Ideas That Make Bands Sound Better

One of the clearest examples of unnecessarily complicated guitar parts is six-string barre chords, especially on electric guitar. Why? Because those barre chords are only useful in a very limited number of situations. A long sustained note held for one or two measures can fill the spectrum nicely. They work for arpeggios that need sustain and require that particular voicing. But I can’t think of many other situations where strumming them is actually useful. On electric guitar

A couple of years ago, a drummer friend invited me to his band’s gig where they were playing covers. The band had two guitars, bass, drums, and female vocals. I went there to hang out and enjoyed the show because they played well. The instrumental arrangements were close to the original songs, the musicians were tight, and the overall volume felt balanced. But every time the vocals entered, something fell apart. I could barely understand the lyrics. I spent the whole night u

If you're the songwriter with some ideas for your song's arrangement, you might not notice everything on your own. Let’s say you've got the melody down. Now it's time to get together with your band. You've got two guitars, a bass, and drums. Even though you could play any of those instruments, you're probably the rhythm guitarist since songwriters usually hold that role. You've created a solid melody and good lyrics. Now you need to decide on the arrangement and parts for eac