Being The Only Guitar Player In The Band

Synergy/MTS Forum

Help Support Synergy/MTS Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

guitarcomet

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
344
Reaction score
0
Location
Pollocksville N.C. (USA)
I've been playing in bands since I was 16.
Many configurations;
2 guitars, bass, drums
one guitar, keys, bass drums
one guitar, bass drums
I even played in a 7 piece band once!
But at the moment, it's just me & the bass player.
We're one of the top acts locally, but we're limited in the song selection we do.
We're tried out several players, but most can't hang.
The last guy was great! Good tone from tube amps, plenty of pedals, great licks...he had it all! But after 2 rehearsals, his job has forced him to move to Canada.
Bummer, huh?

Well, as much as an extra guitar player can help a band's sound, it can easily hurt it, too.
One song we played with the most recent guy, he played an extra lick in one part. It wasn't a bad lick, but just not in the original song. This issue nearly got us off on the wrong foot, but I dropped it and felt the difference it made was nominal.
Afterwards, I went to his previous band's MySpace page (he just left that band). On one song "Brass In Pocket", the guitar in the bridge was played wrong. It's things like this that make it hard for me to play with other players. People figure stuff out wrong, then are too close-minded to accept another way (the right way).
Anyhoo, being the only player, I don't have these problems.
I don't have to worry about sharing lead parts so the other guy can get his rocks off a few times a night (stealing my thunder in the possess).
I also don't have the dreaded volume wars that 2 guitars usually have.
One trick I use to compensate (sound wise) is using two speaker cabs (one on each side of the drums) to get a fuller guitar sound.
I also dig the extra space on stage, the extra pay and the lese complex setup/breakdown.
One less person to cancel practice, one less person to quit the band, one less person to keep happy.
 
guitarcomet said:
One less person to cancel practice, one less person to quit the band, one less person to keep happy.
Quit reading my mind! You're freaking me out! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Yeah, that hit a nerve, huh?

My band doesn't realize how many possitives there are in just one player.
They just see the extra songs we could play, the extra sound we'd have (like we use to have).
But really, one guitar is enough, esp. since we're only making $450-$500 per gig. ($112-$125 per person)

I kinda have a bit of pull in the band in that:
I'm the senior player.
I own the entire P.A. & lights, enclosed trailer & the truck that hauls it all.
I run sound and am the top tech guy.
Of course, I'm top musician (I play keys & bass fairly well if needed).
I'm the main harmony vocalist, too.

So without me (and our kick-*** singer), this band would fail.
They listen when I speak. :lol:
 
I know exactly what its like dude.

I'm trying to get a band started where I play guitar and there is just one guitar but everytime I join a band or start a new one they always end up having 2 guitarists and one of us gets pissed off and leaves (me most of the time cause most of the other guitarists were arogant dicks).

Anyyyyyway I decided even screw the rest of the band lol. So i do completely solo stuff just me, my pa, my guitars (so many different ones i use) and a good old Randall :D
 
the Alpha Wolf Syndrome..
thats what I call it. I, am in the same situation. But, if you can..please consider if the parts you play really are CORRECT..or wether you're just being a dick..and a tyrant. I have been that..and in some cases, Ive left that behind.
Seriously...I mean it. I have played long enough to know that sometimes the other guy has a valid idea. Maybe it isnt exactly whats on the record..but does it work? Does the part detract from the idea?
At this point, I still am the only guitar player, and yes it DEFINETLY limits the material we can play live...but I will say this: if the material is chosen carefully, and adapted reasonably...I think my 3 piece offers more music, and more chemistry than many FIVE piece bands!!
fwiw: the reason I wind up as the only guitarist is because most guitar players I meet are set in their ways and and come with way to much baggage.
No wonder we have so many guitar players around...but so few bands.
 
Thats weird...I used to be the only guitarist in my old band and didnt have fun coz I clashed with the keyboardist. Now, I'm in a 2 guitar band and am absolutely loving it! :D

I guess the key is to be a team player and not let your ego mess a good thing up.
 
Sounds like a lot of ego trippers. What's the matter? Don't want to share the spotlight? Remember no matter how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always someone sitting in his basement or garage that can smoke you.
I play lead in a 5 piece band and the other guitar player is younger than myself. We don't have ego problem because we,re all friends first. We share the lead work. If people wanted to hear it just like the tape they would stay home or go to a DJ. Think about it, if you can't add anything of yourself your just a copy boy. :lol:
 
The band I play in is basically me and 2 other buddies. All in our 40's.
I would love to have another guitarist for some backup. But the squabbles are always there. What I want to play is "boring" for the drummer. His stuff he wants? Hard to play over it while noodling out some leads or rhythm. Bass player basically is along for the ride. Its like a mini soap opera but we always leave laughing and having a good time. Band is set up at my place. Drums, PA, etc...
So while I have the home team advantage.....I am a team player and we all take turns playing the songs we want.
But another player would be great and open up more doors.
 
It depends on the connection between the musicians. It should transcend the instrument if you want a functional band imo. Also are you just playing covers or are you actually writing material? Because having a "right" way to play something would then be based on someone else's music instead of your opinion. Big difference.

I've played with some magnificent guitarists, but I didn't really enjoy the music as much as when I hit some improv with this one guitarist. Our lines matched up so that they became dependent on each other. If you make the other guitarist simply an extension of yourself then of course another individual will fall short of your expectations. We didn't get nearly as many songs done as I would have liked to, but it pushed me out of the routine that I had felt with a conveyor belt of other guitarists. He's mormon now though so he's out on his mission. **** :(
 
I like being the only guitarist in my band because I can do whatever the hell I want and not have to be scolded because I missed that half flatted fifth note with a twist after the diminished 7th that followed the root mean square of pi that came right before the second chorus.
 
Playing with other guitarists.... if you get along with them thats a step in the right direction...I was part of this cock rock coverband and the Singer was a complete tool who would phone in his efforts, we lost a good drummer due to effort and equipment issues when we auditioned this other drummer who tuned his drums.

This new drummer was all about the fills and he would often come in late with the corner crash hits on the one. Then the guitarist that lead the band at that time had to quit because the singer was such a tool...Anyhow that guitarist was someone I could play with...he was into intricate stuff but wasnt that good on the simple chords for some reason.

The new drummer kind of foisted his guitar pal on the band...now Im a tube amp guitarist. The guy that was brought in is a transistor with digitech preamp guy. His sound was just plain bad...all processed cheese but the guy could pick ok.

Now that drummer and singer fired me and one other out of that band and I am in this new cover band. I hired another guitarist and it basically comes down to this with me...

If you are talented thats fine....but if your picking doesn't match mine then there will be a problem because the rhythm is the hard part in a rock band between 2 guitarists. The new guy is a stud lead player and I would have been happy to be the rhythm guy just to safeguard the song but then I long to play leads onstage....the new guitarist is fizzling out anyhow due to time and work contraints so I think being the only guitarist would be better.

We have a 4 way harmonizing band here anyhow and that is the main thing with us is the vocals so I think one guitarist is enough.


But I will always look for another good guitarist cause you never know!
 
The bottom line to this is HAVE FUN! So many great bands stay together and hate each other. I have been in great bands but the chemistry was so volitile that the guitar player had a restraining order out on the singer before it was all over! It was the best band that I have ever wrote songs in. I own a catalog of over 35 songs from a span of 2 years. We opened for LA Guns once (keep in mind I am 41) but just couldn't hold it together. Our sound was simple, one guitar through a 79' Marshall 1/2 stack, my 1970 Ludwig drums and a vocalist. We got who ever was available for bass. We went through bassists like Spinal Tap went through drummers! At one time Full Devil Jackets bassist cut the bass tracks for a song we put on the radio. I had such a musical epiphany in that band but the singer and guitar player couldn't get along. On the other side of this I have been the singer in a cover band with just an OK guitar player who really thought a lot of himself and an awesome rythm section. The bassist and drummer were locked like Ft. Knox! We had the best time where ever we went and whenever we played. It was like being in High School hanging with your best friends. The music accuracy didn't really matter that much to us, eventhough, honestly we were probably about 85% on most of the time. We just didn't trip over stuff like that. I watched a band get in a huge argument once over a drummer playing a ghost note on the snare vs. the original song not having it. It was led by the Keyboardist by the way! I have seen why a large majority of those guys play alone! Anyway the lick didn't even matter cause once the guitar kicked in you couldn't hear the difference anyway. Freaking psycho! I bet he never had a date either. lol. My point is this, didn't we all grow up hearing other band put cover songs on their records (records, again I am 41) and they were never like the original versions. Would you rather hear the Kink's You Really Got Me or Van Halen's? Fleetwood Mac's Green Maneleshi or Judas Priest's? It is not right or wrong, just different, so saddle up with like minded fellows and be up front with how you would like the group to be and for god sakes have a good time.

PS: I had a singer once during practice try to chastize the band for all of US playing too long at the same time... Think about that one. We all jumped time at the exact same time!
 
I like the freedom to make noise and stuff...when you're a trio for example, each one has a much bigger freedom to do fun stuff, IMO. I love playing in a huge band though, because it challenges me.
 
I have to say it...
and it NEEDS to be said...
..and maybe the players you work with arent couragous enough to say it...

Many of these posts show how egocentric you guys (or people can be). That includes me,btw.
I read these posts and I see many different way people make music..and how they cease to make music because of issues...but it occurs to me that we could all (Us guitarists) learn to adapt better than maybe have thus far.

people who disagree are not always wrong. Sometimes WE are being difficult. And ya know, not for nothing...lots of people here think playing in their bedroom = hard won experience....I am not sold on that.
The proof is in the pudding..the only way to get real experience is to get out there and do it. And its kinda funny..sometimes stuff we play with our hands seems to suck at first...and lo and behold people love it. And ya know what..maybe THEY have a point?
Hey there is lots of ways of doing things...Music is the kind of thing that can be shared by many people..maybe thats the way it should be...a communal thing. When your at many concerts thats what the experience is, a gathering of a community.
But so many people are ego self-contained...in a worst case scenario you could be wearing your ipod with headphones, later in the day using your personal watercarft...and then maybe go surf the web...so long as you block all the people who would send you contray ideas you dont like.
You see that insular this is??
As musicians, which is a high callng we can all do better, me, as well.
Lets see these problems as opportunities to be better players, and better people.
 
I just wanted to add that I'm not being a d!ckhead.
I'm easy to work with and when an extra lick or note is added in here or there, I don't bent out of shape.
But sometimes, the lick or not doesn't fit the song. (even throwing other players off time) Some people learn stuff wrong. Then they can't adjust.
The band I left has a drummer that refuses to work on certain parts (like the break in Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker") He never got it right at rehearsal and decided to play a straight beat through the part he was messing up on. It worked, but sounded way wrong. Now after playing it that way 50+?? times, I'm not sure I can play it the right way anymore. Really!
It's things like this that I put up with to play in bands around here.
I can't play every lead line just like the record, but I can come close and play it close enough to where the singer knows when to come back in...every time!
 
Drummers!? yeah that's a whole 'notha story there. Love those 4/4 beats straight through on EVERY song. Might as well just use the drum machine. At least that won't speed up and slow down at every turn.
 
Ummm, sorry about my last post...that was totally uncalled for. Drummers rule!

I just wanted to add that I'm not being a d!ckhead.

Actually if you're a guitarist it's a prerequisite...at least that's what my drummer tells me.
 
Well I have been playing in bands for the last 20 years, mostly the only guitarist, What I have learned first and foremost is no ones perfect, I have seen countless big name bands where the guitarist didnt do his solo the same as the record, or he missed notes, I now jam with some guys and we have 2 guitar players, and it sounds real good and nice when we need acoustic stuff, sometimes we overlook the fact that were all not gonna become rock stars, and we should have fun, as long as the music sounds good who cares if you miss a note or 2, hell i watch guys play pro football that are makin 17 million a year and drop the ball?? and we're worried about missing a few notes a nite for a measly 100.00 bucks??lol
I am not the greatist guitar player out there, but I show up, play in tune,
have good hygiene, and a great attitude, and have had people tell me they would rather play with me than guys I think play better than me?
so go figure?? anyways just my 2 cents
keep on rockin guys!!!!!!!
 
I agree totally. I try to be like you...do my best...but realize that this is reality and people make mistakes.
I think the wiser among Us realize that COMPROMISE is a big part of being a better player.
..strange as it may seem.
 
guitarcomet said:
But at the moment, it's just me & the bass player.
We're one of the top acts locally, but we're limited in the song selection we do.

so its just a guitar and a bass yet youre one of the top local acts? i'm a lil confused. are you a coffee shop acoustic act or somethin? not tryin to be an a**, just wonder how you're a top local act without a drummer or singer? or did you mean just as far as string instruments it just you and a bassist?


edit- the way i see it for band situations its really important that the two guitarist have a similar style in mind for the end result of the music, but theres different types of musicians. theres the ones that play for fun so it doesnt really matter all that much, theres those who wanna make a career of it with their "signature sound", then theres the billboard guys who just wanna make it no matter what they play.

i personally love 2 guitars for the melodies/harmonizing
but i've played as the only guitarist and ran 2 preamps, one to each side of the power amp and two cabs to sound like 2 guitars....almost.
 
Top