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I don't know about "best," but I have found Audacity a good, free, cross-platform audio editing solution. You can cut and paste, trimming your audio down to just the section you want. Then, you can export to audio output for use however you like. If you're still using CDs, you could just create a CD with rehearsal tracks this way; else load the audio on ...

In my experience, it's best just to stop right when you notice the issue and address it immediately. If you are determined to continue without stopping, and your quick slash isn't enough to jog your memory, either stop conducting, letting your musicians continue, and actually write a note, or just don't worry about it. If you don't notice anything the next ...

You say they're willing to learn, but do they understand what that means? Does the band have a director (or other person who is "in charge"), or does everything happen by consensus? Have they agreed that on this subject you are in charge? How do you spend your rehearsal time? Do you spend any of it on "technique" or "meta" stuff, or do you just rehearse ...

Raise the stands! Seen it a zillion times. The music stands need to be set high enough that the conductor's upper body is visible just above the top edge of the music. That way they can read the music AND receive visual input from the conductor simultaneously. The problem with having to "look up" is then you get lost when you look down again.

A suggestion for an exercise: Select a short passage of music of say four bars that involve everyone and has room for some conducting work in terms of dynamic or tempo changes. Go through it until everyone can play it without looking at the music. Then have everyone look at you, while playing that passage over and over again. Each time you do something ...

I think you should concentrate on teaching you drummer first, because the drums is easiest to pick up the rhythm from. The bass is also important, but is sometimes hard to hear the beat precisely enough. The bass drum is the most important for keeping a steady beat. When that is in place, it will also be easier for the others to follow. If the guitar solo is ...

In order to rehearse for maximum effect, we need to first identify the purpose of rehearsal and the objectives we seek to achieve. Here are the key things that group rehearsals should address: Collective practice up to a point where a piece can be performed as a group, Perfection of performance nuances, especially those that involve more than one ...

I have no experience in conducting, but I assume what works for your own instrumental performance will work here, too. When you're really in doubt, I would definitely try to record the performance and listen to it again when you can totally concentrate on it. You'll have more "space" to analyze and the next time you'll be more prepared.

I would say that the best way is to try to go through the whole piece at least once, marking each issue to address with a small but noticeable sign in the conductor's score (I would recommend a circle), so that later you can study each of them by its own, and with the proper musicians. Be careful, though. Don't fall into the trap of trying to correct every ...

@Matthew Read gave some good suggestions, to which I'll add: Try rehearsing the problem sections at a wide variety of tempos, particularly ridiculously fast (once the choir knows the section reasonably well). Unwanted tempo changes become habitual. One way to break that habit is to go much faster (or slower, if the problem is acceleration) than desired, ...

If you have Guitar Pro, you can download your favorites songs. Mute the guitar part and then export the resulting file to WAV. After that you can convert this wav to a smaller file, and voila, instant backing track. I do this and put the tracks in my Ipod which I can then plug into a solid state amp. Resources: Guitar Pro And one of the best site for ...

If you are looking for something random and fresh, just type "jam track" in youtube search. Specify a genre, if you are looking for something particular: blues jam track rock jam track metal jam track jam track in C Tons and tons of them.

there are quite a few sites out there that can provide you with guitar backing tracks. For example, on http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/top.php, you can get backing tracks for many, many songs. But I think you're searching more for style related backing-tracks. So these could be useful:* http://www.gitarre-spielen-lernen.de/forum/ftopic9419.html ...

There are two things on the tuba that make it hard to play fast runs -- the valves and the pitch. The valves are big and have a lot of travel, and they have fairly strong springs. Moving them fast and accurately requires training your muscles as well as your brains. This requires practice. The low pitch of a tuba means there's a bigger time lag between when ...

The best way I've seen conductors solve this problem is by "changing it up" with their conducting. I've played in bands for a long time, and I've found nothing more effective. For example. In the middle of a piece, change the tempo. When a small percentage of the students actually catch what you're doing, they'll follow you. The others, when hearing that ...

I think that every piece of music deserves the best possible method of being prepared in a such a way that both the musicians and audience have a pleasing experience. Preparation includes time, rehearsal, and every member stepping up to meet the challenge including the conductor's interpretation so that the entire group is a part of the solution. If your ...

Assuming that the volume level is what may be expected in a small rehearsal room with acoustic drums, one of the more effective solutions may be somewhat counterintuitive: get a pair of ear-plugs. Now, apart from reducing the overall volume reaching your ears (which is generally a good idea), ear-plugs will also filter out a lot of the more extreme ...

I can't speak to the psychological reasons or addressing them, but there are a couple things you can try that basically apply to all types of music. 1) Have the weaker members listen to and follow the stronger ones. Ensure they can hear them, of course; don't put them on opposite sides of the stage. The mediocre members will probably do well enough if the ...

For gigging live, there is a lot to be said for allowing the tempo to flow, and in general taking your cue from the drummer should be the general rule. Is it really upsetting you that much? In saying that, if he really can't keep time you have 3 options: give him a click track. teach him to stay in time get another drummer We use recorded drums as our ...

Our choir director has a "three strikes and we're out" rule, because she can remember two problem spots in a song before stopping at the third. I'm learning to conduct from her and one trick I've picked up is to stick my finger on the page where a problem happened; I can track one that way. Usually the reminder of where it was is enough, since most of our ...

Keep a small personal recorder on you, with a one-button start-stop interface, and an external mic attached to your shirt collar. If something happens, press the button and mention something that will jog your memory when you review. If you have a smartphone, there's most likely an app in the app store that will serve this purpose well for you, you can use ...

Ideally when warming up with a large ensemble, it shouldn't be your first warmup of the day - regardless of what instrument you play. Take a half-hour or so a few hours before your rehearsal and do a nice, solid warmup. When you meet the group for rehearsal, you'll just need a minute or so to get things moving again. For that, you could pat rudiments on ...

I used to play in a church band with a professional jazz Sax player. Whenever we had a break, he would pull out out these pages of runs in different keys and just play them. I always thought it strange that someone who was a professional would bother doing that. Isn't that just for when you are learning? One day, I had a chance to see him do an improv ...

There is also an app for that: BandFriend. It's a free app for both iPhone (iOS) and Android phones for connecting local musicians. App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id510681565?mt=8 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchbee.bandfriend

It takes more time and effort, but seeing your potential future bandmates in action is the best way. It means that you may have to go to the venues that these folks play in, and I don't know if you're old enough to get into some of these places. If you are old enough, try not to get sucked in by the drink-your-face-off-at-the-open-mic scenario. You can see ...

In every area the best ways to find bandmates include: Adverts in music papers Adverts in music shops Sure, there are many more genres of music than just the one you want to play, so you have to filter out by either looking at wording in the adverts, or placing your own adverts describing exactly what you want to play. Hang out at music shops or ...

When rehearsing, we use Cubase - one keypress, or a click of the mouse, sets a start or an end point of the loop, and it will run through the loop until you click to turn the looping off. As we also use Cubase to record tracks, and to play our rhythm section live on stage, it means we don't need to worry about extra software - it's all in the one package.

Excellent question. The problem is most likely that once looking up, the kids have trouble quickly finding the spot where they were. So they are afraid to get lost. As with most things in music: "practice makes perfect:". Suggestions: Go through the score with them. Put "look up" markers and "come back" markers into the score. These could maybe be a bar or ...

Chapeau to the directors you encountered. I can only speak for orchestras, but there I've seen more than once the over-ambitious director, frequently choosing pieces, which were (at least one level) too difficult. It's always a tight line to find, but the danger of musicians stumbling through a piece completely absorbing all concentration, so that none ...