Q&A - Preparing your team for New Songs

Q: I’m introducing a couple new songs soon. In the past people have come to rehearsal without being prepared for the new song. I want to change that. What the best route to take?

A: Great question! I’m glad you’re expanding your repertoire! I’ve ran into similar situations. It can be frustrating! It’s good you’re looking for solutions. Here’s what I’d do - first, talk with your team about coming in prepared, knowing the songs, etc. Don’t beat a dead horse, but do touch on that subject. Then I’d offer a process of learning songs. Here’s what mine looks like:

How to learn a new song:

1.      Listen
2.      Listen for your part
3.      Learn your part
4.      Play your part with the recording
5.      Play your part in rehearsal.

5 steps is quite a few steps, but they’re easy. And you can always condense a couple of them. I just spread them into 5 for easy explanation. Here are the steps with some explanation:

1.      LISTEN

That’s literally all you do in this step. Listen to the song. Get familiar with it. No one should ever walk into a rehearsal having never heard a song they’re supposed to play. Listen to it. You can do that in the car, on the way to work, or just about anywhere else.

2.   LISTEN FOR YOUR PART

After getting familiar with the song, start listening for your specific part. Listen to how it’s being played. Know the part, the dynamics, and how other instruments are meshing with the part you are playing. Although this step is a little more involved, you could still do this while driving. That means you don’t have to set aside a ton of time for it.

3.    LEARN IT

Learn your part. Learn your part. Learn your part. You can’t get by having heard it and just winging it. Too many musicians try to do that. It’s a bad move. You won’t do the song justice. You won’t do your team justice. So learn it.

4.    PLAY IT with the recording

If you learn the part well enough to play it with the recording, then you’ll know you have it down. This also allows you to hear if you’re doing something wrong. Because I promise the guy on the album did it right...

5.    REHEARSAL TIME

Most of the time, you should know how to play the song by the time you get to rehearsal. Especially a new one. Rehearsal gives you an opportunity to play with everyone else. It gives you a chance to see how the part meshes with everything else and if anything needs to be adjusted. Rehearsal is where all the parts and pieces come together.

Let me know your results! That’s worked for me and my teams.

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