Members flip333 Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 Phew! I did it. No more music stand. We had a gig last night. It felt good, and also, I could make better eye contact and body language for the show. I made a couple of lyric boo boo's. No one knew. Ahhh, life is good.
Members SanDiego333 Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 what were you using the stand for - lyrics or charts? How did you make the move from stand to no stand?
Members flip333 Posted March 19, 2006 Author Members Posted March 19, 2006 I have depended on a music stand for lyrics mostly, or difficult guitar changes for songs we don't do very often. I think I have been able to do this for a long time, but I thought I needed it. The other guitar player who joined us last fall was piddling tuning up on stage. I said it looked unprofessional and he should tune up in silence. So he said a music stand is unprofessional. I agree, so I decided to try to memorize my lyrics. It worked. A couple of years ago, another guitar player who was with us briefly, was disgusted by my music stand. He said, "You don't need that thing. You just have to TRY." He was right.
Members srsfallriver Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 I use a music stand only for a crutch. The 60 to 100 tunes that we usually play are unforgettable to me. Unfortunately we have over 400 on our total songlist and every now and again one of the forgotten gets called out.
Members caveman Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 Originally posted by srsfallriver I use a music stand only for a crutch. The 60 to 100 tunes that we usually play are unforgettable to me. Unfortunately we have over 400 on our total songlist and every now and again one of the forgotten gets called out. Yep
Members Tedster Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 I do acoustic solo and duo stuff, so it's not like I'm gonna knock a music stand over doing big leaps and stuff. To me, the stress of adding new tunes at all is more significant if I don't have a fall back. I've found that I really don't have to stare at a music stand and read the words...many times, even on new tunes, a quick glance at the line gives me what I need to know. I guess I'd like to get rid of it, but if I can play more tunes with than without, I'm for it.
Members MDLMUSIC Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 Originally posted by srsfallriver I use a music stand only for a crutch. The 60 to 100 tunes that we usually play are unforgettable to me. Unfortunately we have over 400 on our total songlist and every now and again one of the forgotten gets called out. Same here. I know about 1000 songs, but, at the age of 53 some of them are starting to get a little foggy. The old brain cells just don't function as well as they used to. Today I was listening to a CD of myself I had made a few years ago and could not for the life of me recall the name of an instrumental song I had done. It nearly drove me crazy until I dug out an old setlist and saw the name...Night Train. I've done that song a million times, but there's so much junk in my brain that it's pushing out some of the important stuff. Well, maybe not, but it's a good excuse.
Members Beachbum Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 If the joint is jumpin' and everyone's excited I play songs I know real well, crowd pleasers. No sheet music or stand necessary. If I'm brain dead that night or the crowd is sparse, I'll get out the music and the stand, and 'practice' live playing songs I don't usually do. Also, if I'm performing while people are drifting in I might play from sheet music and a stand, and save the 'hits' for later. (I usually always have the music stand backstage though for 'braindead' nights. )
Members Prog Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 If you don't know a song, it's not on "the songlist". It's on the list of songs that you don't know or can't remember. "We know 500 songs but we can only play 75 of them". Incorrect. You know 75 songs.
Members THBv2.0 Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 My thoughts on music stands have been well documented here. I fired the last band member who wanted to use one during a gig. Totally unprofessional for a rock band. My .02
Members roabre999 Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 I agree, for a rock band, stands are a no no. A church gig a stand wouldn't be out of place. But for a rock band you really should know your stuff before you show it to other people.
Members elsongs Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 If you need some reference, make a"cheat sheet" printout of the lyrics/chords in large type and put it on the floor, or maybe on top of an amp. But no music stand. When I do subbing gigs, I'll write down the changes that I don't know too well next to the appropriate song on the setlist.
Members srsfallriver Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by elsongs If you need some reference, make a"cheat sheet" printout of the lyrics/chords in large type and put it on the floor, or maybe on top of an amp. But no music stand. I think that's worse than a stand. At least with a stand your face is still towards the audience, though not making eye contact. If your music is on the floor, then the top of your head will be the focal point a good portion of the time. I doubt few in the audience would be fooled into thinking that your not looking at music either.
Members Outrider Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by flip333 Phew!I did it. No more music stand. We had a gig last night. It felt good, and also, I could make better eye contact and body language for the show.I made a couple of lyric boo boo's. No one knew.Ahhh, life is good. Now you are free. Now you are truly without fear. I forced myself to make a similar break a few months back...it does make you feel good to get thru the night and find that you actually know the songs better than you thought you did. I still muff lines every so often, or repeat verses when I get lost, but that's a real effective way to point out the songs I need to work on for next time.
Members vanlatte Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 I got you all beat... I saw a Pink Floyd tribute band not long ago. They were supposedly a big deal and it cost me $15 to see them. The singer walked on stage *carrying* a music stand, then proceeded to bury his face in it while singing "Shine on you Crazy Diamond". I mean, who DOESNT know these words?!?! The whole thing was pretty craptacular.
Members bonscottvocals Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by vanlatte I got you all beat... I saw a Pink Floyd tribute band not long ago. They were supposedly a big deal and it cost me $15 to see them. The singer walked on stage *carrying* a music stand, then proceeded to bury his face in it while singing "Shine on you Crazy Diamond". I mean, who DOESNT know these words?!?! The whole thing was pretty craptacular. The "Singer"? What the hell is the "Singer" in a Pink Floyd Tribute? Roger and David did most of the singing and Rick was in there for very little. If this was a 'tribute' band, then there would be 4 'musicians' on stage, not a singer. Unless I read you wrong, the fact that a guy was the 'singer' would have made me DEMAND my $$$ back.
Members RupertB Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 I've never used a music stand. The dude I play duo gigs with uses one, though he has been trying to wean off recently. I play in three different projects including my solo bit. The aggregate list of "active" songs I play is about 250. I have a home-made fake book of songs I'll play on request but that I don't play frequently enough to memorize all the words (pull the lyrics to a couple of Bob Dylan tunes some time). For any gig where the expectation includes anything resembling a "rock show": Agreed, totally inappropriate. Congrats flip. I bet your gigs get a lot more fun now.
Members vanlatte Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by bonscottvocals The "Singer"? What the hell is the "Singer" in a Pink Floyd Tribute? Roger and David did most of the singing and Rick was in there for very little. If this was a 'tribute' band, then there would be 4 'musicians' on stage, not a singer. Unless I read you wrong, the fact that a guy was the 'singer' would have made me DEMAND my $$$ back. Yea, one guy did most of the vocals. They favored the Gilmour songs so he did the majority of them. They actually had a few musicians up there; keyboards, sax, backup singers. But the music stand really distracted me for some reason. The music itself sounded pretty good but the vocals were very "blah".
Members fastplant Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by paostby If you don't know a song, it's not on "the songlist". It's on the list of songs that you don't know or can't remember."We know 500 songs but we can only play 75 of them". Incorrect. You know 75 songs. I have to agree with this.
Members elsongs Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by srsfallriver I think that's worse than a stand. At least with a stand your face is still towards the audience, though not making eye contact. If your music is on the floor, then the top of your head will be the focal point a good portion of the time. I doubt few in the audience would be fooled into thinking that your not looking at music either. No, because a cheat sheet is for glancing at as reference, not something you have to constantly look at.
Members elsongs Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by srsfallriver I think that's worse than a stand. At least with a stand your face is still towards the audience, though not making eye contact. If your music is on the floor, then the top of your head will be the focal point a good portion of the time. I doubt few in the audience would be fooled into thinking that your not looking at music either. No, because a cheat sheet is for glancing at as reference, not something you have to constantly look at. Besides, there's entire music genres where staring at the floor is the accepted norm (Emo / Shoegazer)!
Moderators daddymack Posted March 20, 2006 Moderators Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by elsongs No, because a cheat sheet is for glancing at as reference, not something you have to constantly look at. exactly...I have one song a night where the lyrics can get jumbled together in my head, so I printed the first line of the 3 verses in 18pt and can read it it from the floor. I just have to look down for an instnt, read the line, and I'm good for the entre verse. Our Harp player keeps his propped up in his harp case...and he looks like he is in there selecting a new harp, when actually, he is refreshing his lyrics. At our age (he and I are both 52), we are entitled to cheat a little.
Members elsongs Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 Originally posted by daddymack exactly...I have one song a night where the lyrics can get jumbled together in my head, so I printed the first line of the 3 verses in 18pt and can read it it from the floor. I just have to look down for an instnt, read the line, and I'm good for the entre verse. Haha I've done exactly that. Actually for this song the end rhymes of the verses are AABB and I tend to mix them up so all this cheat sheet had were the end rhyme words. After a couple gigs I didn't need it anymore.
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