So me and two other friends are thinking about starting a band. Me as lead guitarist my friend on the rythm guitars and another friend on the bass. But the thing is, with the exception of the bassist who has been playing for two years, we are fairly new to the guitar. So we know that will most likely not be the best sounding band out there seeing how us two guitatist have no real guitar playing skills. Does anyone out there think we should still start the band?
ya u should it it will develope ur skills why wouldnt u want to
Head Arcitech at Vandelay Instudries
Oh im not saying i didn't want to, I was just asking some of you guys opinions
Why not? I remember watching this tv documentary thing about metallica, and I remember James (lead singer/guitar player) talking about how the drummer Lars wasn't an exceptionally amazing player when they started jamming together, but they both had passion to play and so it worked. I think that's what it really comes down to, if you want to play then play. There's gonna be people that will try to bring your confidence down but you have to start somewhere.
Steve-0
It's a great idea. :!:
Remember I encouraged you when you hit it big. Tickets to a concert would be nice. :D
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
Awesome idea! Play with others as much as you can. Even if you guys just get together & jam out, it'll improve your skills, and teach you how to play with real people, give you confidence, and have some great fun. :D
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
well, when your in a band, members will come and go. sometimes a band will breakup and those members will go on to form new bands. The point is, you will gain experience and it's always a good idea to play with others.
What i suggest is to find you a decent drummer. then get together and if you all agree on a style of music, then learn some easy popular songs in the genre, then write some of your own songs. but keep them simple. from what you explained about not being very skillfull, then stick to easy chord songs and write some easy chord songs.
I'm not slamming punk, but if that was the style you was going to play it'd be real easy since punk only uses on average 3 to 4 chords in their songs. you might want to look into that. Punk is not bad. but you can use that as an learning experience or play grunge, not that much difference really, look at nirvana.
Yes, start a band. or just jam together for awhile. you won't regret it!
Good luck
P.s. I had a cousin who was like in your shoes, not very good but started a band. now he has been in about 6 different bands but as of today, they are awesome. He is really good. but it came from practice and being in a band. he kept at it, kept jamming and today he's really good.
Just a thought!
:)
I think finding a style of music to play will be slightly difficult. While me and my friend who is supposed to play rythm are into the punk/alternative thing such as the white stripes, the strokes etc. our bassist is into heavier things such as matallica and what not. And who knows what our drummer will be into if and when we find one. But overall I think this will be a cool experience...
well....you have to get a couple people two agree on the style then you audition according to that! It's not really hard, say if you want to play punk and your friend wants to play metal, well either your playing metal or your friend is playing punk or you both go do your own thing, it's not that hard. someone has to be the leader in the band.
Yes, playing with others is a fantastic experience. Do it every chance you get.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
The very fact that you are even thinking about it means you should do it. It's fun and you learn insanely much from playing with others. Different tastes? Who cares. Play both a white stripes and a metallica song. Playing songs that are a bit outside your own style will have you learn new skills which you can later use your own way. Make sure it's fun and it will be the best thing you've ever decided to do.
We're currently in the process of booting out the drummer from our band, because he wasn't into it as much as we were (me and the guitarist). Being in bands is awesome.
Thus concludes my six-monthy visit to GuitarNoise. See y'all in July!
join a band, your playing will improve greatly 8)
even god loves rock-n-roll
You all say that one who plays with others skill will greatly increase. How so...or maybe I will find out myself... :D
My younger brother and I started a band with two of our best friends when I had been playing only 4-5 months, my brother only about 2 months. Our buddies were just starting on drums and bass as well. I think it was the best thing we ever did. We probably just knew how to hold major and minor barre chords and your open chords.
It was great because it forces you to play songs properly, something that is difficult to do when you practice alone. I mean, we had to learn the intro, the verses, chorus, solo, vocals, and outro to the song. We could hear ourselves. We were terrible at first. And we worked to correct the problems until songs started to sound pretty good.
At first we only had 3 or 4 songs we could play. Man, would we stretch those songs out. :D It was pretty cool, long songs were the fashion at the time. Allman Brothers songs were often 15-20 minutes long. But our versions were sometimes 30 minutes (or more) long. But you know, that made our hands strong quick. I remember my hands getting so tired they would cramp. But after a few weeks we could play for hours. At the last we had about 10-12 songs, enough to play a party or dance, especially the way we played.
You start getting a little confident when you start sounding good. And you need more songs, so you start to attempt more complex songs. So you learn new chords. You learn to relax while you play.
Somebody has to sing. So you've got to learn to sing while playing. I did most of the singing, and probably because of that have been the singer in almost every band I've ever been in.
And we had a blast. We never did much with our music. I think we played a dance, and one time an outdoor neighborhood gig. And the girls came around! 8)
We only lasted about one year. I graduated High School and moved away, we all just went seperate ways. But it was a great experience. I went out and found other bands. I had the bug.
But probably the best thing is you learn to listen. You can tell when you sound good or not. You can tell when one guitar is too loud or out of tune. You learn to play with dynamics, to bring the volume down when the singer is singing. You also learn time. The whole band develops a sense of time playing together. You start to get a groove. You can feel it. And you can tell when you or someone is off.
As far as agreeing on music, I have been in many bands since that time. I have never been in any band where everyone completely agrees on the music. Your drummer might like jazz, your bass player may want to play funk, one guitarist likes metal, the other punk. Don't worry about that. Try to play a little bit of what everyone likes. This will give your band it's own original sound. You have to be a little thoughtful and considerate of one another. All music is good, give it all a chance.
Probably the most difficult thing about a band is finding people who are really committed, who will show up on time every week to practice. And people with big egos are bad too. Stay away from them.
But if you can find some good fellas (or gals) who really want to play some good music and are willing to work hard, you will be alright.
Just like Randy Bachman sang in Takin Care of Business.
If it were easy as fishin'
You could be a musician
If you could make sounds loud or mellow
Get a second-hand guitar
Chances are you'll go far
If you get in with the right bunch of fellows
Start a band and you'll know exactly what he's talkin' about. :wink:
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
