Playing in a band can be fun, challenging and rewarding but before
the entire fun ‘n’ frolic comes the life-changing decisions. Starting a
band involves camaraderie, creativity, exhilaration and loads of sudden
panic attacks. If you have finally decided to start your very own band
then read on and be enlightened! There are two things that can make or
break a band – The Musicians in the Band & The Name of the Band. With
this comes a whole another set of requirements, monetary investments and
some serious hard work.
I. BRAINSTORMING
This is the first and foremost essential step towards starting your own
band, before you even gather your necessities. You need to find answers
to the following questions:
- You need to decide what kind of music, you will play. Will you go
pun, rock, jazz, poor a combination of various genres?
- Will you cater to original compositions or perform covers? Or the
combination of both?
- What will your instrumentation be? Would you prefer a stripped down
trio of guitar, bass, and drums, or would you rather have multiple
guitarists, a keyboard, and/or a horn section? How many vocalists will
there be?
Such a brainstorming session will lay the out the ground work that you require to begin gathering your band member.
II. FINDING BANDMATES
Musicians make music and band mates are the backbone of your band! You
could gather people who share the same interest or even just your gang
of buddies who simple love creating good music. You have to keep in mind
a few things when getting your bad together regarding each individual:
- Determine their level of commitment
- Technical abilities versus diversity
- Compatibility with personality
- Open-minded to other music genres
- Band playing experience
- Enthusiasm.
Finding some fellow musicians to play with can be the hardest and most important aspect of forming your band. You're going to need to find people that you have musical and personal chemistry with. You are, after all, likely to spend quite a bit of time with them. A good band will become a family of sorts, so you'll want to surround yourself with good, like-minded, talented people.
III. NAMING YOUR BAND
It’s time to gather all the band members and put the creative juices to
work, you have to come up with a name that would reflect your music
genre, your style and kind of the message you want to deliver through
your music. You will have to carry out a thorough research of the names
that you have jotted down, just in case some other bands might be
registered with the same name.
IV. ASSIGNING ROLES
It is now times to decide, goals and roles within your band members.
Commonly a band has a guitarist, a bassists, a drummer and a lead
singer, it’s not supposed to be like this always you can add a
keyboardists, backup singers, a tube or even a Computer DJ. You need to
figure out who amongst your band members will write the songs, who will
be the lead singer, who will be responsible for the instruments care,
how many will hours you be practicing or jamming each day etc. If the
need calls for it then you might also have to hire a Band Manager,
someone who would be responsible for linking the band to all the
possible gigs, sessions even concerts. Listen to the ideas, your band
member have to offer, they will help you gain their trust and produce
benefiting results.
V. WARM UP SESSIONS
You need to get yourself noticed. A good way to do this is to play at a
senior center, a daycare, in a park, in your school’s talent show, a
rock band tournament etc. Ask friends or other media managers to set you
up for gigs or jamming sessions at the local clubs, yacht parties, proms
or even community center events.
Last but not the least; you need to enjoy being in a band and living
the life of a Rock Star. Take one song at a time and in no time your
band will be ready to create some solid tunes. You need to have tact and
tolerance when working in a band and especially when it requires
creating something as wholesome as music…! Follow the above mentioned
steps and you are going to find yourself rocking away to life of melody
and beats…!
.
