If you use backing tracks in your live gigs I would love to hear how you handle chords and lyrics. Do you learn them off by heart? Do you have an iPad app with timed scrolling, or do you use use good old pieces of paper? Here is the method that I use.
Plain and simple, you should have all the songs for a live gig learned to the point that you do not need to have scrolling lyrics and chords. If you use that method, it's easy to make it a crutch and rather than interacting with the audience, making eye contact, you are glued to the screen.
I don't play live anymore, but when I did, we had a set list of the songs generally laying by the floor monitors. If there was a new song on the list, perhaps I would write the first word of each verse as a reminder. Beyond that, no, the song was supposed to be committed to memory by the point we took it in front of the audience.
I see some of the big stars are using teleprompters that scroll the lyrics. And I guess, if I was on a stage being broadcast nationally, I might want that too, but then again..... The band supporting the artist knows, and when they see it happen, they are in rescue mode immediately. Unlike BB or some other pre-programmed song, the band can loop as long as they need to until the artists picks it up again. Have you ever seen an artist stop singing in a song and smile at the audience, or say a few words? Most likely, you saw a professional handle the forgotten words like a pro. The audience saw a "special, personal moment" with the artist, not a mistake.
There's a certain connection to the audience that happens when you blow your lines live. It's really not a bad thing, and a pro can handle it in a way that the majority of the audience didn't even know it happened. Everyone forgets the lyrics once in a while. I'd do one of two things.... either I make up lyrics until I get to the place where I remember the correct ones.... or I stop and while the music is playing, tell the audience I thought they were singing this verse. Doing either of those things makes the audience think it was intentional and not simply a forgetful moment on your part.
So regarding your live gigs with background tracks.... learn the chords and learn the lyrics.
If you forget the chords, stop playing... you have a full band behind you. Pick up again when you know where you're at. If you forget the lyrics... chances are it's in a verse. No one forgets the lyrics to the chorus unless they are falling down, knee crawling drunk.... in which case you should be on stage anyway unless you're George Jones.... So just lay out for the balance of the verse.... come back in on the chorus. Chances are no one will really notice or say anything about it.
Been there, done that, and survived.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
We have 550 songs, which are way too many for me to memorize.
The ones we do often of course are memorized, but especially the ones that only come out every couple of months need help.
Also, while playing with backing tracks, someone can come up while you are playing/singing and make a request or some other conversation to disturb the flow. The backing track goes on and on though. So by having the words or music chart in front of me, when I hear a cue in the music, I can get back on track easier.
So I keep two laptops on stage, one to play the backing tracks and the other for a 'cheat sheet'.
For lyrics I just use Windows WordPad, for music I use an old copy of Encore.
More details on how I make backing tracks and use them on stage can be found here:
Herb. Thanks for taking the time to type such a detailed response and I totally take your point if I am putting on what I would call a "show" where someone has paid money to come and see me perform. It's the "other" types of live gigs where I would use scrolling lyrics (such as coffee houses, private functions, farmers markets and even live streams).
Could I ask if you were playing at one of these types of venues and somebody asked for a song that is in your repertoire but that you haven't played in over two years what you would do?
Excellent description Notes, thanks. Great advice for those intending to follow your footsteps, and to make sure that any problems of the past aren't repeated.
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Use whatever tools you need to have a good performance! If you use a prompter you just need to get good at using it; great public speakers give amazing speeches that sound from the heart and spontaneous even though they are on a prompter!
I've never used music or lyric sheets live. Everything is memorized. I keep notebooks with chords and lyrics of all my songs and can sit down and review a song on a break, but no way am I going to perform a song on stage if I'm not pretty sure I can perform it without thing falling apart on me.
Use whatever tools you need to have a good performance! If you use a prompter you just need to get good at using it; great public speakers give amazing speeches that sound from the heart and spontaneous even though they are on a prompter!
Yes J x 3. I just learned that Bruce Springsteen uses one! Edited to add: to us it all looks very sponateous if someone calls out a song and he actually plays it! I read that he expects the E street band to know it ( after all they have spent years playing the pubs) but he has a very nifty tele prompt operator who quickly brings up the lyrics.
Could I ask if you were playing at one of these types of venues and somebody asked for a song that is in your repertoire but that you haven't played in over two years what you would do?
This happened often in our shows. Especially when we were the house band in a club for two and a half years. Often several times a night.
Our response to the request was often dependent on a number of factors. There were times when we would look at the request, and then usually, say something like we'll get your requests in the next set or there were times where we'd drop that song into the set we were in right then and there. We also had no problems telling the person that we didn't know that particular song. If we were going to attempt it, we'd work it out in the dressing room.
If the song was old and we hadn't played it in a very long time, we'd discuss it backstage between sets, and if it seemed easy enough to pull off, we'd attempt it and let the chips fall where they may. Repeat a verse if we couldn't remember them all or cut it short. We didn't do that very often. The usual response to a song we weren't sure of was.... sorry, we don't know that song, how about if we do (song title) for you instead?
In fact, I can recall a number of times in one of the other bands I was in, getting a song request that I had never heard before..... but the drummer and bass player knew it from way back in former bands. The bass player would tell me what kind of groove.... start it like such and such a song, that we did know..... and then he would call out any "off normal" chords. I was extremely good at playing by ear and could anticipate chords easily. We'd pull that song off like pro's and at times we'd even add it to our regular set list.
Essentially, we'd do what we had to do in the circumstances. No rules, just get the job done and make the audience happy. Happy audiences come back to see you again.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
I try to memorise chords and lyrics, particularly if I'm playing live or acoustic. I sometimes have my folder on the music stand to pick songs and as moral support!
When I'm on-line I have been using a folder on an out of sight music stand for my material as some of the material is not memorised yet. Also, I have pre-programmed solos, guitar patches and vocal patches in the BIAB backing tracks, so my folder has notes on that. I find with BIAB doing so much work for me, I can get away with playing stuff I know less well. Live, I need the eye contact etc.
Now I'm moving away from the folder to just BIAB. Check out the jpgs below for how I have my screen now in BIAB.
I don't use the last screen, but I may in the future. Full Screen Chord Sheet View on the Window Screen or [Ctrl T]
Last edited by lambada; 11/18/1607:02 AM.
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Herb, we handled that much the same way. "We don't do that one, but I think you will like the one we do for you instead."
I have met many musicians who see it as a badge of courage somehow to brag that they know 8,293 songs. My first question (that I say to myself because I really don't care how many songs you know) is "You do 45 a night, and in a different place every night. Why do you carry that kind of luggage with you? And the second question is "With that much material, unless you rehearse 29 hours a day, every day, you can never rehearse them. You DO need to touch a song in the rehearsal hall if you are going to play it." Which then leads me to "But I know you never rehearse. You don't even play with the same people every show. Which is why you only know that same 50 songs every band in town knows."
But it's not my concern if you know the Famous 50 or the 8,293.
The only thing that used to get me angry is when some drunken idiot would come to the stage in the middle of the 3rd set of MOTOWN MUSIC and start yelling "Skynaaaaaaard!!" I actually had people removed by security a couple of times for that. Don't disrupt what we are doing. Stay on the floor where you belong. If you want to hear Skynaaaaaaard, join a band and play it. Oh, that's right. You have no talent and don't play or sing....
I just can't imagine needing 550 songs, Notes, but I don't really know what you do. If you are playing a prom tonight, a wedding tomorrow, a bar the next night and then a show for geezers at an old folks home, I would imagine you need to know both Uptown Funk and String Of Pearls. Plus you are a "captive" band. With you and your wife, you are always available to practice, learn.... It's different with an 8 piece band of players with kids who have to be dropping them off at soccer or the swim meet.
The interesting thing is I knew a few people who easily knew 500+ songs and all of them by memory.
The one guy in particular was a freaking genius when it came to music. He was an amazingly talented piano player and singer. He was always swapping out players in his band's lineup. playing with him was a musical education because the guy could play anything. And he practically knew everything and every song. He knew the top 40 stuff on the radio and he also knew the hits and popular songs from the 40's. A walking talking musical encyclopedia. The fellow didn't use any sheet music or lyric pages. He didn't write up set lists either. He was the band leader.... think Paul Schafer. He'd start the show and call the songs as he went. You never knew what was coming. Of course he did have a regular group of about 100 songs that he drew from most often. I never had the misfortune to play with his band. He was quite the arse.
I did play with the other guy who also had an amazing repertoire. Like the first guy he knew lots of tunes, but he did make a set list and pretty much stuck to it. Never saw him use a lyric sheet or sheet music. I played in that band for a few months. When they started requiring tux's and playing lots of country club gigs... that was the beginning of the end. This fellow was a nice guy, but his momma ran the band.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Use whatever tools you need to have a good performance! If you use a prompter you just need to get good at using it; great public speakers give amazing speeches that sound from the heart and spontaneous even though they are on a prompter!
Yes J x 3. I just learned that Bruce Springsteen uses one! Edited to add: to us it all looks very sponateous if someone calls out a song and he actually plays it! I read that he expects the E street band to know it ( after all they have spent years playing the pubs) but he has a very nifty tele prompt operator who quickly brings up the lyrics.
McCartney uses one and I suspect most acts nowadays use them. Why not? Just another tool to integrate into your act.
When I first played in a band in the 1960s learning chords and lyrics - and lead guitar breaks in my case - was not a problem. It was only when I hit my late 50s that I found I needed song sheets, mainly to remind me of the arrangement, e.g. which verse I solo over, and lyric prompts: usually the opening line suffices. I'm 67 now and envy you guys that can still commit songs totally to memory, I can't, no matter how many times I play them.
I know I'm not alone in this; it's not advancing dementia or anything, just one of those age things. I've seen artists on TV such as Brian Ferry and Paul Heaton of Beautiful South both openly using song sheet books on music stands, even though they've written the songs themselves. Some prefer to be more discreet, for example Ian Gillan, lead singer of Deep Purple, who uses scrolling teleprompters placed near his floor monitors. I watched Sting playing live on TV the other night doing the same.
So I bind all my lead sheets in a booklet and refer to one as and when I need it and don't worry about it anymore.
<...snip...> I just can't imagine needing 550 songs, Notes, but I don't really know what you do. <...>
I suppose everyone has their own situation. Here is why we need 1,000 songs (working on that)
1) We play a variety of venues.
* Our weekly outdoor marina gig requires a good deal of Caribbean music, Calypso, Soca, Reggae and tropical music like Jimmy Buffett, Bertie Higgins and so on
* One of our yacht club gigs likes a long dinner set of mellow music followed by one hour of dance music
* The gig we played last night (and we've been a regular ther for about 20 years) likes a lot of line dances. We know about 10 songs that we play there and nowhere else
* The condo gigs require a lot of oldies
* New songs come and go, even with the adult audience, "Love Shack" died when "Blurred Lines" came in. "Uptown Funk" still works while "All About That Bass" is fading. "Happy" seems like it will hang around a while, etc. Next year there will be new adult-crossover hits
2) We play a lot of our clubs again and again
* New songs keep us fresh. Our weekly gig is in our ninth year, some monthly gigs for over 20. Plus people follow us from gig to gig, the enjoy new music from us
3) Requests
* When a regular fan asks for a song, if it is appropriate and if we can learn it, we will. And when we see that person again we'll play it without being asked. It makes that person feel special, and it should, because our fans are special to us.
4) We thrive on new songs
Songs go through three phases (1) An adventure - they are new, and not fully explored yet and each play can turn up a new discovery (2) Peak - you are totally in command of the song, it's just a lot of fun to play and you get into the zone immediately (3) Familiar - it's like a lover you have been with a long time, still great, comfortable, but not the fireworks that it was during peak time.
So why not over 550 songs? We're probably up to over 560 now but I haven't counted in a while.
Our bluegrass band typically did three one hr sets in clubs and 45 minute sets at festivals. Janice would make up a set list for each gig working from a master list of about 200 songs of which about 25% were instrumentals. We had three lead singers so the lyric memory thing was not bad. Most of the set organization was based on the guitar and banjo capos
So we just tossed a set list in front of each monitor and had at it.
Bud
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