How do you know if you're ready?
There's no right or wrong time to start. While it is obviously easier to get your band stage-ready if all its members are experienced and good players, some of the best bands started at a time when none of its members had any real grasp of their respective instruments. They simply had a desire to make some music and see what happened. Along the way, they obtained the necessary skills to progress into a tight-sounding, professional musical unit. This is an important point to keep in mind because as vital as practicing your instrument is, it can be equally beneficial for your playing to simply rehearse and play music with others on a regular basis. Pat Metheny has often said that for him, playing a 1-2 hour show is the equivalent of 7-8 hours of practice time. Your mileage may differ.

Who will be in your band?
Finding band members is not the easiest thing. You might find them in other aspects of your life - a teammate in a sport you play, a friend from math class, or a co-worker who works in another department. Keep in mind that when you start up a band with someone, you are essentially committing to spending a decent portion of time with them on a weekly basis. If you can't stand them in other situations, it's going to be even worse during rehearsal. The people that you choose should have the type of personality that promotes friendship, because ultimately, creative differences will arise, and things can get ugly if there's a lack of respect in the band.

More often than not, bands start because of informal jamming between friends, until they meet people who play other instruments and decide to hook up. In general, everything is pretty loose and fun in the beginning because there are no expectations. But if or when you decide to address more serious questions like developing a repertoire or playing out, then the group dynamics of the band can become an issue. If you're at all skeptical about this notion of "band dynamics", ask someone you know who's in a band how hard it was for them to agree on a name - then you'll see what I mean.

Equally important is how well your potential bandmates play their respective instruments. If one member is far more advanced than the others, this can be both a good and bad thing. Often, the better a player or songwriter one is, the more they feel the need to dictate the musical and creative vision of the band. If you find someone like this and you like their vibe, then stick close to them. However, if you have very definite ideas about what direction the band should take, starting a band with this type of person can be a formula for dissension and bitterness. In general, most bands have one member who provides the bulk of the musical vision. Some musicians can function in this type of environment, some cannot. It's up to you to figure out if this type of situation is likely to exist, and if so, who's going to be playing what role, and how happy they're going to be playing it.

What type of music will you play?
There's a common ground that needs to be reached by all members of the band in order for everyone to be happy, and for the band to be successful. There needs to be a common musical vision about the type of music your band will play. This is perhaps the hardest part.

This goes hand-in-hand with what your repertoire will be Again, if you're just starting out, make sure there's a couple of tunes that you can agree on. If you're already thinking that you're going to be an originals-only band, you might want to still start out by playing some covers to get acquainted musically. It's hard enough to evaluate how well you sound as a band, and it's harder when you're starting off with someone's original tunes and don't even know how they're supposed to sound.

Another thing to keep in mind is that whenever possible, you should play to the strengths of your band members. If there's a good lead guitarist, then hard rock or metal might speak to their strengths. If the bass player is good at slapping, you might think funk or funk-metal. The more comfortable your band members are with the musical genre you're going to play, the better the band's going to sound. This is another thing to keep in mind when choosing the right members for your band.

Preparing for the first rehearsal
The two things to keep in mind for any rehearsal are:

1. The band should know what songs they're going to play
2. The band should all know their individual parts

For the first rehearsal, the easiest thing to do is to start off with some cover tunes that everyone knows. Ideally, these should be tunes that you will eventually want as part of your repertoire, but they don't necessarily have to be. The main thing is to make those first few steps toward establishing some kind of musical common ground among the band. If you're somewhat organized, you can create tapes of the tunes and distribute them to the band a few days before the rehearsal so that anyone unfamiliar with the tunes has a chance to learn them. Remember that the first time you get together to play, you are also getting to know each other musically. You want to try to eliminate as many potential problems off the bat. Covers are great because you know how they're supposed to sound, and thus, makes it easier for you to judge how well the band sounds. Making sure that everyone knows the tunes before the first rehearsal insures that the band won't be sitting around while someone is being taught their part.

Creating arrangements
If you do decide to play some covers for your first rehearsal, then for now, you don't have to worry about the arrangement, which is the collection of the actual musical parts that the band plays. The simplest thing is to just have each member learn the exact part on the record, and then come together to play it, and hear how it sounds. Again, at this stage, there are a lot of advantages to just playing tunes straight from the record:

• You don't have to write the tune
• You know how they're supposed to sound
• You don't have to create a special arrangement for them

As your band progresses creatively and musically, then you might want to change the arrangements for any cover tunes that you play, in order to reflect the uniqueness of your band.

If you do decide to play originals off the bat, it still helps to have some kind of demo tape to give the band a rough idea of what it should sound like. However, there may be instances where the person who wrote it isn't quite sure how it's supposed to sound, and it's often left up to the band to jam on it for a while, and to amend the arrangement as ideas surface.

The concept of musical director
A musical director is a term commonly associated with marching bands, choirs, and more formal musical organizations. They create arrangements of songs that the group will play, and have a primary voice is choosing material. Ideally, they are experienced musicians, and their extra preparation of the material before rehearsals makes the rehearsal process runs much smoother. They know the arrangments inside and out and can help correct the group when mistakes are made in rehearsal.

How does this apply to your band? Well, there are two main tasks that need to be performed, either by a single person, or by committee:

1. Arrangements need to be created or agreed upon.
2. The arrangements need to be evaluated, and amended if they don't sound good.

In the case where everyone figures out their own parts, and then comes together to play them, the concept of a single musical director is less prevalent. In a sense, the arrangement has been created by the band itself, and not a single person. However, if there is one person in your band who is going to figure out all the tunes, help other band members learn them, and direct the process of how you rehearse them, then this person is filling the role of musical director. For young bands in which the players are less knowledgeable about their instruments, this is often the most advanced player in the group, because they may be the only one with enough skills to figure out the arrangement, and to teach it to the other band members if necessary.

In addition, certain members may temporarily play the role of musical director, often when they are so eager to play a specific song that they are willing to do the extra work to get the band to play it. In some bands everyone figures out their own parts and know the form of the songs, enabling us to play new songs in a matter of minutes. In this case, there are no real musical director.

Playing to the band's strengths
It's a good idea to tailor your repertoire and arrangements to areas at which your band members excel, or for which your band is properly equipped. If you have no background vocalists and no acoustic guitar, then it's probably a good idea not to play Crosby, Stills, and Nash covers. If your lead guitarist player is not particularly strong, then you might want to stay away from Van Halen. On the other hand, if your lead guitarist has spent a lot of time learning a Kirk Hammett solo, then you might want to include that tune in your repertoire. There is no better way to alienate someone in a band than to casually dismiss a request by that member to play a tune that lets them display their talents, especially if this is something on which they've worked hard.

The one band member most easily affected by repertoire and arrangements is your vocalist. The voice is more fragile than a guitar, bass, or drums, and special consideration should be given to your vocalist before deciding on songs. Choose songs that fit your vocalist's range. Talk to them and figure out what range is comfortable. If you must do a song that doesn't fit your vocalist's range, then change the key of the song until it does. A good singer is hard enough to find, so don't aggravate them by choosing songs and keys that continually trash their voice.

In Closing
Once you feel your band has gained a solid grasps of these points, and given due practice (practice practice, practice is the key) you should be ready to get your name out there. Audition for talent shows, play at birthday parties, any where there is a crowd that will listen. Maintain stage presence by giving it your all, keeping loose, and don't be afraid to let yourself be caught up in the moment. With determination and a little luck, you'll be on your way.

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