Archive for category Band Related

How To Run a Band

Sep 4

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Band Related | No Comments

The Musicians' How-To Series "How to Run a Band"

 


This article outlines the “executive” functions that can lead a band to success. One of the main reasons why a band can fail, or move slowly is lack of organization and leadership. Someone has to steer the boat. This article outlines the basic functions that HAVE to occur in order to succeed. Some subjects mentioned are: planning and goal setting, marketing, finances, gigging, internal and external communication factors, public relations and important basic policies.

 

ORGANIZATION CONSISTS OF coordinating activities, things and people in order to achieve the stated goals. This would encompass how many gigs a week you want to do, what kinds of gigs you want to do, and any other aspect involved.

Here are some specifics about band/group running no matter what kind of group it is. These are group specifics that a band leader needs to be responsible for to ensure his show gets on the road—or to a club, or a casual, or a concert.

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Basics of Jamming

Sep 4

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Band Related | 1 Comment

The Musicians' How-To Series

The Musicians' How-To Series

 

THIS ARTICLE WAS PROMPTED by the many questions I’ve been asked by students wanting to play with friends but not really knowing what to do. Not everyone is a natural jammer. Even if you are, it can be easy to run out of things to do. Even if you know some chords, licks and songs, putting it all together with someone else’s chords, licks and songs can be a mystery. And can you still jam if you don’t know any songs or licks but only a few chords? You sure can—as long as everyone’s reasons for jamming are at least similar.

As rehearsing and professional playing entail group attitudes so does jamming at beginning and intermediate levels. More than one person playing at the same time is a group and needs to be treated as such. For example, selfish jammers aren’t always fun to play with and someone too shy to play a note might have a hard time at first. The less experienced a person is, the more boldness could be needed, while a more advanced person might need to have patience with those who don’t know as much or aren’t as nimble on their instrument.

Jamming is a mutual creation. We jam to have fun, to work out ideas, experiment with equipment, and many things. If someone solely wants to see how his rock licks sound through the new amp while the others want to play music focused on personal interaction that jam is not going to work. Goals must be aligned.

I have logged hundreds of hours coaching beginning and intermediate musicians how to jam. The bottom line is having compatible goals and comparable playing levels. Match up these two elements, add on something to play, and you’ve got yourself a jam. Some fundamentals are contained the article, “Musicians’ Roles.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Starting Your First Band

Aug 7

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Band Related | No Comments

MHTS Web Logo Final

Starting a band can be a lot of fun. Since you could be starting an original band or a cover band, I’ll discuss the points that relate to both. Use the information that relates to your scene. Basically, you get a bunch of musicians together with similar goals, get your material together and go at it; you rehearse and do what you’re going to do. Sometimes it’s just that simple. Putting a band together to jam every week can be pretty straight-ahead. If you have goals that involve getting paid gigs or live in small town with a scarcity of musician’s, things can be little more involved.

Deciding on Material

The material your group is going to do is determined by what kind of music you want to play, modified by the types of gigs you want. If you’re doing original music, well… there’s your material. You write it yourself or as a group effort. If you’re getting together just to jam and have fun, your mate­rial could change every week. If the goal is getting paid work, you need to play the kind of music people want to hear—that is the main thing that creates a demand for your group. If this is the goal, you need to decide what style(s) of music to play that you can make money with. Getting gigs is fully covered in other articles but keep this in mind: Immediate in­come means cover music. Unless specifically going to an original music club or restaurant to see new artists, people like to hear music they are familiar with and that’s what they will pay for. (Original artists make money by selling their CD’s at gigs but that’s a topic of different article.)

Getting Band Members
Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , , , ,

How To Tighten Up Your Band

Aug 7

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Band Related | No Comments

MHTS Web Logo Final

The object of rehearsing is to tighten up the band’s performance and presentation. When an audience listens, they hear the whole sound. A tune, a set and a show each has some­thing being communicated for an emotional impact. It could be lyric content, musical flow, energy intensity or whatever. This is why the music needs to be fluid and clean to make the music sound good as a group.

Individuals need to prepare their parts at home alone. Band rehearsals are to get the band tight. Obviously, if you need to pause for someone to work out something you do just that, but that’s not the purpose of group rehearsals.

The following principles largely address commercial cover bands, but apply to any size or style of ensemble. These rehearsal principles hold true for original bands as well even though the initial purpose of each rehearsal could be to write and develop material rather than groom a per­formance.

Key aspects of rehearsals include:

  • Where to rehearse.
  • When to rehearse.
  • Deciding on material.
  • Getting the material (tapes, CD’s, written music, etc.).
  • Writing any needed charts.
  • Someone being in charge of making tapes of the material for everyone.
  • Everyone having a cassette/CD/iPod player to learn the tunes with.
  • Each individual having a distraction-free, personal practice space at his or her home.
  • Deciding on what tunes to learn first.
  • Having someone in charge of running the rehearsals.

This is what you do:

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , ,

Too Many Bandleaders on The Stage?

Jul 28

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Band Related | No Comments

Band Audience Day Shot - small

I performed two very different gigs over the weekend. One of them, I was brought on the be the bandleader and make sure that everything ran smoothly, which it did. It was a major show (2,000+ people). The drummer ended up being the “artistic director,” along with the main lead singer, and I just monitored everything and made sure that things were efficient and everyone was ready for the show.

Which we were.

Another gig I played was a bit more thrown together. It would have been really smooth, except there wasn’t a designated bandleader running things–so it was periodic chaos. “Let’s do this tune!,” no, “Let’s play this other tune!” Etc, etc. Things rapidly became uncomfortable and turned into chaos so I elected myself the bandleader, ran the show and everything was smooth from that point on. Not to blow my own horn, as I don’t care who leads the band. But someone has to be in charge.

Always have a bandleader!

Marty B.

Buttwinick Teaching Studio
Musician – MySpace
Personal Site

Bookmark and Share

Tags: