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Starting A Band - How To Find Musicians

When starting a band,  it's a good idea to find individuals of like interest. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to get a reggae drummer for your country band, no matter how good she is. Since you're the person starting a band you'll have to go about the business of finding the right individuals. Maybe at an open mic night. Or maybe you could place an ad in the local paper for musicians to audition for your band.

When you get responses from your ad you'll want to have a list of questions to ask them. First, to weed out the cranksters. And believe me they will call. Not to worry though, they're not calling to harass you. They just have too much free time on their hands and for some reason they want to waste yours.

Now, the second reason for your list of questions is to probe the musical interests, experience level, location, availability, and likeablility of the persons responding. Since you're starting a band and not joining one there's no reason not to strive for perfect matches. When someone sounds interesting to you, set up an audition.

Make sure you have an idea of your purpose and the direction you see the band going. Since you're the one starting a band, you should know whether you want that band to do gigs. If so, then make sure you let this be known because some people join bands just to hang out in the garage and play their favorite songs. Do you have or want someone with songwriting skills? Then make sure the potential bandmates know that they'll be performing original songs and in your auditions check for songwriting skills..

When starting a band it's a good idea to draw up some band member contracts. For example, you all may agree that there'll be no moonlight-ing with other bands. So, whether you scour the open mic nights for talent or place classified ads, if you take your time you can put together a comfortable unit of musicians who'll become like family to you. And remember, when the going is tough it's easier to stay dedicated with people you really like.