The elements of a musical ensemble By Ryan Middlebrook

Band members When starting a band there are many things to think of, such as; what types of music everyone is influenced by, the direction that you all want the band to go in and the skill level of everybody involved – there’s no point in having a guitarist who can’t perform to the level of everybody else in the band because it will effect the progress of the rest of the band. It’s better to join a band with people who have the same influences as you. If your main influences are heavy metal but the rest of the band love rap and country music, the chances of the band working are very slim. The more you all agree on the genre, the quality of the way the band works together will be better and more productive.

Cooperation Having good cooperation between then band members is essential for having a successful musical ensemble. Cooperation helps because it allows you to fully understand what each person in the band wants. If you cooperate well, the band will get on more and things will get done quicker. If you do not cooperate then as a band you will not get on. This trait in a band is one of the most important because it will dictate how things like band meeting and rehearsals will go. With good cooperation things will run smoothly but if the cooperation is bad then things will not get done and the band will never progress.

Equality Equality is very important in a band. If one person has too big an ego then the band will not work and if someone tries to take over, it will fail more often than not because there will be a clash of ideas and if everyone is aiming for different goals no-one will achieve anything. On the flip side, if someone doesn’t contribute enough to the band then they might get annoyed by the choices made by the other band members and the will cause friction between everyone. A band that shows really good equality throughout is Coldplay. Even though only one person writes the songs, they split the money equally. A band who show bad equality are Oasis. They have massive ego clashes which lead to them breaking up. ‘NOEL & LIAM GALLAGHER
Oasis' brothers spent most of the '90s claiming they were the best band in the world and boasting how they saved British rock from ruin. They also spent a lot of time writing songs "inspired" by a lot of other British rock. It takes a big ego to remake Beatles songs and call them your own. - http://stopcryingyourheartoutnews.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/rocks-biggest- egos.html

Organisation A successful musical ensemble must be organised or they will not work or achieve anything. The members must organize things like when they are going to practice, where they are going to practice and for how long. If they don’t have good organization skills then things like rehearsals won’t happen and the band will not progress. Individual organization is just as important as band organization. You need to be aware of what’s going on around you with the band so that you can organize yourself accordingly.

Communication Communication is very important because without it people in the band will not know what is going on and may get confused with things like rehearsal times. Communication doesn’t just mean verbally, it also means musically. When you are performing as a band you need to communicate with the other member of the band. This will make your performance better because the crowd will see you interacting with each other and engage more with your performance. Also, if there’s a problem on stage, good communication will help fix the problem quicker.

Communication to the audience Communicating to the audience is a key part of a good musical ensemble. It’s not just on live shows that good audience communication is important, it’s on things like social media like Twitter and Facebook, also through other media outlets. Communication to the audience on stage is important because without it the audience won’t engage with you and will become bored with your performance. A band who don’t involve their fans whist on stage won’t be a band people will want to see. I feel that this is one of the most important aspect of a musical ensemble because without audience communication, the audience won't feel engaged in your performance and will not enjoy it. Equally, communication on things like social media is just as important. It is vital that bands stay in contact with their fans so that they can let them know about things like tour dates and album releases. A band who are good at audience communication are Paramore. Here’s a clip of them getting a fan onstage to sing with them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgwT2Ti0c24 There are many times throughout the performance where Hayley tries crowd participation by doing things like holding out the microphone to show the crowd to sing and by talking to them during the song.

Rehearsals Without rehearsals, a musical ensemble will never progress. Rehearsals are important because that is the time you get as a band to work on anything that needs improving – timing on songs, stage choreography and even things like how the band looks. The time spent in rehearsals should always be productive. A band should never go into a rehearsal without a plan and should always have a clear idea of how they want the time to go and what they want the end product to be. When you start rehearsing you will first need a place. Most of the time you will need to rent out a place and maybe even equipment.

Repertoire A wide repertoire is a must if a band is to be successful. Being able to play many types of music is a great advantage. Just because you want to be a rock band doesn’t mean you will never need to play jazz. When it comes to writing songs. The more styles you can play; the better. If you just stick to one style then your music will boring. Incorporating many types of genres into your songs will make them sound better. It will also help you find a wider range of people to play with. When scouting for new members, just looking for metal players will leave you limited in who you can pick. If you pick someone with a wide range then you will a wider range in who you can pick. Asking Alexandria have quite a good repertoire. They have 3 albums out which range in styles. The also have a cover album out where they cover old rock songs. So, even though they are a metal band they also play rock music. They also appeared on an album called Punk Goes Pop playing Akon – Right Na Na Na which shows they also play pop.

Strengths and weaknesses Every band has strengths and weaknesses. These attributes will help shape the band and the direction they go in. If a weakness of a band is poor rehearsal strategies then they will never progress. Whereas if a band is highly motivated and determined then they will achieve so much more than a ‘part-time band’. All bands have weaknesses in them; no matter how small. These could be little things like a difference in influences and music taste or big things like what direction they want the band to go in and what style of music they play. It’s not the weaknesses that define a band – it’s how they overcome them.