How often does you band practice?

[Banned]

I get so many answers to this question. Miight make an interesting topic. Our current lineup has practiced 2 times since June as a group.

Thanks Debbie
http://rockpage.net/bands/bands.php?band=theredarrow

[whitedevilone]

My band practices at least once a week.Most likely it happens on tuesday or thursday.My favorite 3.5 hours of the week.

[DrumAndDestroy]

rarely...we just demo shit right around time to record a new album.

occasionally we get together to do new songs

[Team Transylvania]

End of the Sun does atleast once a week. recently its been 2-3 times a week. one of those days are recording though. 2 times a week is great i think.

[orangekick]

Twice a week for three to four hours at a time.

[BDR]

What is this "practice" you speak of? The term is strange and foreign to me ...

r:>)

[Barfight]

Practice?... We're talkin' about Practice...

Not the show... Not the show... Practice...

[UNEARTHA7XMatt]

Practice?... We're talkin' about Practice...

Not the show... Not the show... Practice...

It was just practice. Not a Show, we're talking about practice here. I dont even know why Im here, its just practice. Not even Not even a show, Just practice!

How many times exactly did Allen Iverson say Practice in that one interview?

[DirtySanchez]

Fedup-once a week

Justin Cuff and the side effects- 2-3 times a month. It's all covers. If you NEED to practice covers regularly as a band you should prolly quit altogether. I can see just getting together to jam for something to do though.

[songsmith]

Mama Corn: 1x per week, approx.3.5 hrs, pretty intensive. My side projects, like the Hitching Post Jam, help keep me sharp, if you can ever call me sharp.
Mountain City Grass: only monthly, but no dicking around, serious picking.
Thin Ice rehearsed once a week, but usually at least 5 hours at a time. I had to commute from Lancaster County to Huntingdon for practice, so it really had to count.

My first band, Blytz, might have everybody beat: 6 days a week, from 9am to 4pm, for an entire summer, then 3x a week after that, for 2-3 hours. When we started, we barely knew how to hold our guitars, by the time we were done, we were pretty decent performers, and mighty fine songwriters, if I do say so myself. It's amazing how fast you improve if you have that kind of drive.------>JMS

[Banned]

Band practice: 1 day a month for 3 hours
Time spent trying to schedule band practice: 40-50 hours a month

[VENTGtr]

Band practice: 1 day a month for 3 hours
Time spent trying to schedule band practice: 40-50 hours a month

What he said...only without the 1 Day a month for 3 hours part.

[stratobastard27]

Cover band, however long it takes us to brush up last week's mistakes, and then to learn 2 new songs. 3x per month.

[Colton]

My one man band (me) practices in my basement (our luxurious studio) about 14 times a week.

[EyesOfAnguishbassist]

2 times a week for 2 hours, sometimes 3.

[RamRod 1]

Haven't practiced since 1996 but remember, we're doing oldies.

[Heywood]

We each masterbate at least twice a day so that would be uuummm.....56 times a week.

[bassist_25]

If you NEED to practice covers regularly as a band you should prolly quit altogether.

I pretty much agree. There are certain things that practicing definitely helps to iron out, such as songs with odd timings and vocal harmonies. It's also a lot easier to fix certain idiosyncrancies that a player may be doing in a song rather than try and take care of it during a gig. For the most part, though, I have found in my experience that professional players don't need a lot of time to actual rehearse songs in a group format. I believe that ample time spent in the woodshed should put players where they need to be as far as recreating a song similar to the record. Also, I've learned that there seems to be an inverse relationship with how much you gig to how much your rehearse. In all of the gigging projects I've been involved with, the rehearsal time diminished once the date book started to fill up.

On the other hand, original material is a totally different approach. In my experience, it's something that can't be rushed or put on a deadline. Whether you're throwing covers up on stage for the first time ever, playing them in a rehearsal room, or writing original material with a band, I believe that the most important things are the ability to objectively listen to what's going on around you and being able to put your ego at the door. Sometimes, something's just not clicking right and you have to be able to recognize that. If you trust your bandmates' ears, you have to be able to put your ego aside and listen to their suggestions. The sweeped Dm7b9 arrpegios or the double kick in the chorus may not be as good sounding in reality as you think they are in your head.

[DrumAndDestroy]

On the other hand, original material is a totally different approach. In my experience, it's something that can't be rushed or put on a deadline. Whether you're throwing covers up on stage for the first time ever, playing them in a rehearsal room, or writing original material with a band, I believe that the most important things are the ability to objectively listen to what's going on around you and being able to put your ego at the door.

Pssh..leave my ego at the door?? I am way to awesome at everything I do for that!

Seriously...good point about originals. One thing I've found myself guilty of though is experiementing with a song on stage. That's my practice sometimes! Sometimes it works...other times I get the "wtf" eye from my bandmates. Though, I think many people have done this at one time or another.

[Merge]

I agree with bassist_25. Although I think writing with a band is far different then learning covers, being objective with whatever it is your band is doing is very important. I'll admit sometimes it is hard, but being an ego-maniac won't solve anything.

[BassFinger]

Mmmmm....good question Deb!

My current band has practiced 4-5 times since October 2006.

My opinion:
A cover band with good musicians who 'actually' work on the songs before coming to practice should only need to practice once a month in the beginning. And really this should be for intros and endings. Then I think practices should be limited to learning new tunes or brushing up on problem spots. If vocals are involved, seperate vocal practices are a great idea and best done with acoustic instruments. I always thought this work well with a group I once played in. You can really nail the harmony parts then.

But once again, that's my opinion.

Two examples from my sorted musical past:

BAND 1 practiced 2 times in the 6 years the band was together. It was a three piece cover band. We played at least once a week and always had a great paying New Years Eve gig. It was one of the most successful bands I've played in.

BAND 2 strived to practice once a week. We had an equipped practice room so setup time was not required. The once a week practice was not so bad because we had a road crew that set up for our gigs. This was a seven piece band that routinely had 4-5 part vocal arrangements. This is where the seperate vocal practice was good. BAND 2 didn't play any more than BAND 1.

[bassist4life2004]

EC was practicing regularly 2 times a week, basically when we were building our song list. I think that its crucial to practice at least 1 day a week for a few hours to keep tight, but when you are a new band trying to get a big song list in a short amount of time, 2 times a week is definitely needed

[lonewolf]

We get together once a week to learn new material and sometimes to fix problems that come up at gigs. We took 2 weeks off over the holidays.

We all live nearby and have practice equipment that is always set up, so its not a problem.

[xero380]

We practice once a week...like everyone else said...to fine tune some things and learn new stuff and map out the next show plan as to putting on a show. The usual fun.

[dts2006]

3 times a week usually