So if you have read any of my previous hubs you'll be familiear with Billy and his quest to become Travis Barker! You'll also be aware that I have been sharing all my new found wisdom about the drums with you in the hope that. if you are a beginners on the drums then you might be able to pick up a few tips from me.

So Billy has been learning the drums for a while studying with Jarad Falk online. By the way the course is amazing, it has really helped Billy become a really good drummer, whether you are a beginner or intermediate I seriously recommennd this course. He has studied from home and saved a bundle by sacking his drum teacher for Jareds online drum course which offers online study, DVD's and online support to.

Anyway back to the programme, Billy has joined a band at School and has his first rehearsal coming up where they want to play some Blink 182 songs. They want to be the next Blink 182 if you hadn't already geussed! Billy isn't sure how he should go about setting up the rehearsal and then how to structure the practice session so he has asked his dear old neighbour (that's me!) yet again to find out how he should do it.

Anyway I found out quite a few things that I think you might find useful if you play in a band and want you reahearsal sessions to be more productive.

What follows is a good guide to a perfect practice session.

Billy and his band members want to rehearse four Blink 182 songs which is way to much for one session so I told him to concerntrate on just one maybe two if they get the first song finished and complete. Practice sessions aren't just about banging through lots of songs, the result being they end up sounding sloppy and rough around the edges.

The best advice is to make sure that EACH BAND MEMBER LEARNS THE TWO AGREED SONGS BEFORE THE REHEARSAL! Lot's of new bands make this simple mistake and end up having to learn the song during the rehearsal session itself which can end up wasting time!

Billy and the band decided they would each learn their own parts for All The Small Things and Rock Show. That included the singer having to go away learn the lyrics and melody so he was ready for the rehearsal too. Unlike drummers singers have egos so they need to be reminded, by the way did you know vibrato is a technique used by singers to hide the fact they are on the wrong pitch(!)?

Once Pink Fluffies had booked in there rehearsal session down at the local music shop, which had two rooms upstairs with a free drum kit to use and a PA for the singer, the band set about setting up and started to play. What a noise typical guitar player was trying to 'widdle' away and the bass player was playing and ACDC bass line Billy was trying to do this new fill that uses the kick drum at hundred miles and hour. Fortunately I was there to help out and talked to the band about doin a sound check to get all the levels right so they could all here each other clearly. I of course had to tell the guitar player to turn down slightly because the singer looked like he was miming!

Once Pink Fluffies had booked in there rehearsal session down at the local music shop, which had two rooms upstairs with a free drum kit to use and a PA for the singer, the band set about setting up and started to play. What a noise typical guitar player was trying to 'widdle' away and the bass player was playing and ACDC bass line Billy was trying to do this new fill that uses the kick drum at hundred miles and hour. Fortunately I was there to help out and talked to the band about doin a sound check to get all the levels right so they could all here each other clearly. I of course had to tell the guitar player to turn down slightly because the singer looked like he was miming!

Once they has sound checked they got it together and warmed up with a song the had all sort of played together before. This helped them to get warmed up but to also play something they are familiar with and therefore would help them to get into what they were doing.

Then they went for it the spent an hour on each song working on the timing and making sure each part went from one section to the next smoothly. Billy had a great idea, he and the bass player played through the track on there own so that they could really lock in, they are the foundation of the music so it made good sense. After this they sounded much tighter as a band.

They also took the time to make sure the beginning and end of the songs were well rehearsed to, making sure the ending finishes well is another big thing bands miss, people always remember a sloppy ending no matter how well you played the rest of the song.

I think most important of all was the fact that the guys really felt like they achieved something, because the rehearsal was well structured they got a lot of work done. They completed two songs and polished them to the point where they were sound like a really tight band that plays well together. They decided that the next rehearsal they would recap by spending 15-20 minutes playing the two new songs and then work on two new ones.

Wanna know what they are?

Haven't got a clue like all good rock bands they are still arguing over what the next songs will be!!

Artistic Differences!

If you into drumming and music why not visit drum lessons beginners