Band leading tips?

[koronaxprs]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here and I have to say that I'm so glad I found this site! Everyone seems so chill and practical.

So this semester I've taken a class at this community college called Jazz Styles and Improvisation. This is the third time I've taken a jazz improv class, it's only recently that there's been an opportunity to finally form a band!

I've searched online about band leading and haven't found much advice on the subject.

Anyone have any good tips?

[randalljazz]

be humble; be honest, especially about your abilities; be tolerant; be open to suggestion; expect to do ALL the work (charts, rehearsals, booking).

make a opportunities to casually play with prospective bandmates and evaluate for compatibility...

[bkdavidson]

Uh, yeah. . .what Randall said. There's some old saying about surrounding yourself with better musicians than you. You definitely want good players who won't require a terrible amount of rehearsal, but you also want compatibility as Randall suggested. I have left bands because I couldn't stand the band leader, but I have also left bands because there was so much rehearsal and not enough gigs to justify it. At the same time, I've stayed in bands that had good players, not the best, but very competent and were totally laid back and easy to get along with.

Another thing I'd add to Randall's list is to be organized. If you're the bandleader, the other people really will expect you to do pretty much everything. They will want to show up, play their parts, get their check, and go home. If it's going to be a reading type band, have good charts for everything. If it's not, a cheaper way of sending the band the material to be learned (than putting together CD's) is to send out youtube videos. If the bandmates are in other projects or just have other things going on (day jobs, families, etc.) keep a good calender. To avoid double bookings, get 'blackout' dates from members. As a frequent band member, I can tell you it gets really old to tell someone for the fourth time, "I can't do that date, I've already got another gig." Especially a week before the date in question.

[fep]

+1 to what the others said.

Accentuate the positive...

From a practical perspective...

I'm not the band leader in the group I'm in but I do these band leader functions for the band leader:

I have a box.net site where I have a folder of charts of all tunes from our song list in a pdf format. I email the band members a link to that folder so they can review the charts, print them and create a book/binder of them.

I have a youtube playlist of artists (i.e. not me) playing the tunes. I share the playlist with the band members.

I write arrangements. And I write orginal tunes. I think orginal tunes can make playing in the band more exciting for all the band members.

And, try to do as much communication as you can via email. That saves so much time compared to phone calls.

[cosmic gumbo]

What kind of band? Are you doing it to get work, or to gain experience in a band format? Different reasons have different goals. If I'm in a working band, I want the leader to be a good, organized businessman, who knows what professional conduct is. In any kind of band, I expect the leader to be the musical director, with a clear idea of what needs to be accomplished, and taking responsibility for making sure rehearsals or gigs are organized and productive. I wish I could get back all the time I've wasted with guys that organized a band, but were clueless about leading a band. While it is important to consider input from band members, bands operate more efficiently if it is not a democracy. Working with a leader that has good leadership skills and a focused agenda is very rewarding in my experience.

[ksjazzguitar]

Get the right guys and trust their judgment. Realize that even if it doesn't sound exactly like you thought it was going to, if you have the right guys, it still sounds good. Keep it a musical democracy. If you are the band leader then you are a musical traffic cop and a facilitator of all the logistical things of getting gigs. Don't try to tell the guys how to do their jobs - if they need you to tell you how to play their part, then you have the wrong guys.

Make a few recordings and post them on the internet. Today, it's kind of hard to get a gig without them being able to hear you. It used to be demo tapes, then CDs, now its the internet. Post an mp3 on a web page, or even better, put a video clip on YouTube.

Don't get frustrated. It is hard work to get gigs. You will get rejected often. Don't let it get to you, it's just part of the game.

Define the gig. What will you guys wear? What time will you show up?

Dress well. I always like to be at least 1 notch above the audience. If these are new guys, they may not know the "rules" of fashion, from obvious things like no sneakers and white socks with a suit to more subtle things like shoes and belt should match. I once had a young guy wear sneakers with a tux to a wedding gig - "Hey man, chill out! They're black sneakers!"

Keep the breaks under control. It's really easy to have a break go much too long.

Keep things rolling on the bandstand. Don't let the breaks between songs go on to long as the guys discuss the movies they've seen.

If you guys are just starting out, it might be good to have a set list. Even if you don't plan out every song, at least have a list of the songs you guys do so you don't have the "I dunno, what do you wanna play..." ping ping match between songs.

Figure out how you're going to pay your guys. If the guy is going to pay you with a check, what will you do? Give the guys cash? Give them a check? Wait for the other guys check to clear? Make sure the other guys understand this before hand.

If you guys are kinda green, make sure you agree to the key of the song, how it will begin, and how it will end. It will save a few terrifying moments here and there.

Have fun. Things always go wrong, especially on your first gigs. The mark of a pro is how well they handle it when things start falling apart.

Musical mistakes are going to happen. That is OK, they happen. Remember that they will sound much worse to you than they do to the audience, if they even notice. Just keep smiling. Never curse yourself out or look disgruntled on the bandstand, this is show business.

Well, that's what I can think of that I wish someone had told me when I was starting out.

Peace,
Kevin

[koronaxprs]

Thanks everyone for all the advice, I'll make sure to keep everything in mind and apply them when necessary, it's really helpful. c=

I hope to get gigs that pay while gaining experience playing in and leading a band.

We're going to play jazz and blues and also some bossa nova and other latin jazz.

We have a talented vocalist, her voice adapts really well to key changes and does justice to old blues songs and jazz standards.

As for our instrumentalists, they're quite competent with charts and reading, adapting to songs.

We have a lot of fun together when where not jamming.

So the next step would be putting a set together.

-Thank you