As the title says, at what point did you feel competent enough to join a band? I’ve been playing the guitar for almost 2 years now, and feel like I hit a bit of a plateau, and I’m thinking joining a band might help. At the same time, I don’t really feel like I am good enough to play with others.
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I’d say go for it if you get the chance. Playing with other people is a game changer in your music journey. Then it’s not only focusing on your playing but also on what the others are playing, following the tempo, the dynamics…
Unless you’re trying to get into some kind of crazy prog/jazz band, ability is less important than attitude. If you put in effort, listen to feedback, and wrangle your ego a little you’ll do fine. And if everyone’s a jerk, that’s not the band for you.
edit: also, set up fast and help the drummer haul their shit in
How shite is the band? If its shite enough, you’re good enough lol.
Seriously tho, find you a jam situation if you can. For instance, bluegrass is a genre with a strong jam tradition. In my area there are public bluegrass jams where you can basically hang out and play rhythm, learn the tunes and watch other players. Usually there are enough people that there’s always someone else to watch on guitar. Bluegrass leads are heinously difficult but rhythm playing isn’t bad.
Some other folk genres that have jams: Irish, ‘old time’, gypsy jazz, regular jazz, blues, choro, cajun. Maybe there’s something in your area.
When you can play songs and your rhythm is confident.
If you’re looking at this from just starting out, you need less than you think. If anything, it is easier in a band, because you can rely on other people to hold the thing together, if you take a momentary breather. I spent years mentally flagellating myself because I couldn’t play a lot of Grateful Dead tunes the way you hear them on record, and it should have been obvious but was not that that is because there’s two guitar players. A lot of Garcia’s lead bits would sound weird and not quite musical, without Bobby under there keeping the rhythm going.
Mostly depends what music you wanna play, but in nearly every genre there are the complementary talents of leads/shredding and chords/rhythm. Ideally you have both, but the band sounds best if everyone is aware of what everyone else is doing in the song. If you like Blues, find another Blues player, and get together to jam, in which you pick a riff/progression, and trade off between soloing and rhythm/chords. Middle step between a full band.
