and it draws an audience and thats way more fun in many ways but less rewarding in other ways as you never really polish up a song let alone a string of them. But I'm always learning something new there.

In this town its tough to find "normal people" to play let alone those who want to do something besides the usual classic rock and blues. Thats all most bars want to book and most restaurants just want solos and duos.

Its tough work finding band mates.

Here goes (again).

[stevedenver]

How long has the band been together?

one year and one or two weeks!


and

astro, yes it is hard to find bandmates, no less ones that are reliable,
committed and do what they say they will

in many ways, even if its only music, you still need to be able to get along , and even enjoy the folks you spend so much time with-

lack of ego-or perhaps dominance- is also a big plus in making a cohesive unit , doing what makes the show or band better, not highlighting ones' self

this isnt always that easy after a few months, unless the people are good, imho

[chip]

What age group? The reason I ask is that our band just dissolved due to the age of its members, those that are comfortable playing hootenanny on their front porch, guitar player who travels 5 1/2 months a year, etc. etc. it's difficult to find others that are on the same page. We started out with an edgy and different type of sound only to drift into what I describe as your typical jammy tunes.
Had a steady gig, had an producer/sound engineer from LA that wanted to record us for a fraction of regular studio time, a chance to go play for a week and get paid at a major bluegrass event, etc but noooooooo...no one other than myself wanted to do these things. Make sure you have your goals, song choices, etc. spelled out from the beginning other wise it may all be for naught.

[mandopete]

Sounds like my "band" story exactly. What you need to do is to identify a purpose or goal for the band. Once everyone is aligned or understands that goal the rest will fall into place. Much easier said than done.

I tried to convert my band from a recording/performing bluegrass group (playing mostly original material) to a more casual, 'let's just jam in the living room' kind of thing. It didn't work. Kinda reminded me of when your girlfriend says she wants to be "friends".

What I have learned most of all for me is that it's about the people and the process and that that process is in constant motion.

[stevedenver]

What age group? The reason I ask is that our band just dissolved due to the age of its members, those that are comfortable playing hootenanny on their front porch, guitar player who travels 5 1/2 months a year, etc. etc. it's difficult to find others that are on the same page. We started out with an edgy and different type of sound only to drift into what I describe as your typical jammy tunes.
Had a steady gig, had an producer/sound engineer from LA that wanted to record us for a fraction of regular studio time, a chance to go play for a week and get paid at a major bluegrass event, etc but noooooooo...no one other than myself wanted to do these things. Make sure you have your goals, song choices, etc. spelled out from the beginning other wise it may all be for naught.

45-guit-
55 mando-
55+ banjo and bassist
geezers....most of us ex-hippies of a sort-pese luv and rock and roll you know LOL


we play very traditional BG as well as grassing up anything we can think of

the purpose it to get girls and money of course...LOL

were gigging (playing out somehwere-soylent greenacres, holiday marts, picnics and bbqs all volunteer etc) about once /twice every month-and thats plenty for me and my schedule

http://groundhogriot.com/

and you can see us..it aint pretty..the tunes were from a year ago, our first time playing- we had been playing a month-the bassist three days ever!

trying so hard....to play, to sing, to mediate....

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Laird - "...There's a scene from the movie, The Doors, when the band goes out to Joshua Tree and eats peyote".. I recently bought the double DVD set - "History of The Eagles" (my all time favourite band of any genre ever), & they did exactly the same thing. One cause of the Eagles break up was one of dissatisfaction by some band members re.what was going on with the band & what they should be doing. This lead to some really vicious acrimony which was coming out on stage during their gigs,not nice to see (or hear) as the audience were able to.
It's hard to advise any person or band what to do if they feel musically stale,everybody possibly has their own way of dealing with it. Some would maybe try a different style of music,or maybe re-arrange some of their stuff & do it differently - Bernie Leadon of The Eagles "went surfing" ie. he walked out !. It could be that a lay off for a while is in order,or at least a good discussion amongst the band re.what you all want to do & take it from there,
Ivan

[Astro]

Well getting stale is one thing. Its normal and you can work through it with the great suggestions as stated above.

But the band ending problem inevitably becomes that different folks will have different desires of what they want or need to get out of the band.

In the beginning, most will agree its all about the music. In the end, it rarely is.

[Perry]

Here's a suggestion:

Looks like you do a lot of volunteer gigs. How about one at a nursing home?Revel in the joy that you brought with your gift. Of the hundreds upon hundreds of gigs I've done playing for elderly folks is still the most satisfying gig. Sad to day I haven't done it more.