We got a Mention a couple of
days ago on Twitter from @alleycatalto asking: “how
did you start up your group?
I'd love to form an a capella group but have no idea where to start!?”
Obviously
an answer to those questions can’t fit into 140 characters so we’re putting our
response here!
We thought about what we did
and came up with this 3 Step process. We
don’t know if this is the best way or if it will help at all, but you never
know.
Step
1 - Begin with the end in mind
Step
2 - Self-assess and find partners with different skills than yours
Step
3 - Network & audition / jam
STEP 1 – BEGIN WITH THE END
IN MIND
So yeah, begin with the end
in mind, but leave things as open as you can.
That means that you should
first figure out, in general terms, what kind of acappella group you want to be
a part of.
Don’t go in with a strict
viewpoint on anything, like for example, “we must have an awesome beatboxer or
it’s a no-go”, because something like that can be learned or one might show up
down the road, and there’s no point in hinging your future on any single aspect
of the group.
So, here are some things to
think about…
Musical Style / Genre? Saying you’re an “acappella band” usually isn’t
enough to explain what you want to do. So,
you could want to be a “folk acappella” group, or a “jazz acappella” group.
Figuring out the genre of
your future group doesn’t mean that you can’t change or sing other types of
songs in the future, but it will help dictate the people you want to work with.
For example, if someone
LOVES hip-hop music and doesn’t want to sing any other type, and you LOVE
choral music and don’t want to sing any other type, then that probably won’t be
a good fit. It’s an obvious and
exaggerated example meant to illustrate a point, but basically, you need to
find like-minded people musically.
So……. Folk? Jazz?
Rock? Reggae? Pop? Hip-Hop? Doowop?
Glee-Inspired? Gospel? Choral?
Blues? Dubstep? Yankovic-esque Comedy? Barbershop / Sweet
Adelines? Here’s more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popular_music_genres
It is possible to be a group
that is a de facto acappella group and does a bit of everything, but that’s actually
more difficult to pull off than picking an angle or two that you’re comfortable
with and that your voices suit.
No group likes pigeon-holing
themselves but it’s a good place to start.
Again, you can always change or branch out later.
Image? Are you looking for guys, girls, or opening your
group up to both? Will you have a
beatboxer? Beatboxers traditionally have
been male, but that’s changing. The
Boxettes from the U.K.
Image may not seem that
important to you now but having a bit of an idea of where you’d like to see
things go will help you articulate more clearly what you’re trying to
accomplish to prospective bandmates.
Level? Pro? Semi-pro? Hobby? Whatever it is, your potential bandmates will
want to all know what they’re getting into.
Song Source: Covers or writing your own tunes or a mix of both?
$$$: Have you thought about the costs of having a
website designed and hosted, maybe doing a photoshoot, or some recording? If you have these skills or have talented
friends that can help, great, but if future bandmates are going to have to
kick-in $5K each because you absolutely need to make a full-length CD on Day 1,
they are going to want to know.
It’s great to have paid gigs
to pay for everything but at the beginning, gigs tend to be sparse.
STEP 2 – SELF-ASSESS AND
FIND PARTNERS WITH DIFFERENT SKILLS
It’s tough to look at your
musical skills (and organizational/business skills) from the outside but you
have to.
A bass singer probably
doesn’t need another bass singer in the group, unless one or both of them are
comfortable also singing other parts.
If you’re going to write
your own tunes and never have, you may want to consider people with songwriting
experience.
Not everyone in the band has
to have a lot of music theory knowledge, but someone in the group should have a
good understanding of chord structure and chord progressions.
It’s honestly not that
difficult for most people to learn music theory if they are patient and put some
time in. You can even find some
resources online ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gHEIF0rT2w
) to start you off. If you don’t have a
musical theory background, then you may want to consider that in potential
bandmates.
STEP 3 – NETWORK & JAM
So, once you’re at this
point, it’s just a matter of filling in the pieces of the puzzle, and this
means networking!
Eh440 was built on
networking. The networking actually
started over a decade and a half ago!
The first relationship between
eventual Eh440 bandmates was between Janet and Stacey. They used to compete against each other in
Country singing contests around our home province of Ontario
You can network though the
largest acappella networking organization in the world at http://www.casa.org. They have Ambassadors all over the world, and
a local one, may know people in your area that like this type of music and are
looking for a group.
Also, contact your local
chapter of http://www.barbershop.org/
. Even if barbershop isn’t your thing,
what’s the harm in calling and asking if they know of anyone in their choir, or
an ex-member, that might like to join a different type of acappella group?
Check out local choirs, both
collegiate and community. Even if you’re
looking for post-collegiate people, the director may know of recent graduates in
your area who might still like to sing.
Back to our story - also through
networking, Jo3 met Janet over 3 years ago, and the two of them met Luke about
2 years ago. Both Luke and Mike were
winners of Toronto Independent Music Awards and Jo3 has judged some of the
awards, so everyone kinda-sorta knew some of the others.
But this wasn’t the only line-up
of singers we considered. We literally
scoured the internet for singers in Toronto
We narrowed our list down to
about 40 people and then looked at those people even more closely and ranked
them.
We went out to clubs to hear
dozens of candidates sing, sometimes unbeknownst to them.
We put ads on craigslist and
kijiji and in local music magazines and held open auditions.
We told our colleagues in
the music industry what we were looking for, and some suggestions rolled in
that way too.
Then we jammed. We jammed with different singers. Some of them brought an instrument and played
songs they wrote. Others sang their
favourite cover songs acappella. We
jammed with boys. We jammed with girls. We jammed with people with a lot of harmony
experience, and some with none-at-all but had the potential.
One day, we were having one
of our jam sessions and the configuration that day was Mike, Janet, Stacey,
Luke, & Jo3. In record time, we
knocked out a song and liked how it sounded.
Also, the personalities in the room mixed well and we laughed like
long-time friends. So, that was the
line-up. Jams turned into rehearsals,
and we started learning more tunes and went from there.
It was an exhausting process
but it’s important to leave no stone unturned when choosing people you’re going
to spend a lot of time with.
Of course, that is just the
beginning. Getting rehearsals and shows
together is no easy task too!
Good luck to you @alleycatalto
and to anyone else looking to start something up!
We’re really pumped about the Burlington Sound of Music Festival this Saturday.