I was asked to be in a local blues band…how do you know if youre ready to be on a band?

[Michael]

😎 Hi Johnny,
Today, I was asked by a local blues band who is looking for a Sax player to join their band! The local band director, Mr. Baker, introduced me to them–he obviously has had an “Ace up his shirt sleeve”. They do gigs between Arkansas and Louisiana and they’re heavily into the Blues—the gritty guitar player, harmonica player, Sax player, etc. all together on stage. The really neat thing is that entire band is African-American and how cool would it be to see ONE Caucasian person up there playing with them just like Oreo Cookies?!? Way cool if you ask me 🙂
I told them I felt like I had so, so much yet to learn and really didn’t know if I was ready to be part of a band. I’ve never given anything like this thought at all and certainly never expected anyone to ask me to be part of a band. How do you know when you’re ready to be on a band?

[john]

Just go to one of their practices and sit in and check out what they’re doing.
I know you don’t have the experience but we don’t know what they expect from you…
If it’s just a couple of lead lines and some solos maybe you’re ready to do it.
Ask them for a small list of songs they’re doing and take it from there.

[paddy jordan]

hi Michael thats a real interesting question i have been learning a little longer that your self but not by much a year or so i and i have wondered about that one my self but i suppose you know how far you can push your self remember there are no short cuts here its time served = results

[john]

Go for it Michael! It’s a real buzz being in a band.

[Michael]

Thanks guys–I talked with the band yesterday and told them my personal feelings is to give myself 1 more year before making myself available for a band. They’re practicing on Monday afternoon and I’m doing as Johnny suggests here and told them I would stop by and at least check them out. I’m making great progress that I feel good about since I’ve been here with Johnny; but I’m not ready to REALLY be able to contribute/play with a live band……….yet 😉 I personally want to be able to incorporate ALL of the Altissimo notes into my playing, with full control, at will, before joining a band, which would really make your Saxophone playing come alive on stage 🙂 I’ve also been working on Improvising (which is a MUST know how-to-do) in different scales, based on what I’ve been learning in “Killer Blues” ebook, and wanna be more skilled in this areas before joining a band. But realistically, in about a year, this could be something up my alley.

[Author]

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