Songbook while on stage?

http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=41363

This topic deals with this

i think its ok for the lyrics. if your doing a complex song i guess its ok aswel. i try to stay away from the songbook on stage. if i do i will try and conceil it

I think it depends on the type of group you are in and the music you play. If you are in a younger band, image is very important. You don't want music stands on stage.

If you are in a group that maybe plays complicated music like Jazz, but even just an older group it's ok.

The band I am in now we are all in our 50s and play Classic Rock. We all have music stands. I try not to look at and rarely do, but once in awhile I have to take a peek. It really doesn't look good to be staring down at the music, it is always better to look out and make eye contact with the crowd.

But we are older, we are never gonna be Rock stars, so image is not so important. We don't have to have full stacks on stage to look cool. But the younger groups that are trying to make it big need stage image. Looking at music would be a big no-no, and you've gotta have those big stacks.

I do try to conceal the stand a bit, I keep it down low. Another way to cheat is to put your music on your floor monitor out in front of you, folks won't even know you have the music if you don't constantly stare downward. :D

I will say this, if you are gonna have music stands on stage, buy a good quality one, not those flimsy cheap ones that fall over if you sneeze. :D

Something like this:

good music stand

Not this:

horrible music stand

When I was a kid, we'd have rather made mistakes than use charts and stands. But Wes is correct-- old guys would rather play correctly than look cool.

I've tried sticking my music to the back of Nick's head, but he whines about the pushpins, and sometimes even bleeds on the music.

Since I usually hang out near the drummer, I try to hide my music stand behind a large cymbal.

But I always have a stand, and no one should feel embarassed by that. I never know what combination of songs are going to be played next, so having the songbook is important. And as Wes says, it's nice to have even when you know the songs cold. Old age and all (see related thread). Note that the pros on tour sometimes have teleprompters for lyrics.

I keep a computer on stage with music and/or lyrics on it. Although most of my stuff is at least mostly memorized, it is nice to have the reference on stage just in case a customer comes up and distracts you.

The computer is a small (14"), black, ThinkPad and I keep it on my keyboard stand. I used to have a ring binder, but after we topped 400 songs, it was too heavy and took too long to get to the right page. The computer is much better. We are now approaching 500 songs, and I just can't have that many completely memorized. However, looking at the first note, chord or word is all that is usually necessary. Once the song is started, if there are no distractions, I can usually play it either by not looking at it again, or only giving it a glance or two.

As Wes pointed out, it depends on where you are playing and who your audience is going to be. I play for an middle aged to retirement audience and they don't care. When I was in a Top40 band, everything was memorized.

Also, in my duo, http://www.s-cats.com , I make my own backing tracks (see: http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html for info on how I make and use them), so there is no vamping if a member of the audience comes up while you are singing and playing and asks you to play "Happy Birthday" or something else. In those cases, having a chart on stage is priceless ;)

Insights and incites by Notes

I memorize (but sometimes I forget!)

Great question, great answers.

I hardly ever play with music on a stand at home, preferring to noodle around. But in public it's always there, whether I need to follow the score directly or not. Good to hear that's pretty common. :)

If I lose any more hair you can just use my head like a whiteboard

We're all in our late 30s/early 40s and perform traditional Indian (Bollywood) movie music & folk music. This isn't a top 40 band playing in front of college students. The majority of our audience is 40+ year olds. I don't see the importance of trying to remember the songs chord for chord because every time we do a show, its all new music.

One of the guys is really pushing for me to try and play the music without a songbook on a stand (which is the good stand by the way). He's claiming that it'll make me better on stage due to the fact that the music is memorized and I won't be hampering myself mechanically to the confidence of having music in front of me.... whatever that means. He also says that once I get past having the music in front of me, I may be able to focus better on technique and things like that because my mind would be conditioned to "feeling" the music.

My thoughts are that practice, practice, practice will improve my technique, not memorizing a set songs that we'll play for one show only.

I just need something to tell the guy thats polite and gets us past this little issue.

Also it is good to see that the songbook thing is fairly common with some guitarists.

I've seen photos of John Williams on stage with a music stand around, seen Richard Stokkereit play from sight on stage, and plonk my music in front of me when I'm working with the Essex Guitar Orchestra, but anything I do solo is from memory.

I've always done my electric guitar work form memory too.

A :-)

While we all love playing guitar in front of people, if they are paying customers they don't want to watch you playing while you read music. This ain't a piano concert. In my opinion, ditch the stands.

<...snip...>
One of the guys is really pushing for me to try and play the music without a songbook on a stand (which is the good stand by the way). He's claiming that it'll make me better on stage due to the fact that the music is memorized and I won't be hampering myself mechanically to the confidence of having music in front of me.... whatever that means. He also says that once I get past having the music in front of me, I may be able to focus better on technique and things like that because my mind would be conditioned to "feeling" the music.
<...>
I just need something to tell the guy thats polite and gets us past this little issue.<...>.

Take him to a concert by a world-class symphony orchestra. If the greatest musicians in the world playing the greatest music in the world can do it emotionally with music in front of them, obviously it is possible.

<begin opinion...>

Now I believe the music should be mostly memorized. I don't think you need to bury your head in the music book, as it cuts off eye contact with the audience, and that puts a wall between the musician and the music lover. On the other hand, having it up there for an occasional reference is no problem.

It's like a person giving a speech or lecture to a large audience. If he/she brings notes or the transcript of the speech on stage and buries his/her nose in the paper while giving the speech, it will be more difficult for the audience to relate. On the other hand, if he/she simply glances at the notes or transcript and then makes eye contact with the crowd for most of the speech, the audience will connect.

<...end opinion>

Insights and incites by Notes

Thanks again for all of the insight everybody.
Like Notes stated above, I too just glance at the music. I make a point to look into the crowd, make eye contact, and even smile if its someone I know. Being that the music is in a foreign language, this is mostly why I like having it.