How much is too much?

[Ace]

My drummer and I have been practicing ten hours a week. Is that gonna drive potential members away? Is that too much for me to ask of my bandmates? I think not, I want the best band I can find and I want people as dedicated as I am. Is that too much to ask for? My friends in successful bands(The Chelsea Smiles, Disgorge, Cephalic Carnage) practice at least eight hours a week on average. I figure if I want to play at that level, I have to practice that much too. What are your guy's experience?

[jgcable]

Re: How much is too much?

Practice makes perfect. Just don't become the "best band that nobody ever heard" by spending all your playing time in the rehearsal studio. When we toured with Twisted Sister and Zebra we practiced 12 hours per week and gigged every Friday and Saturday night.

[markD]

Re: How much is too much?

we practice between 6-8 hours a week, split between 2 nights. we'd do more except that we all have other musical outlets that we explore. the drummer and bass player have their own band so they have their practices. i also do studio sessions at least twice a week and am music co-director for my church (on top of my real job as a teacher). the singer is also an assistant engineer in a local studio (on top of his real job). our plate is really full, but we still manage to get in set rehearsal times...and never below 6 hours a week.

i don't think you're asking too much. just keep in mind that some guys need to build the stamina for long rehearsal times. to many guys practice means 1 song then 6 beers, a couple of j's, free jamming, THEN another real song. be up front about your practice schedule/routine and it shouldn't be a problem.

i've been a real dick about practice times in the past and it has cost me members (including my singer of 14 years!! but he always comes back). i have learned that sometimes i do need to temper my desires to be the greatest band around with having fun. to me the band is another job. i want to step on stage and OWN the club when we're finished...but if no one is having fun, then that will never happen. people quit when you are a slave driver...my own experiences have proven that to me.

[Ninja Guitar]

Re: How much is too much?

Better too much than not enough!

[shredmonster]

Re: How much is too much?

One thing we have done is write the songs down on a sheet of paper and tape them up in the practice space and go through them in order.

It has helped people keep on track.

[markD]

Re: How much is too much?

yes, following a set list!! ours is 21 songs long, and it really makes practice have purpose.

[Ace]

Re: How much is too much?

Alright thanks guy!!

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: How much is too much?

I don't think thats too much if you are making a run for it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Also its not the amount of time that you practice, its what you practice that counts.

One thing that we used to do to break it up was to have some time during practice to free jam where you just cop a groove and improvise for a while.

I expand on Johns comment about getting out and playing gigs, it is important to be tight as a band and rehearsed before you get out but you gotta get some gigs sooner or later. Lets face it, you not gonna be selling out stadiums tomorrow. Club gigs with not too many people are good practice too, each gig under you belt helps.

[Ace]

Re: How much is too much?

I already have promoters lined up waiting for me to give them the word that we're ready. We're thinking by March or so we'll be gigging. So that'll be four months after we've formed. We have five songs down right now, so we're going at a rate of one new song a week.

[RacerX]

Re: How much is too much?

13 song set list? How long are the songs? Which clubs do you think you're gonna play? I expect to be on your VIP Guest list and backstage pass list. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[xenophobe]

Re: How much is too much?

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Yeah, unless you're a signed headliner, you're not going to get more than 20-35 minutes for a set... Unless you got a permanent gig... like a 3 set a night cover band or something...

[markD]

Re: How much is too much?

here in the tampa bay area the expected set time is 60 minutes. i've never played our own show for less than an hour...only when we've been an openeing act and then it was 45 min. the next show we're playing in april is a 2 hour set of our own songs. the club gave us the whole night for ourselves!! we're pretty pumped.

[noodlesatf]

Re: How much is too much?

A lot of good things were already said, so I'll just expand upon it with what I found works for my band. We practice twice a week, about four hours a session.

The first day of the week we start by going through our current gigging set list (we get about sixty minute sets around here), paying particular attention to working out any trouble spots. After that, we work on existing new material that has not been incorporated into the set. If we have time at the end, we'll play around with changing the set list up (adding songs, removing others, changing the orders), and seeing if it flows.

The second practice of the week starts out with a half hour warm-up with songs from the existing set list. The rest of the time is spent jamming, writing, and working out new material.

The most important thing is to have a schedule and a plan that you stick to, keeping practice productive. I know extremely tight bands that only practice four hours a week. I also know bands that "practice" twelve hours or more a week, but never accomplish anything.