- It’s almost rehearsal time for The Guitar Gym and Sono Music Performance Showcase. The organised rehearsal is an amazing opportunity to meet the rest of your band and practice playing your song in a full band context. This can be a daunting time, between meeting your bandmates for the first time and for some of you, playing your song in front of others. To make sure that you make the best out of this fantastic opportunity, follow the steps of this guide.
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Know your song
Getting the most out of your rehearsal begins long before you even enter the rehearsal room. Rehearsals are for working out how playing in a band works – they are not for learning to play the song. Band members learning the song during the rehearsal wastes everyone’s time and will eat into time that could be better spent playing the song together. It is also of no use to you if you spend the whole time learning the song instead of practicing playing together. Even if you feel that you know the song pretty well, run through it at least once a day so that you can focus completely on working with the band. -
Be early
You still haven’t even entered the rehearsal room, but nothing wastes rehearsal time like a late arrival. The more time you get to play the song with your band, the more beneficial the rehearsal will be. Don’t waste your rehearsal time on something as inconsequential as tardiness. Being early also might give you a chance to meet some of your bandmates before you get into the room. Lateness will hold up your band while they wait for you to arrive, then wait for you to get ready. -
Get ready quickly
Once you’re in the room, try to find the equipment that you need as quickly as possible and get yourself ready to play as soon as you can. Get your instrument out, get it plugged in if need be, and check your volume as best as you can without annoying everyone. This includes tuning your guitar! Setting up quickly means you can get to playing the song sooner, as and also shows the rehearsal host how quickly you can organise yourselves. If you prove yourselves to be quick and efficient, then they may let you play a bit later into the session before telling you to pack up again. -
Follow directions
A Guitar Gym or Sono Music host will be directing your rehearsal. They will be a seasoned performer with decades of experience in rehearsing bands for the stage. They know what they are talking about, and will help you to get some serious results from your rehearsal – provided that you listen to them. -
Play the song as many times as you can
You don’t have a lot of time in the rehearsal room, so try to get through the song as many times as you can. Don’t spend time talking between each time unless you have a specific issue to work out. Every minute that you spend not playing is one minute less out of your rehearsal time that could be spent working on getting your band as tight as possible for the concert. -
Ask questions
If you’ve got a question about how something works within the band, ask in between plays. If it’s confused you, then there’s a good chance that it’s confused someone else as well. The answering of the question will be probably help the whole band understand the song better. That said, save questions about your specific part for your lesson. -
Be respectful
Don’t laugh at people for getting things wrong or for asking what you think is a silly question. Everyone will be at different stages in their musical career, and the last thing that anyone needs is grief from their bandmates. You’re in this together, so support each other and the whole thing will be more fun for everyone. -
Pack up quickly and efficiently
Once your host has called the rehearsal to an end, pack up as quickly as you can to make room for the next band. If you’re packed up early, you might get a chance to ask more questions of either your host or your bandmates. -
Debrief with your teacher
At your next lesson, discuss how the rehearsal went with your teacher. They will be keen to know how it went, and you may have more questions that you didn’t think of during the rehearsal. There’s a good chance that you realised that there was something that you need to work on, and your lesson is a great time to do just that!
Follow these steps, and your rehearsal will an amazing experience that will give you a huge boost to both your ability and your confidence leading in to The Guitar Gym and Sono Music Performance Showcase. Make the most of this opportunity, and above all, have fun and rock out!