How A Band Sometimes Works...

So yes, all bands work in different ways. I'm in a couple and the form may be different but the fundamentals stay the same.

My playing is different for them as well. In my main band The Bophins I'm described mostly as Johnny Thunder meets Captain Sensible. It's fundamentally minor pentatonic based, all those old skool blues licks. I love them. The minor pentatonic is one of the most versatile and expressive scales for a guitarist, all frets in the four shape above below and between are fair game, go from minor to major, subvert the shape! It's great :). The other band The Furious Arcs I was described as Page meets Hendrix, it's all about the inversions, sevenths, diminished and so on. Plus the scales tend to be more formed so the drums and bass can link in with them.

As I write this, I'm wondering how a band does actually work... Often badly, but sometimes you're lucky enough to be in a band without ego issues where everyone actually appreciates everyone else. Not all the time. Bands can be proper bitch fests with factions appearing, drummer and rythm guitarist again bass and lead for example.

Anyway, I digress... The Bophins is pretty simple. Adam writes the songs and brings plays them in rehearsal. I'll then pick them apart and do the arrangement for it so it's more... interesting is the wrong word, but more dynamic maybe... In the Arcs I did write the songs, but now we're doing a set written jamming and anyone can bring an idea or riff, build from there.

The Bophins​ have started doing that, where I'll play a riff and we write a song there and then. Neo Frenzy from our 2nd album New Swag as an example where we did this.

As a guitarist you sometimes put your playing above the song, but if the song only needs one note from you, then you should play one note. The right one note at the right time though... The song is always king. Doesn't matter how killer your riff is or how complex your solo is, if the song's not there it's pointless.

This hasn't really been a post about how a band works... maybe I should write the title after I've written the rest of it...

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