I have two passions in my life, Sports and Music. From my experience, being in a band is about as close as one can get to playing on a sports team. As a 26 year old, with limited athletic ability; my options for playing on organized sports teams are rare, and I now get my “team” fix by collaborating with musicians, writing songs and performing them.
The outline for a successful sports team is the same for a band, regardless of the level you are playing at. Here is a guide to Band-Building:
Step 1: Chemistry
It takes collection of people who all buy in to a common goal to create a successful team. Each member of the team must understand their role, and perfectthat role for the team to reach their full potential. Last year in the NBA Finals, even though Lebron James was the best player in the world, he conceded to Dwayne Wade. He looked lost and unsure of his role on the team and the Heat lost the series. Fast forward to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals this year, Lebron finally took over as the alpha-dog, the leader of the team and the Heat went on to win the championship. Chemistry sometimes can come very quickly, but more often than not, it takes time for everyone involved to understand and perfect their role.
Thrice (skrilla.com)
Step 2: Perfect-Practice
All practice should have a purpose and a goal. Malcolm Gladwell has stated in his book, “Outliers” that most phenoms (in any industry) have totaled 10,000 hours of practice by the age of 20. Most of us cannot reach this plateau, but if practice is perfected, than we are much more likely to reach a pinnacle of success. Whether you are on the Baltimore Ravens or in a local garage band, the majority of your time is spent practicing, make it count.
Step 3: Unselfishness
The majority of successful teams have stars. In baseball you need a starting pitcher who will end a losing streak by pitching a complete game shutout; someone to say, “Fuck it, I’m not letting us lose another game.” But teams cannot be filled with stars; they must have members who understand their role and put winning ahead of personal accolades. In the film “Almost Famous” the fictional band Stillwater is on the verge of stardom but there is dissension between the lead singer and guitarist; they both want to be the star of the band. We see the same issues on teams; Shane Victorino of the Phillies is moved down in the batting order and pouts about it. Terrell Owens wasn’t getting the ball enough and threw every quarterback he ever played with under the bus. Teams need members like Steve Kerr, Troy Brown, and Placido Polanco who accept that they aren’t going to get the spotlight, but put the team first. Every team needs a bassist.
Other areas such as motivation and execution are important for building a successful team or band but chemistry, perfect-practice and unselfishness should incorporate those concepts.
This is my view from the rafters, cheers.
