Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): La banda practica en un garaje pequeño, pero el sonido es increíble. - The band practices in a small garage, but the sound is incredible.

Banda is a feminine noun in Spanish, so it takes la (the feminine singular article), not el.
Many Spanish nouns end in -a and are feminine (like la casa, la mesa, la guitarra), and banda follows that pattern.

When you mean a musical band, you typically use feminine agreement:

La banda practica.
La banda es famosa.

There is also el grupo (masculine) for band/group, but that’s a different noun with its own gender:

El grupo practica.

Could you explain the verb practica here? Why no subject pronoun and what tense is it?

Practica is the third person singular, present indicative of practicar (to practice). It literally means “he/she/it practices” or “practices” (for a singular subject like la banda).

Spanish usually omits the subject pronoun (like ella, él) because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
Here, la banda practica = “the band practices” or “the band is practicing”, depending on context.

Do not confuse practica (verb, no accent) with práctica (noun, with accent), as in:

La práctica empieza a las cinco. – The practice starts at five.

Why is it en un garaje and not in the small garage like in English? What’s the difference between un and el here?

Un garaje means “a garage” (non‑specific, indefinite). El garaje would mean “the garage” (specific, one both speakers know about).

In the Spanish sentence, en un garaje pequeño suggests some small garage, just describing the general situation, not a particular, already‑known place.
If you wanted to say “in the small garage” in Spanish, you’d say:

en el garaje pequeño

So un vs el works much like a/an vs the in English, and the choice changes how specific you are.

Why is pequeño placed after garaje? Could I say un pequeño garaje instead?

The normal rule in Spanish is noun first, adjective after:

un garaje pequeño – a small garage

However, some adjectives can go before the noun and may sound a bit more subjective, emotional, or stylistic:

un pequeño garaje is also correct and emphasizes “small” a bit more, often with a slightly more emotional or expressive tone.

So both un garaje pequeño and un pequeño garaje are possible; the version after the noun is the “default” neutral order.

Why is it garaje pequeño and not garaje pequeña? How does adjective agreement work?

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

Garaje is masculine singular, so the adjective must also be masculine singular: pequeño.
If the noun were feminine singular, you’d say pequeña:
- una casa pequeña – a small house

For plural:

garajes pequeños – small garages (masculine plural)
casas pequeñas – small houses (feminine plural)

Why is the preposition en used? Could you say a instead of en here?

In this context, en is the correct preposition to express location:

practica en un garaje – practices in a garage

The preposition a is usually used for direction/motion (to a place), not for being located somewhere:

Va a un garaje. – He/She goes to a garage.

So for being in a place, use en, not a:

La banda practica en un garaje pequeño.

Why is pero used and not sino? What’s the difference between pero and sino?

Pero means “but” in the sense of adding a contrast:

La banda practica en un garaje pequeño, pero el sonido es increíble.
→ Both parts are true; the second part just contrasts with the first.

Sino is used mainly after a negation to mean “but rather/instead”, correcting the first part:

No practican en un garaje, sino en un estudio profesional.
→ They don’t practice in a garage, but rather in a studio.

Since the first clause in your sentence is not negative, you need pero, not sino.

Why does it say el sonido es increíble and not está increíble or suena increíble?

Es increíble (with ser) describes a general, characteristic quality of the sound:

El sonido es increíble. – The sound is amazing (as a general judgment).

Está increíble (with estar) often sounds more temporary or situational, like “right now it’s amazing”:

Hoy el sonido está increíble. – Today the sound is amazing.

Suena increíble uses the verb sonar (to sound):

El sonido suena increíble. – Literally, “the sound sounds incredible”, which is grammatically okay but a bit redundant. More natural is:
- La banda suena increíble. – The band sounds incredible.

In your sentence, es increíble is the most natural neutral way to praise the quality of the sound.

Why does increíble have an accent mark? How is it pronounced?

Increíble has an accent on í to show the stress and to separate the vowels e and i into different syllables.

It’s pronounced as in-cre-Í-ble, with the stress on -í-:

IPA (approx.): /inkreˈiβle/

Without the accent, many learners might incorrectly stress it as IN-cre-ible or treat ei as a single sound. The accent tells you clearly where to put the stress and that e + í form two separate syllables.

Are there other common words for garaje and banda in Latin American Spanish?

Yes, there are some regional variants:

For garaje:

cochera – very common in parts of Latin America (also means “carport” or “parking area” attached to a house in some regions).

For banda:

grupo or grupo musical – very common, often more neutral.
conjunto – used in some musical styles or regions for a band/ensemble.

Also note that banda can mean “gang” in some contexts (banda criminal), but in a musical context like your sentence, it clearly means a band.