Gig Rehearsal Tips

Whether you’re a solo artist or play in a band, it’s good to have a strategy when practicing for a gig. Here we'll explore some strategies and practice regimens. 

Prepare Yourself

If you are a solo artist, this will be self-evident, however, if you play in a band, some people need to learn to do their own preparation before the full band rehearsal. What this means is you need to gather all information: chords, tempo, etc. by yourself. You will need to review the songs and rehearse the songs by yourself before the band rehearsal. If you’re going to memorize the song, then you should memorize it on your own before the band gets together. If you’re going to read from a chart, you need to prepare that chart and have it ready. You need to rehearse with that chart on your own before the band assembles. The key mindset is to have prepared yourself to know the songs before you step in a room with the band to rehearse. The band rehearsal is not the time to be learning the chords or the song itself.

Prepare Your Gear

If certain songs in the set require a specific guitar tone or a specific guitar, then make sure you have those items prepared.  If you need to employ a dedicated effect pedal for a specific song, be sure to test it out with the rest of your rig to make sure you have the pedal in the proper position in your pedal chain and that it works well with your guitar and amp.

Organizing Your Workload

Whether you play original songs or covers, you should organize your workload when rehearsing by yourself. If you have a number of songs that are easy and you know very well, use those as a warm-up. Play two or three of those songs to get warmed up before you attempt to tackle a new song. When learning a new song or a difficult song try and break up the song into sections. Obvious sections could be intro, verse, chorus, solo, etc. Get the basic structure of the song down and then focus on any difficult riffs or solo parts. Sometimes you have to play certain parts over and over repetitively to get the muscle memory to respond.

Learning Difficult Parts

Sometimes it’s one key riff or solo part you are struggling with that is fast or complex.  Approach it as you do the entire song. Break the part down into smaller sections and play those sections repetitively. Next attempt to string the sections together at a slower tempo. Then bring your playing up to speed for the tempo needed. 

Making Adjustments to Your Gear

If you’re playing something that requires bending a whole note higher or more or even playing at a speed that is more comfortable on a specific instrument, make sure you have that instrument prepared for rehearsing. If bending the notes is a struggle take the time to try different guitars or different gauges of string thickness. There is no point in physically straining your hands if you can utilize a lighter gauge string. In recent years, there have been some well-done comparisons that prove it is extremely difficult to hear a major difference between string gauges. So why not go with a lighter gauge string to help play parts a little easier.

To summarize, take the time to prepare yourself before you step into a room with band members. This preparation includes learning your parts as well as preparing your gear for the best possible rehearsal. The rehearsal should really be about everybody playing together and not having to teach one another the song.

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