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I just rejoined a band that I left 6 months ago for sort of similar reasons - singer is not great (but not awful) and the drummer can't remember intros or endings...
But I really missed it. At 38 I now have no grand designs of making any money from original music and I just enjoyed playing with them more than I thought. We do a few gigs a year, a bit of recording and regular practice. The only thing that will change upon me rejoining is that I am going to sing more and I bought some monitors (which have made a difference, the singer is no longer straining as much so to be heard voice holds up better).
If I was looking to make more of an impact / name I would be finding a much better singer.
Make a new band. With Blackjack. And Hookers. In fact, forget the Blackjack.
@gusman2x has it right - if you kick the others out, you've created a problem in the future and you've made it about their failings. No one likes rejection. If you leave, it's about you. And if you happen to start a new project and your drummer jumps on board... it is what it is. If your drummer is actually good and serious about being in a good band, I'm sure he'll jump at the opportunity. And having a good drummer is a massive hurdle you've already overcome, so other good musicians/ singers will be easier to bring on.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
If the inability to sing in tune and the refusal to play bass like a bass player are combined in one person, it's a no-brainer. Bye bye. How you spin it is up to you- you could tell them you don't think it's working out for you and leave, taking your songs (and making sure the band members you want to keep know what's up), or you could tell the guy a few home truths.
If you feel like guitarist #2 has potential, a frank discussion might change things.
It's a tough thing to do with the right balance of diplomacy and challenge, but you need to do it to get to the root of what's up with this guy.
Is he just shy?
Does he feel out of his depth with the material?
Does he know what you expect from him?
Is he just not feeling it?
Would he be happier spending more time on specific passages that he can't get his part right for?
Do you need to give him some homework to learn a particular song for next time? If you've got a lot of songs and have presented them to the band all at once he might be overwhelmed with learning them all.
It might be a combination of several of the above. If you can't be bothered being Dr. Phil to this guy, I don't think it's unreasonable just to leave him out of the truth behind the "not working out" ruse.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
None of the good musicians I know will even bother auditioning for a band if the singer is not in place.
I should have made it clear earlier - the singer is also the bassist.
To clarify, the aim of the band is to play original heavy rock with like-minded committed and proficient musicians and ultimately play gigs and record stuff. Along with the drummer, all we need is a good singer & bassist (bonus if they are one and the same).
Another thing is that whilst I have written all the music, the lyrics are the existing singers' but I would have no problem scrapping them and inviting the new singer to write new lyrics.
@english_bob interesting questions. I think it''s fair to say most guitar players have potential but in this case it's the general practice etiquette and style that is the sticking point. It was worse, it got better and now it's worse again. I generally write songs as and when the inspiration strikes and use garageband to record ideas then develop them into songs and send the ideas to the rest of the band via dropbox which seems like a good way to get ideas across.
As it stands, there is a natural break in rehearsals (i'm away on holiday so i'll miss two practices and the drummer won't practice if i'm not there, and the other guitarist will be away for the practice after that) so things may start to slow down as a result of this. I think the drummer and I will now start to recruit for a singer & bassist and say to the other guys that it's been fun and thanks but it's not for us. Good idea?
I think the onus is always on individual musicians to make it work in terms of rehearsals and writing/learning parts. If you'd prefer for rehearsals to go a particular way, ask. If you want to work on a particular song, say. If you're having a hard time coming up with a part with a particular bit and you'd like for the rest of the band to make suggestions, invite them. If you have an idea of how to improve one of the songs, suggest it. If you really aren't feeling one of the songs, politely tell the band.
Likewise, if you can't nail a part while you're rehearsing and you don't need the rest of the band's input to do it, then you move on, go home and work on it, and come back next week with it sorted.
Of course, it's also the responsibility of the whole band to make rehearsals conducive to that sort of working. If you're going to get all pissy whenever anyone suggests that you change something and ignore anything they say, or if you're going to disconnect from those discussions and sit in a corner, you're not helping.
If you're the nurturing, mentoring type, and you want to help a musician who doesn't understand this yet to, you know, grow as a person and as a musician and shit, then by all means do. If you'd rather just have a band of competent musicians with enough about them to ask for what they want from rehearsals without having to teach them all this stuff, I don't think that's unreasonable at all.
The point is that you're all there to make the music better, however that needs to happen. That's why your bass player's attitude really boils my piss. You play what makes the song better, and if that's boring, you shut the fuck up and do it anyway. If you want to do something that's always stimulating and pleasurable to you with no consideration for anyone else then go home and have a wank.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
See my comments in bold italics.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Is he named Geddy by any chance?
(Get a baritone/extended range and change your style to suit the band.)
Now then, any bassists or singers in London?!
I get that nobody likes confrontation, but I can't understand the lengths some people will go to to avoid it. All this will do is punt the problem further down the road, only then when you have "the chat" with Geddy and Skronk (for those shall be their names) you will have been stringing them along for weeks/months/years while you played the same songs in another band that you didn't tell them about. How do you suppose that's going to go?
If you've made up your mind that the current band isn't going to work out, it would be better for all concerned if you kill it now IMO, rather than "staying together for the kids".
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Having a band of mates for fun is not the same as trying to have a music career and be successful, you need like minded goal orientated band members, who will each work on there craft outside of the band setting.
and the most important part is get someone that can actually sing, hate seeing great musicians play with crappy singers, if the singer doesn't wow you he wont wow the audience either.....
There's things I've had, there's things I wanna have"
Re playing in two bands concurrently, I think that is not actually sustainable so as soon as we have new personnel it's over.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum