The Art of Finding Band Members

For many musical groups, finding the perfect (or even acceptable) band members for your dream band is a difficult project. It seems as though there are so many musicians out there that it should be an easy task, but if you've tried you know better. If you're looking to hire a full-time professional for a good paying gig, the best place to check is your local musician's union or placement service. However, most bands fall into the categories of hobby, part time, original, weekend, or non-professional. For these types of bands finding members who can play well and also fit in with the other band members is difficult.

Let's review the problem first. Say you live in a major metropolitan area like LA, New York or Detroit. For our example, you are a three piece alternative band (two guitars and drums) looking for a bass player to complete your group. There are probably 50,000 musicians in your area or more. But you need a bass player, so that lowers the number to 1000. For the sake of argument, let say that this is not a big money pro job. The number of available bass players shrinks to 700. You need a rock & roll bass player who likes your style of music - lower the number to 150. Of course you need a player who is not already in a band; 75. Lastly you want someone who is about your skill level, age, and has the same basic goals as you. This lowers the number all the way down to 10.

This is a very depressing statistic for most groups. The question is, how do you find one of these 10 bass players in a large city of 1,000,000 or more people? This task can be harder than creating the music itself. Here are a few ideas that may make the job easier.

Newspaper Ads:

Word your ads carefully. Nothing is worse than placing an ad in a newspaper and getting 100 phone calls from no one that you wish to talk to (sometimes at 2:00 in the morning). Your ad should include the format of the band (covers, top 40, rock, originals, etc.), current band configuration (e.g. we are guitar, bass, and drums), examples of the bands whose music you perform or sound like (in the case of originals), and short/long terms goals (gigging, recording, travel, etc.). After you have written your ad, let as many musicians as you can read the ad and get their input. The best question to ask your friends about your ad is, would they call. A carefully worded ad can prevent annoying calls and hopefully make your ideal player call you.

Music Store Ads:

Most good music stores have a band and/or musicians bulletin board for posting ads. If a store in your area does not have one, ask them to start one. Be sure to tell the manager that it will be good their business as it will draw in musicians looking for a gig and hopefully some equipment.

Placing a musicians wanted ad on every board in your general area takes time, but is a sure fire, and inexpensive, way to increase your odds of finding the right person. However, a bad ad can do you more harm than good. Poorly written or conceived ads will chase away prospective musicians and even give your band a bad name around town. Here is a list of DO's and DON'Ts when placing an ad:

DO's

• Make your ad large enough to be seen. These boards are usually covered in ads. An 8-1/2" x 11" sign is the best, but some stores will not allow you to put up an ad that large. Check with the store manager first. An 8-1/2" x 5" is almost always acceptable. Making two differently sized ads will allow you to place your ad anywhere.
• Date the ad. Many stores remove older ads periodically and you want to keep your ad on the board as long as possible. Check with the store manager to find out their policy. Keep track of the store that remove ads after a certain period of time so they can be replaced.
• Include all the information mentioned in the news paper ad section above plus the band name, logo (if available), personality of the band (laid back, with attitude, high energy, etc.), type of equipment you're expecting your player to have, practice location, number of practices per week, substances preferences (no smoking, no drugs, etc.) and any other information that a player may ask about on the phone when they call you. This will cut down on the number of calls you get, but the ones you do get will be more worthwhile.
• Add color to your ad if possible. Most ads on band boards are black and white. A color ad will really stand out and makes you look more professional. Even printing your ad on colored paper will help.
• Include your name and number on tear off tabs at the bottom of your ad. Precut them so they are easy to tear off. Ads that do not have these tabs will not be up long because the first interested musician will take the entire ad with him or her.
• Bring tape and push pins to the store when you go or you will find it hard to put your ad up. Most stores will not supply these materials to you.
• Check the other ads on the board while you are there. The musician you want may to looking for you and you can get good ideas from other band ads.

DON'Ts

• Don't create the sign by hand. Hand written and/or drawn signs make you look like an amateur. If you can't find a computer, get a type writer or even someone with really good printing (in the worse case). Any drawings should look professional or don't include them. Nothing says "Go nowhere, high school, garage band" faster than badly done graphics.
• Don't use a cheap copier. Spend the extra two dollars and go to a copy store with a good unit. Bad copies say "LOSER" really loudly. You probably will not need more than 20 or 30 copies. If you're going to include photos of the band, talk to the copy store personnel about the cost of getting better quality prints. Once again, bad graphic are worse than no graphics at all.
• Don't cover up anyone else's ad with yours. This will cause your ad to be removed from the board quickly and probably by the band whose ad you've covered up.
• If possible, don't fax your ad to the store. Faxed copies of ads look terrible.

In closing, you should check your ads about every three weeks to see if they are still up and in good shape. A ripped up ad will not be responded to because musicians think it's an old ad and the position has already been filled.

If you don't get quick or appropriate feedback from your ads, try rewording the ads and replacing them. Sometime a simple change to the wording is all you need to start the calls flowing.

Word of Mouth:

Don't underestimate the importance of this technique. Many band members are found exactly this way. Talk to everyone you know, not just other musicians. Let everyone know what type of band you have and the kind of player you are looking for. Your neighbor down the street just may have a friend who plays.

Other, better sources to talk to include: Musicians of bands playing at local bars or nightclubs, music teachers (the better the instructor, the better the odds) or music schools, and sales people at music stores.

The Phone Interview:

Finally you are getting calls from musicians. There are good methods for handling these calls in order to limit the number of auditions you need to hold - after all time is money. Here are some suggestions that will make this process easier.

Keep a note pad handy, and use it only for call from musicians. Keep good notes on every player who calls. Even if you are not interested in the player, you may be able to give his/her name out to someone else in the future. This type of kindness does get returned.

Always ask and keep track of where they heard about your band. This way you can tell where the most and best leads are coming from and focus more of your effort in that area.

Be prepared with the questions you wish to ask. A written list of questions will make the interview fast and effective. Always re-ask all of the questions from your ad. Do not assume that the musician calling fits everything you were asking for in your ad. Many times a musician will fit some of the description in the ad and fall far short of expectations in other areas.

A face to face meeting or an exchange of tapes before an audition can save a lot of time in wasted auditions.

The Audition:

Keep it short. Most times you can decide if you want a player quickly. From your phone or face to face interview, give the player two songs to learn. This is not too much to ask a musician to learn in a week or two. Supplying a tape of the songs is considered appropriate. Include on the label of the tape the musical key that you play each song in. Cassette tapes often play at different speeds on different machines and this will cause the song to change keys when listened to.

Pick your two songs wisely. The first song should be in your style, simple, easy to learn, and preferably a song that the musician may have already heard. The second song should be at the higher end of your technical range and not normally heard on the radio. This mix will give you a good idea of the skills that the musician has. Musicians not willing to learn two songs should be dropped from your audition list because they will probably not be dependable, hard working, or interested in your project in the long run.

During the actual audition play your two chosen songs first. If the first (simple) song goes badly, thank the musician for their time and end the audition. If the second song goes reasonable well, surprise them with two songs that you want them to play right now without any practice time. Have these two songs written out with lyrics and a chord chart or with actual music notation if you expect this player to be able to sight read music. Work with the player on the parts of the song and play the songs as many times as the player needs to feel that he/she did well. This will give you a good idea of how well the player will pick up new material and handle pressure. This procedure is extremely important if you plan to play or record originals. In this case creativity is more important than technical skill. Please remember that you are placing the musician in a very stressful situation. Do not expect the musician to play these two surprise songs at their best level. However, being able to play along at all is a good sign.

In closing, let me add that the personality of the player is very important for a long term project. Choosing players with complementary temperaments can make or break a band. Take your time. It will take at least four weeks to find a player using these methods. Good luck finding that perfect player.

Cliff Suttle

Cliff Suttle (cliffnotes@harmony-central.com) has been studying music for over twenty years including studies at the University of Michigan. Fluent on keyboards, guitar, and bass, Cliff is currently playing in an all original rock band Middle Earth. Cliff's motto: Understand the theory and you can play anything.