Thoughts

Random thoughts I thought worth sharing on here. Updated irregularly.

02.14.26: So, what do I look for in musical collaborators?

Circling back to my previous post here, I decided it's probably worth answering the question of what exactly I would look for in bandmates. Here goes...

First off, the obvious necessity is that they know how to play. That much should be a given. But with the advent of the same Internet that you and I are both on and enjoying right now, there is a whole generation of guitar and bass players who have "taught" themselves how to play... not from online resources where one could learn the basics of how to play, but from tab sites like Ultimate Guitar and Songsterr -- which I use on a regular basis when I want to look up elements of a particular song. The problem with these sites lies not in the content, but how some people use it -- they will go by the file's fret numbers and not learn a single note name on their fretboard.

I ended up finding this out the hard way over the past several years when my friend Bryan Morgan and I would try someone out for a position in our band, and find out that telling them the names of chords or key signatures was the equivalent of talking to them in a language other than English. As you can probably guess, this can lead to a lot of communication problems.

And why is this a problem? Well, a professional-minded band -- and here, I define that as a group of musicians that can conduct themselves in an organized, professional manner even if playing in a band is not their main source of income, or even just as a hobby that pays for itself -- should be able to discuss an arrangment to a song and not have to discuss it in any way other than an example like this: "Okay, the introduction is a four-bar sequence of E, C-sharp minor, Csus2 and Dsus2 for a measure apiece, repeated once. The verse is also eight bars and consists of E, F-sharp, C and back to E for a measuer each, repeated. The chorus is the same as the intro. We repeat the verse and chorus again. Then there's a bridge that will start with a bar each of Fsus2 and Gsus2 followed by a four-bar sequence of Esus2, Asus2, Csus2 and Dsus2 played twice. Then go right into the intro/chorus chord sequence played four times behind the guutar solo. Play the third verse and two choruses with vocals and then two choruses with just the lead guitar over it."

Now, it's okay if you're not a musician and you don't comprehend those instructions. However, if you ARE a musician and you don't understand those instructions, then we have a problem. If you're a musician and you understand most of those instructions but don't know how to play a sus2 chord, that's OK; it's not a hard chord shape to learn: here you go! And on the opposite end, if you read that instruction and you immediately recognized what song that is, congratulations: you have good taste.

Now, if someone came into our band and knew at least the basic major and minor chords (open and barred), I'm fine with that. The little variations like 7th chords, major 7th chords, sus2 and sus4 chords, diminished and augmented chords... all easy to learn. I first learned how sweet the sus2 chord sounded from the song I used as an example, and early on in my guitar learning process as a teenager, I had learned what a diminished chord was thanks to George Harrison's "All Those Years Ago".

With thst in mind, I think the best way to wrap up what a guitar player shoudl focus on when he's learning is the following:

  • Basic music theory. The names of the major and minor chords, the key signatures, and where the notes are on your instrument.
  • Be diverse! I've run into players that cocentrated most of their learning from one favorite style, and it really showed when they found themselves playing a different style of music. It's okay if your influences peek out, but don't let your desire to be like, for example, Steve Howe or Kerry King overpower the cover band you're in when the rest of the band is trying to play a Madonna cover.
  • Don't be afraid of written music.Your best bet is to at least learn standard notation, as well as the so-called Nashville Number System. At the very least, when you learn songs, write them down first in a notebook. If you're going to use guitar tabulature, learn how to write the beat divisions rather than just relying on the fret positions, and always write whatever chord or chords are being represented in that particular bar of music over the notation.
    One way I like to write newly learned songs down when first learning them on guitar is to write out chord sheets. This is basically the Nashville Number System, only instead of the number representing the chord, you're writing the actual chords down. (I should do a separate page/section on this someday if there's enough interest.)
    And by the way, don't let anyboy tell you that you shouldn't learn how to read any kind of written notation. The jabronis that tell you that want to come off like the virtuosos they aren't, and will feel shown up and outclassed by them. Let them get outclassed by you and display diva behavior. Hopefully the rest of the band will find you more palatable than the guy who seems to always want to have his tiara polished.

Now that we've gotten all of that down, here's a few tips for surviving being in a proper band:

  • Show up prepared. Learn whatever songs have to be learned before next practice. Don't be afraid to bring your written notes in your notebook or on an iPad. Don't let anyone tell you not to bring written material onto the stage. Unless the musician had a memory like Johnny Mneumonic, I would be more than happy with seeing a musician show up prepared with a notebook or iPad.
  • Bring extra everything. Strins, picks, cords, whatever you need. I can't emphasise this enough.
  • Play sober. I know I'm harking back to the previous Thoughts entry here, but I swear to God, Lucifer, Buddha, and Reina Tanaka that if I ever have to deal with one more "musician" who is more focused on his tallboys, or his forties, or his bag of weed, than on the instrument he's supposed to be playing... well, know you know why I'd rather trust a synthesiser and a drum machine.