Tips, Tricks and Pointers for Playing Live

Playing live can be tough. As someone who’s done it quite a few times now, it can be an exciting yet daunting prospect. Playing in a large space and being in front of a large group of people takes some guts, and a fair bit of confidence!

It is also one of the best things in the world, especially if you’re able to nail the performance. The feeling that you get after coming off a great performance is unlike any other! However great live performances can take a turn for the bad real quickly right on the stage. The sound isn’t right and not in tune, your timing is all over the place, and your finger coordination is poor to say the very least.

While most musicians tend to blame their luck or their fortune, or the fact that they were ‘having an off-day’, the fact is that if you do your homework before the gig, you can turn in flawless performances effortlessly each and every time! Here’s how:

1. The age old adage ‘practice makes perfect’ gets thrown about quite a lot, overused at times, however in this particular case, it couldn’t be more crucial. I cannot stress enough on how important it is to practice as much as you can prior to the performance – even if you’re a seasoned guitarists who’s done it a 100 times. Practicing allows you to go into the performance all ready, primed and prepared for it. This will automatically inspire confidence, knowing the fact that you have covered all your bases and that you have nothing to be worried about. Going into performances without adequate practice is like going into an exam without studying at all, or going to war without weapons. Want my advice, sign up for an online guitar-learning course such as GuitarTricks, who have tons of practice lessons (5000 lessons in total) in their database! (Bonus Tip: Practice standing up, in order to prepare for the performance).

2.  Determine the play list and the order immediately after landing a gig, so that you can have everyone concentrate and practice on those tracks. This will allow you to determine if the playlist would really be a good fit for the gig, and if they work in succession or not. During practice, you can change things around if need be – practice is the time to do that, not when you’re on the live stage!

3. Read your equipment well before the performance – if you’re reading this, for you it will probably be your guitar(s). Clean the guitar, remove finger stains, grease, oil build-up and /or any dust off the guitar. Change the guitar strings. Check the guitar for tuning, intonation or any tonal issues. Check your amp, and most importantly, your cables. Preparing your instruments for the gig is just as important as your own preparation – an improperly tuned guitar, old cables or a faulty amp can very easily ruin an otherwise good performance and I say this from experience. It might be wise to invest in new equipment if need be, especially good-quality amp cables, and guitar strings. And always, ALWAYS keep spares – even a spare guitar if you possibly can. Stopping mid-performance because you broke a string can be embarrassing. Buy a cheap spare electric guitar, you can find plenty of good deals online and if you can’t, borrow one.

4. Practice on stage as early and as often as possible. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the stage and its surroundings, and get more comfortable. If you can get access to the stage a couple of days prior to the gig, that would be ideal, but even if you can get on stage a few hours before the performance and before people start rolling in might just do the trick. Doing so might give you a ‘home advantage’ (a commonly-used term in sports) when it comes to performing live. Set everything up as you would for the performance – with the drums at the back, and the bass guitarist and vocalist along with you. Move about to see which side of the stage you’ll be comfortable in. Above all, make sure that you get to know the people who handle sound at the venue. Speak with them about the sound, and if you need to do any adjustments as far as your guitar’s concerned. Ask for tips.

5. If you end up making a mistake on stage, or screwing up mid-performance, just be cool about it. Continue playing, and never look at each other. Continue like nothing happened because chances are no one really noticed it, or even if they did, no one will really remember one insignificant screw-up at the end of the day. Never stop, or start over. Above all, concentrate on your guitar-play, and what’s to come, instead of thinking about the mistake, as doing so will only mess up your concentration and make you more error-prone and vulnerable to slip-ups. As a musician, it would be wise to accept and make you peace with the fact that you are going to make the odd mistake on-stage; it’s a part of the deal.

6. Never attempt to do anything on stage that you didn’t practice prior to the gig, or aren’t sure if you’d be able to pull it off. I’ve seen many guitarists attempt complicated solos that they quite clearly weren’t familiar with playing, weren’t at all capable of playing, or weren’t proficient enough to play. I can tell you that doing so will result in embarrassment. Know you limitations.

7. Avoid drinking or doing drugs before the performance. Most musicians tend to use these as a way to calm their nerves. Almost all big rock acts out there do it. I advise against it, because if you do, your performance might sound good…only to you!

8. Warm-up before performing. I cannot stress more on the importance of warming up, and having a good warm-up regime prior to playing. From Metallica, to Iron Maiden, to John Mayer, to ACDC – every major artist or band does this. For instance Metallica starts off all their performances with a slow solo of one of their tracks. It is an essential part of any live gig, and while I cannot go into warming-up techniques and details in this particular write-up, I recommend checking out this excellent, comprehensive About.com link on the importance of warming up before playing the guitar.