Finding New Bandmates or Collaborators
Whether you’ve been isolating for a couple of years due to the pandemic, or you’ve just always worked alone, now may be a great time to find some new blood to work with. Maybe you’d like to start or refresh a live band, collaborate on some tracks with other producer/musicians, or do a featured performance on an artist’s next hit.
How to Memorize Lyrics Quicker
If you’re a singer, nothing messes with your confidence more than flubbed lyrics - but you don’t always have weeks on end to memorize them. So, if you’ve got plenty of songs to put to memory, it helps to have a few pro techniques for memorizing lyrics faster and with more solid accuracy. Here, we’ll go over some tips for making lyrics stick.
5 Tips for Writing Better Lyrics Faster
Lyrics are a bane for some musicians – for others they seem to come quickly and easily. But it’s not just God-given talent that makes good lyrics come quickly. There are a few tried and true techniques for speeding up the journey from nothing to something good. Here are our top 5 tips for writing better lyrics faster.
Tips for Playing Better Solos
Being a solid backing player is super valuable and will always keep you busy if you’re a working musician, but sometimes you just have to go off, and a killer solo or two can put you in a whole new category.
Accompanying vs. Playing in a Band: Key Differences to Consider
As an instrumentalist, the role you play in a given situation isn’t always the same, and the skills you need vary depending on that role. Studio musicians require a different skillset than live players and likewise, accompanists need a different skillset than ensemble players.
Dealing with Bad Gig Scenarios
We’ve all been there – the gig from Sheol. The tiny stage with no power, the drunkards yelling “Freebird”, the would-be singer that wants to do a song, venues that don’t pay, the 4-minute sound check. Bad scenarios at gigs are so commonplace there’s a Facebook group dedicated to it - with 17,000 members.
Should Everyone in the Band Get a Solo?
There’s nothing like a great solo to create a memorable moment in a show and bring the spotlight squarely down on one person. And what musician doesn’t want a little glory, after all? So, letting your star guitarist wail for a while makes sense. The question is, should everybody in the band get a chance at immortal solo glory?
How to Handle Stage Mishaps
Nobody’s perfect, and nowhere is that more evident than during a live performance. Whether it’s a low-key acoustic set or a full-on monster rock show, it’s a guarantee – something will go wrong. That may be half the fun of live music!
One of the keys to mastery on the stage is handling mishaps well, so we’ll go over a few tips for weathering mistakes and other stage guffaws.
What to Do if a Band Member Doesn’t Show Up
Making a live act work with multiple players can be tricky, as is evidenced by every band documentary ever made. As a solo act, you only have to worry about getting yourself to the gig. If you happen to not show, you’ll never know the gig didn’t go well! But with four or five members, the chances of an uncomfortable situation quadruple, so it’s a good idea to have a plan in case somebody doesn’t show up.
Making the Most of Rehearsal Time
It doesn’t matter if you’re a bona fide rockstar or a part time hobbyist, almost no one really gets enough practice time, especially with other people. You might all have full time jobs and families vying for your time, or you could be dealing with constant touring and press appearances. No matter what your situation, making the most of your precious rehearsal time is the key to putting together a solid ensemble (or solo act).
The Value of Practicing to a Click
If you took any kind of music lessons as a kid, you probably had to practice with a metronome. Your teacher may not have explained why, though. As adults, many musicians don’t bother practicing against a metronome or a click but doing so is quite valuable for a number of reasons.
Bass Recording Tips
Recording a bass guitar isn’t necessarily the hardest thing in the world – certainly not as hard as playing one - but it can be tricky to really dial it in. With that in mind, here are a few tips for consistently getting solid, reliable bass parts in the studio.