drummingman
Gold Member
I currently play in one main band. We are a serious band that are working on our first ep. The goal is to start gigging heavily local and then touring once the ep is out. But, as we all know, bands break up all the time. So I've been thinking about if I should try to play in multiple bands at the same time. My biggest concern is spreading myself too think to where I'm not able to play my best because of putting too much on my plate. But, I also don't want to limit my chances of success by putting all my eggs in one basket.
Being that my goal is playing full time for a living I want to maximize my chances of achieving that goal. But I don't to make it to where I have so much music to memorize that I'm not able to actually do it well.
It seems nowadays most pro musicians play in a number of bands at the same time. Not all, but a lot do. I've often wondered how they can do this and not have to dumb down their parts to not forget them. Maybe it's just me, I have a pretty bad memory. I do chart most everything that I create so I don't forget it. But even with doing that it can take me a good while to get it in my head. And that's with just one band.
I tried playing with 2 bands at once a few years ago. I always ended up neglecting one over the other. So I left the one I kept neglecting and focused all my attention on the one band. Then a year and a half later that band broke up and it took me a good bit to put together another band. I could not find a band that needed a drummer in this down time. It even took awhile to find people to start a new one from the ground up. So I don't want to be in that situation again if my current bands goes under. But I also don't want my playing to be not up to par because of having too much to memorize for multiple bands.
If I can find a way to get things in my head fast without having to dumb my parts down then it seems doable to play in at least 2 bands at once. But that's the thing that I struggle with.
So what do you think?
Being that my goal is playing full time for a living I want to maximize my chances of achieving that goal. But I don't to make it to where I have so much music to memorize that I'm not able to actually do it well.
It seems nowadays most pro musicians play in a number of bands at the same time. Not all, but a lot do. I've often wondered how they can do this and not have to dumb down their parts to not forget them. Maybe it's just me, I have a pretty bad memory. I do chart most everything that I create so I don't forget it. But even with doing that it can take me a good while to get it in my head. And that's with just one band.
I tried playing with 2 bands at once a few years ago. I always ended up neglecting one over the other. So I left the one I kept neglecting and focused all my attention on the one band. Then a year and a half later that band broke up and it took me a good bit to put together another band. I could not find a band that needed a drummer in this down time. It even took awhile to find people to start a new one from the ground up. So I don't want to be in that situation again if my current bands goes under. But I also don't want my playing to be not up to par because of having too much to memorize for multiple bands.
If I can find a way to get things in my head fast without having to dumb my parts down then it seems doable to play in at least 2 bands at once. But that's the thing that I struggle with.
So what do you think?