What Makes for a Successful Music Ensemble
A presentation on the key features and components that make up a successful music ensemble
by Dom Eaton on 28 January 2014 865
Transcript of What Makes for a Successful Music Ensemble
Guitarist
The guitarist has been a main staple of the rock band for many, many decades now, and just like the other members of the band is very important to the overall sound and dynamics of a band. There are normally two types of guitarist in a band: Rhythm guitarist and lead guitarist. The lead guitarist is normally at the forefront of the band along with the vocalist, and along with the vocalist normally gets most of the spotlight and attention. The main role of a lead guitarist is to come up with and play an alternative melody to what the vocalist is singing, and to also use their knowledge of various scales and arpeggios to come up with licks and various other parts like lead solos to embellish a piece of music and to make it more dynamically interesting. The rhythm guitarist's job meanwhile is just to pad out the sound and give the song a bit more depth by playing the chords underneath. While the drummer lays down the feel and groove for a song, the guitarist should enhance the feel and the style of music.
Although technical brilliance is something to strive for on any instrument, I think that in a band situation if you can't use the technique and the knowledge you have learned in a musical sense, to use your lead guitar skills to interpret a song and to complement the rest of the music, then it may hinder your progress and being able to work with other musicians. In this clip, this guy may be able to "shred" but does it mean he's a good guitarist, is there room for musical exploration and does it work in a band context? He really needs to sort out his hair as well.
Drummer
The drummer is an integral part to any band, be it a rock band or any other. A drummer normally plays kit or any other percussion instruments that are vital to a band's sound, and along with the bassist traditionally makes up the rhythm section of the band. The drummer, I think, is at the core of a band's sound and the base from which everything is built around, their role is to keep everyone in the band in time and to be the driving force behind the guitarists and singer. It's a huge responsibility to keep time and to have a steady beat as that's what the rest of the band rely upon the drummer for and a drummer who has poor time and can't keep a good solid beat is never going to be good for a band and is unlikely to get many gigs. As a drummer myself I think the most important qualities that a drummer needs, especially if they are in a band, is good time-keeping, a good, solid groove and technique. I think having good time and a good groove are pretty much essential for a good drummer and although I think having technique is important, the top two are more important in a band environment.
There are really great drummers in rock bands, that are renowned for their soloing skills and their character on stage, drummers like John Bonham and Ginger Baker, who, don't get me wrong are brilliant drummers and some of the world's best. However there are drummers that are not particularly revered for the amount of solos and fills they do but have been the rock for a band or artist, providing what is necessary for the band, which is good time and groove and propelling a band or artist forward with these skills. Examples of this include Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones and Jeff Porcaro who was the drummer for the band Toto but also a renowned session drummer from the mid-70's to the early 90's working with hundreds of artists, including working with Michael Jackson on his 'Thriller' album and providing the distinctive groove behind one of Jackson's most famous songs 'Beat It'.
Few musicians spend their working lives as soloists. Most commonly, musicians work as part of a group or ensemble of some kind. In this presentation I will identify the roles and responsibilities of members of a musical ensemble. I will explain the main features of a successful ensemble, using audio and illustrations to elaborate. I will also discuss the relative importance of each element, and the contribution it makes to the success of the musical ensemble.
Vocalist
I have looked at the individual roles and responsibilities of each member of an ensemble but there are many aspects that contribute to a good ensemble that involves and applies to all the members equally, and in which they have to work together to achieve. Reliability/time-keeping is a big one, and this means not just showing up for gigs and sound check on time but also includes turning up for rehearsals, learning the chosen material etc. If there is a band member who is unreliable and constantly turning up late to sound checks/rehearsals or maybe not even attending rehearsals and not learning songs either, then it's going to have major repercussions on the group as a whole. The band won't be able to rehearse properly and will be unprepared for gigs, which means either having to pull out or playing poorly on the night which is going to damage the group's chances of getting other gigs. This also involves reliability with having and maintaining equipment, meaning guitarists must always have guitars, plectrums and spare strings etc. and drummers must have plenty of sticks and any other bits of kit that they need. A good way to get around this is to be organized as a band and to make practice schedules so that everyone knows when the band is rehearsing and it is also everyone in the group's responsibility to practice individually so that everyone knows their individual parts before a band rehearsal.
Communication and attitudes within a group is absolutely essential in order for a band to be a success. A lack of communication in a band, whether regarding lack of communication about certain plans like gigs or choice of material etc. can lead to hostility and disillusionment within a band and is not good for band morale and the idea of working as a team going forward. I have been in a situation in a band where a band members agreed to do a gig first without asking me about it at all, it turns out I was unavailable to do the gig to which their response was that they would get another drummer in for the gig. This left me really angry, as I thought it was very disrespectful of them and made me feel as if I couldn't trust them again, especially to work together as one unit. I think people's attitudes and egos are an especially important issue when being in a band, as a band becomes more successful egos grow and attitudes become a matter of conflict which is one of the biggest reasons why a lot of successful bands split. The Beatles are arguably one of the world's best and most successful rock bands, all talented musicians who were all great friends and gelled very well musically as a band. However towards the end of their career, by which time they had already become the world's most famous band, clashing egos and strained relations led to a loss of communication and ultimately led to the Beatles' split in 1970. To combat this a band must always discuss issues within the group and must always make decisions as a group to avoid a potential break-up.
Conclusion
In conclusion I think that being in an ensemble is very challenging but can also be very rewarding as well. There are a lot of transferable skills that can be used in other aspects of a person's life, such as being organised, being well prepared, being reliable and turning up on time as well as working as part of a team and having the responsibility of knowing that if you don't do your job then it's not just you who suffers but the whole group. I think that utilising all of these skills is the key to maintaining a good, solid musical ensemble.
by Dominic Eaton
What Makes for a Successful Ensemble?
What is an ensemble?
An ensemble is a group of musicians larger than two who play together. At some point in their music career most musicians will, at least once, play within an ensemble. There are many types of ensembles, such as jazz ensembles, rock ensembles, orchestras, Latin and world ensembles etc. I think that working within an ensemble, of any kind, is essential and something that every musician should experience. Being in an ensemble teaches and improves skills that you would not get from just playing on your own, and can improve your playing and musicianship ten-fold. For the purpose of this presentation I will look at the modern rock ensemble, looking at what makes a great band as well as the individual roles and responsibilities of the guitarist, drummer and vocalist, looking at different qualities like attitude, technical skill, reliability etc.
Although drum solos are great and the drummer coming to the forefront for once can be really good and I like to see that as it can add a different kind of dynamic and create special opportunities within the band and music, like for example John Bonham's work with Led Zeppelin , it shouldn't be to the detriment of the music and a drummer should be wary of overdoing it. A drummer shouldn't play a solo just for the sake of playing a solo, especially if it's not what's necessary for the type of music or song being played and can overshadow the rest of the band, sometimes in a bad way. The next clip, although really funny and brilliant to watch and the drummer can obviously play really well could be an example of overplaying and overdoing it.
An example of a really brilliant guitarist, for me is Jimi Hendrix. Not only did Hendrix have technical ability but he used it to make very melodic music, shaping his guitar parts around the song, experimenting and exploring different avenues to take the guitar musically but also listening to his band and drawing from there ideas as well.
The vocalist is normally at the front of the band and the elected spokesperson of the band. The main role of the vocalist is to provide the main melody line, which is what most people think of and recognize when they hear a song. Most of the music that a band plays does cater for the vocalist as the vocalist is the front man/woman and it is the vocals that stand out a lot of the time and it is a big reason why people will listen to certain music. A case in point is a singer's limitations, if the vocalist can't reach a high note for instance then the band won't play that high note either, also the guitarist may adapt his playing style to suit the needs of the vocalists singing style.
I think there are certain qualities that a vocalist needs. Obviously one of them is to be able to sing but there are others as well, there's a certain responsibility that comes with being the vocalist, especially onstage as the vocalist is nearly always at the front and the vocals pretty much always in the fore of the song. I think a vocalist needs a certain amount of confidence, charisma and stage presence to handle the pressure of being in that spotlight and what people view as the center of the band. In my opinion there needs to be a level of showmanship to bring the lyrics of a song to life and, in a live environment, get the crowd going. There's also the need to be able to learn and memorise lyrics, everyone makes mistakes on stage but I think it's more important that the singer doesn't because the guitarist and drummer can make the odd mistake here and there and I don't think many people will notice it won't affect the music overall but if a singer messes up their lines then it's instantly noticeable and can ruin a song. Here is an example of a really bad vocalist or a really bad band in general. They sound like they haven't practised at all, the drummer isn't keeping time at all, the guitarist is all over the place and the vocalist, for one can't sing and two is holding a sheet with the lyrics right in front of him which looks totally unprofessional.
In my opinion Freddie Mercury is one of the best vocalists and frontmen there has been in popular music. His presence on stage, confidence and charisma as well as his singing propelled Queen to be one of the most successful British bands of all time. Here is clip of one of Freddie Mercury and Queen's amzing live performances.
REF: http://prezi.com/nxkda2xrz571/what-makes-for-a-successful-music-ensemble/