I've been in two bands, and the two had practice styles that were as different as possible. In band #1, we practiced the same tune -- or even the same eight-measure passage, if we were having trouble with it -- as many times as we had to until it was perfect, before moving on to the next tune or part of the tune. I found this a bit frustrating at first, but soon I became just as much a perfectionist as my partner who demanded that level of practice, and I grew to love the attention to detail we always took with our tunes (and vocals -- we sang, too). (You know what else? I still remember many of the tunes/words/arrangements we practiced, 20 years later.)

After our own musical venture folded (which it did when a third partner moved away), both my perfectionist partner and I eventually joined band #2, an existing group with its own set practice style that could not be stretched to accommodate our preferences. The preference here was to practice a song or tune set by running through it once just to make sure everyone remembered it; there was little to no discussion of what the chord structure, dynamics, or even instrumentation should be...you just did whatever you felt was right and the musical product...well, it was what it was. (It still is, in fact.) If we needed to go over a song or tune a second time, we did it at the end of the evening after we'd gone over everything once. My perfectionist partner didn't last long in this environment; it was just too frustrating not to have any quality control in place. I have survived it (though I took a LOOOONG break from it and only came back when the addition of a couple of first-rate performers made the effort seem more worthwhile), but I can't say I've ever grown to like the lack of discipline, and on the rare occasion when we do come up with an "arrangement" no one remembers it by the time we rehearse next. Still, most of the group seem to like it and I guess we sound OK, so it must be a reasonably valid approach to a practice style.

So, the moral of the story is that it might help if you decided how you want to approach practicing before you find yourself doing it ad hoc...possibly one way will be more to all your liking than the other (or some third way that I haven't thought of will win out).

Or possibly you will find that your preferences are hopelessly incompatible, in which case it's good to know that before you commit to performing together for the long term.

Just my tuppence...

Claire