why do orchestras need music sheets but rock bands don’t?

Question

Don’t they practice? is the conductor really necessary?

In: 6359

Answer 1

There can be 100 people in a symphony orchestra. All those people can’t necessarily hear the folks promptly from the other side of the stage. The conductor is central, and keeps everyone together rhythmically and expressively. The music is much longer and much more complex, played by all acoustic instruments each of whom has different musical roles and parts to play that all come together like a mosaic. Also, the repertoire, the amount of large, complicated pieces of music is so large it would be nearly impossible to memorize all those parts, hence needing sheet music. It takes a lot of vigorous personal practice and group rehearsal to coordinate just one orchestral piece, and multiple pieces like this are on just one concert.