Practice vs rehearsal (and why you're doing both wrong.)

Let's see if this sounds familiar. The day of band practice comes around, you get there and set up your gear, talk with your band mates a bit and then you run through your set of songs once maybe twice without really thinking and then you pack up and head home. Then when you play your show you hear mistakes from across the stage, or maybe even from yourself and you think, "but we practiced!"

Yeah, here's the thing.

You didn't practice.

The truth is, practice is what you do on your own time, rehearsal is what you do as a band. And a rehearsal that doesn't focus on blending together is just a mini concert amongst friends. I've talked before about turning down your volume to hear each other better but their are other ways to make rehearsal better that start with your mindset.

Make sure that you have completed your practice on your own time. This can be running through the parts to the best of your ability, running through scales and technique, practicing with a metronome or just noodling around and improving your dexterity and general skill set.

Go into rehearsal with a plan. Everyone should know what you want to accomplish from that practice. Is it focusing on one song to make sure it is polished the best? It could be focusing on drums and bass to make sure they're in sync. Whatever it is, if you go in with a plan you're more likely to get things done.

Most bands i know have a limited amount of time to rehearse together. If you plan to make the most out of your time you will get better songs and better performances which in turn will help you get more fans and more gigs.

As always, keep making music!

-Devon.

Chief Noise Officer

Red Rabbit Recordings.