Hey Acoustic Music Family! Rehearsing songs – yay or nay? Some musicians say to just wing it and go with the flow when you get on stage. I think winging it works great for musicians who have been performing their music for years and know their songs inside and out, but what if you are newer to stage performing. What then?
Is rehearsing really all that important? After all, you can have a music stand with the lyric sheets sitting right there in front of you as you perform. Wouldn't that be enough? Wouldn’t that be ok?
Nooooooo! Don’t do that!
Let me explain why.
Your audience doesn’t want to see you rustling through papers to find your song. It’s annoying, and you will lose their interest!
If that isn’t enough to change your mind, image this…
You are on stage getting ready to play your newest song for your audience. This is your best song yet, and you are so excited to share it! You wrote it this morning, so you don’t quite have it down yet, but that’s ok, right? You’ll wing it. You take the music sheet up on stage, along with your music stand, and are ready to navigate through.
Then…the unexpected…
Two lines into your song, the A/C comes on with just enough force that it lifts the lyric sheet right off of the music stand and gently sends it floating across the room.
Or maybe you are on an outside stage and a light wind gust takes your lyric sheet on its own journey.
Either way, your lyric sheet might be long gone before you can leave the stage to chase it down.
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this happen! Seriously…so many times!
What do you do now? What’s your recovery plan?
If you think using a digital device with scrolling words is better than paper lyrics sheets, think again! Whether it’s paper or digital, your ‘lyric sheet’ security blanket will energetically block you from your audience and them from you. Let’s be honest…if you bring the lyrics up on stage with you, we both know you will spend more time looking at the lyric sheets than you will be engaging with your audience. I guarantee that if you are focused on your lyrics sheets while you are performing, your audience will feel left out of the equation.
Side note: If you have trouble remember words or chords, stick with me. I will be sharing tips for this in an upcoming blog.
If your goal is to perform in front of an audience, your best recovery plan is to …
rehearse…rehearse…rehearse …
and then when you think you have the song down….
rehearse some more!
Get that total song into your muscle memory! Why? So that you can play your song with ease and not have to think about the song while performing! This then opens the space for you to be completely present with your audience.
Play the song for them, not at them.
Bottom line…in case I didn’t mention this yet…
Tip #1 - REHEARSE YOUR SONGS! so that you can…
Tip #2 - DITCH THOSE LYRIC SHEETS!
Know your songs and take your audience on the journey of the song with you.
Interested in working with Cottonwood in one-on-one sessions to help you become your best self on stage and with your music business!
Email: [email protected]
Or visit: www.MusiciansRoundhouse.com
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photo © 2022 by Cottonwood Stone
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