Rehearsal

Huh. No sooner do I consider updating here than I notice that my last post was about how far to go with a song that, indeed, I rehearsed just last night.

The big change in my work recently is that I've picked up a bass player, whom I've rehearsed with several times, and last night "auditioned" an old guitarist friend ... and we played the song I discussed in my previous post, the political one.

Among other things.

My focus lately is not on the politics of that song, but on the fact that in the second verse (which is eight couplets rather than four like the first and third verses, for extra drama) I'm trying to jump up several steps (an octave, maybe??) halfway through the verse for EXTRA extra drama. And I'm consistently not in voice to sing it very well up there.

So there I am struggling with my vocals while also trying to hear whether the guitarist is doing something I want him to do.

Being a band leader is .... interesting. My bass player and I have good rapport, but I don't think it's giving away state secrets to say that having to teach him and work on things is sometimes, not frustrating so much, but ... dunno. Tests my limits a bit. I have to say things like "that was good but it doesn't work for me." When part of what I'm feeling is "OMG someone wants to play my songs, I shouldn't criticize ANYTHING they do."

The guitarist hauled out some nice licks last night that were COMPLETELY wrong for the song. Thank God he asked me, to my face, immediately afterward, "that was too western sounding, wasn't it?"

If I'd written a country song I would have fucking loved the part. It was good. It just didn't fit at all.

And I hate saying "no" to people, apparently.

But I'm learning.

And then he did some different stuff the next time and it was better.

And the bass parts are coming along nicely. A lot of it is about rehearsal now, for him.

Still. My god, what an effort sometimes. It's like I'm "on" all the time. I'm the boss. Nothing happens unless I make it happen.

It's not more difficult than doing it all myself. It's just DIFFERENTLY difficult.

Rewarding too, of course. The work with the guitarist was ... ragged .... if I think about the parts that need work or that I have to decide about. But he hauled out some things that a) I would never have thought of and b) that were like YAY when I heard them. I mean, I've worked with this guy before, I had a clue about what I was getting. Some of what he brings won't fit. Other stuff will be brilliant. I just have to see if I can get him to substitute anything that isn't brilliant right away with something else.

And I really need to figure out how to hit those high notes. They're within the range of my falsetto .... but I need to be able to figure out how to come up to them from the earlier lines that are down below them, and still project with power, without busting my throat.

Skills building .....