Prior to filming, only Billy Kay knew how to play the instrument his character plays. Aaron Himelstein (Dave the bass player) had only played a little guitar, Peter Brensinger (Lance the drummer) had played keyboard, and Kyle Gallner had never sung outside of karaoke. The band "John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives", a local Memphis, TN band who performed the songs on the film's soundtrack (with the exception of Kyle Gallner's singing) trained the cast for 2 weeks in instrument training. Though only Kyle Gallner's singing is on the soundtrack, all four members of the Fingers knew how to play their songs for the film's shoot.