Onboarding a new band member in two weeks

A new player's first gig with the band is usually decided in the two weeks before it, not on the night. If they arrive with the wrong key on three songs, a chart that does not match the band's arrangement, and no idea that the second set starts with a medley, that is not their failure. It is the band's onboarding.

Two weeks is enough to get a competent musician gig-ready on 25–30 songs if the material is organised. Here is the plan, day by day, with what the band has to have ready before day one.

Before day one: what the band needs to have

If these do not exist, the first three days are spent creating them, and they will be useful for every future hire and every dep.

• A song list with keys and tempos. Not the original keys; the keys your band plays them in, which are often different because of the singer. See choosing keys for your singers.
• A chart or structure note per song. Intro, verse, chorus, the bit where the band stops, the ending. Full notation is not needed; a one-line structure map is usually enough for a good player. See chord charts, lead sheets and Nashville numbers.
• Recordings of the band, not the original artist. A phone recording from rehearsal or a live board mix is worth more than the studio version, because it has your intro, your ending and your tempo.
• The setlists for the next two gigs. So that the new member learns the songs they actually need first.
• A one-page "how we work" note. Rehearsal night, arrival time, dress code, money rules, who to ask about what.

The 14-day checklist

Day 1: the welcome pack. Send everything above in one place, with a message that says which 12 songs matter most for the first gig and which 12 come next. Give them one contact person for questions; the whole group chat is not a contact person.

Day 2: the key and gear check. A 15-minute call. Confirm they have the charts in the right keys, that the recordings play, and that their gear fits the band's setup (in-ears or wedges, DI or amp, what they need on stage). Add them to the packing list if they bring anything shared.

Days 3–5: homework, first 12 songs. They learn on their own. Ask them to send you one voice memo playing along to a band recording on day 5. It is not a test; it catches wrong-key and wrong-structure problems before rehearsal, where they cost everyone's time.

Day 6: rehearsal 1, 2 hours. Run the first 12 songs. Play each song once, top to bottom, no stopping unless it falls apart. Note problems; do not fix them all now. Spend the last 20 minutes on the three songs with the most trouble. Record the rehearsal and send the recording that night.

Day 7: rest. Send the notes from rehearsal 1 as a short list: "Song X: stop before last chorus. Song Y: your part doubles the keys in the intro. Song Z: we do the ending twice."

Days 8–10: homework, next 12 songs plus fixes. Same as days 3–5. Voice memo on day 10 for the songs that were shaky.

Day 11: rehearsal 2, 2.5 hours. Run the full first-gig setlist in order, with the real transitions, the count-ins, the segues and the talking. This is the rehearsal that decides whether the gig will feel tight. Stop for nothing shorter than a train wreck. Then fix. Record it. See the pre-gig rehearsal for how to structure this run.

Day 12: logistics. Confirm they have the gig details: address, load-in time, parking, who to call, dress code, what they are bringing. Put them on the gig as a participant so they get the reminders and the gig sheet.

Day 13: quiet. A good player will run the set alone once more. Do not send new material.

Day 14: the gig. Arrive early, do the soundcheck with them, and have someone stand near them on stage who can cue endings with a nod. Afterwards, tell them two things they did well and one thing to fix. Then the pub.

Expectations to state on day one

The things that cause friction later are almost always things nobody said at the start. Cover them in the welcome note:

• Money. The rate or share, when it is paid, and by whom. If there is a trial period, say so and say how long. See splitting money in a band.
• Availability. How gig requests arrive, how quickly to answer (48 hours), how rehearsal scheduling works.
• Preparation. The band's norm is to arrive knowing the songs. Rehearsal is for putting them together, not learning them.
• Deps. If they cannot make a confirmed gig, they arrange a dep the band approves, unless the band agrees otherwise.
• Gear. What they must own (in-ears, a tuner, spare cables), what the band provides.
• The unwritten rules. Arrival time is 15 minutes before the call. Phones away during rehearsal. Volume follows the drummer. Whatever yours are, write them.

Mistakes that slow onboarding down

• Sending the original recordings only. They learn the album version, then have to unlearn your arrangement.
• Sending 60 songs at once. Overwhelm produces shallow learning on all of them. Twelve at a time, ordered by the next gig.
• Fixing everything in rehearsal 1. Stopping every 30 seconds teaches nobody anything and eats the evening. Play through, take notes, fix in the last 20 minutes and in homework.
• Not recording rehearsals. The recording is the fastest teacher. See recording your rehearsals.
• Leaving them out of the logistics. A new member who is not on the gig page, not on the packing list and not getting reminders is being set up to be the one who did not know.

After the first gig

Do a five-minute check-in in the following week. Two questions: what was harder than expected, what would have helped. Fix the onboarding based on the answers, because you will do this again. Then keep going: another 12 songs per fortnight until they know the whole active repertoire, which for a 60-song function band takes about eight weeks.

Do this today

• Check whether your song list has band keys and structures for every active song. Fill the gaps in the next rehearsal.
• Record the next rehearsal, even if nobody is joining. You will want those recordings.
• Write the one-page "how we work" note. Half an hour.

Where expert.band helps

A new member joins from an invitation link, free, and sees the whole repertoire with keys, tempos, structures and attachments (charts, band recordings), the setlists for upcoming gigs in order, and every gig with its details. Mark them as a participant on a gig and they get the reminders and appear on the gig sheet and packing checklist. Files live in EU storage, so the welcome pack is the repertoire itself rather than an email with twelve attachments.