No printer here. Just got a computer 2 days ago, been living off an iPad fore a year now.
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Yeah a tablet would work too but I literally copied the notes by hand onto a music sheet.
And then my girlfriend saw how messy it looked and offered: “I could copy that for you… y’know. I like copying stuff.”
And yeah… her work looks nicer 
Mine would have been enough to see and remember but now it also looks nice 
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That actually looks like a relatively challenging chug in the bridge there. What’s the tempo?
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For that song it’s allright. It’s just 85bpm.
That’s the song I learned first and honestly is the easiest of the 3.
A comparable bridge and pre-chorus with chugging 8th’s in another song is on 144bpm.
I dunno why but it feels harder although it’s technically, mathematically slower… I dunno. Maybe just practice because I started with the other song.
And the third song I barely have practiced has chugging 16ths on 90bpm again a bit faster than this.
I am allowed to simplify it so I can play it but so far I rather want to learn it first and decide if and what to change after if the band is ok with it.
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140 bpm 8th notes is a solid chug. Describes a lot of music I like actually…
Hysteria is several minutes of 93bpm 16ths, and that’s past my chug limit for more than a few measures.
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it’s gone 
I was looking forward to it.
Practice cancelled today. Well at least I got time to practice the third song before playing again with the band…
Regarding the songs and difficulty - yes at first as “just” a B2B graduate it was too fast for me but I slowly and surely crept up the tempo in practice and it got better and better.
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Been enjoying this thread from back when you were first contemplating joining up with that band. Thanks for posting the sample music video. I must say- im really impressed with how polished they sound. (Haha, I guess I was just expecting something much less, based on your initial descriptions) Congratulations on making the connection- hopefully it works out for you. It looks like it would be a lot of fun!
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Thanks. I was contemplating whether I should give an update each band practice but this encouraged me again that there actually is some interest in my experience with the band.
So another update:
I got my ear protection and it worked like a charm. The drums still get through but the volume is comfortable and monitor headphones work fine.
I got my music sheets and it really helped to have a point of reference to look up to especially when getting lost but also just for checking if I was right about what comes next.
That said I focused on the new songs and kind of ignored the song I played “well enough” and… got flustered and didn’t remember correctly. I should at least keep it in there and play it through one time to have it fresh in mind.
Unfortunately the guy who played the bass on the recording wasn’t able to come today and thus I had my questions only partly answered but we managed to play more or less 2 songs completely through. Lost where I’m at in the bridge and then we binge-practiced the bridge together and now it’s better.
So it gradually gets better and I always tell my band mates something along the lines: “I actually hoped to have made more progress” but they always assure me that I worry too much and it’s okay and will get better.
Very happy with the practice today overall though.
Just not with me not practicing as much as home but the weather currently is awfully hot and living in a flat beneath the roof without good or maybe even any real isolation means it’s 35°C (95°F) in my flat during the day - I don’t have the energy to practice.
Having to work full time again also doesn’t help with that. Also a disclaimer: Everything is okay with me but due to full time work, band practice and stuff like that I do not post nearly as much as before but I still lurk the forum and answer questions directed at me specifically. Otherwise I think I’ll mostly just give updates in this thread here as people who aren’t interested are able to mute it. I don’t have too much time to fill now, but now it’s the usual that I have too much I want to do and not enough time.
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Dont underestimate how much attention this thread gets by the number of responses. Most of us simply dont have anything to add and are living this, vicariously, through your posts. I look forward to your updates on the band.
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Okay. Guess I keep you guys updated. I also enjoy sharing this. I was just worried that it might get boring or something. As long as some are interested in it I will keep it up 
It also serves the purposes of a practice journal as I pretty much documented every session until now and plan to continue doing so.
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+1 on that!
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Update!
Mmmhhhh ohhhh it feels so good to play a song correctly from start to finish with the band! Amazing!
Yeah we practiced the songs I already know and the third one too but I mostly just read along to better find my way in next time.
The guitarist playing bass until now recorded how-to videos for the 3 songs… And failed to send them to me. The other band members saw it beforehand but not me. Well… I had a look and it helps.
After practicing the 3 songs I listened to other songs from the setlist. I didn’t know any but at least some were easier than the 3 now - one was a Bit punk-like G D A chord progression. Almost played along during listening for that one.
Overall I feel good. I just notice getting increasingly annoyed at some things. Like… “Okay what do we play now?”
And guitar shredding starts while someone is trying to answer.
Maybe it’s also the ear protection playing its part in making discussions hard. But that’s why I find it especially unnerving. It’s hard enough as it is.
Well… Probably gets better when we just need to call the next song name or actually practice the set list in order.
To make sure - I had fun today too but the more I can play with the band the more I wish we would do less… Clowning around. Like it doesn’t have to be super tight and professional. Just like… Common courtesy to not play into the sentence of someone else.
Edit: Had some comments in there that were way too agressive and came off as hateful. I think my point still gets across now.
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I understand that completely. My once a month band is far less serious than what you have found- but since I am in charge by default (since I placed the original ad to find people), I always email out to everyone the songs we will work on at the next session. I take suggestions, but I always end up coming up with an order, and we just plow through one at a time. If everyone is happy we move on, if not we may repeat a song or section until everyone is content. (But I also keep an eye on the clock and keep things moving along)
And yes, I also share your frustration with communication! It can be tough if one or two people are working on parts in between songs and discussion is stepped on.
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Sorry for not updating you guys after the last band practice. I actually do try to keep at least this up, while being inactive/just lurking in other parts of the forum.
By now I wonder if they regularly check this forum (at least after I posted the video - maybe the see where it was referred from when people watch it) and act accordingly to my input after discussing it. Maybe it is just coincidence that they had a set list ready and took the time of the songs.
If so: Sorry for the initial last post - there was also other stuff going on and it was a lot of venting in there that I just wanted to get off my chest. The actual content after editing I stand by though.
Since it’s already September now the pressure is rising and we try to get our setlist together and fill the time we have on stage (I think it was 45mins). I don’t know how much less but the setlist we played in practice was way shorter. Maybe even less than 30mins. Although we just took time for the songs itself and not talking in between it’s still not enough.
Regarding the songs I practice - it always gets a little bit better the more often I play what I practiced in context it gets easier and easier.
Also remembering the form isn’t as much of a problem as it was before.
Now I have another problem: They have new songs and no music sheets for it. When asking “how can I learn the other songs!?” I just got the answer “by doing.” - which would be totally okay for me… without pressure or with a music sheet or recording or something. Maybe I’ll talk to them next time about the gig - on the one hand I would love to stand on stage but on the other hand I feel the pressure sucks the joy out of it for me. Not the pressure of a gig in general, but the pressure of having to learn something until the deadline. It would be okay if I would think it realistic but right now I don’t think it is.
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Ooof.
This is a tough place to be.
I’m usually the cheerleader for “just dive in and do it! Make it work!” but… the feeling of being unprepared and the stress of being on stage unprepared is the stuff of anxiety dreams.
In the grand scope of things, this show is meaningless except for what you can learn from the process… but that macro view can be hard to find in the pre-show stress.
Good luck with all of it, and there’s full understanding here whatever side of this decision you end up on.
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Man, that is a tough spot. I hope it all comes together for you.
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Maybe you could try by recording your rehearsals and trying to transcribe the new songs. It’s not gonna be easy but worth a try.
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