The bandleading thread!

[snipelfritz]

No, this isn't a thread for swollen egos. This is a thread for tips on how to get your band working as a unit, recruiting members, writing songs, finding gigs and anything else.

Having just started a group that is writing originals, I'm wondering if people have any tips on how to "teach" my songs to my bandmates, specifically the structure of songs. I tend to avoid the verse-chorus structure and like long weird intros. It's kinda tough to communicate these ideas especially when my songs aren't necessarily complete. I tend to write a placeholder structure, lyrics, etc, then I'm constantly changing things. How can I try to make more sense to my poor bandmates without stripping everything down?

[The Mad Owl]

I think the first big thing you should work on is finishing songs.

I think for the purposes of getting started, especially if the songs are not in standard structures, the band learning complete songs will help them get a feel for your writing style.

[kaboom]

in general, i prefer to bring ideas in a loose form, mainly because i think my ideas become something way cooler when the other guys take off in their own direction with them. it's easy to get attached to your music the way you wrote it, but i definitely feel better about a song if the band makes it something i'd consider "ours" instead of "mine."

as far as getting your structures across... really i think the best way to learn each other's style and sensibilities is to just play together a lot. you can make a quick audio demo to give your band the gist of it, i've used guitar pro to do that. you could talk it through while you listen as a group even.

[D.o.S.]

Do everything the opposite way that Robbie Robertson did.

Except the success.

[Seedy]

I think the first big thing you should work on is finishing songs.

I think for the purposes of getting started, especially if the songs are not in standard structures, the band learning complete songs will help them get a feel for your writing style.

in general, i prefer to bring ideas in a loose form, mainly because i think my ideas become something way cooler when the other guys take off in their own direction with them. it's easy to get attached to your music the way you wrote it, but i definitely feel better about a song if the band makes it something i'd consider "ours" instead of "mine."

as far as getting your structures across... really i think the best way to learn each other's style and sensibilities is to just play together a lot. you can make a quick audio demo to give your band the gist of it, i've used guitar pro to do that. you could talk it through while you listen as a group even.

Both of these answers are correct. If you want them to play your songs, you have to finish the songs. Otherwise bring it to the table and see what you all make together. Hell, even if a song is finished no harm in fucking it up cause it's your song.

That said, tightness is always my goal with a band, and it gets frustrating when someone just won't learn the fucking rhythm of a main riff. Being in a band is willingness to listen coupled with desire to apply. I recommend playing your stuff that you're really confident about and trying to get across, let them follow, and point out the intricacies as they come. Then play the part over and over until it gets some sex in it. Assert authority. Drummers especially need authority. They crave it.

[The Mad Owl]

in general, i prefer to bring ideas in a loose form, mainly because i think my ideas become something way cooler when the other guys take off in their own direction with them. it's easy to get attached to your music the way you wrote it, but i definitely feel better about a song if the band makes it something i'd consider "ours" instead of "mine."

While I agree with this, I think learning completed songs for someone with unconventional writing styles is a better ice breaker.

I consider myself a very collaborative bandleader, but I also think that learning completed songs--unless you are not against learning a few cover tunes--is a great way to make SOME kind of progress. From my own personal experience, having a band that feels like it's getting stuff done will motivate them--and yourself--to keep at it... and the creativity grows together as a unit from there.

My band's music sounds WAY better after everyone else has helped me finish the initial ideas, but that came after months of learning material and getting a feel for each other, and I think it's easier to feel each other out and get a sense of each other musically if you are all heading in the same direction with a song. Once people get comfortable with a song, then they start to experiment with it... and the song slowly evolves.

Just make sure you are clear with your intentions that you want your bandmates to experiment and present ideas at all times.

I hope my post was not confusing, because I firmly believe in collaborative songwriting, but when a band starts out, there's usually too little direction that eventually causes people's interest to wane.