Make The Most Of Playing Guitar In Bands

When you start taking guitar lessons, there’s a very common misconception that it’s going to take many months until you have enough skills to play in a band. The truth is you can play well bands when you have a handful of chords and you’ve learned to play in time. This doesn’t need to take long! Playing with others is enormous fun and it’s a great feeling entertaining others with your skills.

The first time you start going to jams and playing with others outside of your activities in your guitar lessons, you might make assumptions that everyone knows more than you do. When I started jamming with others, I was just grateful they didn’t point and laugh and kick me out.

As you get more experience, you start to be a bit more discerning about the musical elements as a whole. When this happens, it’s natural to graduate out of some of the playing environments you first explored, because you’ve recognised that the fit between what you want to do musically and a particular open mic or jam session or group you’ve played with isn’t that great. 

So how can you approach new band situations and make a great impression, whilst also identifying whether it’s going to be a good fit for you? Here’s what to do.

1. Learn about how they work and who fills the different roles - not just who plays which instrument, but who co-ordinates arrangements and how decisions are made.

Is there someone in the role of musical director who takes final decisions about arrangements and material; or does it tend to work more collectively for decision-making? Who tends to communicate about rehearsals or gigs? Is it the same person?

2. Giving and receiving feedback.

You’re all aiming to create an enjoyable performance for the audience and different members of the band may be placed to observe, notice and feedback on different aspects of the performance. Ideally, the rehearsal environment will be one in which people feel comfortable offering constructive feedback and suggestions. A big part of giving useful feedback is making it really specific - for example - ‘I’d love to hear this song with some more contrast in the dynamic’ rather than ‘I don’t think this song is interesting enough yet’ or even worse ‘You’re not a good songwriter.’

3. Are arrangements and guitar parts already defined, or are they keen to invite you to develop parts for songs already in their set?

Something you’ll want to clarify at an early point is what your bandmates are looking for - do they want you to play already existing guitar parts accurately? Are these parts inside your current skill level or can they be modified to be in line with your skill level? Do they want you to create your own guitar parts and/or bring songs to the band? Or is it a combination of both?

4. What are the expectations and band culture?

Bands often have to work with people who are a bit flaky/don't learn the songs/don't turn up on time. You are an asset to the band because you’re going to have those things covered! Some bands use rehearsal time to learn the songs. Some bands use rehearsal time to work on performance and dynamics. Generally speaking it's easy to learn songs at home using reference recordings and chord charts the songwriter may have written out, and strategically a better use of rehearsal time to work on dynamics and performance - which is not something you can practice as effectively by yourself.

If anyone is still learning the material, their focus will taken up with remembering the song and they won't have much left over for thinking about interacting with other band members, moving around the stage, dynamics and other aspects of the ensemble performance. What is the culture the rest of the band has in terms of expectations about these things?

5. Quick tips to make the most of a first rehearsal or jam session with a new band

Recording the last half hour of band practices if you are running the set is a great way to get a better picture of whether the dynamic variations are coming over.

Dynamics refer to volume, but they can also be to do with the tempo of the song; whether it's dramatic or contemplative in comparison with the song before or after in the set list, and what mood it's communicating.  It helps you decide if the order of the songs in the set flows well.

Getting a good sound balance is really helpful to the overall effect: if the vocalist has to fight to hear/be heard over the drum kit he/she can rarely do their best. You need to rehearse in conditions where everyone can hear themselves well and you can get a realistic sense of what the overall sound is.

Keeping these things in mind will help you decide if you want to collaborate musically with new people. As your guitar technique and knowledge increases, more styles and repertoire will become available to you, but it’s never too early to adopt a professional approach and having the right approach will help you create a great result when you’re working towards gigs and performances.

About The Authors: Sarah Gallagher & Diana de Cabarrus are professional musicians, guitar teachers, and co-directors of Key To Music, offering Guitar Lessons in Edinburgh