Hothouse Rehearsal Studio Tips

Hi this is Richard Morales from the Hothouse Music Group.

Please join me for the “Hothouse Rehearsal Tip of the Week”.

Each week I’ll be discussing various methods and techniques to help your rehearsals become more effective and efficient.

This week our topic is:  Create A Rehearsal Game Plan

But before we talk about your Rehearsal Game Plan, a little history on the “Hothouse Rehearsal Tip of the Week” column and why it came about.

Everyday at the Hothouse rehearsal studios, I see bands rehearsing for their upcoming shows or working on new material for their next recording.  Frankly, there is a cost in time and money, invested into each of your rehearsals and at the Hothouse we want to help you get the most out of your valuable time and money.  We want your band to make progress.

Quite often I found bands asking me a similar question.  They’d ask me “What can we do to have more effective and efficient rehearsals”?  That question sparked the idea for the “Hothouse Rehearsal Tip of the Week” column.  Information on music rehearsal techniques, designed to impact your next showcase or recording.

So let’s get to your Rehearsal Game Plan.

Last week I encouraged you to record your music and review it as a “listener”.  As a result of this band meeting, you have identified areas in certain songs that need to be worked on or songs that are ready to go.  Now with this information in hand, here’s the first key.

Organizing your rehearsal time will lead to effective and efficient rehearsals. 

Disorganized rehearsals are counter productive and can lead to everyone trying to get their musical ideas heard at the same time or playing something different at the same time. It’s Just Insanity!  Rehearsal time is not the time for members to practice their individual instruments.  Rehearsal time is for working together as a band, with one goal in mind. Perfect the Execution of Your Song as a Band!

How do you organize your rehearsal time you might ask? 

• Creating a rehearsal agenda or schedule will do the task.   A rehearsal schedule or agenda is so important cause it helps you monitor your progress. 
• Have a band meeting and go through all your songs and sort them into categories.  Something like “Performance Ready”, Recording Ready”, “Near Ready”, “Work In Progress”, and “New Song Ideas”. 
• Write down in black and white the goals for each rehearsal.  All band members should know in advance which songs are going to be rehearsed at each session.
• After each rehearsal, assess the progress of the songs you’ve worked on and either move it up the list or let it sit.  Then you’ll see if songs are making real progress.  With this knowledge you can now set the next rehearsal agenda. 
• I suggest keeping all agendas in a binder.  This way, you can always refer back to them and get a “big picture” view of the bands progress and it’s just fun to look back on them.  They can come in handy too for liner notes, press releases and so on.

Remember a little work together as a band before walking into the rehearsal studio will save you time and money and best of all it will foster honest communication and strengthen the bond between band members.

Join us at our Yahoo group called the Hothouse Music Group by submitting your email address below.  You can post your questions or ideas for topics there and we’ll work on incorporating them into the column.
Join us at our Yahoo Group called hothousemusic

Thank you for joining me at the “Hothouse Rehearsal Tip of the Week”, this is Richard Morales for the Hothouse Music Group….See you next week. 

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