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Someone very wise and probably Chinese once said, "The longest journey begins with a footstep" (in Chinese), so it is that even those of us destined for mega-super-stardom begin one day, probably with a gig at the local pub or bar, for little or no money. This is quite a humbling experience for someone who knows that they will very shortly be touring the stadiums of the world in their own private jet but there are some valuable lessons to be learned at this level and who knows? You might just get spotted.

Playing Your Instrument

Even with the best tutors money can buy and every available hour spent practicing, there are still some things you can only learn about playing music when you do it for real, in front of an audience, and this is especially true for vocalists so don't skip ahead just yet. Horrible things happen when you play live for the first time but if you take note And learn from it, this can improve your musicianship tremendously.

 

Some of those licks and fills that sound totally awesome in the bedroom or in the rehearsal room can suddenly seem out of keeping with the song or even seem more difficult to play. Lyrics that are deep and full of poetic resonance can suddenly seem too childish or personal to sing to a room full of strangers. Tempos that were really funky and dance-able in rehearsal can appear to drag, if you're playing totally live this will usually result in everything being played much faster, making the licks, fills and lyrics harder to fit in. It's actually quite normal to play songs a little faster in a live situation, they tend to groove better, try to take that into account when you're rehearsing.

 

When you're playing live you will make mistakes, how obvious they are to the audience depends mostly on your reaction. Most people in an club audience couldn't tell a flam from a dropped stick or a pitch bend from a bum note unless you then pull a face at the bassist, collapse laughing, or have your musical incompetence blasted over the mic by a girl singer in a tantrum (it happens believe me). Don't announce over the mic that you've forgotten the lyrics; swap the verses around, repeat the first line, hardly anyone will notice. If you make a mistake on the first phrase of a guitar solo, repeat it on the second phrase, people will think it's an innovative new technique, blag with confidence, it works, honestly, but it's a skill you'll only develop with experience.

 

Nerves can have amazing effects on the vocal chords as can the smokey atmosphere and the alchohol that was supposed to calm the nerves. There are no hard and fast rules for calming nerves but there are a lot of relaxation techniques you can try, practice breathing exercises and vocal warm ups and try them out before a few gigs until you find something that works for you. Having a drink before a gig may seem to help but it's not the kind of thing you should rely on if you plan to make a career out of singing, aside from affecting your judgement, alchohol can affect the adenoids making your voice more nasal.

 

Unfortunately soft drinks can also have an adverse effect, fizzy drinks can make you want to belch (doesn't sound good over the mic no matter how your mates giggle), colas particularly can leave you with a mouth and throat full of sugary, sticky saliva, lemonade is better, water is a dull but safe option.

Professionalism

The way you present yourself on stage, interacting with other band members or the audience, is vitally important and should be agreed and rehearsed before gigging. One thing that's worth mentioning here is not playing around between numbers, drummers and lead guitarists are particularly guilty of playing little fills while the singer's trying to talk, it looks dreadfully amateur. Band arguments should always be kept out of the public eye, if you have a problem that really can't wait until you finish the gig, take a break and take the whole band outside to discuss it, getting out of the venue often helps cool a situation too.

 

Almost as important, if you're hoping to be paid and invited back, is the way you behave offstage. Professionalism on this circuit extends to the way you speak to the landlord or owner and to their clients and guests, whether you arrive and set up on time and how well you comply with any specific requests they have (no blue or offensive material, volume levels, finishing time). It's usually best to ask the owner any questions when you first arrive, if you think you'll forget something, make a checklist and don't be embarrassed to work down it with them, here's a few suggestions.

 

• Which door should you load gear in through?
  
• Is there somewhere they'd like you to put your van? (As opposed to blocking the front door)
  
• Is there somewhere you can change into stage clothes?
  
• If there's no stage, where do they want you to set up?
  
• What kind of lighting is available?
  
• How many sets do they want and how long?
  
• What kind of music usually goes down best here? (You may not have a lot of alternative songs to start with but by changing the running order, you can often lead one kind of audience through a number of musical styles)
  
• Can you play original material?
  
• Can you sell tapes or CDs? (Many venues want to vet anything you're selling on their time)
  
• Can you get away with swearing on stage? (If you think this is necessary)
  
• Can you put a backdrop up?
  
• Who do you see about getting paid and when?
  
• Do they need a receipt from you?

Arrange to arrive early enough to get a decent sound check, especially on your first few gigs or when you're learning your way around new equipment, ask the proprietor for their advice on volume, they'll usually be very forthcoming if you're too loud. If you set up in an empty room which subsequently fills up, you might be able to edge the master faders up a little bit (bodies absorb sound) but don't try to compete with rising audience noise, if they're in the mood to talk they'll just shout over you.

Patter

Remember in school when you had to stand up in front of the class and tell them about your holidays? The sweaty palms? The inability to read your notes? Your voice going all squeaky and the sudden need for a toilet break? Well here it all comes again only this time you're talking to a room full of strangers while your guitarist changes a string and you have to keep them interested and amused for however long that takes.

 

Patter, as I call it, takes some time to develop. You can script set pieces for the breaks between numbers and you can keep a catalogue of witty responses for hecklers, but the ability to deliver the right line with the clarity and timing it needs is just down to experience. Firstly relax, take a deep breath and speak slowly, even if you're "umming" and "errring" every other word, better to do it clearly. Make eye contact with members of the audience if you can; it's generally a good sign if they're looking at you rather than their beer or the exit. If more than one person is on a mic, decide who's doing the talking and don't interrupt, a little in-band banter is acceptable and funny but everyone talking at the same time just makes you look disorganised.

 

Knowing a little bit about the songs you sing and the artist who wrote them or made them famous is a good way to start putting links together, telling the audience about your granny's hip operation or your unshakeable belief that the world will end in a couple of days is probably not. Keep it based around the music to start with, if there's a story behind a song that's not obvious from the lyrics, maybe you could summarise it, if there's no story make one up, they'll never know.

 

A useful tip for when you get heckled (the technical term for people shouting back at you from the audience) is to repeat whatever it is they've said. This tells the rest of the audience, who didn't hear it, that you're being heckled and buys you a little more time to think of a witty response which the rest of the audience can then appreciate.

Fans

The moment you get up on stage and sing or play, you will attract adoring fans that want to talk to you, touch you, get your autograph. At first of course, these are mostly people with diminished sanity, alchohol for blood and two defunct hearing aids, but as time goes on and your popularity increases, your fan base will begin to look like a group of happy, normal people who enjoy your music, this is where fame begins to get a bit scarey. Even as a virtually unheard of, unsigned, local act you are likely to find there are some people who will come to every gig you play which is great, until they start fighting over you, following you home and sending threatening letters to your girlfriend.

 

How you deal with fans is a personal and very sensitive matter but in the absence of some kind of security I would suggest that you try to keep some kind of professional distance from most of them. Be friendly, have a chat while you're on a break or packing up but try not to give out too much personal information, your address, home phone number, where you keep your equipment overnight.

 

At maybe one gig in five, someone will approach you from the audience and say that they know someone who works at a record company, they would like to show them your talents and can they have a free tape? This is quite flattering, as they actually want a recording of your music enough to try and scam it from you. Who knows? One day one of these people could be genuine and you could miss the opportunity of a lifetime or be whisked away to a recording studio that very night. I tend to think of these people as a clever kind of weirdo who just need to be fobbed off very politely until they go away. Give them a list of your upcoming gigs and see if they turn up with this record executive in tow.

 

Finally if that big cheese from EMI takes years to appear, remember that there are a lot of musicians out here who make a perfectly good living just playing their instrument, which beats the hell out of a nine to five and if music is what drives you, you won't find a better job before that break comes along.

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters in, the end." - Ursula K. Le Guin

"Life's a journey, not a destination" - Aerosmith

Contributor: Stef Malinowski , Musician

Stef Malinowski is a full time drummer, keyboard player, guitarist and singer playing whatever and wherever people will pay him. He has a brother who is a professional actor and a sister who is a professional dancer, his dad is a professional bass guitarist, and his mum sometimes plays CDs. He began his career at the age of ten with the award winning East Area Schools Youth band. He has played almost every kind of gig since including jazz clubs, bike rallies, cruise ships, holiday camps, orchestra pits, the Royal Albert Hall, U.S. military bases, street corners and working men's clubs. His work takes him all over the world and he hopes to see as many countries as possible before somebody makes him "grow up and get a proper job". When he has a spare moment, he likes to learn fragments of new languages and instruments, build websites and motorbikes and read up on eastern philosophy. If he can be bothered he also practices t'ai ch'i and karate. He can occasionally be found at home in Scarborough (the original one in England) where he has a nice sideline recording backing tracks for club acts and putting other talented musicians out of work.