How to Pack for a Tour

You need to approach touring the way you would backpacking through Europe:  you can only take what you can carry on your shoulders.  Your van is already filled with guitar amps, drums, the bass rig, more drums, merchandise, drum hardware, food, some band mates, and then your drummer.  Suffice it to say that room is scarce unless you’ve got a bus, and if you’ve got a bus you can probably skip this article altogether!

As you’re packing you need to ask yourself, “Do I really need this?  Can I just pick this up at a store if I’m dying without it?” You’ll find that you’re packing way too much clothing.  Assuming you know where you’re sleeping most nights, a few of those places will likely have laundry facilities or you can hit up a laundromat on an off day.  If the drives are going to be long, you’re not going to be impressing anyone with your fashion on a daily basis so don’t worry about roughing it.  Try to keep it down to one back pack – something you can walk a few blocks comfortably.  Stick dryer sheets in your bag and shoes to keep things fresh.  Moist towelettes go a long way to make you feel better when you wake from a van-nap.

Gear wise, make sure you have extras but don’t go overboard.  Bring extra strings, tubes, sticks, and a backup guitar.  Space is usually an issue so don’t worry about bringing a second cabinet or stuffing your acoustic thinking you may get bored and play in the van.  You’ll find ways to entertain yourself. Simple things like books, an iPod, or your laptop are good starting points.

Packing smart will keep the van comfortable.  A few other things you can do to keep the van a happy place:

1. Change up the driver and passenger seating every few hours.  The new locale will stimulate you provide a nice change of pace.
2. Take trash out with you when you make pit stops (the cup-holders will fill with candy wrappers, I promise) and spray some air freshener before you get back in.  From band-stink to Spring showers in five minutes.
3. GPS.  Understand that it can go crazy at times but it’s worth bringing one.  Don’t buy one just for the tour – you likely have a friend who will be glad to help out the band by lending theirs.  Word of caution:  never bring two.  They will fight like competing bakeries.
4. Make a tour itinerary listing all of the venues, phone numbers, addresses, sleeping arrangements, pay arrangements, load-in times, set times, and distances between shows.  Dress it up and make it fun, then print two copies:  one for the front of the van and one for the back (so that the guys in the back aren’t always pestering you for information).

There are a lot of other things you can do to make the van a home-away-from-home but that stuff will hit you quickly during your first tour.  The bottom line is you’re going to be getting really close to your band mates for what will feel like an eternity.  Tensions build while everyone is out of their comfort zone.  Do the best to respect one another while making yourself some personal space.

Finally, treat your van like you would a guitar:  tune it up before making it do the work.  Find problems early before you wind up busking at a Canadian Tire in Whitby to pay for that brake job.

Arriving at the Gig

There’s a difference between playing gigs at home versus while on tour.  The band needs to think of itself as a travelling salesman:  You have a product that you’re demoing and promoting around the country.  You want people to buy this product, love this product, and show this product to their friends.  A professional attitude is enough to make you seem like a pro, even if you’re throwing your back out trying to lug that 412 cabinet up the most insane flight of stairs (tip:  buddy-lift everything!).

So you’ve arrived at the venue at the requested load-in time.  What’s next?  Here are the things I like to run through with each show:

1. Learn the sound engineer’s name.  Everyone should know it.  Convince yourself that the sound engineer is your best friend.  Sound guys (and gals) are people, too – they will be more likely to make you sound good if they like the way you treat them.
2. Learn how to setup other pieces of equipment.  If your drummer could use a hand and you’ve got your stuff setup, help him instead of sitting at the bar waiting.
3. Start when you’re told and finish on time.  The next band is excited to play and doesn’t want you getting in the way.  No encores unless (a) you’re the headliner or (b) the situation is calling for it and you’ve sent someone from the band to clear it with the next band.
4. Push your merchandise.  You’ve travelled all this way and your door cut will more than likely not be great until you’re an established band – merchandise is gas in the van.  Make sure one band member runs to stand by the merch table when you’ve finished your set.  Tell some stories and let the crowd get to know you – they just may want to buy into you.
5. Get to know the other acts.  You never know when you’ll run into each other again (it happens more often than you would think, and at completely different parts of the country!) or when you’ll need to borrow their equipment.
6. Get paid.  Have a designated person within the band to handle the collection of finances.  There’s an art to talking money with door guys and other bands so that you’re able to take of yourself while meeting the needs of the other people involved.  This develops with continuous exposure so it’s best to get one person learning the ropes instead of taking turns.
7. Before you leave make sure you’ve said goodbye to everyone who works at the venue.  Get to know them a bit – they’re your gateway back into this place.  I like to make sure each venue has a copy of the album and a business card (the bartender or door person who likes you the most is the best person to receive it as they’ll push it around).

Final Notes

The goal of your tour is to build profile, fan base, and, hopefully, make money.  Touring isn’t always (or usually even) a money making endeavour until you’ve secured good guarantees so try to break even.  Figure out beforehand what the tour should cost you and factor in emergencies (having an extra $1,000.00 in the band fund will help you out when things take an unexpected turn).  Try to have as much of the expenses covered before you head out so that you don’t get half way through the tour wondering if you’ll make it home.

Lastly, treat this both as a career move for the band and as a vacation.  You’re likely suffering personally and financially by committing so much time on the road so make the best of your time out there.  Be a tourist.  Flaunt the band around as you check out the local hot spots – it’ll give you something to talk about and make you feel like a rock star.  And let’s not forget band traditions:  make them.  My band would drive around with megaphones promoting the show for an hour before sound check.  You’ll find something you all like to do to harass the general public.

Chris Gallant is the lead singer and guitarist of The Sidewalks, an alternative rock/ska band from PEI, Canada.  He has been promoting acts and booking his own tours for three years now.  For more information on the band or this topic please write chris@thesidewalks.com.

The Guide to Touring (Part 2) was written by Special to Guitar Noise for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

If you’ve toured before you’ll know that a lot of this information comes as common sense literally within a few days of being on the road – your band’s routine or “system” kicks in and the tour goes on autopilot. However the point of this guide is to educate and inform those of you who’ve never hit the pavement in a van full of gear in pursuit of making it big. It’s often a long, arduous, and smelly journey but you get addicted and will want to do it again the second you get home.

This isn’t meant to be a step by step guide into touring so much as it is an overview of how a tour should come together for the average DIY band. Best of luck!

Are You Ready To Tour?

A few questions you need to ask yourself:

Does my band have a solid enough fan base in the local area?

You’re probably wondering why the local market has anything to do with you going abroad. Well, there are two main reasons for this.  The first is simply that it serves as a gauge of interest in your band. If your fan base is made up of a good spread of music listeners (and not just your girlfriends and relatives) then you’re on the right track and the same thing will likely happen in other cities. Second, you need to depend on your local gigs to make up the funds to head out on the road. Plan to take a few extra gigs to fill the band fund up as you lead to the tour you’re embarking on.

Do we have reliable transportation?

My first touring band destroyed three vans on three separate tours because we didn’t take appropriate vehicles to handle the combined weight of the members and the gear.  Do not expect to pull off a ten day tour in a minivan if you have a typical rock stage setup (I’m talking at least one stack, a bass rig, the drums, and assorted luggage). Suspensions will drop out, transmissions will die, and brakes will fall apart. Make sure you have the proper vehicle for what you’re hauling and how long you’re hauling it.

How long do we want to go on tour?  Can everyone take the time off?

Time off becomes the enemy by the time you hit your second or third tour – it loses some of it’s charm in your family/girlfriend/boss’ eyes and becomes a nuisance, meaning it gets more difficult to get the time off the more often you go on tour. But that’s a discussion for another article. The length of your tour is really up to you and your band because you’ll need to determine how much work you can miss, how much you stand to gain from the tour, and how long you want to be out of your comfort zone. The kind of tour you’re booking will determine the length as well, which brings me to my next point.

How to Book a Tour

Booking a tour is a lot easier than people make it out to be. You just need to be diligent and plan ahead. Pick your tour dates and give yourself about three to four months to book and promote the excursion. Taking this amount of time is a good idea whether you already have an “in” at your potential venues or are starting from scratch.

Identify the type of tour you’re booking.

You can do two general types of tours that I like to call Main Market Tours and All Market Tours.  A Main Market Tour is when you only play in the biggest cities with the largest pieces of the music industry that you can get close to.  Of course this is geographic, but building profile in a city that houses the kind of people who should hear you (agents, reps, promoters, and media) is the smartest choice when time and money are constraints on the tour.  Get in, do the job, and get home, all while hitting the bigger markets.  Alternatively you can do the All Market Tour which is when you look at a map and pick out all the cities in a certain radius and plan to play in each one over a certain length of time.  If you only have a week, I’d go with the first type.  Two weeks or more and I’d consider the second.  That isn’t to say you can’t mix it up:  If a smaller city is completely en route to a bigger city, see if you can wedge a gig in there on the way up.

Find venues and promoters.

Once you’ve narrowed down your cities and dates start doing up emails and press kits to send to the venues and promoters that you feel would be interested in an act like yours.  Try to think from a venue owner’s perspective – all you are in the end is drink sales.  You can have the best songs in the world, but if no one cares to come see you it’ll be hard to get a returning gig (and after all, you are hopefully going to tour again sometime and will want to build on the relationships you opened with these venues the first time around).  This raises the question:  How am I supposed to get people in the door if I’ve never played there before?  Well, if you’re asking yourself this question you’ve already done half the work.  Just promote the shows as best you can and play your heart out, even if three people show up.  Impress the bar staff and you’ll have done enough to come back.

How to Promote a Tour

Promotion within a city is specific to the avenues available in that area, but it all comes down to some fairly simple stuff.  It just takes time and dedication.

Print Media, Radio, and Television

Every city has a local arts paper or magazine.  Research and figure out where to send your press release (you’ve made a press release, right?), tour dates, and try to make it a little more personal (ie, talk about why this town is particularly exciting for your band).  Also look up all the radio stations in those cities as well as television stations (for local on-air performance, preferably the day of your show in that city).  Get in contact with the program director and give them your pitch.  Hopefully your pitch has an interesting angle to it that they can get behind.

Internet Forums and Blogs

The internet is global and so are musicians.  You may find new fans right here on Guitar Noise or with other forums specific to your tour destinations.  Bloggers in well connected music circles are the people you want writing positively about your band.  They have listeners.  Post your show date, strike up a conversation, and make a connection.

Social Networking

There’s always someone in the tour van who’s got their laptop or cell phone going.  Log into your Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace and send an update once in a while.  “Van broke down.  Having an acoustic jam on the side of the road to entertain the mechanic.” Keep it interesting and informative – don’t stop at “Chicago tonight!” Make a joke while you’re at it or offer something special for your potential guests.  Ask questions.  People love to voice their opinions.

Posters

Every tour needs a tour poster.  I’m not going to run on a graphic design rant but make sure you have an attractive poster with all your dates listed, but also have a secondary poster with a blank space to custom tailor on a per show basis.  Send these posters to all the venues, radio stations, and any friends or fans in your street team who live in the area.  Keep extra ones on hand to autograph or put up in local stores on your off days.

In “Part 2” we’ll discuss what to keep in mind when you’re about to embark on the tour.  Until then, get out your map and start planning your adventure.

Chris Gallant is the lead singer and guitarist of The Sidewalks, an alternative rock/ska band from PEI, Canada.  He has been promoting acts and booking his own tours for three years now.  For more information on the band or this topic please write chris@thesidewalks.com

The Guide to Touring (Part 1) was written by Special to Guitar Noise for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

When you step outside to play your guitar, one of the first things that will happen is a molecular change. Every material known to man has something known as the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE). The CTE is the measure of how much a material will expand or contract under specific temperatures. In the case of a guitar neck made of wood, the neck will slightly change in profile as it is exposed to different temperatures. This will have a direct impact on the action of the neck. A guitar, with low action, that does not have buzzing frets indoors might have frets buzzing when it is exposed to outdoor conditions. The frets, strings, neck, bridge and nut will all have their respected CTEs changing with the climate. You will certainly be reaching for the tuner more often at your outdoor gigs. While we are on the subject of tuning, let’s now turn our attention towards the strings.

Sticky Fingers

There is one particular part of playing outside that does not get much airplay. When the humidity goes up, your hands will become a little stickier on the neck and fret board. There will be considerably more drag on the strings. Shifting positions on the neck will become more challenging. The tone and sustain of the strings might start to change as gunk from your fingers starts to build up on your strings. So what do you do? Here are some solutions:

1. Light mineral oil – There are some products on the market today that are used to reduce string drag. The best ones are made from light organic mineral oil. This type of oil does very well for two reasons: 1. It lubricates the strings without excessive build up. 2. It does not penetrate deep into the skin to soften calluses. When applying, it is best to wipe it on versus spraying. Trying to spray into a targeted area like a guitar neck, outdoors, is difficult. Again wiping the oil on will give better results.

2. Lemon oil on the fret board – If you are not keeping your fret board preserved with lemon oil today…do it. A light application of oil on rosewood fret boards will keep the wood from drying and cracking. The real benefit here is also reducing finger drag when shifting positions.

3. Handwipes – Don’t you just love the smell of those little handy wipe moist towel lets that come in little packets? Be sure to keep a few of those in your guitar case. They are great for wiping off sticky hands while you are outside, or just simply cleaning hands after stage setup.

4. Coated strings – There are pros and cons to using coated strings. In addition to their corrosion protection, another advantage is their ability to reduce finger drag in high humidity situations. They have their place in outdoor gigs.

What should be avoided?

Avoid using lotions on your hands. This might sound tempting at first as lotions can make things more slippery and comfortable. In the end, your fingers tips will soften, and the strings will get excessive gunk build up. The lotion will do no justice to your fret board as it will build up with gunk.

Contrary to popular belief, dry cotton cloths to wipe of the strings will not improve the problem encountered outdoors. Excessive wiping of the neck and strings with cotton cloths will remove any natural oils left behind from your hands. This will increase friction and cause more string drag. If you have a lot of sweating, that makes the fret board slick, then lightly dab the cotton towel on your hands and the strings. If you rub and wipe, that will surely remove any natural oils from your skin, strings, and fret board.

Finally, playing outside can also involve those pesky insects that want to bite us right in the middle of a song. While insect repellent is a good choice for preventing this scenario, it should be used with caution. The active ingredient in these repellants is often DEET or Picaridin which is fairly passive in toxicity to skin and non-corrosive to metals. However, these chemicals can become gummy when mixed with dirty fretboards. The result can reduce string performance. Also, if you have an instrument with nitro-cellulose lacquer, these repellents can wreak havoc when they come in contact with the finish. Again, use caution and care when applying insect repellents at your outdoor venue.

Hopefully, these few pointers will make your next outdoor gig more comfortable and rewarding.

About The Author

Professor String^TM is a leading expert in the musical string business. He leads a development group that specializes in guitar and bass string research for musicians. You can visit their site at http://www.professorstring.com.

Guitar Strings and the Great Outdoors was written by Special to Guitar Noise for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

If your band plays twenty-five gigs this year, how many of your friends/fans will come to see more than four of these? A very small percentage. Why?

It’s (probably) not you, it’s them. Let’s find out why and what you can do about it.

When you ask your friends/fans to come to your next live show and see you play, what are you really asking them to do? Are you asking them to watch and listen to you perform your cool songs? No.

In reality, you are really asking people to travel all the way to some dirty club where they need to pay to get in the door. Then they will find themselves surrounded by intoxicated people who scream in one’s ears because the music is too loud to talk, pay for overpriced drinks (and bad food), stand (or sit if they can find a chair) through an opening band they likely have little or no interest in, then wait again an additional fifteen minutes (and they’re lucky it’s only fifteen minutes!) as the stage changes from one band to the next, then finally they get to stand through ninety minutes of your band’s cool songs in a room that is booming with muddy bass frequencies because the sound man does not know how to properly mix bands in a room that was never acoustically designed to have loud music played in. After the show is over they leave the club and drive home with their ears ringing and a headache.

So if that’s what you ask them to do the first time, they come out to see you play, what are you asking them to do the second time?  And the third time? The same thing of course.

Compare that with going to see a movie. You go to the nearest theater, you buy a ticket, you ‘sit’ through five minutes of previews, then you watch the movie. Afterwards you are home in maybe fifteen minutes.

Or compare going to see your band’s live show with staying at home and watching TV, listening to music, surfing the internet, or a long list of other pleasurable, easy and convenient things people can do.

The point is this: people have easier, and more convenient alternatives to have fun next weekend besides coming to see you (or any other band) play live.

As you can see, musicians fight an uphill battle to fill the venues we are performing at. We have a lot of work to do in order to get people off their butts to see your band’s next live show.

Your friends and fans really need to know if it’s going to be worth all the hassle described above before coming out again to see basically the same show a second, or third, or fourth time.

You first need to create a better and more unique experience for your fans from one show to the next. Some bands change the songs they play from show to show. Changing the set list does help a little bit, but you need to do more than that to really change what your fans will expect to experience.

Some bands try to be uniquely different from other bands. You don’t need to be different from other bands, you need to be a good band that puts on live shows which are often unique from each other! People need new reasons to come back to see you again and again. Download this special guide to learn more about how to get more people to come to your live shows.

Think about what your band can do to make your shows unique from each other.  Then, once you have ideas in place that will make your next show more special for your audience, you need to clearly and strongly communicate this to people.

I’ll give you two great examples by comparing two rock bands I know. I’ll show you how one of these bands totally packed their next several shows and the other band missed their opportunity to do the same by making a critical mistake.

Band 1: The first band put together their own show and instead of teaming up with another band, they hired a small group of (very attractive) women dancers to perform on the stage as the opening act. It was announced (before and during) the show that these women and the band would be hanging out with the audience ‘after’ the show at a nearby hotel lobby. People enjoyed the show and the activities that followed later. The key piece of success for the band was that they heavily promoted the event as ‘special’ and promoted the dancers (including embedded dancer videos on the band’s and club’s website) in as many places as possible. They worked very hard to promote the uniqueness of this show and told people very clearly how ‘this show’ was better and more special than previous shows. It didn’t take long for the promotion to go viral in the area. The final result: The club was packed!

During the opening song and the band’s final song the dancers came out and danced on stage, then moved into the crowd for a while and danced there too. The dancers were smart when they had the idea to integrate their act with the bands act on and off stage. They made real connections with the crowd as they mingled with them at the show and also afterwards. Both the band and the dancers did something really good for themselves. Instead of just putting on a good show and making the audience have a good time, they put a strong desire in the minds of many people there to come see them again and again.

This band did similar shows with these (and other) dancers as well as comedians and other acts (both musical and non musical) to keep their shows different from each other so that people would not only get off their butts to come to see the band for the first time, but also for a second, third, fourth, fifth and more times.

Band 2: I recently saw a second band play in Chicago. Their show also had other ‘acts’ that were not bands, including a pair of very attractive fire eating women who the crowd went absolutely crazy for. The only problem was there were only about a hundred people in the venue to see the show, and this was in a the club can hold up to thirteen hundred people.

The band knew the audience would love the show, but they failed to promote it well and differently than how they promoted their past shows. So at the end of the night they had hundred people who might come back to see them again. Had they promoted the event as the first band did, they would have had several hundred people coming back to see them again.

Had the show been promoted and organized more similarly to the way the first band had done, they would have several hundred people coming back to see them again at their next shows which would then almost be a guaranteed success, at least on the local level.

It’s very important that your shows are unique from each other and not necessarily unique from what other bands do. In addition, the most crucial lesson to be learned is all of your ‘promotion’ needs to highlight each of your shows as unique, different and special events. It’s not enough for your shows to actually be unique, you need to always communicate that uniqueness in all of your heavy promotion.

So what about your band? I’m not necessarily suggesting that you copy the examples above. What I am suggesting for you is to think a lot about what your band can do to make your future live shows more unique, special and better than what you normally do. Sit together with your band mates and brainstorm your possibilities. To learn more ideas, download this free eBook about how to get more people to come to your live shows.

About the author: Tom Hess is a professional musician, recording artist and mentors other musicians to build a music career.

©Tom Hess Music Corporation.

All Rights reserved.

How To Get More People To Come To Your Live Shows was written by Tom Hess for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

After mentoring many musicians who are developing their own music careers, I see the same false assumptions, problems, and mistakes appear again and again. Here is the list of the Top 10 mistakes that can hold you back:

Mistake #10 – Not having a compelling image that is congruent with your music. Most musicians (and bands) severely underestimate the importance of their image. Yes, music is about “music,” but the music business success is about having a total package that includes music, image, a visual stage show, and many other things that need to be fully developed and integrated in a congruent way.

Mistake #9 – Trying to “get your name out there.” Although this seems to be a main goal of most musicians and bands, it is the wrong approach to start with. Before trying to be seen and heard as much as possible, it is often more important to focus on “converting” the people who hear and see you into becoming actual fans. This “conversion” is the first key to your promotional success, not getting seen or heard as much as possible.

Mistake #8 – Believing that social media websites are the keys to online music promotion for musicians and bands. Social media websites are a tool. They are one piece of the online music marketing puzzle.  Music industry companies (record labels, artist managers, booking agents, etc.) are far more interested in the popularity of your website, not how many friends you have at MySpace, YouTube, Facebook or any other website that you do not own and control. Want to impress the industry with your band’s promotion? Build your own personal website traffic.

Mistake #7 – Not investing enough time into building your music career. Most musicians spend most of their time on music, but put very little effort into the many other critical elements needed to make it in the music business. If you are already a talented musician, you should invest at least 50% of your time into starting or advancing your music career. If you are still developing your musical skills, you should still invest around 25% of your “music” time into building a future music career.

Mistake #6 – Surrounding yourself with people who are negative, lazy and lack ambition. If you are very serious about becoming a professional musician and building a great career in music, then you absolutely must surround yourself with like-minded musicians.

Mistake #5 – Having merely mediocre live performing skills. Many musicians who are not yet in a good band put off developing their live performing and stage presence skills. This is a big reason why talented musicians don’t get into really good bands that they audition for. Your music may be good, but a live show requires more than great music. If people only wanted to hear the music, they would listen to you at home. Both fans and record labels want (and expect) to see a real show. Neglecting live performance skills results in talented musicians and bands becoming quickly forgotten.

Mistake #4 – Focusing on increasing the quantity of fans instead of the intensity of your fans. The number of fans you have should always be your secondary focus (not your primary one) if you want to become successful in the music industry. The fact is, it is not the number of fans that matters most, but rather the number of fanatics which will contribute more directly to your success (or lack of it). This is particularly true in the beginning of a band’s music career. Focus more effort on converting your existing fans into raving fanatics. Learn to do this and the number of your overall fans will increase through powerful word of mouth.

Mistake #3 – Not enough cash flow to support your music career. Like it or not, it takes money to build a music career. Even if other people/companies are paying for your record, tour support, merchandise, etc. you still need to have the freedom to pursue opportunities as they come. Sadly, many musicians miss opportunities because they can’t afford to take advantage of them. In addition to a decent income, you also need the flexibility of being able to take time away from that income source to go into the studio, go on tour, etc. That is why learning how to teach guitar is such a great way to achieve both if you learn how to become a highly successful guitar teacher.

Mistake #2 – Not enough depth in your music relationships. There’s an old expression, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” In music this is often modified to, “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” The truth is it’s not about either. The most important aspect of connections within the music industry is how deep are the current relationships you have now and will develop in the future. You don’t want to simply know people or be known, you want people who know you to have a real deep connection with you so that you are always on the top of their mind when opportunities present themselves. Ask yourself, “What can I do right now to deepen my existing relationships further on an ongoing basis?”

Mistake #1 – Having a fundamental misunderstanding about what record companies look for – and expect – from new bands. This is a huge topic, but in a nutshell it’s very useful to think of record companies like a bank that lends money to people or small businesses. Record companies make most of their decisions about with whom they will work and what the terms will be in much the same way that a bank will determine who they will loan money to and what the terms of the loan will be. Both record companies and banks basically want to know three things:

• How much value do you bring to the deal right now?
• How much risk do you bring with you right now?
• How much potential value and risk might you bring to them in the future after they invest in you?

If you want to buy a house, the bank wants to know a lot about the specific house you want to buy and even more about you. Record companies are the exact same, they want to know about your music, your talent and your band, but they also care as much (or more) about you (and your band mates) as people. What is it about you that will make a record deal a good or bad investment for them?

To learn more about avoiding these big mistakes and building a successful music career, get my free music career tips.

About the author: Tom Hess is a highly successful guitar teacher, professional touring guitarist and recording artist. He mentors musicians online to develop their own professional music careers and provides free music career resources.

© Tom Hess Music Corporation

Top 10 Mistakes People Make When Trying To Become Professional Musicians was written by Tom Hess for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

1. Your individual playing

The most important thing you can do (individually) to prepare for your gigs is to focus on playing your songs ‘consistently well’. To improve this, practice your songs in a wider variety of environments and situations. Play your songs standing, walking, in the dark, under a strobe light (if you have one), while talking, without looking at your guitar, while friends are listening, etc. The key point is to practice playing consistently well in all those different scenarios. This will help your individual performances on the stage.

2. Your band’s performance

When your band rehearses you should not be focused on playing the songs correctly. If your band mates cannot play the songs flawlessly before the band rehearses, send him/her home to learn the songs. Once he/she has truly done that, bring that person back to band rehearsals. Band practice is not about holding people’s hand through the process of learning the songs which should have been learned at home. If you have a band mate who needs your help learning the songs, you can do this by meeting alone with that person to help. However, if this is a consistent problem, then you may need to replace that band member for someone who is better (or less lazy if that is the case).

Band rehearsals should be about the band playing the songs tight rhythmically, matching dynamic levels in various parts of the songs and developing great stage presence (more on this later).

Because it can be very difficult to really know how good your band is in any of these areas as you are practicing, I strongly suggest you record your band rehearsals in two ways:

• Video record your rehearsals. When you watch the video, turn the volume off and simply pay attention to how the band looks visually. This will help you to really focus on the stage presence and visual impact your band may (or may not) have on your next audience.
• Audio record your rehearsals. Do this with computer based recording software and make sure each instrument is recorded onto its own track (multi track record). Do not listen to the audio from the video recording! The first thing to do is look at the recording on the computer screen. You want to notice patterns of rhythmic flaws. Is your bass player always playing slightly before the beat? Is your guitar player playing slightly behind (late) the beat? For many people it is much easier to ‘see it on the screen’ than it is to hear it. Once you see it, then you will be able to hear it afterwards much more easily. Doing this exercise will really help your band to play much tighter rhythmically (which is absolutely critical for any band). Also listen to how the dynamic levels of the band are changing? Does everyone get louder and softer at the same time? Or is everyone doing their own thing randomly? It almost always sounds best when the band does this together.

3. Your stage presence

When you play live, your music is only 50% of what most people in your audience care about. The other 50% is what they see. Remember, they came to ‘see and hear’ your gig. Great ‘sounding’ bands often lack bigger success because their live shows suffer from lame stage presence. If you want more people to consistently come out to your gigs, you must develop great stage presence.

As mentioned above band rehearsals aren’t about ‘learning to play the songs’. Schedule at least 50% of your band’s rehearsal time to analyze your stage presence skills (watch the video as described above and take notes on what you notice), then begin to implement improvements to this part of your live playing. You can make a lot of improvement on your own simply by some self analysis. If you want more help, check out my free stage presence tips.

4. Eliminate (or at least reduce) stage fright

If you have cool music, a cool band and have prepared well to give your audience an awesome show, that can all be quickly destroyed if stage fright gets in your way. Many musicians simply don’t perform well on stage due to anxiety. Don’t let this happen to you and your band. You have worked too hard to let fear cripple you. Your audience deserves better, and more importantly, you deserve better! You are on stage to have fun, not to be nervous every moment of the gig. To eliminate (or at least to significantly reduce) performance anxiety, check out this stage fright article.

5. Performance logistics

In addition to stage fright, there are other things that may happen during your gig that can hurt it. The main two issues are not being able to hear and not being able to see. If you’ve already played gigs, then you know that every gig sounds different on the stage. One night you can’t hear the bass, the next night you can’t hear yourself, etc. When you are the opening band, you typically don’t get a sound check before you play, so you have no idea what you will be able to hear (or not hear) on stage until you start playing the first song. While there are many different ways to deal with this problem, I’m going to focus only on one of them here. One of the best ways to prepare for not being able to hear all the instruments is to practice your songs with you and only ONE other instrument. So for example, practice playing only with the bass player. Next, practice the song only with the drummer. This will prepare you for live situations when you can only hear the bass or only hear the drums etc.

The next common logistical problem is not being able to see. Often live stages are dark in some moments and then extremely bright in other moments, making it very hard to see your instrument. My eyes are very sensitive to light, so I always play with dark sunglasses on (since the bright lights often blind me on stage without them). For dark situations you can add white out (or even glow in the dark markers) on the side of your fingerboard, so even in very low light you can clearly see your fingerboard. Of course practice playing the entire song without ever looking at your guitar is also a great way to prepare for unexpected lighting problems on the stage.

To get more help developing your music career check out my fifteen free music career tips.

About the author: Tom Hess is a professional guitarist and mentors musicians to start a career in music.

©Tom Hess Music Corporation.
All Rights reserved.

How to Prepare For Gigs and Make Your Live Shows Better was written by Tom Hess for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Here are three ways that any musician can practice performing and thereby become masterful on stage. All of these concepts are expanded on in my new book, The Musician’s Way.

1. Assemble a performance-development group

The skills required to perform soulfully in public have to be practiced. All of us, therefore, need opportunities to try out our material, learn how to manage our nerves, and hone our stage presence. I’ve found that the ideal setting for doing so is in a performance-development group.

To form such a group, you need two or more soloists or bands of comparable ability and a defined space such as a living room, rec room, or church meeting hall. Next, each musician must embrace a mutually supportive attitude because your group should provide a nonjudgmental setting where you can experiment freely as a performer and grow from your experiences.

For instance, what if a rising guitarist wants to build his confidence on stage, test his memory, and explore ways to counter jitters? How does he do so without risking his reputation in a public setting? A performance-development group supplies him with what he needs: he can play fearlessly in front of his fellow musicians, and they’ll cheer him on in his quest for excellence.

To make your practice performances optimally concert-like, enlist concert protocol: enter to applause, perform complete compositions, and have listeners applaud afterward. In addition, use a recorder so that you can review your work later (information about personal recorders is posted on my blog).

I also recommend that participants comment on each other’s performances, but within strict boundaries:

• Keep your comments brief.
• Use courteous “I” statements.
• Offer at least three positive remarks for every criticism.

Here’s an example of how one guitarist might comment on another’s performance:
“I really liked your choice of material and your stage presence. I also thought that your timing and memory were right on. Toward the beginning, though, I wondered how it would have sounded if you had stayed with a quieter volume for a while longer.”

2. Schedule private run-throughs

In a private run-through, you perform without an audience, other than your recorder and maybe the cat.

Commit to doing run-throughs at set times, and implement your standard pre-concert routines – arrange your meals and other preparations exactly as you would for a public event because pre-concert routines need practice, too.

When you perform a run-through, visualize an audience, and play your heart out. At the same time, rehearse specific skills: if you tend to stiffen on stage, for instance, practice releasing tension and transmitting warmth; to polish your stage presence, employ a video recorder and try out various gestures.

The benefit you derive from any practice performance will hinge on how honestly you evaluate your playing and the ways in which you practice in response. During your self-assessments, be objective and detached: treat glitches as helpful information and never as personal shortcomings.

For example, after you run a solo piece, you might go over your recording, jot down notes, and rehearse improvements. A few days later, following additional targeted practice and another run-through, you might opt to perform the music for your performance-development group.

3. Line up low-stress public shows

The above sorts of practice performances are invaluable, but public shows are going to be more intense, and we want them to be, but in positive ways.

Low-stress public shows give us the chance to present our music in actual performance situations, but where the stakes are low. So, although we take such performances seriously, we give ourselves permission to have fun on stage and not worry. As a result, we increase our confidence and artistic prowess. We’re then primed to excel at high-stakes concerts.

Representative sites for such performances include coffee shops and house parties as well as church or synagogue meeting halls, where we might invite congregants to hear us and donate to a charity. Such performances enable us to build an audience, serve our communities, and lift our playing and self-assurance to new heights.

When we integrate these three types of practice performances into our creative process, we can erase any disconnection between the practice studio and the stage. Of course, it takes time and effort for us to refine our craft, but let’s remember that performance, at its heart, is an act of beauty and generosity. In the words of singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, “I always try to give my songs as gifts.”

© 2009 Gerald Klickstein
All rights reserved

Gerald Klickstein is Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and an active guitarist, author, and arts advocate. His book, The Musician’s Way was published this fall by Oxford University Press and is available at booksellers and in libraries worldwide.

Practicing Performance was written by Gerald Klickstein for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

My stowage solution involved a small battered case, into which I tossed picks, straps, cords, stomp boxes, and maybe an extra pack of smokes. If I needed “extra space,” there was also the small compartment inside my guitar case into which I tossed picks, straps, cords, stomp boxes, and maybe an extra pack of smokes. Ditto the glove compartment in my rusty Olds. I had no organizational system and I spent more time looking for something I just knew that I had, but couldn’t find. If I did find it, it was usually battered or tangled, or both.

I took a ten or twelve year sabbatical from playing, during which I got rid of every instrument, every piece of equipment, every pick. I didn’t have much to start with, so unloading didn’t take very long.

Then one Christmas, my wife bought me a beautiful Yamaha twelve-string acoustic. That started the current trend and before long I had a cheap Strat knock-off and a very small amp. More time went by and I became more and more involved in my rediscovered passion. And as I acquired more and bigger gear, I found myself falling into some of my bad old habits again. Fortunately, the internet was a way of life by then and it was simple to find resources to help with all the many facets of being a musician.

One very helpful and informative article I found here: Tips to Live and Learn By: On and Off the Gig. It lists many of the “can’t-do-withouts” that today’s musician should tote around with them.

But I still needed my own system; a way to help with the guesswork that confuses me at almost every gig. It’s one thing to have the gear, but if you can’t find it or it’s broken from abusive traveling habits, it doesn’t help. I’ll start with everyday space for my instruments:

L-R: Yamaha 12-string, Fender A-style mandolin, Schecter Elite, Danelectro '59.

Obviously, this isn’t a gig. But the stand I use at gigs won’t work in the limited space I have in my man-cave. There are a lot of expensive solutions out there, but simply anchoring a 2×4 into the wall and then screwing rubber-coated U-hooks into the 2×4 works perfectly for my needs. This keeps the instruments off the basement floor and the 2×4 creates enough of an offset to keep the instruments from banging on the wall. And since my music room also doubles as a tool room, no one has to trip over my babies when getting a hammer!

The Danny I use for open tunings. I had the local guitar wizard set it up especially for that. Problem solved for the old second guitar issues!

Now, on to the traveling purposes! Below I have my current method:

At the top right, there is a tote box purchased from the local home improvement center. It has a bright yellow snap-lock lid which makes it easy to find in a dark nightclub. The yellow-black contrast works very well; so much so that transportation officials adopted that scheme for many road signs. I decided to adopt that as well, so I use yellow friction tape to ID my cords. It makes them easy to see, and no one can walk off with the wrong cord.

Into the tote goes a fishing tackle box for small parts (I’ll elaborate on that later), foot switches and stomp boxes, 8-ft plastic tube for the Talkbox, microphones, several 20-ft cords, a power strip, a 3-ring binder, a very thirsty towel, a small stand for the mandolin, and the small red lunchbox contains my wireless components. I tried to use mainly red velcro to bind up the wires (yellow was not available). Again, red is easy to see in the dark and Velcro can be used over and over. Zip ties needed replacing after every gig. Plus, the Velcro can be used to organize cabling before a gig.

Now this helps a lot for most of the stuff to carry around. But there are a lot of small parts as well. I wondered about this before stumbling on the solution while looking for scout supplies for my son. A fishing tackle box works great for the small stuff:

It’s amazing how much I have been able to put in here. Tuner, extra strings, picks, capos, slides, patch cords, a small flashlight, mike adapters, pre-amp, a small tool kit, wire cutters, Blitz Cloths, plus some off-the-wall stuff I learned from watching other musicians. I have a few wooden clothespins for securing lyrics to the stand on a windy day, a few Sharpies, business cards, a box cutter, an old toothbrush for cleaning, emery board, and even a Swiss Army Knife! Close it up and it fits snugly into my tote.

The 3-ring binder has become a nice little addition:

It’s a plain white affair with pockets inside the covers. I got several of those transparent inserts since they last longer than punching a hole in the paper. The first page is my main cheat sheet. The numbered list at the top documents the effects positions on my amp. The printing on the amp’s control panel is small and my middle-aged eyesight sucks! Right below that, I have my preferred dial position of all the controls. The knobs all get moved around during transit, and who can remember where they were when they left the house? The numbers are the “o’clock” position of the control knobs since there are no calibration numbers on my amp. Below that, I have the PA channels my mikes go into. And finally, the slider settings on my acoustic pre-amp.

The rest of the inserts are used for song cheat sheets. Darkness again can be your enemy at gigs. So I found a nice solution at the lighting department of the same home improvement store:

This one has a mounting base which screws right into my music stand. I use rechargeable AAA batteries for the six LEDs. The light cost around thirteen dollars. I use rechargeables for the light and for my wireless unit. I keep them in the charger between gigs.

Finally, having the stands that work for you is a biggie:

I spent the extra cash and got the orchestra music stand. It won’t tip over as easy as the collapsible ones and pivots to just about any angle you’d want. Same with the boom-style mike stand with the tripod base. The three-bay guitar stand is a little small for what I need, but it does the job. Plus it’s stable and has a small footprint. I saved my small gig stand for the mandolin. The amp stand is my latest acquisition. I never though about having one until someone let me use theirs recently. It’s great because it raises your small but powerful amp off the floor for better projection. It also tilts it back slightly which makes it a lot easier to hear what you are playing!

Watching over all this is Sydney, my road manager. For some reason, whenever I practice he comes in and gives me his opinion of my musicianship. Right after I took this picture, his brother (and my A&R man) Simon jumped over and bit him in the neck. Hilarity ensued.

Time to pack up and get going:

This will all fit snugly in the bed of my Ranger pickup. I have a retracting cover which locks shut in case the weather is bad. During the winter months, I keep my instruments in the passenger compartment with me. My thinking is if I keep them as warm as I am, then I won’t lose so much time warming them up before a gig.

In the end, I guess being a working musician is like working in a M.A.S.H. unit. You have to be mobile and still be functional. And since most of us have to move our own stuff around, we may as well keep things easy and organized so we can concentrate on playing

The Gear (and How to Keep it) was written by Mark Mills for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

• What’s the best way to find other musicians?
• What are some good sound check songs?
• How do I make live vocals sound clear?
• How do I clear up sound troubles on stage?
• What are my sound needs for an outdoor gig?
• Should the sound guy get paid?
• Can I use a laptop for live recording?
• What are performance rights?

What’s the best way to find other musicians?

Have you tried to post on college boards? There may be some amateur musicians in school that would be willing to jam. I know that’s how I played in college (some years ago!). The other good resource is a music school that teaches guitar lessons, drum lessons, etc. Students are usually encouraged to play in some kind of ensemble, so jams can be arranged with them through teachers. I’ve found that to be a great resource for me.

I understand about being wary of unsavory types; always a concern. I’ve usually found most musicians to be pretty mellow, but I agree, you should be careful. Staying with schools to post (as opposed to music or cd stores) is one filter for stalker types.

Have you tried posting on the Guitar Noise Gigs and Jams Forum? You may get some responses there.

What are some good sound check songs?

The sound check should be done with a song that’s very flexible and easy to play. It should start off easy with just the rhythm guitar, bass, and simple drums. Then add in the second guitar, and then sing a simple verse and chorus, then let the lead guitar wail for a brief solo, followed by a power instrumental chorus (everyone plays their loudest, the drummer goes wild), then end with a strong vocal chorus with full harmonies. It’s good to use a cover song. I’ll often use Feelin’ Alright because it has all the parts, and it’s not too fast. Don’t use a song like “Sympathy for the Devil” because it’s too dependent on the lyrics, and there’s not a lot of dynamics.

You should pick a song that your band is willing to play early – almost a “throw away” song, but don’t blow it off. The audience is listening, and a bad sound check will haunt you for the rest of the night. And if you find a problem during the sound check, stop and fix it!

For more ideas check out Scott Hysell’s lesson Sound Check in the Sound Engineering section.

How do I make live vocals sound clear?

I am having trouble getting vocals to come out clear to my audience. I believe I have them up loud enough they just sound muddy and are not easy to understand. My band consists of a drummer, a bass player, two guitar players, and four vocalists. I am not getting any distortion in the speakers. Is this an equalization problem?
EQ is the prime cause of Muddy Vocals. You should try setting up with just a rhythm guitar and the 4 singers and sing some Crosby Stills and Nash type harmonies. Play around with increasing the EQ between 800 and 6KHz. Do this with the tone controls on the mixer set flat, only adjust your equalizer. Try doing too much so it sounds harsh or tinny, then back it down until it sounds better. It’s OK to leave it a little bright, so long as it doesn’t distort. You can then adjust each individual voice on the mixer.

Be sure to check that your speakers are working correctly. There may be an attenuator on the horn/tweeter, or it may be blown out. You should be sure that you can hear some hiss from it.

Last, make sure you don’t have on too much reverb. A little is good, but a lot can mess it up. If you are using a digital reverb, try making the time and depth longer, more of an echo than a chorus.

For even more help on this topic check out The Soundman.

How do I clear up sound troubles on stage?

I think the biggest problem is that your stage volume is way too high. It’s not good if you can’t hear your own sax! But if you turn down the amps, then you’ll need to feed more of the amps through the mixer for the mains. The keyboards and the bass can go direct using 1/4″ cables, but the guitars will need to be miked. Once this is done, then you can face all of the amps in toward yourselves so you can hear each other even at lower levels.

With this setup, then you should be able to get by with a simple monitor mix for the vocals. I might suggest using side-fills instead of putting the monitors on the floor. You could put a third one behind the drummer so he can hear too. Remember that the sax and guitar leads should be treated as vocals and fed into the monitors when needed.

You’ll need a mixer with at least 12 channels, but your existing PA amps and speakers should be enough – you’re not getting louder! The only possible issue here is that you may be putting more of the bass guitar through the PA, so you may need an extra sub woofer and amp, but maybe not.

The last issue is to make sure you have an EQ for the monitor mix. This will help prevent feedback, and make the sound much clearer.

What are my sound needs for an outdoor gig?

Here are a couple of quick questions, and some ideas to start.

First, is the stage protected and secure? Are your going to have to tear it down every night? Either way, be sure that you get a rack with locks for your mixer and effects. Also get a DJ style CD player for the rack. I’d get a Mackie CFX (12 or 16) if I was spending other people’s money. The biggest problem with outdoors is that the bass disappears into the sky. You should consider sub-woofers and put them as low as you can. For the PA, I’d get 3 pairs of full-range speakers, one pair points in toward the dance area, the next pair points out further down the beach, and the last pair point back at the band, as their monitors. (As described in my sound engineering articles)

Fender and JBL make some nice all-weather cabinets. You’re going to need a good amount of power, figure 200W for every speaker, plus the sub-woofer. Plus, even though the bands are small, you’re going to need a lot of mics, because you’re going to have to mike the drums and guitars. But buy cheap ones ($50 max). You’ll need a snake and cables – can you put the mix board up on a lifeguard tower (too cool!)?

OK – reality check – do you really want to “light-up” the entire beach, or just the dance area in front of the band? It gets a lot simpler when you don’t have to cover the large area.

Do you have a local music store that you trust? You’re going to need one, and you’re talking about some serious bucks.

Should the sound guy get paid?

I am in high school and I am currently running sound for a local high school band. I love doing what I am doing because I am constantly around music. Along with running sound, I do the majority of setting up, tearing down, and I help bring equipment to the gig. However, I have been faced with a problem. The guys in the band have not paid me for quite a while. They say that all of the band’s money is going into the band’s account in order to buy other equipment. Though getting new equipment is nice, I need to get paid. I have confronted the band members about this and they tend to use my love for what I’m doing against me and tell me not to complain. I feel that I am getting ripped off and used. I am also going to be getting another job soon, and it makes no sense to take time off a job where I will be actually getting paid to work for these guys and not be guaranteed the money. Should I have them sign a contract even though they only pay me $25 dollars a gig??? I would GREATLY appreciate your opinion on this. Thank you!

Wow, you’ve got an interesting problem. If no one else in the band is getting paid, then that makes it even more difficult. Who keeps and manages the money?

On the plus side, you are an energetic sound engineer who loves the music and cares how it sounds. These characteristics will serve you well.

Since no one is getting paid, then you should all be “equals”, which means that everyone has to help load in, set up, and tear down. The PA and the drums get set up first, and no one plays their guitars until the initial sound check is finished. When possible, you should go to rehearsals, and provide some creative input about dynamics, tone, etc.

With regard to your options going forward, you’ve got a couple of choices. First, if you want to get paid even if the others don’t, then you need to act like a hired gun. This means that you are no longer equals: they are the talent, you are the sound guy. You are responsible for the equipment, and you have to treat it as if it was your own. You’ll have to get to the gigs early and set up alone. In fact, it would be best if you got your own PA . On the plus side, you could then work for other bands too, and you’d be surprised how many bands really need a sound guy out front. Either way, you get paid.

If you want to stay with the band, then you should at least have a say in how the money is managed, and what equipment is bought. The band shouldn’t buy anyone personal gear like guitars or strings, but any PA gear can be owned by the group. If there are 5 of you, and you make $300 for one night, then maybe $200 goes in the bank, and each of you gets to keep $20 cash.

Also, what happens when one of you leaves the band. Say you’ve earned $5000 over the years, and spent $4000 on PA upgrades. What happens after senior year? Who gets to keep the PA? How much does that person have to pay the others? This gets very tricky.

But you can look at it simply: if you are considered a member of the band, then you should have a say in how it’s run, and be treated as an equal. If not, then you’re on your own whether you realize it or not.

Feel free to share this with the band and your parents. These are the kinds of business issues that you can talk with them about (as opposed to your respective taste in music).

Can I use a laptop for live recording?

A laptop won’t be sufficient for good recordings, as you will need a first-class digital converter. I would recommend one of the new Korg or Fostex digital recording stations. They have excellent mic pre-amps and digital converters, as well as useful EQ and effects. Some models have CD-ROM burners installed, or you download the data over to your PC. There are small 4-6 channel units, as well as 12-24 channel workstations.

Don’t forget that you will need permission from the artists to record them.

What are performance rights?

Performance rights is the right to income from public performances of your work. There are three big performance rights organizations: BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. They each license venues and promoters to publicly perform anything in their catalog.

For more information on the different types of music rights, have a look at our FAQ What is the deal with music rights?

Playing Live FAQ was written by Guitar Noise Staff for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

When I was in high school and college, I thought that Chicago and The Guess Who and Blood Sweat & Tears were among the best rock bands around. I loved their horns (trumpets, saxes, trombones), and learned to listen carefully to figure out how many types of horns were being used. I learned how to play the brass parts on piano. Many Motown groups used brass to spice up a dance tune. Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious” has that great horn riff, with the bass chasing it all the way. Even the Rolling Stones use horns on “Bitch” and the Who have used horns almost since their inception, mostly because John Entwhistle was a terrific French Horn player as well as an exceptionally talented bassist. Sax solos have long been a part of Rock’n'Roll, but I’m talking about the complete section.

So one of my dreams has always been to play with a full horn section. And I have done it twice, so far. Those of you that track our family adventures know that we organize and perform in our middle school talent show. Our kids have always played their saxes (or clarinet or flute) in these shows, but usually they were as solo instruments. Laura sings with one of the boys, I play bass and run the rehearsals.

For my son’s eighth grade year, I decided to see if I could pull together a horn section and produce a reasonable product. First, I recruited other eighth graders from the Jazz Band: my son on tenor sax, his friends on alto, trumpet and trombone. The important thing here is that they all can play pretty well, they can read music, and they get along with each other reasonably well.

The Jazz Band teacher told me where I could find the charts he uses, and I bought the charts for Get Ready and I Got You ($40 for each song, in case you’re interested). This is more expensive than standard sheet music, but it’s more complicated too. These charts have numbered measures and labeled sections, and they are arranged in horn-friendly keys.

Our third song was the blues ballad True Love by Pat Benatar (with the Room Full of Blues horn section), which I couldn’t find anywhere. I asked one of the guys at the local music school, and for $100, he wrote it for us. The song is pretty easy to transcribe, but he knew how to arrange the horns to build chords and harmonies correctly, so it was worth it.

I gave everyone a CD with the three songs, so they had an idea of what we were playing, but the keys were slightly different.

Now I have a couple of serious impediments to being a big-band leader; first I can’t play any horn, and second, I can’t sing (so I can’t fake the horn parts). However, I have lots of experience jamming, and I’ve learned how to teach band dynamics.

So at our first rehearsal I passed out copies of the charts (never give out the originals!), and we got started. Over the years, the way we play Get Ready has morphed from the original recording. So I tell the kids: “OK, we start at measure 33, play through 40, and then go to the verse starting in measure 9.” Needless to say, they looked at me strangely. But they played it, and it sounded fine.

As we got organized for True Love, I was explaining to our young drummer that I really needed her to keep the time true, as I would be focusing on my fretless bass line. We started playing, and I concentrated on my fingering and slides. Suddenly, this power chord grew behind me – the horns were playing the opening crescendo perfectly. I literally stopped playing and turned around. They all looked at me bewildered. “Sorry, but I wasn’t expecting that, and it was wonderful.”

We rehearsed three times, organizing solos and making sure our outros were tight. The night of the show, the kids did a great job, and we received praise from everyone. For the kids, it may have been just another gig, but for me it was a magical performance.

Four years later, my daughter is in eighth grade, and I decide to do it again. I followed the same routine, buying the chart for Just You ‘n’ Me, and having a different person create a full section chart for Moondance. I recycled Get Ready and we were off. I won’t bore you with the details, as there were many similarities, and some individual differences. In the end, we pulled it off, and the horns sounded great!

Pause for a moment of parental bragging: Our daughter Jacqui mainly plays alto sax, but she also plays the flute and clarinet. She played clarinet for the soprano sax solo in Just You ‘n’ Me, and played the “lead flute” on Moondance, switching to sax for her solo. Some of her classmates knew she played the other instruments, but they’d never actually seen her switch off in the middle of a song.

So if you’ve ever thought about playing with horns, I’m here to tell you that it can be done, and done well.

Here is a small video snippet from Just You and Me. The first part shows the harmony with vocals, and the second part show a pretty good soli-riff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQU1xWUg_h8

Places to buy horn charts:

• JW Pepper: Charts for Schools
• Bob Baader, horn chart arranger

Playing with Horns was written by Dan Lasley for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

For me, the goal of performing is to feel appreciated-to feel that other people are enjoying and benefiting from your music, and to build skills by getting time to perform (translation: play music, make mistakes, learn from your mistakes and see what makes people smile, clap and tap their feet) Performing in rest homes has met all of these goals and more.

First, anyone performing in this environment will, almost always, be highly appreciated. Not many people are lining up to headline the local convalescent home or senior center, so you can be a “star ” no matter what. The nursing and administrative staff in these homes tends to be appreciative as well.

Start by talking with the activities director of the facility. The activities director is a trained professional in charge of providing activities for the residents. In preparing this essay I surveyed almost twenty activities directors. In general, it is preferred to schedule about a month in advance. An optimal performance duration is from forty-five minutes to an hour. Single events can be scheduled or, if mutually agreeable, regular (i.e. monthly quarterly etc) events. I personally have found a monthly event to be a great success. Residents tend to look forward to you coming and you get to know people on a first name basis. It might be helpful to meet with the director before the first performance to scout out the room and communicate about details.

The equipment needed to perform can be as simple as an acoustic guitar, a capo, guitar picks and whatever printed material you need to perform. I usually arrange to have an armless chair to sit in and something to place the music on. Voice or instrument amps might enhance a performance but are not usually required.

What to expect? First, residents vary in their level of function. Many are very alert and like to sing and participate. Some have had strokes, Alzheimer’s disease or other debilitating conditions. This doesn’t mean that they cannot benefit from or enjoy music. There is actually a lot of research that has been done on the use of music in the rehabilitation of people with various emotional and neurological problems. Singing the Blues should prove that! Don’t forget that rest home residents are not all old people but also include some relatively younger people.

Playing in front of a mostly non-critical audience is a great way to become comfortable with performing. No waiting in line for an hour to play one or two songs at an “open mike night” This setting places less emphasis on feeling pressure to “perform perfectly” and more emphasis on giving a little bit of yourself to the audience. That, to me, touches on the true essence of doing music for others. Ruth, a lady at one rest home where I perform says, “You make us happy.” Cool!

Input from activities directors indicates that “residents like upbeat songs from the 30′s to the 60′s and that residents love to sing…” I have built up a repertoire of songs I like (Beatles, John Denver, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, etc.). I mix these with “sing along songs” that as many people as possible know by heart such as I’ve Been Working On The Railroad, Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore, Daisy (also known as Bicycle Built For Two) and Yankee Doodle. After doing this a while you realize the songs that 75 to 80 years old adults know may be different than the ones you have memorized. People always like Happy Birthday if someone is celebrating or close to celebrating a birthday. More than occasionally people in the audience will ask “Do you know this or that song” and if I don’t then I say that I will learn it and sing it for them next time. Several songs I have added in this way are: Are You Lonesome Tonight? Please Release Me and God Bless America. I have different “sets” of songs that I rotate so that I don’t sing the same songs each month. To play for an hour, I need to have twenty-five to twenty eight songs in a set. I don’t have most of the material memorized, but instead use song sheets with chords.

Michelle has come to a number of my little rest home “concerts”. When I play the Beatles song Michelle (“…ma belle…”) she jokingly says, “Don’t sing that” But she smiles as I play while she is eating popcorn and visiting with her friends. Playing in several rest homes over the past five years has been a journey for me. It has been a “space” where I could learn what works and what doesn’t, while at the same time providing entertainment and “music therapy.” I am having some fun “Rocking the Rest Home.”

Rocking The Rest Home was written by Special to Guitar Noise for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Now, as a variation on David Hodge’s famous disclaimer; this is just my personal experience. I certainly do not recommend hooking up with total strangers on the Internet. And I really encourage children to practice “safe surfing” and not to talk to anyone online that they don’t already know.

Having said all that, that’s where the Magic of Music comes in. As some of you may know, some years ago, a college buddy of mine asked me to write some articles for this online guitar college that he had been writing for. The site owner was looking for a different perspective on music, a take from The Other Side. OK, no problem. Well, maybe a little writer’s block now and again, but mostly no problem. I started exploring the website, in order to figure out the audience I would be writing for. One of the articles I read was on playing music with others, the theme that David is currently exploring with our readers. Entitled Music At Mary’s, it espoused the wonders of jamming with friends; how much fun it can be and how much you can learn from each other. I enjoyed the article greatly and couldn’t have agreed more with the author, Lee Budar-Danoff. I’ve learned that playing with other musicians allows you to develop different skills than playing alone. The added benefit is that the more you play (by yourself or with others), the better you get.

Since I felt so simpatico with the author, I was encouraged to get in touch with her. One thing led to another, and we decided to meet up at the Riverside Jam 2001 in Chicago. I love playing these big jams. The musicians are easy going, partly because a jam is less pressure than a performance. The audience is low key, as it consists of other musicians that have decided not to play that song, as well as friends and family. You play when you want, usually what you want, and the rest of the time you get to be an audience member and dance, or make new friendships and renew old ones. In this very supportive atmosphere, you also feel free to try songs that you may not know (music cheat sheets abound with chords and lyrics) or to learn different arrangements of familiar songs.

Lee and I got along like houses on fire. We admired each other’s guitars, taste in music and found we were even more alike in that our husbands are both bass players! A strong friendship was sparked by meeting (gasp!) through the Internet! Since that time, Lee and her husband have had babies, and at our last Riverside Jam, she brought with her a young lady, Jess, as a mother’s helper. Jess also happened to play the guitar and, when she wasn’t responsible for the toddlers in her care, participated with all the rest of us in playing. She got along famously with the other younger musicians, including my daughter, Jacqui. Both girls joined the performance night of the jam, held at a local club. Jess played her guitar and Jacqui, her saxophone. They supported each other in their music playing, as they were both among the junior-most members at the jam.

As a consequence of this event, Jacqui flew off to spend part of her winter vacation with Jess. For someone who has spent most of her kids’ Internet careers warning about the dangers of meeting strangers online, this was a remarkable feat… I kidded with my daughter about not taking up with strangers met online, while we reveled in the friendships that music and GN have brought to us.

Similarly, through GN and the Riverside Jams, I have met other musicians that I have truly enjoyed getting to know. Playing with them has been an added bonus when we have been able to get together. The congenial atmosphere is summed up best by Wes Inman, a GN member and moderator who was a new participant to the Riverside Jam in ’04: “My first impression was that everyone knew each other so well. It was more like a family reunion. That really impressed me. Also, everyone was so helpful. Everyone was offering to carry gear in.” Ironically, many of us were just meeting for the first time, or had just met the day before. The bond built by love of music and the enjoyment of playing with others created a family from these diverse folks.

Along a similar vein, I wrote a piece called Not Just Another Pretty Face a few years back. This article explored playing in a band. As I re-read my notes, I saw many similarities between the positive aspects of jamming and being in a band. The sense of community created, the creativity sparked and the joy in the creation of your “own” sound, even when playing covers, is sublime. I love reading all the stories of readers who have been inspired to get out and play, either with a small group from work, church or their neighborhood. After all, that’s what this site is all about; inspiring and encouraging people to get out and play their guitar. So, as Mom says, go on out and play nicely with others!

Making Music – Playing Well With Others (and other rules Mom gave you to live by) was written by Laura Lasley for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Guitar Noise has always been a website where anyone with access to the Internet can learn about playing the guitar, bass (or banjo!), about music theory and a host of other things. But while you’re learning and playing, we want to also encourage you to get out and play music with other people as well. If you get a thrill simply playing your guitar, then just imagine what you’ll feel when you’re making music with your friends and sharing that music with others.

We’ll be posting stories, thoughts and tips about “Playing Well With Others” throughout 2005 and we encourage you to share your experiences and ideas with all our readers. You can send them to me at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and I will get them up online.

Sharing music is what Guitar Noise is all about and what better way to do so than to help give a little encouragement to someone?

And, just as a side note, unless someone tells me otherwise, I’ll simply post up first names or initials of the contributors.

Peace

David

I was talking to David a couple of days ago when he asked if I would write something about playing guitar with others.

Well sure, why not?

It turns out that it’s easier said than done.

Why is that? What makes this a difficult topic to write about?

I pondered this question for a while. Blank paper stared at me. I couldn’t take the first step. I didn’t want to expose myself to ridicule. I didn’t want the rest of the Guitar Noise community to think I was a weirdo, or insecure, or too sensitive. I didn’t want to write something I really felt uncomfortable sharing. I’m sure that you already know all of the stuff I would write anyway. I just don’t know enough to make it worth reading. I’ve really just got nothing to offer to you.

Wait a minute! Those are the very same reasons I gave myself for not playing with others.

1. “Blank paper stared at me.” Lack of inertia is the hardest thing to overcome. Make a commitment to yourself to find a playing partner or a “porch players” group by a certain date. Mark it on your calendar or day timer. That’s how I started writing this.
2. “I couldn’t take the first step.” Closely related to Number 1 above. Start small if you feel uncomfortable in groups. Find one friend or neighbor and just jam. Find a group if you just want to lurk and feel uncomfortable one on one. Have an opening line prepared, like “I’ve been playing for six months, a year, whatever, and I was looking for someone to jam with.” That way you can let the other person know your relative skill level without degrading yourself.
3. “I didn’t want to expose myself to ridicule.” Everybody fears this. But keep in mind jamming isn’t a contest. You don’t need to bring something to dazzle, just be honest about your ability. You can play open chords all evening long and if someone asks you to solo, just say “I’ll pass for now.”
4. “I didn’t want the rest of the Guitar Noise community to think I was a weirdo, or insecure, or too sensitive.” Again, this is closely related to the previous reason for procrastination, but when you are in a room with a bunch of people who have come to jam, you are amongst like-minded individuals. These people know how you feel. Once you start, you’ll get a great sense of belonging to a very supportive group and your fears will melt away.
5. “I didn’t want to write something I really felt uncomfortable sharing.” I’m not an expert on the psyche of the budding guitarist. I’m not a professional writer. I’m not an expert on group dynamics. I’m not a professional guitar player. But I know how to jam. By the way, nobody at a jam wants a flashy know-it-all, show-off, egomaniacal guitarist anyway. The first time anyone plays with a group of strangers they feel uncomfortable. You are no exception.
6. “I’m sure that you already know all of the stuff I would write anyway.” Hey look, if the guitarists you jam with already know all the stuff you would play anyway, that is fantastic. Think of all the material you could play.
7. “I just don’t know enough to make it worth reading.” You may think you don’t know enough to play with others, but I guarantee you do. If you can play open chords and strum you’ve got enough. What you don’t know, someone will be happy to show you.
8. “I’ve really got nothing to offer to you.” You’d be surprised at how much you can teach. You’d be surprised at how much others can learn from you. I have a student who is an absolute beginner and I’ve gotten so much better at the basics of thumb position, palm muting, percussive strokes, chord changes, finger position by teaching her. Get it? By teaching her, she taught me. Everybody has something to offer. Besides, company and support are always welcome.

At the end of last summer, I traveled up to see David in the Berkshires. It was time for the annual Riverside Jam, which is usually always a blast and this past August was no exception. The “main event” on Saturday night was all twenty-five musicians playing at the Berkshire Blues Café. We started in the late afternoon and played sets for the guests and Café patrons until closing time. I played and sang until I was wiped out. We had guitarists and other musicians come in from across the country – Guitar Noise denizens, some students, college buddies, friends, spouses, just a wonderful mix of people.

But the main Riverside Jam event wasn’t the best part of the weekend for me. It was the next night when about ten of us (those who decided to leave on Monday instead of Sunday), players of all ages, sizes, styles and genders, sat around David’s fireplace and jammed. I didn’t know half of the songs, but someone would yell out the chords or hand me a sheet with the chords and lyrics and away we’d go. If I had a problem with some part of the song, someone would lean over and say, “Try it like this.”

If I wanted to sit one out and just sing, no problem. If I wanted to just shake a maraca for a while, while my fingers recovered, again no problem. No expectations, no minimum skill requirement, no egos, just an amazing time of sharing a common love, making music. Go ahead and think I’m a weirdo, but it was as close to an Across the Universe moment as I have ever been.

You owe it to yourself to get out and share with other guitarists, so that they can share with you. Go and play well with others.

Hi David!

I’m a big fan of your websites and also your newsletter. It’s awesome!

Ok, trying to go straight to the point my history is the following:

I always played in bands, most of them “cover bands,” which, here in Mexico, is the most affordable way to make mo-money! And the relationship with most of my music partners was a job-like relation. One day in a rehearsal of one of those bands, I knew a bass player who was very friendly. When the rehearsal finished we talked about the music that we enjoy and things like this. After that, we talked about do a jam or something just to have fun the next day.

The next day the musical chemistry was immediately revealed… We thought in a very similar way when we’re playing, it was awesome the things that both of us were delivering to our ears.

From that day we had a lot of these type of jams, and, after the first one, we always recorded every single note that we played. Right now my friend is playing in a professional rock group very famous here in Mexico. I couldn’t do it in the way he did, due to a lot of reasons (I got married and have children now and enjoy a lifestyle different than that of my friend who is still single), BUT I’m very proud that a LOT of the jams and riffs recorded in that days, are now important parts of songs that I hear on the radio. Our jam ideas turned into things like a chorus of one song, the bridge of another and things like that.

That day I made a very good friendship with my buddy, whom I knew because the fun of jamming. You might start out playing with somebody who you don’t know very well, but strong, life-long friendships can grow out of the music. This particular experience was, in my life, one of the greatest things that ever happened.

I really think that the most of your musical growing can be done if you play/practice with somebody else, rather than playing alone, or even just playing in a band without taking the time to interact with your band-mates.

I hope you enjoy my little history and I hope it can be useful to others to encourage themselves to find the way to play/practice with somebody else, just for the fun to do it.

Peace!

Hi David!

Thanks for all the work you do getting the newsletter out each week – it’s always the first thing I read right after the coffee and Sunday Paper is done!

Regarding getting musicians together: I work at a large company’s corporate headquarters with about twelve hundred people working locally. I posted a free little ad in our on-line “Marketplace,” a sort of classified ads for employees. The ad simply asked for replies from folks interested in getting together once a month for some “open-mike” style jamming.

I received fifteen replies! I arranged to use some meeting space at work for a couple of hours, once a month. I got a real kick out of the diversity of talents, influences, skills, etc. that everyone brought. Coolest of all was jammin’ with a mailroom guy, a couple of directors, a vice president, and a few of us “regular middle” guys!

The routine was basically to play a couple of regular songs we worked out, then we’d go around the circle taking turns either playing a song of choice or pointing to another musician to play a specific song of the choosers wish. And everyone would join in!

We had a great time for about six months, but we have been on hiatus since the Florida Hurricanes in August-September (the state of Florida, as well as other places, was hard hit by numerous hurricanes between August and October of 2004 – DH). We do think that it’s high time to get the Music Club cranked up again!

A special experience, but first a little background: Each Christmas I make a CD for a handful of friends with some of my favorite songs. One of the recipients is my neighbor who is the pastor of a small church. I’ve played a handful of times at his church when they’ve been short on musicians. That they ask me to play is evidence of how short they can get, since I’ve not been playing very long. Anyway, the experience is nice, though we’re not exactly playing my favorite songs. But two weeks ago on my birthday, my neighbor asked me to bring my guitar over to his house after the Sunday service because the church pianist wanted to look at it. I wasn’t sure why, but I took it over.

When I got there, the keyboardist, lead guitarist, vocalists and my neighbor (who plays bass as well as being a pastor!) were all there. He had worked out the chords and lyrics to a half dozen of the songs off my Christmas CD, including songs by Lucinda Williams, Gordon Lightfoot, the Jayhawks, Old 97s, etc. He had passed the CD around to everyone so they could get familiar with them. We then proceeded to have a couple of beers and play “my” songs.

It was so cool to play songs I like and have them come alive. Plus, we got instant feedback from the family and friends who were listening. When we play at church, you don’t get applause. This was a first for me. We had so much fun that we’re going to do it regularly and plan to have some small “concerts” in our cul-de-sac this summer. I can’t wait!

I can attest that playing with others really helps two ways – it improves your playing AND it lets you know that yes, you can make music. What more could you want?

Making Music – Tales of Playing Well With Others from our Guitar Noise Readers was written by David Hodge for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

When I actually picked up a bass I had some anxieties about being good and consistent enough to play in a band. All the bassists I had seen on stage appeared relaxed and were having a great time, but with a machine-like sense of rhythm, tempo and tone. I realized that only by repetition would I get proficient enough, so I practiced every day for an hour or more and listened over and over to the songs I had to play along to. When it came to playing the bass lines, luckily, I have a fairly good sense of rhythm, and I found the extra space on the fret board of a bass guitar totally liberating. While my fingers got a little sore, not being used to the thicker strings, I found this a satisfying sign that I was working hard!

Roughly a week after picking up the bass, I jammed at Neil’s house, where we played along with each other and I astounded him with my progress and determination. I had discovered that playing a bass guitar is so enjoyable because, because you can have fun with the rhythm in a similar way to drums, while at the same time harmonising and creating melodies with the other guitars. I have grown to the love the satisfying rumble and boom of the bass sound and the way it underpins and drives a song. Seeing my progress, Neil suggested we have a proper practice in a rehearsal studio complete with his newly recruited drummer and second guitarist. I have to admit that when I first arrived at the rehearsal studio I felt rather intimidated to be the beginner playing with three experienced musicians. However, the others were so friendly and overwhelmed by what I’d accomplished in such a short time it really put me at ease! I found it a little harder playing with real live musicians as opposed to playing along with my practice CD – but a much more rewarding experience altogether. When it went right, I realized that magical warmth of feeling when a team of people are playing together in perfect collaboration.

In addition to playing, it was decided that I would provide backing vocals. I’d been in choirs at school and really enjoyed the idea of singing. My only problem was assurance in my ability and an initial crippling embarrassment about singing in front of the other guys – to start with I had to make Neil leave the room when I sang! Despite this, I knew it was something I definitely wanted to do and after a while my inhibitions dropped a little as I realized that I wasn’t actually that bad! However, playing the guitar and singing at the same time was definitely another hurdle that I had to deal with. It’s quite an art to hit the right note at exactly the right distance from the microphone while also hitting the right note and rhythm on a guitar you only picked up a few weeks ago! So again I practiced over and over, with Neil and by myself, keeping my neighbors up ’til the early hours with my booming bass and determined crooning. Again I found that time and repetition pays dividends, as I got more and more confident with singing and playing in unison.

Then, about four weeks since the band had been formed came our first gig, which I hope will act as a useful story to help anyone else who’s just embarked on a band and are perhaps facing their first live performance. Neil has many music contacts, having been involved in bands for many years and he managed to get us a support slot at a small venue. When it was confirmed I do admit to feeling a slight sense of dread along the lines of “I’ve only been playing 2 months!! What if I hit the wrong notes? What if I drop my guitar?…” I decided that I’d have to nip these feelings in the bud if I was going to be anything other than a shuddering wreck on stage.

So I tried a nifty little trick, which came to me out of the blue the day before the actual gig. I decide to fool myself into thinking I wasn’t nervous and that I was actually a cool-as-a-cucumber-rock-star-in-waiting. The day before the gig, I decided that whenever anyone asked me if I was nervous I would simply say “No, I’m excited” or something similar. Not in a big-headed way, but just to deny nervousness and turn it into enthusiasm. I’d practiced all the songs many times, I was totally capable of playing them, so why should I be nervous? I found that, amazingly, by the evening of the gig I’d actually convinced my brain that I wasn’t nervous – instead I was cheerful, relaxed and keen to get up there! The sound check was potentially the most nerve wracking part, as you have to sing a little and play on your own, but I found that just getting up and doing it without a moments nod to self-consciousness is the best way. Plus, because of my special preparation, it didn’t even affect me that much.

When we came to play it was absolutely exhilarating! We had all our friends in the audience and it felt great to show them what I’d learned and what we’d accomplished as a band. Plus, with all tension out of my body I was able to play to the best of my ability and I even spoke into the mic a few times! I even fluffed up a bit on the first song due to the flashing lights going dark for juuuuust slightly too long (!) but managed easily to recover. I think if I’d been nervous that might have thrown me more than it did (any guitar teacher will tell you that its impossible to play well if you’re tense). After the show, everyone congratulated us all on a good performance and commented on how at home I looked on stage! The overall message I’d like to share with anyone else who are just embarking on performing live with and for other people is to act confident even if you feel a little nervous inside and sooner or later that confidence will overwhelm inner jitters and you’ll perform all the better for it.

We performed our second gig about a week after the first and plan to write, record and perform some more over the summer. I’ve decided to take a few singing lessons and I’m also learning about writing my own bass lines and rhythms. I’m so glad I suggested I join my friend in this band – it’s going to be lots of hard work but I’m loving every minute of it!

My First Gig was written by Special to Guitar Noise for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

I was recently invited to jam with a bunch of folks that I have played with several times before. I was initially thrilled at the prospect of bringing my guitars to play. I have always enjoyed jamming and, as I’ve mentioned before, there is nothing like getting together with other musicians to improve your own guitar playing and enjoyment of the songs you’re playing. I also love to sing, and these friends are heavy on the guitarists and short on the singers. I checked the date set for the jam; perfect timing, as I didn’t have to work that day. Food is always involved with these occasions, and I happily planned my contribution to the potluck buffet for our starving artists.

I was really looking forward to a good time, but then, suddenly, anxiety set in. I realized that one of the other guitarists was someone who seemed to constantly scowl at me the last time we played together. He seemed annoyed at both my choice of songs as well as the arrangements of those songs. I knew that he was a much better guitar player than me. I was acutely aware of that every time I played. I’ve told myself many times that I can’t really compare myself to this guy. I haven’t played for as many years, I don’t have much time to practice, and I know I have my strengths as a singer/guitarist. Plus guitar playing shouldn’t be a competitive sport.

Despite my soothing mental monologue, I managed to work myself into a frenzy about having to play anywhere in the same room, building, city, state, heck, same country as this guy. I was worried about forgetting chord sequences, missing chord changes, or missing the chords altogether. I just knew I would forget all the lyrics to my favorite songs, even when they were in front of me on a piece of paper. And never mind trying to play anything but the most basic rhythm guitar! Not that I usually get fancy in the group setting, although it can be a good place to just try out something new or different. And by fancy, I mean basic riffs…

I had myself so upset that I was ready to bail out on the whole idea of jamming at all. Then I took a deep breath, and reminded myself that this was just for “fun”. Who would have thought I would need a sedative to perform for “fun”? I told myself that this was just one person, not all the rest of the jammers. I wondered if I was overreacting to our last jam together. As a (perpetually) beginning guitarist, I’m intermittently insecure about my playing ability. Aren’t we all? Most everyone I’ve ever played with has been very supportive and encouraging of my attempts to play, including the folks who invited me to the jam.

But I always feel like I don’t measure up. I know many of us feel that way; it seems natural to critique our own performances. In fact, one of the best parts about playing with others is when we all laugh and share with each other how we individually screwed up on any given song. It almost seems like a “I messed up more than you and this is how” contest sometimes. And yet, the overall song always manages to sound marvelous. Music is really wonderful that way.

I managed to talk myself out of giving up on my guitar playing, and when the day came, packed both the acoustic and the electric (and the yummy dessert I’d made) into the car and drove off to meet my friends and play. When I walked in, everyone had started already. I was late, in part due to my anxiety and procrastination at facing the music, if you’ll pardon the expression. I set my dessert down in the food area, and got out my instruments. Looking around the room, I saw the guitarist who I dreaded playing with hard at work, wailing on his axe. I repeated my mantra “you are good enough to play with them or they wouldn’t have invited you, you are good enough to play with them or they wouldn’t have invited you” again and again in my head. I took a deep breath and, at the next opportunity, joined in.

That day was one of the most delightful sessions I’ve been part of. The guy I was worried about was a blast to play with. He was fun, encouraging, very into the music and the synergy everyone in the room created. He even asked me to play a song that I knew he scowled at last time. What I had assumed to be his contempt for my playing and singing was probably nothing more than a bad day on his part. My anxiety was created by my feeling of insecurity about my playing, and my need to see playing as some kind of competitive sport. If I’m not good enough at that sport, if I don’t have enough skill or practice time (does this sound familiar?), I don’t get to be on the team. Even if I’m on the team, I don’t get to be a starter. When I let go of the “I need to prove myself” feeling, I had a marvelous time. I let go of my anxiety and had a lot of fun. We really grooved well together, and I was glad that I had talked myself into participating.

While the case of nerves that I had before this jam was relatively minor, performance anxiety can be quite real. There are many, many articles on it. Even seasoned performers can get “stage fright” before something they’ve played hundreds of times before. Recently I played with my husband and daughter at her middle school talent show. We were playing Gershwin’s Summertime and Van Morrison’s Moondance, both songs that I have played hundreds of times, with several of those times in public. Just before I got on stage, my heart was pounding and my fingers felt clammy. Getting on the stage, I had time to notice that the spot lights were blinding, and thank goodness, hid most of the crowd behind them. We started to play, and finger and vocal memory took over. It wasn’t a flawless performance (I managed to miss a chord change on one verse), but it was warmly received by the audience. The applause and the praise afterwards were genuine. As was the warm glow of accomplishment my family and I felt, and the pure joy in sharing our interpretation of music that we love with other people.

I’m sure many of us have suffered from anxiety over performing, whether with a few friends, or in front of an audience. However, when you can let go and just enjoy the beat and “Drift Away”, you will truly soothe your soul.

n.b. This column continues in a series dedicated to the female musician. Of course, male musicians are welcome to read and comment on the topics discussed as well, as many have (thank you!). We have our own forum in the forum section. As always, I would love suggestions on topics you would like to see covered. Please email me and tell me your story. I enjoy hearing each and every one.

Performance Anxiety was written by Laura Lasley for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

Negative Competitiveness is the sort that drives people to strange lengths to be “better” than those around them or deride others because they are not “as good” as someone else (I have a T-Shirt that my wife gave – hopefully in jest – which reads “I like winning – but not half as much as seeing you lose”). It is a divisive and destructive energy that puts a wedge between artists, striving for, basically, the same thing – betterment

You only have to read the Guitar Noise forums to see what I perceive as a form of (third-party) negative competitiveness – “Clapton (to simply use a name as an example) is way better than Guitarist Y and if you don’t agree with me, then both you and Guitarist Y”. This is a discussion that no one is going to win, because music is, by it’s very nature, subjective – what A likes, B may not and C may not like what B does and appreciates some of what A likes to listen to. As soon as negative competitiveness creeps in, A suddenly thinks that what B and C like to listen to is rubbish, B thinks the same about A and C, whilst C looks down in disgust at what A and B think is the bee’s knees. Looking more closely, we see that the negativity is no longer about music, but, rather, the taste of the people involved. There’s no longer subjectivity or objectivity; there’s emotion and personality. Personality gives way and it becomes a clash of egos and the music becomes purely incidental, nothing more than a justification for the locking of horns.

Positive Competitiveness, on the other hand, is what causes people to strive to be better – “Clapton’s music is fantastic, one day I want to be making music as good as that”. It creates a positive feeling of not yet having reached one’s own limits – the feeling that there is still improvement to be made and the ability is there to achieve it. It, also, leaves plenty of room for one’s own individuality and creativity, as well as the inclusion of other musicians into the wish list – “I like the way Kirk Hammett does this” or “John Lennon made great use of that in his music”.

Without this sort of attitude, music would sink into a morass of conformity and blandness and creativity would wither and die because no one would have any incentive to do anything different. We would still be playing lutes, lyres and heaven knows what else. Positive competitiveness is what drives people like Chuck Berry to bring different styles of music together in a completely new form. There was never any desire to gloat on how much better he was than the musicians that he played with, just to learn everything he could from them and then add his own creativity to take music somewhere it had never been before. He was competing more with himself than with his contemporaries. I’m sure that many of the originators of new styles of music have done the same. In positive competition, music is never the loser. In fact, there is no loser. Everybody gains. It is the followers that cause the problem, claiming someone to be the “new Clapton” or “new whomever.” By doing so, they have set a target and there are bodies to be climbed over on the way to reaching that target.

Positive Competitiveness can also be used to channel a person’s energies to their own betterment, by showing them that they have the potential and can fulfill it by practice, going to a teacher, jamming, etc, etc. They are competing against themselves, striving for the goals they have set for themselves and gaining confidence along the way to tackle new challenges. The reverse is true of negative competitiveness – it destroys the will to learn and to improve (“why should I, I’m a crap player – I’ll never be as good as my teacher and he never misses an opportunity to tell me so.” or “He’s useless – he can’t sweep pick hemidemisemiquavers at 300bpm”)

Writing this short piece has drawn me to the conclusion that the negativity in competitiveness is always destructive and very ego-related – the subject matter is pretty much incidental against the size of the egos on parade (so size really does matter!). Positive competition is, in my opinion, primarily concerned with the subject matter at hand rather than the personalities (or should that be egos?) involved, in fact, there is often only one personality involved – you. It is you that is striving to improve your music and become your kind of musician. By “stealing” from other musicians, you are not putting yourself into competition with them, but rather paying them a great compliment, whilst taking one more step to achieving your goals.

A final thought: how often do you hear the best guitarists putting down other guitarists? On the contrary, they are more than happy to spread their wisdom to any guitarist – good, bad or indifferent. And the negativity? Could it be from the “Wannabe but can’t” brigade?

Here endeth the rant.

Why Do We Perceive Playing or Performing As A Competition? was written by Graham Merry for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

I have been out to many a bar or club that was not so busy only to find a very talented musician owning the stage. I would sit and watch and learn, trying to steal as many licks as I could remember without a guitar or pen and paper in front of me. The question I always asked myself was, “this girl is SO good, why isn’t the crowd here?” I then wondered how I would ever be able to get a gig for myself, when such a talented person is playing at a rather large club and there are only twelve of us here to enjoy it. If you can’t draw a crowd, then there will be no more gigs, right?

I live in a medium sized city where the entire suburban area has about one million people on a VERY busy day. While my town is nowhere near the “next” Seattle or Nashville or LA or New York, there is a good local music scene. Good enough to intimidate the beginning musician. In spite of this, I felt I was ready to play music for others. More importantly, as I am sure many of you can identify with, I felt I was ready to share my voice, my imagination with others. The next question I stumbled upon was, “well where do I sign up?”

I stumbled onto my first gig through a friend who owned a bar. She was willing to let me play a three-hour set at her bar on a Tuesday night. If the crowd got into it, we would work out some form of payment. So I went into my first live show scared and not knowing if I was going to make any money. I figured that I knew about fifty songs, mostly covers and a few of my own, but enough to fill a three-hour set. Boy, was I wrong! Not only did I rush through my ENTIRE song catalog (not really though, because I was so nervous I forgot half the songs I knew), but I also had no idea of how to play most of the songs people kept screaming at me to play. I felt it was a nightmare. However, my friend who owned the bar got some good feedback, and not only did she pay me a little, she asked me to come back. With pay! So I was excited about the possibility of a second gig.

For the next six days all I did was play sets. Ten to twelve songs at a time, I was always practicing. Not just the songs either. Somewhere along the way I had decided that the solo musician must be a stand up comedian between songs. I began to try and develop a stage show. All this after one gig!

Wow! The following Tuesday was a reality check. I thought I had planned out and practiced a great show. What I hadn’t counted on was the “human aspect” of the crowd. While enjoying the high of getting a second gig, I had forgotten about the twelve requests I had gotten for Free Bird the week prior. Not only did I still not know the song, but all the witty stage banter I had come up with was meaningless when some guy kept yelling “Skynyrd” from the back of the room. What a disaster! When I recovered from the mess, I decided that it could be a learning experience.

From there I went on to play many more gigs at many more bars, or clubs, or coffeehouses. Along the way I tried to develop a plan of how to succeed. The following list is what I consider the Ten Commandments of how to get and ensure future gigs.

Matt’s Ten Commandments for Future Gigs or “Rules for the Road”

1. DEFINE YOUR WINDOW. Figure out what you do best and do it. Just like you wouldn’t walk into a roadhouse bar and play anything by Air Supply, don’t try and get a gig at a club where the audience won’t appreciate your style, just because it’s a gig. All you can do is ruin your reputation by walking into a jazz club and playing Metallica covers.

2. ALWAYS BE OPEN AND AVAILABLE. I had a friend had the chance to play an open mic night at one of the busiest clubs in town. He declined because the gig didn’t pay. The guy who ran the open mic was trying to sell a CD to a label, and an A&R rep from a small label was coming out that night. My friend, who I always thought was very talented, missed his opportunity to audition for a record label by not going because the gig “didn’t pay.”

3. CATER TO YOUR AUDIENCE. The crowd is there because of you. No matter how big or small, if you ignore them, they won’t come back. No amount of technical guitar wizardry will make up for the fact that that one girl, who likes your music and brought eight friends, really wanted to hear Brown Eyed Girl. If you ignore her repeated request for a song, you are alienating your audience. If you can, then play her song. Which leads me to…

4. ALWAYS HAVE A TIP JAR. Whether you are getting paid a cut of the door or a flat rate, you can maximize you profits by adding a tip jar. Regardless of the $150 you are getting for playing on a weeknight, you might make and extra $20 by playing that girl’s request. Always take advantage of this. It could just help to double your income.

5. BE TIMELY. Always show up early. You are not the Rolling Stones or Guns and Roses and there is no excuse for being late. If the gig starts at 8:00 then you should be set up, in tune, and ready to play at 8. You cannot provide a valid excuse for breaking this commandment. Learn it, and live it.

6. BE PROFESSIONAL. As soon as your show is finished, even if you are the opening act, settle up with the production manager, club owner, or whoever is in charge as soon as possible. Have your calendar with you. There is no better time to get rescheduled than right after your gig. Even if you were the opening act, the success of your show is still fresh in the club owner’s mind. Book a return visit right then. If you wait three weeks to call him back, all he will remember is the headliner, whom he spent more money on. Be diligent in this area, and I promise you will play more shows.

7. VISIT. NOT CALL. There is nothing wrong with calling a club or bar in your area that you want to try and play at. There is everything wrong with not going and following up in person. I call a club only to find out who hires the bands, and when he/she will be there. Then I show up in person. Plan to sit for a while. Often times these people are very busy, and it can take some time to see them. However, if you call and ask for the club owner, and he is busy, someone will take a message. If you call and ask when he will be there, and then show up, he will most likely see you. The more often you sit in front of a club owner, the more likely you are to play at his club.

8. PRACTICE MORE THAN YOU PLAY. If you are fortunate enough to be gigging five nights a week, then practice even more. If you play a two-hour show, practice three hours before it. Don’t just play songs. Play sets. Practice what to say and do between your songs. While this seems like a waste of time, your overall live show is what people are going to remember, not how quickly you changed from an Am7 to a D7sus4.

9. VALUE YOUR EQUIPMENT. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard (and thought myself) that I need a better PA system, or another guitar pedal, or a new brand of strings, etc. Be content with what you have. It has performed at every gig you’ve had so far. Don’t be always looking for something to “improve your sound”. While some great equipment exists out there don’t spend your time finding the fourteenth pedal in your collection. Spend more time learning the songs you play. Good music that sounds poor will always get a return call before bad music that sounds better. Focus on the music. Ignore the part of you that says you will sound better if you buy _________ (fill in the blank). I can’t tell you the money I’ve wasted on crazy pedals. What acoustic guitarist needs an envelope filter anyway?

10. ALWAYS WRITE A SET LIST. I have seen this point proven. I know a great musician who can’t get gigs because, although he is talented, he sets up his PA and then waits on requests the whole night. This guy knows a million songs. On the rare occasion he gets requests from the get-go, his show is great. If the club is unresponsive to someone they don’t know who just sits and asks what they want to hear, he doesn’t come back to play at that club. Bad way to operate! Write a set list and stick to it. If you get requests, then honor them if you can. Otherwise stick to what you do best.

11. MARKET YOURSELF (I know, there were only supposed to be ten!). You are your biggest fan, right? If you’re not, re-evaluate your situation. I have had some great gigs playing to only fifteen people. My philosophy is that if fifteen people saw me on Thursday night, then I need to tell fifteen people about my next show on Monday. You are your best salesperson. Sell yourself to others. Post flyers. Go to the club on a night off, and talk to patrons. Sell yourself. No one else will.

Rules for the Road – Some Sound Advice for the Gigging Single Guitarist was written by Special to Guitar Noise for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

If you’ve been involved in music for any stretch of time, and if you can look deep enough within music to find its social side, chances are you’ve thought about getting involved or are already involved in a band. Music cannot be a strictly individual affair; it’s one of the many things in life where two heads (or more) are usually better than one. Hey, if you think you can make it on your own, more power to you. There’s no reason you can’t.

But there are several reasons why people want to be involved in a band. They might get shy when performing and feel better when other people perform with them, they might see music as a strictly social affair (those two definitely apply to me), or whatever. Fact of the matter is, as long is there is music, there will be bands to play it. And judging from the page you’re on now, you’ve given it a thought. This article will cover starting a band, rehearsing, performing and finding work – the main things the average band works toward.

OK, so you’ve decided to start a band. Who do you include? Who does what? How many people? A lot of things have to be taken into consideration when you’re starting your new band. Now, just to get off on the right foot, don’t think of a band name BEFORE you’ve assembled a band and at least had one practice. Get the feel of the band before you brand it for life. You might call it The Exploited Youths and imagine you’re going to be a punk band, but you may discover punk isn’t for you. Then you’re stuck with an inappropriate name that you have to change. Don’t do it.

Assembling your band is probably a lot easier if your friends play instruments. The reason I suggest picking friends is because you know them (and they know you) better than a stranger you read about in the personals at Zed + Gimp’s Music Store. If it’s a choice between a friend and “22y/o drummer seeking band, n/s gsoh inf: Godsmack, RATM, Sepultura”, go with the friend EVERY time. Another thing – if you’ve got the choice between a phenomenal drummer who’s only a mild acquaintance and a really good friend who perhaps isn’t as technically skilled a drummer, go with the really good friend. Most musicians, and not just drummers (in my case it was a drummer, but it can be anyone), are bound to improve but relationships might not. I learned this the hard way – on paper, my last band would have set the world on fire, until I discovered our interests differed unbelievably. He has since left and we have taken on the very good friend, and the relationship within the band is much better… there’s a much better atmosphere.

Assembling a band, by the way, is a LOT easier if you are in school/work/somewhere you meet practically every day. Not only is it a lot easier to arrange rehearsals and establish a band to begin with, but you’ve also got an advantage over bands that meet in the Zed + Gimp personals. I’m sure 22y/o drummer is a very nice person, but you don’t know him or his style.

So now you’re in a band. Congratulations! But now, you need to rehearse. If you don’t, you’ll never get the better things about band life – One-hundred-date-mega-stadium-tours, fan sites spreading rumours about your personal life, people saying that one member of the band is dead based on “clues” on album covers, and executives camping outside your doorstep.

Starting out, depending on how well you know each other and how good you are at playing together, rehearsals will take time. You’ll need to learn a couple of sets of songs and get them down cold. Not only the songs themselves, but also whatever arrangements and presentation you choose. You should plan on doing some intense playing in order to get your act together.

But once you’ve gotten that down, you don’t need to rehearse that often, just enough so that the material doesn’t go stale and you don’t lose a feel for the other band-members’ tendencies. It may sound silly, but it happens – you come back after long hiatuses with different interests and ideas (“Guys, I’d like you to meet Yoko, and she’s got a lot of fantastic ideas.”) Don’t let this happen. Realistically, aim to practice at least once a month, but if you can manage once a week, that’s ideal. If you’re in school, try and find an empty room (a music room, a hall, whatever) to rehearse in. If not, try and rent out a local community centre for a few hours – I think you’ll find they’re very reasonable.

Now another crucial question arises – what do you rehearse? From personal experience, I usually find it’s better to rehearse something everyone in the band knows. For example, the band I’m in now (incidentally, it’s the most successful one yet) was really having trouble clicking as a group – we just couldn’t get it together. I was trying to teach the other members the parts for Nirvana’s epic Come As You Are, and it wasn’t going too badly either. But something was missing. Then, Electric Six released the controversial Gay Bar. We all found it hilarious, we all knew the parts for it, and we did it first time without a hitch. The next rehearsal, we did Come As You Are too, with very few problems. It’s simply a matter of finding a common interest and using it as a method of branching out.

Now for another issue that will come up forever – original material. Unless some members have been in bands before together, there’s probably no set-in-stone lyrics man, and usually in new bands the person with a lot of ideas doesn’t like to impose. If you feel one person (maybe it’s you, maybe it’s the keyboard player, whoever) has the majority of the good ideas, and they obviously have a gift for that sort of thing, use that person to wrangle ideas from other people. For example, Freddy Mercury (of Queen) was the main lyrics producer, if anyone else (usually John Deacon) felt they had a good idea he would sit with them and work on it. All original material should be a collaborative effort. If you’ve written the lyrics and the music, let the drummer pitch in with beat/fill ideas. Let the drummer write his own part – most drummers worth their salt can put a nice, appropriate beat to anything. When you work with other people, it’s surprising how easy it is to make music.

So now you have your band and some music for your band to play! Excellent! Now comes the part most bands (rock bands in particular) aim for – getting work. If I can give one piece of advice to you (I hope I’ve given you more than one piece in this relatively lengthy article, but oh well), let it be this – do NOT look at music as the solution to your financial struggles. I HATE to sound clichéd, but if you’re in music for the money, then you’re in music for all the wrong reasons. Most gigs pay pittance, and £50/$50 doesn’t go far when it’s split 3/4/5/6 ways. Some gigs won’t even pay at all. Just take work wherever you can find it. My band started out playing benefit concerts for issues we care about and school concerts, and we still are, and we’re still not being paid. The fact is we do it because we care about the charities we play for – and the more concerts we do, the more people have seen us. It’s all about EXPOSURE. At every concert you play, there could be somebody in the audience who’s interested in you. Spread yourself around. SOMEBODY is bound to like you.

I hope this has at least enlightened you somewhat, and I wish you every success in your band. At the very worst, you’ll have learned a valuable lesson about how NOT to do things and at least you can say you tried. At the very best, well… the sky’s the limit.

Good luck.

Band Creation 101 was written by John Tucker for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

The Decision

The first step is to decide that you really want to do this, and that you are going to be the host. It helps to have a really good reason, either as a charity event, or a chance to showcase your own band. This is not an easy decision, because even with the tricks I’m going to show you, it’s a lot of work. Although I have done this “for fun”, that’s not always a good enough reason. You also have to be willing to assume the up-front expenses and the possibility that you could lose money. You need to make this decision at least 3 months before the soonest show date. If this is going to be a charity event, then you must take it upon yourself to establish good communications with the charity organization as well.

The Place

Next, you need to find a time and place to play. Try to find a location that has a reasonably large stage. I’ve been lucky enough to do it in school auditoriums, which are perfect. Many schools are open and unused on Friday nights, so it’s not as crazy as you might think. Most schools will charge a nominal fee, plus the salary of one custodian. But don’t use the gym! There isn’t a worse place to play on the planet than the average school gymnasium. There are other places you might consider, including some bars on Sunday afternoons (if you’re old enough), halls where social groups like the Elks or VFW meet or even your church. Just remember that the bigger the stage the easier things tend to be.

The Bands

Once you have a time and place, then you will need to find some bands to come and play. Usually, you figure that each band takes about an hour, 45 minutes of playing and 15 minutes of set-up. So if you have 4 hours, then you can invite 4 bands. If you have more time, you can invite more bands. Alternately, if you know lots of bands, then you may have to cut down the playing time. Anything less than 20 minutes is a waste of effort, even for a charity gig.

Obviously, asking other bands that you already know is a good idea, but check around a little further too. How much variety do you want? Diversity usually means more people will come, but if it gets too eclectic, then some people will decide that there’s less to like. You want to do the recruiting in two steps: first get an acknowledgement that a band is interested, then later, you’ll need to explain the “rules” and get a firm commitment.

The Gear

As with any gig, you’re going to need sound equipment. If you’re lucky, the place you’ve selected will have a PA built in. Double check that they have enough channels in the mixer, and enough monitors. You may need to add some more to the house system just for flexibility. Be sure to discuss this with the house engineer. If there is no house PA, then you’ll have to get your own.

Make a list of all the stuff that is required. But you shouldn’t have to supply all of this yourself. You need to ask each band what they might be able to supply. Make a master list of equipment, and note which band is willing to supply which equipment. Usually, your own band will supply the core equipment, unless you know that some item is not “something to be proud of”, and then ask. Believe it or not, people who have higher quality gear tend to want to use it, and are often willing to share.

• PA: Since you are going to have to work with different bands you’re going to need to be flexible. So you’ll need a good mix board, effects and EQ, amplifiers, microphones, and main and monitor speakers. Plus, try to find a sound guy to work the board, or switch off with musicians who are not on stage.
• Drums: You’d like to use the best drums you can, but some drummers won’t want to share their kit. Each band must agree to replace any drumheads that should happen to be broken by their drummer (as rare as this is, you still have to plan for it!).
• Bass Amp: It is better to have an amp that is too big than too small.
• Guitar Amps: You should have at least 3 amps. Mainly for variety, as the guest musicians will want to get their best sound. So try to find different brands and styles.
• Keyboards: If one or more bands has keyboards, then try to settle on a common set. Usually one piano-type and/or one synth. You’ll need an amp for this too.

Getting Organized

So now you have a list of who is going to play, and what each band is willing to share. Now you write a letter (email is great for this!) to each band explaining what is what: No, you may not bring your own drums (you may bring your own snare and seat). No, you may not bring your own bass or guitar amp, you must use the ones provided and described here (but you can plug in all your EFX). Etc. Be as thorough as you can, as everyone will understand that “everyone else is sharing too”, which reduces the whining. Tell everyone to label everything!!! With several bands sharing their gear, anything that is unmarked becomes fair game for misappropriation. Cables and power cords are the most common items to be “misplaced”, but even the occasional EFX pedal, can fall victim to this, and petty theft (usually totally unintentional) can ruin this type of event.

Have an idea how long each band can play. Something like “Assuming everyone shows up, everyone will get 30 minutes of playing time”. If you have an obvious “headliner”, or you want to pull rank as the host, plan for extra time at the end. As mentioned earlier, plan on 15 minutes between each act for overruns and swapping bands. Write a chart with each band name, number/type of musicians.

Ask each band to agree to all of the above. Don’t tell them who’s going first or last yet, and don’t give them the impression that they can influence the line-up.

Logistics

Now that you’ve got most of the important musical aspects figured out, you need to do the logistics. How are you going to handle food and drink? If you’re at a bar, then that part’s easy. But if you’re in a school, then you’ve got to make arrangements, and remember no smoking or drinking on school property. If you’ve got a charity organization working with you, then let them do the food, etc. as they will be making the money and providing the volunteers.

Again, if you’re at a school, then you’ll need to handle security, parking, etc.

And get a couple of cases of bottled water. If you’re at a bar, explain that this is necessary because water is best for everyone, and plastic bottles don’t break. Seriously, don’t forget this.

And believe it or not, think about a logo and T-shirts. You can usually get a silk-screened T-shirt for less than $10 if you buy over 20. If you get a light-colored shirt, then people can sign them. This may seem hokey, but it’s actually pretty cool.

The Middle Period

There is a quiet time between the initial contacts and the week before the gig. Usually it’s a couple of weeks. Once you get experienced at doing this sort of thing, you can shorten up the time from start to finish by reducing this middle period. Don’t forget to rehearse your own stuff. During this time you should consider any advertising you may want, and follow up on some of your logistical issues. This is also a good time to review the sequencing for the bands. Usually, you want to save the best for last, or save it for yourself (even if you’re not the best!), but consider that the first band shouldn’t really be the worst either. Although you may not have a full crowd at the beginning, having a solid band go first is a good idea, as they give confidence to any of the weaker bands that follow.

The Week Before the Gig

Contact all the different people to confirm that they are still on target. Re-confirm with all the bands that they are ready to play, tell them what time they’ll go on, and how long they get to play. Tell all the people who are contributing equipment when and where you will want it delivered. Put up posters with the band names and approximate times. You will probably find out that someone has not done something they were supposed to do, and so you’ll have to scramble a bit to solve that problem, but because you found out before it’s too late, you can usually make it work. This is the time that you really need to delegate the specific tasks. Jimmy will get the PA. Jane will get the drums. Try and identify one person to be a “runner”, a trouble-shooter with no fixed tasks and a pick-up truck.

The Day Before

Decide what time you want to set up. Earlier is usually better, so that there is some relax time between setup and playing. But some bars won’t let you in early. Confirm (again!) that the various pieces of equipment will get dropped off on time. Draw a sketch of the stage and where you want the drums and amps and keyboards and PA all to go. Try to get some sleep! Turn off the phones after 10pm. If your gig is on a Friday, plan on taking the day off from work, or at least half the day.

The Big Day

The Setup

No matter who else is doing what, YOU need to be at the site on time, and stay there! Tape your sketch on the wall so everyone can see it. Meet and greet everyone as they come in – be the “host”. Tell them where to set up, and where to store the extra gear and cases. If you can, set up the drums first, the amps second, and the PA third. If there is a problem, decide how to fix it (including the option to ignore it and carry on!) and assign someone to get it done. Try to do as little as possible yourself. I know this seems odd, but the idea is to keep it organized. Alternately, plan to do most of it yourself. You fetch all the gear and set it up yourself. I find it very difficult to try and coordinate many people and do a lot of the work at the same time.

The Break

If you’re lucky, you’ve got everything set up at least an hour before the first band goes on. This is a good time to relax, have a seat, chat with people. Absolutely no playing of instruments! If you have time, grab a shower, or at least change your shirt – wear one of the event T-shirts! If there are any money issues, now is the time to resolve them.

Show Time

One of the biggest problems for the host of these events (or any elaborate party) is the host doesn’t get to enjoy it. You should try to stay relaxed and spend as much time meeting and greeting the various musicians and other guests. If you appear relaxed, others will derive confidence from you. Hopefully, the arrangements will be obvious enough that everyone will know where to set their guitars, and where to get a drink.

One way to get the show started promptly is to have your own band go first. (Note: if it’s a long show, you can go again last!). This way, you get to check out the PA and the rest of the set-up with a band that you know. The problem with this is that you are not around to greet people and trouble shoot any other start-up problems. A lot depends on how well you know the other bands, and how experienced they are.

In any case, try to get the first band started on time. And pay attention to the clock. If a band looks like they’re going to run over, walk to the edge of the stage and tell them that the next song is the last one, pointing at your watch. If a change-over takes too long, tell the next band that they’ll have to cut back a bit, but try to spread it out (if you’re 20 minutes behind, take 7 minutes from each band). It’s good if you can play CDs during the change-overs, but not too loud, as it makes it hard to think on stage.

Problems

We all know Mr Murphy, and he always gets invited to these parties. The best thing is to stay relaxed and just work to solve the problem as best as you can. Don’t panic or become frantic. Just solve the problem as professionally as you can and move on. If you have done a good job preparing for the gig and you’ve set up a good stage, then you are probably going to be fine, and the biggest problem likely will be related to the food or parking or other minor (!) issue.

Tear Down

For the most part, tear down should be easy to organize. If everyone takes away whatever they brought, then there will be nothing left. In reality, you will probably have to lug a lot more than you did during set up, but that’s OK. You don’t have to organize anything anymore. Just make sure that all the money issues are resolved.

If you are so inclined, it’s a great idea to collect some of your closest buddies and head out for food after it’s all done. Go to a local diner (or my favorite – Mexican!) where you can get food and relax. You may not realize it, but you’ll be exhausted. So sit, eat, and bask in the knowledge that you succeeded in running your own mini Lallapalooza.

See, it’s easy!

Get out there and Play!

Battle of the Bands was written by Dan Lasley for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

I’ve followed her career since her first self titled album. I first saw her perform in 1989 @ Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT, a small club with SRO (standing room only). That concert was memorable as I got into trouble for standing on the wall of the sound engineers booth in order to see her perform (hey, I’m vertically challenged). While I enjoy her albums, I really love seeing her in concert. I have seen her perform each time she has toured to promote a new album. She’s been in large and small venues, and has performed solo sets interspersed with her band sets.

She inspired me to pick up a guitar and learn to play it (yup, she is in large part why I own the beloved red Guild). She has a marvelous voice, both singing and guitar. I could listen to her sing a phone book! She has wonderful dynamics in her speaking and singing voice, with gravelley, husky overtones that make it quite distinctive. There are some great speaking voices that are just as appealing, like Sean Connery, Patrick Stewart, and James Earl Jones. I’d cheerfully listen to any of them perform, even if they just stood and recited the aforementioned phone book.

Melissa’s music connects in a personal way. On her albums, she sings about love and life in a heartfelt manner. One of the phrases that she has coined and uses during most performances is “Speak True”. Indeed she does, through her songwriting. However, while great songwriting skills may translate into a great album, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the artist is a good performer. While I strongly believe that live music is one of the best ways to hear an artist, there are many artists that don’t capture the audience in a show. Melissa Etheridge defines a consummate performer.

When performing, she always maintains eye contact with her audience. Instead of looking at her guitar, or off in the distance, she looks at each section of the audience and draws everyone into her music. She is such a dynamic performer that she manages to fill the stage, even when playing solo. When she is playing with a band, she interacts with each musician with enthusiasm. By actively involving each person into her music, she keeps the energy level at her concerts high.

Melissa’s choice of music at her concerts is wonderful as well. Of course, as a lifelong fan, I enjoy almost everything she’s ever written. She manages to use a formula in concert that works very well for many performers. Taking time to play her beloved hits while still showcasing new material allows her audience to feel the same enthusiasm for the newer songs as they have for their favorite oldies.

As with most concerts, there are moments when Murphy’s law will strike. How you cover for those mistakes is something you learn along the way, usually the hard way. For those of you that saw the Concert for New York on TV, she managed to cover well when her vocal mike cut out. During the last live concert I saw in NYC at City Centre, Melissa broke a string on her Ovation. She just changed guitars without missing a beat in the song. When you have a band to cover the notes for you, that’s not such a difficult task. She managed to perform a seamless change while playing solo, a pretty amazing feat. Later that performance she forgot some of the words to a song. She was comfortable enough on stage to talk to the audience, laugh at her self, and pick the song back up. The crowd roared appreciation.

Using other artist’s music to create playful segues is another way that she engages her fans in concert. Melissa played a few measures of Crimson and Clover during her rendition of Your Little Secret, illustrating to her audience that the chords really do sound the same.

This is Melissa’s first solo tour since she stopped playing in bars as a relative unknown. Performing solo without a band seems exhilarating for her. One could look at solo performance as riding the high wire without the safety net of the rest of the band. Using just her guitar and her sense of rhythm, Melissa was able to create the feeling that she had an entire rhythm section backing her. She used her boots to stomp the stage as percussion for one song, and the back of her guitar as percussion on Occasionally. I’ve seen her turn her Ovation over to perform that song many times, but this was the first time I’d seen her play it without a band. With her voice and her hands, she conveyed all of the emotion and power needed.

Melissa remembers her fans when playing, which has always endeared her to her audience. She paid homage to the 15, 20 ,30 people who used to pay a dollar to see her in the bars in Long Beach. She even played a request for “Superfan”, a fan from Germany so named because he has been to over a hundred of her shows. He requested that she play a song she wrote at age 15.

How does Melissa’s performance affect my performance? She inspires. She is so comfortable on stage and she always looks like she’s having so much fun performing. She manages to be playful, impish, and suggestive while on stage. She has a wonderful patter between songs that is spontaneous and genuine. This makes the audience feel at home in her world. I’ve figured out that I, too, can be comfortable in front of a mike. Once you lose that “Oh my God, there are people out there!” feeling, you realize that you are in control of the performance and your audience will go where you lead them.

n.b. This column continues in a series dedicated to the female musician. As always, I would love suggestions on topics you would like to see covered. If you are interested in seeing Melissa Etheridge in concert check out her current tour schedule.

Melissa Etheridge: Alive and Alone was written by Laura Lasley for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise