Which is the most imporant instrument in a band?

[Tim]

You see bands that have many diferent instruments. You can have vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, percussion and many others. But which is the most important?

I think the most important instrument is percussion. WHen was the last time you listened to a band and they didn't have drums? They keep the beat and I can tell you from experience if you don't have a drummer in the band, you're screwed. You lose the timing and everything messes up. The drumming holds the band together.

Second would have to be a mix between keyboard and lead guitar. Because you can switch each of them around. Almost anything you play on lead guitar, you can play on keyboard. It'll sound different, but essentially it's the same thing. And you need to have a melody to the music, you can't just have a drumbeat.

So what do you think is the most important instrument in a band?

 

[Ms. TM Canada]

My first thought was percussion as well.
The beauty of a band though, is that it's made up by a bunch of different instruments that each add to the complexity of the music.
Say you have a standard 5 piece band: A vocalist, percussionist, bass player, electric guitar player, and keyboard player. If you take away the vocalist, you may still play some great music but you won't have words.
If you take away the percussionist, you can probably still do a good band, but you're going to have to find a way to keep time, because it'd be easy for someone to start playing too fast or lag behind. Then you'd sound like crap.
Bass is important. Electric guitar is important. I think you could get rid of the keyboard the easiest.

That said, I think it depends on the kind of music you play. A heavy metal band could do quite well without a keyboard, but a jazz band is going to need a keyboard/piano and some sort of brass instrument.

 

[Dragonslayer]

I agree with painisgain basically, though it depends on the type of music you want to play. Because basically, for any "regular" type of band, the vocals have to be the single most important part. Simply because it usually are the vocals people listen to first and foremost (or at least the average listener), and it's the vocal lines that people remember, and that stick with them. The average listener will in most cases care less about what beat the drums play, or what sound a guitar has, but will first and foremost listen to the singer, his or her voice, and the melody the vocal line has.

Of course, in other genres that may be secondary - if you take some of the "harder" metal bands, I believe the shouting, growling & screaming will take a backrow seat compared to the other instruments, especially drums and guitars. And as said - in instrumental music, naturally, there are no vocals and other instruments play a greater role.

So at the end of the day, you really can't pick ONE most important instrument, as it so very much depends on the type of music you play. In a Jazz band, I'd say most of the time all instruments are treated pretty equally; though of course the "solo"-instruments will always be more important, if the rhythm section is only there to "support" or lay the groundwork for the solo instrument. Which is quite ironic, since the solo instrument would not be able to "shine" as well without the decent backing instrumentalisation... however if you take that background stuff alone, which more often than not will indeed only be of supporting character, those instruments will not stick out either and, without a lead voice, be ultimately boring.

So I'd say, every part of a band is equally important. If you have vocals, they will be be a bit more important than the rest, simply because the rest of the music will focus on the vocals and will be there mainly to support them. But even in that case, you need a decent rhythm section in a tight bass and drum; because the best lead guitarist in the world is worth nothing if you do not have a decent rhythm crew to back him up. But I guess in the case of an instrumental-only band, all instruments have to be considered equally important, for different reasons.

 

[The Big Gunnzbowski]

In my opinion, no single instrument is more important than any other. It all depends on how they mesh. Perfect example, "The Who". Daltry could play the guitar like a genius, Moon could beat the skins like a genius, but without one or the other, The Who wouldn't have been nearly as successful as they were. Not to mention, alot of people don't consider the vocalist an equal in a band. I'd say vocalist is an instrument in his own right. Alot of todays Supergroups are perfect examples of how this formula works. You take "Rage Against The Machine", for example... You had the whole band, minus the lead singer, and the lead singer from "Soundgarden", Chris Cornell. The sound was totally different. Then, you've got "Velvet Revolver". Most of the members of "G&R", plus the lead singer of "Stone Temple Pilots". Same formula, different sounds... The instruments don't play themselves... But in the end, I guess it really depends on what band you're talking about... I honestly think in some cases there's an exception. Queen for example, wouldn't have stood out, if not for Freddy Mercury.

 

[Pimpin]

Drums. When is the last time anybody has heard a band play a song & no drums are playing? Drums are like the vocals it can either make or break the band.

 

[Sparky]

Vocals. becouse with out them, they would be just making noise. Face it, you can do without the drums, guitar, Keyboard, Harmonica ect and still have it sound good if you have Vocals to support it. You can sing without a beat and make it sound good... but you cant really make a DECENT song with out the music.

 

[Khalifa]

Exactly what Sparky said. Vocals. You need them to actually make a band. You know you can make a band out of any instrument excepts vocals. When was the last time you heard a band with out vocals? As PSarky said you can sing with out a beat and make it sound cool ( Joel Turner does it ( but i hate him)) but it doesn't seem right to not have a voice in music.