[boolio]

Hi,  just wondering, does anyone have their lyrics/music in front of them during a gig? Or is that anathema to a truly live performance? I have real trouble remembering lyrics mainly but also for me, one errant/missing chord can really screw things   
I've tried clipping a tablet to my mic stand but auto scroll doesn't really work - maybe a tablet-based foot pedal operated auto cue would be cool anybody know of such a thing? Any thoughts would be great.  Cheers Phil

[ScottLevi]

Hey Phil,

I've never done any live gigs, the idea is very daunting in itself, never mind if I wasn't confident enough to know I'd remember all the lines.

I wouldn't advice taking lyrics/chords on stage though, as I can imagine it takes away from the performance. My advice would just to be keep playing to yourself, even if it takes months, until it's second nature and forgetting chords/lyrics isn't even a contemplation. Quality over quantity.

Hope this helps.

[Skub]

Firstly,learn the song until you know it,then secondly play it until you can't forget it. Muscle memory is a great tool,we all have it,so use it.

Thirdly,be chilled about messing up/forgetting words etc,absolutely everyone does this and it's how you recover that marks you out. Jazz notes,etc are all part of the live experience,the really professional clanger-droppers have the audience believe they never make mistakes. 

Don't go all serious or throw a moody tantrum,folk will not be sympathetic if you appear to be a moody tantrum thrower. Laugh at yourself and make light of the ballsup,keep them all on your side,or even better,if you have others playing with you,look over at them and shake your head/rolleyes. I've been successfully blaming bass players and keyboard players for my mistakes for years. 

If you can do without the dummy tit of a music stand,in the long run it'll give you more confidence. If you must have one,stick it on the monitor or somewhere you can see,but the folk listening can't.

[boolio]

Thanks guys, I kind of knew what the answer would be! And you're right. I do see people use laptops etc. sometimes and, if you look away it's okay but honestly, I understand; they simply don't engage with the audience in the same the same way or deliver a proper 'performance'

Scott: Quality over quantity that's a good mantra! and with my memory it maybe my only option!!   ::)thanks for taking the time mate.

Skub:

If you can do without the dummy tit of a music stand,in the long run it'll give you more confidence.

Made me laugh  and it kind of reminded me of "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" I will remember this. Thank you.

Referring to bum notes as Jazz notes is cool too and oddly empowering!

My only real problem is that I may get sick of my own sh*t after rehearsing it once too often...actually there's a lesson there too I think!?

Seriously thanks again guys I honestly think I've learned more on here in the past two/three weeks than in the past who knows how long!!

[Paulski]

Couple of things that used to work for me:

think ahead! I always tried to think of what words the next line started with while singing the current one. might sound hard to do, but after a while it works.

if you can't think of a line, just sing the first mouth full of vowels that pops out. most drunks people won't even notice - they just think you bumped the mic stand or sth

skub is right on too - repetition and rote action is your friend - though it can drive you crazy too.

Paul

[Boydie]

I have a very subtle tablet on a mic stand to refer to when gigging - we have around 9hours of music we could play so it is great to instantly call up a request and have the chords & lyrics a subtle glance away

I use an Android tablet and use LyricPad

A friend is working up a solution that runs on any device via a browser and it is coming along nicely!

[boolio]

Thanks Paul, Boydie...

if you can't think of a line, just sing the first mouth full of vowels that pops out. most drunks people won't even notice - they just think you bumped the mic stand or sth

Cheers Paul...a whole string of unintelligible vowels often pops out of my mouth when I'm down the pub! but thanks for the tip...and at least I'm 'practiced'

.
A friend is working up a solution that runs on any device via a browser and it is coming along nicely!

Boydie thanks...will that solution will be commercially available...?

Phil

[Boydie]

He does plan on doing this - when he is ready to look for testers I will give you a shout

[PaulAds]

Also...you almost certainly wouldn't need all the lyrics written down anyway...often, you just need the first line of each verse, for example, to get you going...

I must admit...I'm old-fashioned and don't like using any prompts.

We don't even use setlists