how to start a band?

[berkleedrummer99]

Hey guys I am 14 yeaes old and in 8th grade and I really want to pursue drums and music in my carreer and suggestions for starting a solid band??

[Benn]

Hello mate, welcome to the forum

Just gonna throw down ideas here, so the order of these thoughts may not make complete sense. Also, all these points are bearing in mind you say you want to take this seriously and make a career out of it.



Find some other musicians your age and start jamming and see where it takes you. Don't start doing it with an agenda to gig or play a certain way, but just have fun with it, because that's the best way to learn and find new things, especially at your age.
I'd say at your age, you shouldn't be looking to anchor yourself down to one band simply because that would be needlessly restrictive and wouldn't really benefit you.
What you want to be doing is immersing yourself in whatever music you can find. I'm sure your school runs all kinds of musical projects - try and get in on some/all of them.

And try and go to as many live gigs and things as you can. Experience the music. Learn how musicians gel and communicate. Learn what kind of music really moves you. Don't just keep listening to what you listen to now, try and find new genres and styles.

Ask people you know who play music any questions you may have, or ask on here.

Get yourself a proper drum teacher to teach you proper technique, reading and to help you put any ideas you have down on the kit and teach you different styles.

Practice.



As I say, just thoughts I'm throwing down but all things I think are important.

[Benn]

Forgot to ask, what have you been up to so far drumming/music wise?

[korch]

How long have you been playing yourself? Find other kids your age, or of similar skill levels together, and start jamming for fun. Make sure you also like each other. You'll be spending a lot of time together if you are going to start a band together. It is just as important that you are friends as it is that you have talent.

Learn some songs and play for your friends. Maybe even play a school battle of the bands or a friends party once you get several tunes down. At this stage, don't worry about getting paid.... It is about experience. Play as often as you can, and be thankful to anyone who gives you opportunity to play.

[berkleedrummer99]

Forgot to ask, what have you been up to so far drumming/music wise?

I have been doing mostly rock I have played some green day acdc and some rush I am also learning syncopation

[berkleedrummer99]

How long have you been playing yourself? Find other kids your age, or of similar skill levels together, and start jamming for fun. Make sure you also like each other. You'll be spending a lot of time together if you are going to start a band together. It is just as important that you are friends as it is that you have talent.

Learn some songs and play for your friends. Maybe even play a school battle of the bands or a friends party once you get several tunes down. At this stage, don't worry about getting paid.... It is about experience. Play as often as you can, and be thankful to anyone who gives you opportunity to play.

Thank you I have been playing for 2 years now

[bobthebrick]

What everyone else has said. However though, a word of warning as well: don't give up on your studies and do the bare minimum at school because you're too busy focused on 'I'm going to have a career in music, maths and science don't matter'.

[dsokodrum]

Don't do drugs.PERIOD! I started out OK and then at a house party, I got real drunk and stoned. My friends were all like ,"Drum solo!!!" And I did.... I thought I was all of my idols combined. My one sober friend politely said ," Dan, those quads you do were nothing but mush. You never play like that when you're straight." I don't even have ONE beer at practice. And I've quit pot for God knows how many years.
Just find like minded people who want to play. Not because of the whole sex drugs and rock n roll thing, but because you want to.
And keep up the grades!!!! You have to be smart in the music biz.

[nik12]

If you aren't playing for stacks, drags, and rockin' rolls, quit now.

[Mythguy1208]

Pretty much what I did when I started my band:

Post statuses on Facebook asking around. Ask anyone you know that plays an instrument that you'd want in your band. Even ask other friends if they know anyone.

Afterwards, get all of them together, have a meeting, talk about the direction you want to go in, then jam and write music, then go from there

[mergatroid1212]

I think for a young guy looking at making music and in your case, playing the drums as a career is a step in the right direction!
Most guys start with the dream of becoming like there idles and fail to realise that not all that glittered is gold.
The best things you can do for yourself are as follows:
1. Look at what guys that have real drumming jobs are actually doing, in detail.
They read sheet music, they play multiple styles on music, the play to click tracks both live and in studio situations, they are open minded and flexible and realise which side there bread is buttered!
2. Do a corse in business management or small business or even marketing. You need to learn to manage your own business and market your self.
3. Go to music store close to your home and talk to the guys that work there and the guys that teach there, they are working drummers!
4. Go to recording studios and try to sit in on some sessions, see first hand how a working drummer really works!
5. Think of yourself like an athlete, take care of your health and fitness, this will ensure longevity.
6. Learn to schedule your time, life is about a lot of things and you need to balance it, from practice to maintain your skills to learning times to improve your skills. Relaxation times to learn what life is really about and to allow that to reflect back into your craft. Friends and family and study, as you can see there is a real need to organise your time!
7. Take in as many projects as you can handle, spread your wings. If you can build a large friend/ fellow muso network the more options open up to you!
8. Keep a diary with your contacts names numbers and addresses! The little black book really helps!
9. Travel, check out what is available in other places, cities, countries!
10. Put yourself out there. The internet is a great tool... Use it!
11. Stay away from negative influences, from friends who feed you false hopes about making it big time, to drugs and alcohol, to even girls who want to tie you down and start a family!
12. Learn another instrument too, it always helps broaden your musical pallet!
13. Do well in school, it is never a bad thing to learn and to learn how to learn!
Up skill up skill up skill!

I am sure there are endless suggestions I have not even broached and i am in no way telling you what to do, just suggesting these points will help you, food for though, looking at a bigger picture.
It is easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of music, that is why we do it, we love it!
Get an idea of where you want to go, allow that idea to change a little down the road as you move through your career, don't get bogged down to a project that is really not going anywhere and you'll know.
Remember this, if you are actively playing the drums and getting paid enough money to survive then you have achieved your goal!
HAVE FUN! Be an enjoyable person to be around, be happy, smile and use your manners!

I wish you all the best and good luck!
I hope to one day enjoy your beats!

[MGRushFan]

Hate to spoil the party, but the best suggestion I can give you right now, to save yourself potentially 20-30 years of misery, is to forget about music as a career. I also say that with the added advice of figuring out a marketable skill, and persue that as a career, and if you really like music, do it for love and recreation only. I'm not even saying "go to college" because nowadays all that means is you will have a degree in worthlessness with sizeable debt to pay off.

My best friend manages both Metallica and Muse, and she told me point blank that no one, as in no one, has a shot anymore in the music business and it is a rigged game. I know that at 14 you are very unlikely to heed this advice, especially from a stranger, but I can attest that her observation is correct. The music business is no fun, especially at the level where you are most likely to end up, which is maybe a mid level club player doing covers every weekend for beer money.

And for everyone who thinks i'm being negative, you may be right, but i think in your heart you know this is sound advice. Follow your passion if it is music, but thinking of it as a career is a very poor choice. this is not the 1960's, where the odds were much more in your favor.

[Benn]

^ depends entirely on what part of the music business you're going into.

Sure, your band making it big is a ridiculous thing to pin your career hopes on, but making it as a working musician (playing for artists, playing your own music, teaching) is a realisable dream if you work hard.

You clearly think you know it, but I know plenty of people who make a living out of music. You just have this mentality that so many people have - 'if you're not famous or a millionaire, you haven't made it'.



When I'm living in a grotty flat in London, teaching 10 hours a day then spending the evening playing grotty little venues with musicians I respect and admire, I'll know I've made it and I'll be truly happy.

Music isn't about making it big, making a decent living. Music isn't about the latest pop star making another hit song. Music isn't about signing a contract. Music isn't about sex or drugs. Music isn't the music business. Music isn't any of these things. Music is about expressing your inner most thoughts and feelings. For that brief moment as you hit that chord or play that groove you feel everything intensely in a way you'll never feel anywhere else. Music is there to find joy, to comfort you, to express your happiness, to share your sadness. Music is what you make it.

And that goes the other way. You don't have to be making a living out of it to truly experience music and for it to be your passion.



And I don't know why I spent 10 minutes writing that at 2:00 in the morning, maybe it doesn't make sense but I wrote from the heart so I don't care. I guess your post just upset me. You see music in such a twisted way.

[Benn]

^ Jeeeeeeezzz what a gaylord

[timlovestenors95]

Hate to spoil the party, but the best suggestion I can give you right now, to save yourself potentially 20-30 years of misery, is to forget about music as a career. I also say that with the added advice of figuring out a marketable skill, and persue that as a career, and if you really like music, do it for love and recreation only. I'm not even saying "go to college" because nowadays all that means is you will have a degree in worthlessness with sizeable debt to pay off. My best friend manages both Metallica and Muse, and she told me point blank that no one, as in no one, has a shot anymore in the music business and it is a rigged game. I know that at 14 you are very unlikely to heed this advice, especially from a stranger, but I can attest that her observation is correct. The music business is no fun, especially at the level where you are most likely to end up, which is maybe a mid level club player doing covers every weekend for beer money. And for everyone who thinks i'm being negative, you may be right, but i think in your heart you know this is sound advice. Follow your passion if it is music, but thinking of it as a career is a very poor choice. this is not the 1960's, where the odds were much more in your favor.

That was kinda heavy.

I will consider it made when I play part-time and teach either part-time or full-time. (But my wife better be rich). Haha jk.