Dakota Barnes

What You Should Know Before Joining a Band 

 
 
Lyrics are harder to write than you may think. 
 
When you sit and begin to try to write, what may be, your first lyrics, you'll come to find out that your brain 
will basically… shut down, and suddenly you don’t know what on Earth to write about. Don’t think that you aren’t 
creative or just aren’t cut out for this, it happens to everyone, even a famous person that comes to mind. It would be 
a good idea to always to have a notebook or scrap paper around with you to write down any ideas that pop into your 
head during the day. It's important to remember, you might write something that you really like at first, but as you 
keep reading it or trying to add more to it, you may find yourself thinking, “​ What was I thinking when I wrote this?” 
this will also happen a lot, not everything you write will be good. Most likely the first few things you'll write, you'll 
absolutely hate later on, that’s just how it goes sometimes. 
As you write more and more you'll soon discover that you may be writing about the same subject just in a 
different way every time. Sometimes it's not a good idea to write every single chance you get during the day. Its ok to 
take time between songs and discover something else to write about. And you may not be able to write a song in a 
short amount of time, some songs can take months to finish to your liking. 
 
Depending on what you’d like to play, it may be expensive. 
 
Some instruments are way more expensive than others. Some range from being just over $100 to costing 
thousands of dollars. This may be a determining factor to what you end up playing. But sometimes it’s more about 
how much you want to learn to play, rather than how much you should spend on your chosen instrument. Remember, 
there are always cheap second-hand instruments you can buy from people online, you don't have to go to Guitar 
Center to get a name brand instrument for your first one. Something cheap is the perfect way to start on your music 
career. 
 
There's a lot more that goes into playing music. 
 
Playing with multiple instruments going at one time can be chaotic. You have to be able to focus on multiple 
things at once while playing; switching chords, staying in sync with everyone, while also getting over the fact that 
you're actually playing in a band you can call your own. It can be an awesome feeling. It can also be hard to memorize 
 Dakota Barnes

the songs you and your bandmates play, sometimes you will forget how to. Making your own riffs can also be a 
headache, you’ll have to mess around with whatever instrument you’re playing and try to come up with the different 
chords that you think sound good. 
 
Don’t be intimidated by certain instruments. 
 
If you happen to see someone playing an instrument that you would like to try an play, and you find one for 
sale and you hold it and become overwhelmed by the thoughts of you not being able to play it… DONT GIVE UP! 
Because who knows, you could be naturally talented when you start to play it. Time will be your worst enemy when it 
comes to getting an instrument down. It all depends on how much time you put into hobby or career choice. 
 
Don’t limit yourself to how and what kind of music you want to play. 
 
If you wanna play a certain kind of music that not a lot of people you know would 100% support, you play it. 
Other people have no say when it comes to what you want. There are many different techniques with every 
instrument. And it all depends on how you like to play, if people have a problem with it, don’t pay attention to them. 
When it comes to music, you’re only concerns are to entertain the people that take the time to listen to you, and to 
enjoy every part and every moment the music industry brings to your feet.