How do you practise? What about rehearsals?

Band Practice and Rehearsal Tips
(Source: blamepro.com/mwn/tips/practice.htm )

Here are a baker's dozen practical tips, tricks and suggestions to keep your band rehearsals running smoothly.

1. Do your home work. If you're learning a new song, practice it outside of the band's rehearsal time. If you're one of two guitarists in the band, is each guitarist to learn the entire song? Or does one learn the rhythm and the other the solo guitar parts? If it's a cover song, are you to learn it note-for-note, in the style of, or will it be a totally new arrangement? If everyone is prepared, this gives you more time together and makes practice more enjoyable for everyone.

2. Be on time. Being late to practice takes time away from the rest of the band. It may also cause you stress, which can result in high blood pressure later in life, and perhaps your ejection from the band. Some groups charge their members a small fee for being late. A quarter or a dollar for lateness helps build a band fund that can be spent on a dinner meeting, party, or a repair fund if a piece of band gear gets broken. And if you're going to be really late, call one of the other band members to let them know!

3. Buy a second amplifier (or drum set or keyboard or ...). Keep the heaviest amp (or drum set) at the practice studio. This saves you the time to unplug the guitar and AC mains cords, slip on a cover (you do use a cover, right?), transport the amp from the practice facility to your car, load the amp in your car, unload the amp from the car (to deter theft and keep the controls from getting "static-y"), haul the amp to your home, take off the cover, and connect the amp. Keep one amp set up in the studio and one at home and you'll save time, wear and tear on your amp, your car and your body! If you do decide to sell an amp, it'll be in better physical condition, which will result in a higher resale or trade-in value, too!

4. Have a guitar stand for every guitar. Especially if you use a set-neck or neck-through instrument. No more resting guitars against amplifiers, sofas, or inside open cases. These are accidents waiting to happen. Don't believe me? Just look at all those guitars with broken headstocks that owners try to unload at guitar shows and music stores.

5. Take notes. Use a white board to diagram a song to make it easier for the band to visualize how a particular song goes together. Was that verse - verse - chorus (V-V-C) or V-C-C? Write down your effect and amp settings so you can recreate the tone for each song. Write down unusual chord changes or key signatures. Use a spiral notebook, PDA, or maybe even your cell phone to take notes to help you remember later.

6. Align practice and performance expectations (and schedules) with bandmates, managers, spouses, etc. Be up front with everyone involved. Is practice once, twice, or three times a week? How long is each session? Do gigs count as a practice? Are friends invited? Other musicians? Smoking, drugs or alcohol allowed? How much time is expected to be spent on actual playing (allowing for setup/breakdown/breaks)? Is the practice space available for off-hours use by individual members? Does equipment have to be broken down or removed from the site after each use? How many times a week/month do you expect to gig? Get everyone on the same page now and you'll avoid hassles and hurt feelings later.

7. Don't let things fester. Speak your mind early so time and energy isn't wasted later on... and so everyone remembers what happened. Dislike a particular song suggested by a band member? Let everyone know so that the band doesn't take time to learn the song, only to be told at a future practice that you've always hated it. It's hard to be at your best when you know in your heart that you hate something. If you hate every song on your set list, you have two options: write enough good, original original material to replace it, or leave the band.

8. Talk it over. Being in a band is like being married to a number of partners at once. It's not easy, but it can work if everyone communicates. Once in awhile you may need to ask (not pry -- there's a difference) what's wrong if a bandmate is struggling with a song, the practice schedule, or with performances. A member may be going through a tough time in their life, or maybe you're the one that's not fitting in. Hopefully someone will care enough to ask what's going on.

9. Cut your losses. If everyone's really trying to work out a particular song, but it just isn't happening, put it on the back burner. You can come back to it a few months later. Some of my band's best songs came about after we'd left them alone for a few weeks. If a song still doesn't work, cut it for good. There are plenty more tunes waiting to be explored. The old expression "polishing a turd" comes to mind. Spend countless hours on a crappy song and you'll still have a crappy song. Cut your losses and refocus those creative juices on another song.

10. Record it! Let everyone know that the musical portions of oractice sessions will be recorded. This serves several purposes: a great source for your band archives, an opportunity to listen to songs to hear how they really sound (once the euphoria dies down), a chance to take notes on what parts of a song you need to work on, and perhaps most importantly, it lets you capture those moments of creative genius such as an informal jam that could be developed into a full-blown original song. Digital multitrack recorders are extremely inexpensive now, so take advantage of it and capture your sessions. Note: if you're auditioning a new member, be sure to ask permission to record first.

11. Be comfortable. The old line about "leave your worries on the door step" apply here. Do whatever it takes to be comfortable while practicing. Maybe that means you eat a meal beforehand, or you show up to practice fifteen minutes early so you don't feel pressured. Or you bring an electric fan to keep cool (or a thermos of coffee to warm you up). Or you put on a pair of comfortable shoes and turn off your cell phone before you walk through the door. You know the material. Your gear is in good mechanical and electrical condition. You play an instrument that you know like the back of your hand. The sound level is right. The PA system sounds great -- especially the mix of your vocal mic.

12. Get to know each other. Have a band meeting at a restaurant, or plan a picnic where you can invite the family members. The idea is to grow together as a musical family. Photo shoots are an example of an opportunity that get the band away from your respective comfort zones. Take a bus, or carpool to a different city or town. Not only will the different surroundings make for great backdrops and photo ops, but the time spent together will help the band to know each other as human beings (not just musicians).

13. Have fun! Once you feel comfortable with your band mates, and know what subjects are taboo, you can start to reap the benefits by having fun with one another. Maybe it's a joke you tell before or during practice. Or bringing an old piece of crap musical instrument for "show and tell." Or playing a prank on a fellow band member (or having one played on you!). Remember the first two Beatles movies? Or the Monkees TV show? It ain't all fun and games, but adding humor to the mix makes for a more enjoyable practice, a better live show, and can keep the band together longer.