What Is The Exact Number Of Band Members To Make A Great Band?

I have to say that for being in a "bar band" that wants to bring a decent amount of quality and stil see the members make at least some money, four is the sweet spot. One of the band members sings lead, and there is EITHER a rhythm guitar or keys, along with lead guitar, bass and drums.

 

3 isn't bad. There are some really great trios that existed -- Nirvana, The Jam, The Sex Pistols (Sid contributed nothing)...but as pointed out, three requires a great deal of work from the members. You really have to fill a lot of holes. That's why four is the right answer.

 

The Rolling Stones seem to have worked out fairly well.

 

These folks said "About 100"

 

What if you pick a good band for the example, though?


(Just being silly --that is, just following suit with you)

 

The question of course has no answer. So many examples of one person bands that work. And huge bands that tear it up. Whatever works. I mean what would, The Flatlanders, be without the electric saw? Trio's seem to work well for stripped down.

Four can be cool. Especially when they are musically deficient like the beatles. They needed the extra member on rhythm guitar to fake it live. But, when you have three great musicians like in Creem you don't need the rhythm guitar. In the beatles case totally necessary. But if you are a good enough musician one is enough. And many great musicians like Bob Wills or Cold Blood create a symphony of sound without the studio fakery and trickery of the beatles fifth member George Martin.

 

That’s what’s right for the Beatles. For others, the number is incredibly varied.

Parliament-Funkadelic couldn’t do it right with any number less than 10. Cream needed 3. Out of all Jack White’s bands, the White Stripes with 2 was best. Springsteen and E Street were very arguably best at 7 or 8. Ginger Baker needed about 14 for his Air Force. Miles Davis was awfully fond of quintets, but IMO, he did some of his most mind-blowing work with 7. The Stones live were either best at 5 or 8-9 depending on your view of what their live nadir was, and on record, they needed anywhere from 20 to 24 people to get it right, plus an entire choir.

Four worked for the Beatles, Zep, The Who, the Ramones and U2, but it’s very far from being the perfect number for every band.

 

But The Stones would have been more successful if they had 4. You really can't argue against that.
Beatles 4 = biggest band ever
Stones 5 = always in The Beatles' shadow

5 band members is only good for the band's name. The Jackson Five sounds a lot better than The Jackson Four.

 

Yes, it does. The answer is 4.

 

117

 

2.4

 

I've seen P-Funk with up to 20 members onstage. And, no matter whom one likes musically, the fact is that they, or the original Allman Brothers with 6 members, (to name just two bands), would quite literally blow the Beatles off any stage they were on. The "Fab Four" would be reduced to a quivering & whimpering mass of sweat by either of those bands.

 

Not really. I have seen Springsteen shows where he has four guitar players on one song. It is absurd.

 

Minimum: 2
Maximum: 5

 

This is either a genius troll or the stupidest Beatles thread yet. And that's sayin' something.

 

Why bother asking the question, if every answer except 4 is wrong? Why not just make your grand statement, proclaim it as law, and continue to rule the world?

 

Three.

 

Four is a little much, but Patti needs to do something when she’s not singing. Besides, I thought you liked the number 4.

 

Five

Tenor / Alto Sax
Trumpet
Piano
Bass
Drums

 

You live under a bridge, don't you.

 

Whoa whoa whoa so then you just need one guy with an acoustic, and that rocks harder than 2 guitars, bass, and drums and piano? But if you took away the piano then it would rock harder than the acoustic demo?

 

Four might be the answer if there were only one great band, but there are a lot, and some have two, three, five or more members. Since there is no exact number, whoever else is wrong the t/c definitely is.

 

I don't think there is an exact number of members to make a great band. Not all bands are created equal you know.

 

Did you take your meds today?

 

I did do that. I posed the question in the first post and then answered it. This thread should really just have one post in it. Mine.