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Gigs setting up a music group-- anyone interested

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are there any players london or south of England that would be interested in setting up a mixed group. Just playing for fun all abilities just a good blowout. I have access to a hall near Heathrow but we could look at other areas. Just an idea at this point I've got a bit fed up playing (or trying to play) alone over the last year...
 
Read more…
I have a church hall 3 of us used to have a blow out once or twice a week trouble is none of us read music play from backing tracks... in fact I had started a thread on wehether I should learn...I look at one of the guys who plays he plays gigs and the system he uses works...but it's quite limiting on whwre I can attend. I can read the notes but rhythms lousy, hmm it kinda matches my playing tbf....
 
@eb424 just want to help before you get 100 posts that don't carry the topic forward. I'm intestested (but to travel to London often would be too much😉) but I would like to know .....
  • What kind of group are you going to set up? An open or with permanent members? Rock, blues, jazz, classic ..... . If you narrow it down you get a better result! It's important theat the guys that are interested get fast feedback.
  • Backing tracks, rhythm section. just read and play, improvasion ....... ?
  • Who is going to be "il capitano", leader, conductor ..... that hold the sessions?
  • Themes and topics? Just to meet and play is fun but can also be boring ....... .
  • How to involve all members/players? Drummers do not care in what key we are playing or maybe they do?
  • Playing by ear or read ? Som guys can't play if they don't have a note stand and sheet music in front of them. So I think there should be sheet music to all songs.

Just some questions .... .
 
thomsax said:
@eb424 just want to help before you get 100 posts that don't carry the topic forward. I'm intestested (but to travel to London often would be too much😉) but I would like to know .....
  • What kind of group are you going to set up? An open or with permanent members? Rock, blues, jazz, classic ..... . If you narrow it down you get a better result! It's important theat the guys that are interested get fast feedback.
  • Backing tracks, rhythm section. just read and play, improvasion ....... ?
  • Who is going to be "il capitano", leader, conductor ..... that hold the sessions?
  • Themes and topics? Just to meet and play is fun but can also be boring ....... .
  • How to involve all members/players? Drummers do not care in what key we are playing or maybe they do?
  • Playing by ear or read ? Som guys can't play if they don't have a note stand and sheet music in front of them. So I think there should be sheet music to all songs.

Just some questions .... .
Read more…
Hi @thomsax I hadn't really thought to much in detail I was going to sound out if there was any interest and take it from there...all i have is access to a hall at a cheap rate but there are plenty of those around so open on location. I am only a beginner but was thinking the hall has 2 rooms what I do when the guy who can play the sax turns up is book for three hours we do our own thing for an hour or two and get together for the last hour..I agree it would need some structure wouldn't have to be members I get the hall on an ad hoc basis (its not the best church hall in the world but at £10 an hour I'm not complaining its been a godsend..pun intended). With regards to music I can get scores depending on what people want to play and send them around...its really just the basics at the minute. I don't play from scores but can note mine if I know whats playing. It's only that I was looking around re saxophone groups and there wasn't many around so thought I'd see if there was a need for it...I have to learn to play from a score to move on thats a given so I started looking and there wasn't anything informal around...
 
eb424 said:
are there any players london or south of England that would be interested in setting up a mixed group. Just playing for fun all abilities just a good blowout. I have access to a hall near Heathrow but we could look at other areas. Just an idea at this point I've got a bit fed up playing (or trying to play) alone over the last year...
Read more…
I would be really intereste, I live in Cambridge but it’s easy enough to get to Heathrow, I m a beginner (15 months in) and would love to learn more by playing with a group
 
I know im quite positive...are lessons the only way...i can play notes but timing and rhythms well out unless i know the song then its only slightly out. 🙂 ..im really stuck on a way forward..it doent have to be one way or the other but i need to understand rhythm from the scores...
Vetinari said:
Lots of android apps to help learning to read. You only need to read one stave for sax and it's one note at a time.
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Thanks @Vetinari... i can do the notes slowly its the beats, timing and rhythm...im ok on whole notes semibreves, crotchets but get lost with it all..
 
I also have that problem. But start with a piece that's only crotchets, tap your foot at a constant speed, as foot hits floor play note, keep going. Don't tap the rythm, keep beat constant. When this works add different note lengths but if the piece is 4/4 keep beating 4 to the bar and fit the notes to the beat.
 
It's a reason to play is all. Anything else is a bonus.
I play on the pub jazz scene. Well, used to. As an experienced player all that happens is somebody names a tune, taps it in and off we go.
If we get a sit in who's a bit new, used to be me, they get to pick the tune. Only fair.
Very few read sheet. Mostly the piano players. The banjo/guitar bass have chord sheet.
Pick a simple tune every body knows count it in and off you go. No sheets. No problem.
Use a metronome or a drum machine till you get to know each other.
Transposable chord sheets here if a rhythm player turns up. Or anybody who can use one
www.jazzstudies.us
Plenty of backing tracks if you need them in BotM and SotM.
Lots of help on here if you need something special. 😉
 
eb424 said:
I know im quite positive...are lessons the only way...
Read more…
Of course there are other ways to to deal with music. I think there are more bad teachers than there are good. And lessons is in the teaching world. I learned to read music (just a little bit over basic!!) when I was young. After some years I just played rock and blues by ear. When football was over (or not so important anymore) for me, I joined a big band and had to learn more and be a better reader. At the same time I played bari in a punk band. No reading at all. And lots of fun. After the big band I was talked in to join a saxophone octette and playing some classical pieces and other things like "My Funny Valentine" in an extremly low tempo. It was just about reading. But better to play in the octtete than in the big band. It was stone face all the time, no pretending. When I got home after playing I couldn't say what I've been playing, beside the name of the piece. No joy or enthusiasm. The music didn't turn me on!

From 1986 to c 2002 I just played för myself. Playing along with blues-, R&B- and rock recordings trying to sample solos and play along with horns. I got some other stimulus as well. I got Steve Douglas VHS "Rock & Roll Saxophone", John Laughters books, read magazines about R&R sax. I was lucky that Andrew Clark took over the Rock & Roll Saxophone from Lenny Pickett and in his first column he asked the readeers for feedback and questions. And he got it. Lots of letters from Söbg, Sweden to Boston,USA.

So most of us have differnt ways to learn and thrive with the saxophone and the music. There are so many directions to go. Lesssons with a teacher is one ... and a easy way to go. But often schools and teaching are holding back the the individual. I saw a documentary about a famous recording and sessions band. The guy that played congas .... was so concentrated and looking at his note stand all the time. One day the other guys in the band discovered that he was not reading the sheet music, he had a porno magazine in front of him!!

I didn't like the school and teachers. But I became a teacher and work as a teacher for many years.

" We busted out of class had to get away from those fools
we learned more from a three minutes records than we ever learned in school "
(Bruce Springsteen, "No Surrender" from "Born In the USA" LP
 
thomsax said:
Of course there are other ways to to deal with music. I think there are more bad teachers than there are good. And lessons is in the teaching world. I learned to read music (just a little bit over basic!!) when I was young. After some years I just played rock and blues by ear. When football was over (or not so important anymore) for me, I joined a big band and had to learn more and be a better reader. At the same time I played bari in a punk band. No reading at all. And lots of fun. After the big band I was talked in to join a saxophone octette and playing some classical pieces and other things like "My Funny Valentine" in an extremly low tempo. It was just about reading. But better to play in the octtete than in the big band. It was stone face all the time, no pretending. When I got home after playing I couldn't say what I've been playing, beside the name of the piece. No joy or enthusiasm. The music didn't turn me on!

From 1986 to c 2002 I just played för myself. Playing along with blues-, R&B- and rock recordings trying to sample solos and play along with horns. I got some other stimulus as well. I got Steve Douglas VHS "Rock & Roll Saxophone", John Laughters books, read magazines about R&R sax. I was lucky that Andrew Clark took over the Rock & Roll Saxophone from Lenny Pickett and in his first column he asked the readeers for feedback and questions. And he got it. Lots of letters from Söbg, Sweden to Boston,USA.

So most of us have differnt ways to learn and thrive with the saxophone and the music. There are so many directions to go. Lesssons with a teacher is one ... and a easy way to go. But often schools and teaching are holding back the the individual. I saw a documentary about a famous recording and sessions band. The guy that played congas .... was so concentrated and looking at his note stand all the time. One day the other guys in the band discovered that he was not reading the sheet music, he had a porno magazine in front of him!!

I didn't like the school and teachers. But I became a teacher and work as a teacher for many years.

" We busted out of class had to get away from those fools
we learned more from a three minutes records than we ever learned in school "
(Bruce Springsteen, "No Surrender" from "Born In the USA" LP
Read more…
All true @thomsax love the reference to no surrender btw...I think thats my frustration loads of ways to learn but only one way if you want to play with others...Don't you get fed up playing alone thats where Im at...hence the group...I don't like necessarrily classic sax music can't deal with the chaos of jazz but got into a bit of swing don't sit under the apple tree, chatanooga choo choo but also others like bobby Mcgee. I want to play music with other people its surely what its about. If i have to write the notes on my score for a bit so what it's no biggie i will get off doing it if I need to..but need a reason...everyone can bring something to a group playing levels not so important for me..its motivation..the one thing i have learnt amongst the gas is that its only playing regularly that improves you..mpces reeds and set up is only important as it frees up your head to get on with whats important..playing..
 
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I'll just explain a bit more about the Café Octet as it currently is.

Wind the clock back about 8 or 9 years and a group of Café members in the 'north west' loosely speaking - Liverpool / Manchester / Lancashire / Cheshire sort of area would meet sporadically to noodle and chat...

That kind of fizzled out.

Some of us decided we'd like to meet to play together. It started with just three of us (me, @trimmy, and @Jeanette). We met at my house and played some arrangements for trios (we were sop, alto, tenor). The hardest part was finding arrangements for that combination of players.

Once we started posting about it, more people became interested and we started to meet once a month on a Sunday afternoon.

The personnel have changed a bit as we've gone along. We've mostly been 5 or 6, but currently we're 8 and we can have two each on sop, alto, tenor, and baritone. We're not limited to SSAATTBB arrangements as some of us can play alternate instruments if needed.

@chadders and I do the leading / conducting.

When we started off, most of the group were not experienced 'readers' and not used to playing in a group with other players. There's a lot to learn when playing in an ensemble - you have to listen to each other, you need to keep a consistent time, you need to be aware of where you fit in the blend and adjust your volume accordingly. Got a little 'solo' - bring it out; chugging along on crotchets and quavers filling the harmony - sit more in the background, etc.

The group has improved so much in the time we've been playing and I'm very proud of them for the work they've put in.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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