sidetracking....tips?

[iplaysaluda]

i'm in a band with two other guys (bass and guitar/vox)

we start to have a productive practice, and the bassist (the chauffeur of the group) gets sidetracked alot. IT always interfiers with writing songs. Now, we send him to stores to get us stuff while me and the guitarist write. Sometimes, it rubs off on all of us, and it ends up to a trip to guitar center, subway, or even sometimes the highway driving circles.

any tips to help keep all three of us on task and having a more productive practice?

( i am the youngest in the band, but practice is at my house, so i basically get to be in charge :P)

[mcramer]

it happens.
EVERY band ive been in or practiced with has gotten side tracked. no way around it.

you just gotta have a person there to keep your eye on the prize

[Arctic Bird]

i was in the exact same situation man. we had to sit down and lay it out. look, we are all here to have fun, but we are also here to accomplish a goal. i dont know if you are to the point where he would be like, "ok".... and then just get up and leave, or what. in our situation though, the dialogue went, 'we all feel like this may be our last best chance to actually get out and play some quality muzak that will affect people's thought process'.. so there is a lil less time for unproductive dilly dally wanker activities like googling at stuff you cant afford while on practice time when you could very well be doing that on your own time. maybe this will be too harsh for your situation, as far as giving an ultimatum. it did work for us, though. we dropped the guy, rhythm guitar picked up the bass, and weve moved on.

[drumrbychoice]

Yup...
Communication... Bare in mind with say 4 piece. That's 4 different people
from 4 different walks of life. Sure, The common between is music... But,
4 uniquely individual people. Even if it were 4 brothers or 4 sisters... That's
still 4 different likes, dislikes, tastes, etc. 4 mindsets... Get it squared up
now. Don't duck 'n dodge the underlying. .02

[Arctic Bird]

i thought about a few more incidents where one of our other guitarists was doing the same thing. i got with another member before practice, and let him know that if we started to get off point, for him or me to just start playing a song. that way we steered the practice back on course with minimal confrontation, damnation, and conflagration

[nio]

Yeah, this happens in any group, musical or otherwise. Having a small group helps keep things in order. Having a goal or agenda coming into the rehearsal helps as well. When you feel things are getting out of process, you have to "tactfully" say something or else it will just build up and develop resentment. Good luck...its a constant battle.

[iplaysaluda]

thanks, guys!