Three Tips to Reducing Doodling During Rehearsals.
We’ve all been there…
You’ve got a limited amount of time to get your team spiritually and musically prepared for a service. People walk in 2-5 minutes late for rehearsal… As you’re getting them set up, your lead electric player — his friends call him ‘Jimmy Shreds’ — breaks out in his newest tap solo… Sound check goes a little long… You call for a line check from the kick drum but your drummer can’t hear you over Jimmy’s fresh take on Stairway… You go to pray with your team and talk through the set and right as you go give the most inspiring call to Spirit-led, authentic, throne room worship you hear on stage left a familiar sound… ‘is that American Idiot???’
Hey! Let the record show that some of the greatest offenders for doodling at band rehearsals are also some of the most creative people I know. Just like in school where gifted students can sometimes struggle with the learning environments or styles of the masses; gifted musicians can also struggle with the seemingly mundane and regimented rigours of sound checks and band rehearsals. AND it’s not always the guitarists… but… it’s usually the guitarists…
In the spirit of keeping things loose and fun, doodling can offer a pressure release on a busy — perhaps stressful — Sunday morning. But doodling can also become a distraction to your team, sidetracking synergy and momentum and causing frustration across the board.
Will we — should we — ever eliminate it fully from our rehearsals? Probably not… But is it worth working on the way we run rehearsals to keep things cohesive and productive? Absolutely.
Here are three tips that I’ve learned from working with doodling guitars… I mean, musicians… on a Sunday morning.
Streamline your rehearsals.
Musicians commonly start doodling when you lose their attention or focus. There’s a common theory out there that musicians tend to exist on the spectrum moreso than non-musicians. Whether that’s fully true or just a crutch, let’s operate as though that is a reality that we have to wrestle with.
“Your productivity is dictated by preparation.”
Dead time causes by things that could have been done before the team arrived is an automatic ‘doodle-starter’. Try…
Line checking early — before musicians call time OR as soon as they are ready to send signal to front-of-house.
Checking batteries, radio-interference, labelling microphones or wireless packs ahead of time.
Testing your tracks, click and guide are set up, organized and routed properly during the week instead of the day of the service.
Communicate intentionally and effectively.
When talking with your team, having a clear understanding of the purpose and content and communicating that clearly and precisely is important. Stuttering or stammering through your team huddle or pre-service prayer is an instant ingredient for doodling. Does that mean that your internal communication needs to be so polished that it comes off as cold and anti-relational? I hope not. But it does mean that you need to know what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it beforehand. As you grow as a leader, you’ll find that that comes more naturally to you but for those just starting out it’s worth writing down a note on your iPhone, practicing how you’re going to communicate with a mirror or camera and preparing for these moments just as you would prepare for a call to worship or transitional prayer.
TIP — I like to ask my band to take their in-ears out or even step away from their instruments into a proper huddle in order to reduce the temptation to doodle.
Be firm, but be gracious.
Remember those old frozen fish commercials: “firm, but fair.” No? Maybe that’s just a Canadian 90’s reference that I’ll share with other Northerners whenever we get together. For some reason, that random slogan from a TV ad has become a mantra for how I respond to people who are potentially derailing culture that I’m responsible for.
“More than anything else, the culture of your team will be determined by what you tolerate.”
You can’t allow some people to doodle while cracking down on others because of their personalities, relationships or standing on the team. What you allow one person to do, you have to allow everyone to do. BUT — and I say this having lived it — don’t be that hypocrite who cracks down on doodling and then pops a quick riff between tunes. Communicate your expectations and uphold them. Handle outliers and ‘ner-do-wells’ privately and help them understand why synergy during rehearsals is important.
Keeping your environment loose and free doesn’t mean you’re not being intentional. Sometimes allowing some doodling in specific spots helps to keep the vibe fun and creative and can actually lead to some really cool ideas.
I remember sitting in an album pre-production rehearsal and losing control of the band. My attention was diverted to the tracking room by our engineer for 5 minutes and I came back to what felt like everyone practicing a different song, in a different key, time signature, you name it… It took me about as long as I was away to gain control of the environment again and have the band back on track. But you know what came out of that 5 minutes? I really cool bass and drums breakdown on a bridge that we ended up keeping for the recording and a syncopated EG 1 and EG 2 line for the verse. Sometimes you’ve gotta be ok with a little bit of chaos, that’s commonly where the creativity is.
You know your team better than anyone else so find a rhythm that works for you and allows you to stay productive while also having fun! If we’re not having fun playing music, we’re doing something wrong.
