Dear Lis,
Last night at our gig the bass player was really sloppy in his rhythm playing. I don’t think he practices enough. Is it time to look for a new one?
Alice
Dear Alice,
There are, of course, good players and bad players. But even good ones have their flaws. Anyone you work with for a long period of time will have traits that annoy you. Maybe they don’t read charts, or they talk too much in rehearsal or they refuse to work with a click track. Maybe they are too aggressive onstage or too shy. You could respond to these problems by saying ‘fire him; get a new one’. But the next one will have their problems too. So instead, think about ways to work on the issues; have a band meeting and talk things through. It’s a bit like a marriage – you have to learn to communicate. Keeping a band together is hard work but it pays big dividends.
Lis Lewis is a voice teacher and performance coach in Los Angeles, CA. She has been training recording artists for over 30 years. Learn more about her private voice lessons. She has also coached celebrities including: Miguel, Rihanna, Iggy Azalea, Bryson Tiller, Demi Lovato, and more. Lis is also the author of the books, “The Singers First Aid Kit” and “The Pop Singers Warm-Up Kit” both published by Hal Leonard.