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December 14, 2007
How to Be a Rock Star
The online version of the “...for dummies” series is the strangely serious wikiHow. I recently came across a few elements on this site for those of you who may want to get into the “scene” but don't know how.
How to start a Rock Band
“You don't have to study music for years to start a rockin' band, and you don't have to spend a fortune on gear. It's a great way to have some fun with friends, plus it exercises your creativity and your brain cells too. Learn three or four basic chords and, voilà! -- you can play nearly anything. To start off, you'll need some basic equipment and a place to play.”
The steps for starting a band include learning some chords, getting some equipment, recruiting band mates, and making a song list.
My favorite tip for this How-to is “Remember, not everyone can be the lead guitarist. But it's important for everyone to be heard.”
Other handy tips include raising your amps off the floor so that the bass transfrequencies won't bother the neighbors, discuss trouble spots in songs instead of ignoring them, and watch the other band mates while you play.
My favorite tip is the band name tip.
“Math and science terms usually make good names - Planck's Constant, The Fibonacci Sequence, etc. Also names that don't really make sense are cool too-Infernal snow, Anti INFO, Partial Eclipse, Diving for Betty. Some sayings are cool-Lame suggestion, No Soliciting, Anti Parking. Or just look around and look for inspiration like "Legal Notepad" or "1960 Exercise Bike." If in doubt, just find the nearest book, go to page 56, second paragraph, line 3, words 5, 6, and 7. That will be your band name. Another method is to go to an online encyclopedia and search a random article and scroll through, at any time in the article stop close your eyes and point at a word select a few words around it, less than 5 words total and that can be a good name. Also, words that aren't spelled right sometimes look good depending on which words they are.”
The site also offers advice on “How to Work for a Rock Band,” “How to Write a Guitar Solo,” and “How to Become a Rock Star.”
If anything these How-tos are just downright funny. Yet, they offer some sound advice. I didn't even think about how the bassist and drummer should “hang out” a lot because their instruments work so closely together. Nor did I think that music stores offered “start up” kits.
Granted, profiles on wikipedia and wikiHow are created by anyone with access to the internet, but they do offer some insight. With these 10 steps and added tips you could be in a band! But lets not forget, nothing comes without hard work. So even though wikiHow may have it all figured out for you, you still have to do it. And when you have, give me a call.
Posted by Darcie Flansburg at December 14, 2007 9:43 AM