starting a band

[quest]

ok guys..

i think i'm an alright singer.

very interested in rock music.

think i've got what it takes to be in a band.

(will more then likely never try).

but how long would it take too learn to play the guitar well enough to start writing music?

for a 21 year old with no musical experience

cheers fellas.

curiosity.

 

[TheRelic]

All depends on how much time you put in.

I was crankin out tunes with guys in well under a year... if you can put in a constructive hour a day then you'll be on your way!

Tab notation is a piece of piss to learn, so you can write stuff pretty quickly.

Your best bet though, is to get a little recorder, and record the stuff you write. This way, you can play it back, and re-learn by ear; rather than reading off a tablature sheet all the time.

Check out the harmony-central.com forums, loads of info and knowledgable peeps.

-tR

 

[quest]

Originally posted by TheRelic
All depends on how much time you put in.

I was crankin out tunes with guys in well under a year... if you can put in a constructive hour a day then you'll be on your way!

Check out the harmony-central.com forums, loads of info and knowledgable peeps.

-tR

cheers..
its something i think i'll never do, fairly busy.. but so interested in it..
i only want to do it if i can make myself famous

i want to be a rockstar like in the old days, busting up hotel rooms and fighting people and all

 

[TheRelic]

Haha... yeah, tis a nice dream to hold on to .

But hell, give it a crack anyway! I'll tell you now, even doing gigs at parties and what not is great fun, in more ways than one.

 

[WhitePimp]

I started guitar at 17 and at 19 I'm still in the half suck/half good phase but I'm starting to become a lot more confident in playing. Songwriting for me is often something I feel like I NEED to do...basically, if I have no strong emotions going on inside that need to be released, the songs I write usually sound uninpsired.

Just start practicing guitar, get a teacher or at least learn the technical aspects of the instrument, and write what comes out.

 

[Fenderules]

yeah it depends for sure



i'm almost at professional level guitar, many say i am but i have really high standards. I been playing for almost 9 years now, and for wut i wanna do i still cant do it.

if you wanna just rock out......i could right stuff like that years ago but now im into a lotta differnt stuff.


here are my influences to get an idea where im coming from

Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Steve Vai, Wylde, V Halen, Satch, Johnson, Malmsteen, Wes montgomery, John Scofield, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Django, Billy Duffy, Clapton, Angus Young, Randy Rhoads, Derrek Trucks, Billy Gibbons, Eric Johnson........

as you can see all these guys are amazging guitar players and trumpet/sax players. So i desire to be in the same league which is a ****ing lotta work. Shred, blues, Jazz, Metal, Rock, funk. I'm into all that stuff and basically wanna mix and match everything if you know wut i mine, basically become another wicked ass guitar player. Taht takes time and i am currently getting a music degree

but of course you dont have to go that far. I mean i'm very hard on myself and demand if im gonna do something, i better be near the best so as you can see my prophecy will take still many years to get where i wanna. I have things in my head that i still cannot play because of the difficulty.

but just to rock out, with enough practicing its not that hard. If you wanna do Vh ****, its gonna take many hours a day for quite a few years.

so its up 2 you the level you wanna take it. Just know there is always someone better out there, and thats wut keeps me going

 

[Fenderules]

and if you have any questions go ahead and ask

 

[Luveno]

Best way to learn is to play with other people who are a little better than you, but not much..that way you can learn from each other's mistakes. Basically, I'm saying start a band with people around your skill level.

The next best way to learn is lessons.

 

[Desdinova]

For guitar, it really depends on how much you practice. I wrote my first song within a year that I learned. As for singing, your best bet is to record yourself and hear if you sound all that good. Download some karaoke versions from a P2P file sharing network. You might sound good singing along with someone else, but you might sound like crap on your own.

 

[penkitten]

some people must work really hard and practice practice practice

others just seem to have this magical ablility where it just comes to them so easy

werid huh?

 

[Fenderules]

yeah it depends.

 

[MyNameIsTaken]

Cool man. I'm hoping to form a band some time next year, and I'm gonna be the singer as well.

Anyways, if you really want to just sing, I would think about forming a four member band so that each person gets a seperate part instead of you singing and playing the guitar, or if you just want to learn the guitar, I would get lessons. About songwriting, if you're a beginner and have no idea what to write, there's a few exercises to do for improving your lyric writing ability:

- Sit down with a sheet of paper or notebook and set the timer for about 15 minutes or so. Write down everything that comes into your mind on paper, and try to keep it excessive, ie don't stop.

- Take a song you like and write new lyrics for it, while keeping the rhythm and beat part of it.

Also, this site has some pretty useful tips: www.guitarnoise.com

You could also think about taking classes on songwriting.

Anyways, good luck to ya.

 

[Kidd]

Originally posted by quest


will more then likely never try

Wrong attitude. If you do not try, you will never succeed.

 

[thefonz]

I think you should do 3 things to become a great songwriter

1. Like relic said, practice your fingerwork for an hour a day, EVERYDAY...if you really want this

2. Walk around and live life.....pretty simple, be really aware of things going on in your life. When something comes to you hold onto it and get back to your guitar/drums/flute/organ whatever as quickly as possible. This is basically follows the idea of making a soundtrack to the things you see going on around you. Just sitting around and fiddling with your guitar probably won't spawn much creativity, probably just frustration and boredom.

3. Learn to be ruthless, if something doesn't work with your band yet you love it to death.....toss it in the trash. Develope thick skin. If it ain't working I suggest you cut your losses rather than make sappy emotional mind-numbing, heart-tugging drivel that no one understands.

I hope this is helpful, I had dreams myself of starting the 'new sound' but other obligations and poor money descisions heeded my progress. Not to mention the fact everyone I try to get together with wants to sound like Nirvana. But stick to it man, even if all you want out of it is chicks, money, and debauchery....you're a dj, just do it. I wish you all the success you got coming to you, good luck......unless you start a Nirvana cover-band, then I wish dissapointment and financial ruin......

 

[Fenderules]

yeah and take bloody music lessons. that does wonders! but make sure you have a good teacher. I had ****ty teachers taht got me nowhere. Now i'v had the same one for 3 years. He actually doesnt really teach me music. He teaches me how to teach myself music. when i play a solo, he rips it up and tells me wuts good bad and ugly. Then he will play and show things i can improve. It is very cool



lessons really accerlate your playing quite a bit and once you understand how music and notes fit togethor, you can taek the most disonate horrible sounds and turn them in a sweet symphony. Now adays when im soloing you can tell 99.9% of the time if i **** up and play a wrong note since i know how to make it fit.

 

[quest]

Re: Re: starting a band

Originally posted by Kidd
Wrong attitude. If you do not try, you will never succeed.

sorry bro. thanks for the tip.

i'm not not trying. i'm trying SO many things that i probably can't dedicate enough time for this.

Girls + Uni + drinking + lifting = not a whole lot of time to be a rockstar.

thats why most rockstars tend to be 16 year olds who hang out in their basement and there life consists of weed + band + drinking and most still don't become a rockstar. the ones who do pretty soon have ALOT more time for girls+drinking+weed which is what i'd like

 

[quest]

Originally posted by thefonz
I think you should do 3 things to become a great songwriter

1. Like relic said, practice your fingerwork for an hour a day, EVERYDAY...if you really want this

2. Walk around and live life.....pretty simple, be really aware of things going on in your life. When something comes to you hold onto it and get back to your guitar/drums/flute/organ whatever as quickly as possible. This is basically follows the idea of making a soundtrack to the things you see going on around you. Just sitting around and fiddling with your guitar probably won't spawn much creativity, probably just frustration and boredom.

3. Learn to be ruthless, if something doesn't work with your band yet you love it to death.....toss it in the trash. Develope thick skin. If it ain't working I suggest you cut your losses rather than make sappy emotional mind-numbing, heart-tugging drivel that no one understands.

I hope this is helpful, I had dreams myself of starting the 'new sound' but other obligations and poor money descisions heeded my progress. Not to mention the fact everyone I try to get together with wants to sound like Nirvana. But stick to it man, even if all you want out of it is chicks, money, and debauchery....you're a dj, just do it. I wish you all the success you got coming to you, good luck......unless you start a Nirvana cover-band, then I wish dissapointment and financial ruin......

lol
i can understand all bands wanting to be like nirvana.. seems to be how they all start.
personnally i'd like to make music similar to the killers - only cause its what i like listening to the best. maybe take it a little heavier like linkin park aswell..

but id DEFINENTLY "sell out" and try to go mainstream rock. - its the type of music i like

 

[thefonz]

I say that cus 2 weeks ago I went to this battle of the bands thing at a bar and EVERY SINGLE band that went on sounded like Nirvana, I couldn't believe it.....I'm a prog rock Pink Floyd/Tool kind of guy so needless to say I brought my heckling pants with me that night.....not to mention the fact I was with my loudmouth buddies, I kept yelling my drunken lungs out, "WHEN'S NIRVAVA COMING ON!!!!", "PLAY SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT!!!!".....most of the bands got the sarcasm but one band yelled back, "Ya Nirvana!! Tthese guys know whats up."....that guy was a clueless and, hence, sentenced himself to a sea of boo's after every song ended......i'm such an ass...

 

[Hypoxia II]

Originally posted by Fenderules
yeah and take bloody music lessons.

Just doing that alone will put you miles ahead of anything you hear on the radio or see on MTV. Kind of a shame that people are more intersted in the image rather than the art.

Hypoxia II

 

[TheRelic]

Yes... get the fundamentals down first, and erase the concept that playing fast from the word go = quicker progression. If you're anything like 90% of beginning guitarists were, myself inclusive, you'll know what I mean!

I once sat with the guitar and a metronome for 10 hours over one day; the best results came when I started at about half my capable speed.

So yeah, if you wan't to get good quick, it's actually a more tedious and un-enjoyable process.

But the first gig will put it all in perspective, trust me . Nuthin like it.

I know exactly what you mean about the time thing tho... with uni theres no room for lifting anymore even, and its driving me nuts!