Ryan Fox put together these videos for you so you can learn Sixteen Saltines with your band mates.

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Intro to Rock Guitar class by Tom Mitchell.

Here’s the ending!

Here’s my interpretation of the music http://www.interactivemusicteacher.com/pdfs/Sixteen%20Saltines%20Drum%20Ending.pdf
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Intro to Rock Drumming class by Ryan Fox.

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Intro to Bass Guitar class by Josh Fossgreen.

It’s important to get a good start on the day in order to ensure that you get a good practice session in. Try to wake up early and start practicing within 30 minutes of getting out of bed. Whether waking up early means 6am, 7am, or 10am (teenagers/college students), you should push yourself to get up early. You will feel a sense of accomplishment if you get up when you want to, and get to practicing early in the morning. You may feel like crap if you don’t get up when you want to. A lazy morning usually leads to a lazy rest of the day, especially if you have work or school off.

Tips on how to get up early

If you are like me and really love to sleep, then it may be hard to drag your butt out of bed in the morning. There is hope…Set your alarm to wake up to something that will make you think in the morning. I like listening to the San Diego morning show, The Mikey Show. It’s funny, and get’s me thinking early in the morning. If talk radio isn’t your thing, they have alarm clock apps that make you solve a math problem in order to turn the alarm off. Don’t buy the alarm that runs way from you when it goes off, you will probably crush it out of anger the first day you use it. An even better tip is to start doing some form of exercise right after your alarm goes off. Sit ups, push ups, and stretching are really good ways to get your body going.

What should I practice?

If you are drummer you should practice your rudiments. Get your metronome out and start playing singles, doubles, triplets, something easy that doesn’t involve thinking. Once you get in the swing of things, you can get into your normal practice routine. It helps to write out your practice goals the night before so you know exactly what to start working on.

Coffee

Drink Coffee or tea. It helps.

If you are a beginner, or have never played drums before check out our Intro to Rock Drumming course. If you are an Advanced student, check out our Advanced Drum Lessons Subscription.

Fairly recently here on the Interactive Music Teacher, one specific article discussed resolving or avoiding fights or “drama” with fellow band members. The article gave some excellent general advice about dealing with inevitable conflict among your band mates, but here I will delve a bit deeper into two common band problems—creative differences and financial struggles.

Dealing with personal or professional problems among band members is never easy. For one, if you are really close like family members, then you may make no bones about letting each other have it. But since you aren’t actually family, you have the option of breaking up and never speaking to each other again. On the other hand, if you aren’t particularly close on a personal level, you may feel uncomfortable expressing creative or financial issues, in which case resentments build up and eventually explode.

If your band is on the rocks, the most important thing to remember is that you are not alone. Every single band I’ve been in broke up, got back together, and broke up again, so it’s a very natural thing, and it happens to even the most iconic, talented of bands, as evidenced in Time Magazine’s “Top 10 Band Breakups.” Of course, the Beatles topped the list, and, contrary to popular opinion, it wasn’t Yoko. It was the result of the very same problems that plague all bands—bad financial decisions, creative differences, and competitive egos.

David Jackel, a professional singer, addresses the most common problem when talented minds get together—fighting over the music, also known popularly as “creative differences”—in a short but enlightening YouTube video. Perhaps the most salient point that Jackel makes in the video is that nothing is more important–no fight over which song should be played or how it should be played– than the ultimate harmony of the band. Of course, there will be some battles that you will want to pick, but always aim for compromise over “winning.” If you are fighting to keep a verse in a song, and another band member wants to get rid of it, ask for alternatives. Involve everyone in all creative decisions. After all, there is a reason you’re a band—you have enough in common creatively that you decided to come together and make music. Don’t let small arguments ruin everything.

Financial issues are another major cause for concern when your band is beginning to have problems. Of course, when you are just beginning, you probably don’t have enough resources to hire a separate manager. If you do, it makes things infinitely easier to have a financially-savvy person, preferably an accountant, who has no ax to grind in terms of money. In other words, it’s best to have someone separate who can look at your band money situation objectively without being colored by emotion or an agenda. On the other hand, if you do not have the resources for a dedicated person to handle your finances, it’s best to establish agreements beforehand, and write them down. Have one band member handle all the accounting, but meet often to discuss all financial decisions. The person who handles money should also keep meticulous records so that you know precisely how much money you are making and how it is being used. When it comes to finances, transparency is most important.

Perhaps the best way to think of a band is to think of it as a polygamous marriage of creative and equal minds. Studies have shown that the healthiest of marriages are the ones who put dedication above all else. In other words, the marriages that last longest are the ones in which the focus is on the continuation of the marriage, and not on other factors like “love” or “children.” In the same way, make up your mind from the beginning that you will stick together no matter what, that you are committed to each other. Work with band members who know how to compromise. Learn from past mistakes. And most importantly, remind yourself constantly why you got together in the first place.

This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who writes on the topics of online university. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.

Josh got a lot of people requesting a tutorial on his original Don’t Stop Believin- Party trick Video so here it is.

Josh Fossgreen is our new Bass Teacher. Sign up to his free course for beginners http://www.interactivemusicteacher.com/freebasslessons Or Check him out for private lessons on his personal site http://joshfossgreen.com/onlinebasslessons/

If you have never played the drums before or you are a beginner, sign up to our free Intro To Rock Drumming Class by clicking the link (starts late March).

I’m sorry to tell you this but if this is what you usually see during your band’s shows, they are not texting their friends about how good your band is. The audience is bored and it’s not their fault. Some people don’t care about music, but usually people that are at shows will pay attention if the band is entertaining. I’ve seen this above scene more than I would like to admit and it never feels good. There are ways to get the audience off of their stupid smell phones and paying attention to your band.

Texting Songs, Non Texting Songs.

Start paying attention to the songs where the audience breaks out their phones and the songs that they put their phones away for. Remember if the majority of the crowd is texting that means they think your song or performance is boring. For non texting songs their are a couple different levels of indicated interest from the crowd. If the audience is not texting that’s a great start and you probably should keep that song in your set. If the audience moves up to the front of the stage than that’s a really good sign (yeah they are digging it!). If the girls start dancing or the long hairs are head banging, than you know that song’s a keeper.

Bring high energy to every song and get into the music!

Ever see those bands that look bored themselves at their own show? You and your band mates are the leader of the vibe and energy in the venue. Monkey see, Monkey Do. If you are super energetic and feeling the music, than the audience will follow suit in most cases. If you are not than they will uncomfortably whip out their….wait for it…..phones. When you are playing your songs you want all your focus and energy channeled into the music and nothing else. You have to care about your music or else nobody else will.

Call to Action.

Your singer or someone with a microphone needs to herd the sheep in the direction that they want them to go. If you want them to come to the front you should tell them to. If you want the audience to dance, tell them to. Whatever you want the audience to do, you have to tell them what you want with conviction. The more you commit to the statement, the more likely the crowd is going to follow your direction. When you have the microphone you have the power. Study how your favorite performers move and control the crowd. This paragraph reminds me of a scene in “The Office” where Jim tricks Dwight into speaking at a conference with the same mannerisms and passion as famous dictators. Long story short Dwight rocks the speech and the crowd goes wild….Where am I going with this?…Oh guess the point is that if dictators can convince the mass public to do something terrible with stage presence and energy, than bands can at least get people to get off of their phones and stop texting out of boredom.

If you want to learn the bass, guitar, or drums sign up to one of our free live streaming classes on our home page http://interactivemusicteacher.com

Josh Fossgreen is our new Bass Teacher. Sign up to his free course for beginners http://www.interactivemusicteacher.com/freebasslessons Or Check him out for private lessons on his personal site http://joshfossgreen.com/onlinebasslessons/

I first saw Jimmy Patton Play at a small coffee shop in vista about 10 years ago. It was one of the best concerts I have ever seen in my life. He played 3 hours of dueling guitar songs; Half originals, half covers. Jimmy was the winner of Guitarmageddon 2001, and he’s played with, “Grammy award-winning Stanley Jordan, Laurence Juber of Paul McCartney’s “Wings,” Adrian Legg, Preston Reed, virtuoso rock guitarist Tony Macalpine, as well as keyboardist Derek Sherinian of “Dream Theater.” Below is the only video I could find of him playing dueling guitars. It’s an original .

If you have never played guitar before or you are a beginner, sign up to our Intro to Rock Guitar Class

If you are an advanced player email us at info@interactivemusicteacher.com with the subject “Advanced Guitar Lessons”. We will start this class once we get enough demand for it. We will also give you the first month free for being on the email list.