Ten Tips to Keep Your Set Moving
(And Your Audience Staying)
In the middle of a Pete Seeger concert, the entire sound system temporarily went dead. Pete leaned down to the people in the the front row, began singing a well known song, and told them to sing it to the people in the next row, who in turn started singing to the row behind them. Soon the entire audience was singing.
Fortunately, not everyone has to be a performance genius like Pete Seeger to keep a set moving. Heeding the following tips will go a long way toward creating a smooth, entertaining show.
- Show up in plenty of time for setup and sound check. That way, technical problems can be addressed before they can spoil a performance.
- Don't introduce the first song. They came to hear you sing. Start by singing.
- Keep your intros short and interesting.
- Avoid “double intros.” That’s when a performer introduces a song, starts to play, then pauses and starts talking again. I see that a lot, and it’s a real momentum killer.
- Rehearse your patter as thoroughly as your music. Practice until you know it so well that it sounds spontaneous, even if you’ve memorized it.
- After each song, while the audience is (hopefully) applauding, pause to look at the audience and acknowledge them. Only
after you’ve done that should you start preparing for the next song.
- Choreograph your set to minimize tuning, changing instruments, and any other physical changes. Make sure that at least the first three songs can be performed without changes that take more than a few seconds.
- Have repertoire you can fall back on if things go wrong. What if a string breaks? What if a mic craps out? What if an amp blows a fuse? For example, something a cappella, or an interesting poem or story. Even if you can’t make it all the way through the set, it’s much better if you can continue performing for a few minutes before stopping to fix things.
- If you’re fortunate enough to get an encore, seize the moment by going right into it with no introduction. Don’t break the spell by talking.
- Always make it appear to the audience that you’re having a great time, and that there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing. Never forget that, whether you’re an open mike feature, or Sir Paul McCartney, your job is to
entertain the audience. You are there for them, not the other way around.