Avoiding 5 Common Rehearsal Mistakes

So you’ve mastered the art of deliberate practice on your own – what about when rehearsing with your band?  Practicing with extra people can add another level of distraction and requires even more preparation and focus.  When it comes to band practice, especially if you have a gig or performance coming up, sometimes you just need to buckle down and save the goofing off for later.

Check out a few of these mistakes to avoid from TrueFire.com to ensure your band practice is smooth and productive:

1. No agenda
Make the most of the band’s time together by knowing what you plan to accomplish. Is it a writing session or a performance rehearsal? Do you need to tighten up a few tunes that were sloppy at the last gig? Plan it out in advance. If the group has vocal harmonies or dual guitar parts to work out, you might want to set up separate rehearsal times for just those band members.

2. Inviting friends and fans
Don’t invite anyone to your rehearsal other than bandmates. It’s fine if you need a manager or other business associate to hear what you’re doing, but keep your legions of fans out. Most musicians just don’t tend to work as productively, or even act normally, when there are other eyes and ears on them. If that many people are dying to hear you play, here’s a crazy idea: book a gig!

3. Free-for-all
It’s one thing to take a moment to adjust your tone or get a new riff under your fingers; it’s another to run a dozen lead lines when everyone else is ready to start working. If your band is populated with aimless, endless noodlers, try setting a new rule for rehearsal: Each player signals that he/she is ready to rehearse by not playing.

4. Planning to wing it
Unless you play out all the time, be sure to run your whole set list for the next gig from top to bottom, dress-rehearsal style. Don’t stop for anything. Deal with problems — broken strings, cracked voices, forgotten lyrics, dropped drumsticks — as you would if you were onstage.

5. Rehearsing at full volume