February 8, 2010
Getting A Band Going Without Spending A Lot Of Money
For those out there who've always wanted to take their music from the garage to the stage, starting up a band on the cheap actually isn't all that hard to do if one understands what's needed, not only in terms of and equipment but also in terms of musical ability. The music world when it comes to bands and entertainment can be a very harsh environment, so keep that in mind before starting out.
When it comes to getting up and going, it goes without saying that people who actually know what they're doing with their instruments is paramount. If the goal is to just get together and play in a garage, it's really not all that important but if the goal is something more than it's going to be important to start thinking like a professional musician in many ways.
What most of this revolves around is first of all getting out there and locating the right kind of gear that isn't going to put you in the poor house when getting. It needs to be of good quality, though, because buying cheap gear such as a guitar will ultimately doom any musician and band to failure. In this regard, think about stuff like an Epiphone electric guitar, which is good quality but not high-priced.
One can also start looking for musical gear by hitting garage sales or looking for classifieds. Scoping out an electric guitar for sale through an online ad or auction site is also a good way of finding quality gear a discounted price. If done right, the band will be well on its way to that first paying gig down at the corner bar or some school carnival or the like.
As far as finding any kind of gear, never neglect the local pawn shop, which is an extremely valuable source for musical gear of all kinds. Taking advantage of some other musician's need for a bit of quick cash is an old tradition in the music world and also a way to get some top quality gear like a Yamaha acoustic electric guitar for about a quarter of what it would cost new.
The point in all this is to make sure that one has lined up quality players, that are able to play quality music, and are playing all of that music on quality equipment. It's a fact that all of this can be possible for not a lot of upfront money if one knows what one is doing and is willing to go out there and search the Internet or pound the pavement to find all of that good stuff.
Always remember that even if you found the best guitar in the world, it won't be worth its salt if you aren't putting in the time necessary to learn to play it well. Bands come and go, and many had fantastic gear but they still sounded terrible because they never put in the practice time. Still, you can start up a band for not a lot of money, which will at least entertain you while you're playing out in the garage.
Filed under Street Dance Classes by Monica