When Will I Be Good Enough to Start A Band?

The question that gets thrown around a lot when people are learning to play any instrument, especially a guitar: “when will I be good enough to start a band?“

So this is a tough one to answer as it depends on a few different factors, such as the style of music you want to play, but here are a few things to consider:

Can you string a few chords together?

If the answer is yes, then you can at least play a few basic songs, so you should get together with some friends and try and play through them. It doesn’t matter if you are playing the same parts, it’s a start and all bands have to start somewhere.

Can you/can your friend improvise?

Awesome! You don’t even need to know any songs to get started!

Do I need to be an advanced guitar player to be in a band?

If you’re already a great guitar player, it’s going to help (no surprises there), but being a great musician doesn’t always mean you have to be a great guitar player.

Unless you are planning to play something along the lines of classic rock (and only if you are going to play all the solos) or be in a jazz band then you can definitely start playing comfortably in a band at a much more intermediate level.

You will be surprised how much faster your guitar playing improves just by starting a band and playing with out musicians. It’s very beneficial to start a band before you are an advanced player.

Are you planning to write original songs or cover songs?

Cover songs are a good place to start, even if you are planning to write your own songs in the future. When you start a band you need to get used to playing as a unit rather than individuals, which is much easier if you all know how the song goes.

Pick a few songs and get everyone to learn them at home. Once you’ve all got the idea start tidying them up together. Another advantage of this is it means you HAVE to learn that song by the weekend otherwise you’re just going to be sitting there looking clueless – it’s a motivator.

Get a group of your friends together and just start playing:

If you have friends who play guitar (or even better different instruments such as drums, keyboard, bass guitar, someone can sing or at least willing to have a go at it) you really should spend time playing together.

Yeah, it’s probably going to sound horrible to start with and yes you may even find that actually your timing (and likely everyone else’s) needs a lot of work. Just make sure you are all in tune and try and play some songs that you all know.

It’s probably better if you start off with something simpler than a 20 minute prog-rock song, but if that’s all you all know then by all means give it a go!

Your individual playing will progress in huge strides compared to tiny steps if you keep at it together as it not only forces your timing to get better but also it means that you are probably practicing a lot longer than you would do on your own. Don’t spend your time trying to perfect that new technique here, have fun trying to get a good collective sound.

Start a band for fun!

If you start a band for fun then it’s enjoyable. You can be a beginner and as long as you can all string together a song without gaps in it (it can be rough, that’s why you practice) then you can start a band. I would recommend that you start a band as soon as possible but keep your ambitions in check. Practice, have fun and when you are ready to perform, go find a stage to rock (or your friend’s living room, whatever suits)!

The main factor for when you should start a band:

Start a band when you feel motivated to play! Like anything worth doing, it takes time and you are going to have to stick at it and keep practicing. Will your first group of musicians actually turn in to a band? Maybe not, as that really depends on how motivated they are, but at least you will have progressed and had fun in the process.

If people start dropping out, you can either find new members to join or when you’re more confident you can join a band with more serious members.