(Continued from page 2)

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.