How to prepare for gigs when there are no gigs
As we’re getting into springtime, many of us are getting our hopes up that the gigs of 2019 we used to know and love will start to come back around. I know this is different for everybody depending on where you live, but I hope that you’ve at least been able to get back to rehearsing with your band or playing at your church if that's what you were doing pre-covid. Even if things aren't the way they used to be, any chance to play music with real people is a huge blessing!
I'm speaking to two groups of folks today:
- Those who lost gigs due to COVID.
- Those who have always been wanting to gig…but just haven’t had the chance yet.
...and maybe there's a third group of folks who have no plans of gigging...but you know you want to get better at your instrument for your personal enjoyment and satisfaction, which is still awesome. Mastering an instrument is great, regardless of what you choose to do with that.
Besides the obvious of “be practicing,” here are some specific tips and things to work on to make sure you’re ready to go if you suddenly get a call for a gig next weekend.
1) Be listening to music. Keep that musical part of your brain activated. Listen in the car and around the house whenever you can. If you want to really excel here, dedicate time to sitting down with headphones and REALLY listening to music. Sit down in your favorite chair, set a timer for 20 or 30 minutes, and just listen to some of your favorite music. It’s so easy to do with Spotify and Apple Music at your fingertips. This technique alone will further your listening in a really fun way, and this will help keep your ear sharp while you’re not out playing often.
2) Practice playing along to songs you’re not familiar with. Now I have to be careful how I say this, because I’m a big proponent of listening first, writing a chart, then strategically practicing the song. BUT… as ear training practice you can actually gain a lot from playing along to a song you’ve never heard.Because you’re not familiar with it, you have to listen carefully and react to what you hear - in real time! This works especially well with slow tempos and not-super-intricate songs. Think groove music (lots of 70s and 80s soul, funk, or pop). Or try this with singer-songwriter stuff from any era, where you can practice just following the melody even if you don’t know the song. Or test this out with some 12 bar blues, which is very predictable form-wise. The point is, exercise that “listening-and-reacting-and-improvising” muscle in your brain, because this is a crucial skill for playing well with people.
3) Be learning songs all the time. Besides doing #2 every once and a while, also be intentionally learning then practicing songs. This means sitting down with your headphones, listening a few times, writing a simple form chart, then heading to the kit to flesh out the details. Work to fully master a song or two a week. You don’t have to do anything fancy, and I’d even recommend picking simple songs you can grasp quickly. The point is to get really comfortable at the process of listening, learning, and practicing so that you’re ready to go if you get a 30-song setlist next week. If you’re new to this, definitely check out this free PDF e-guide called “5 steps to learning any song in under an hour.” This method breaks all of this down into an easy-to-implement system you can use to learn any songs you want to learn. Check it out!
4) As you’re practicing songs or grooves, practice with and without a metronome. Practice with a metronome for the obvious reason of making sure you’re playing with good time. But also practice without it, doing your best to listen to yourself and feel whether or not your time is staying steady. This is the crucial counterpart to “time practice,” and it’s often overlooked. You can’t just play to a metronome for hours, expecting that you’ll now have perfect time. You have to actively listen to yourself and FEEL whether or not your time is drifting, and practicing without a metronome is actually the shortcut to this. So play through the song or the groove with the metronome, then cut it off. Pay attention to how everything feels, and I promise you your listening will get better (and so will your time!).
Now one last thing, which helps even more with point #4…
5) Record yourself regularly! Record yourself practicing a song. Record yourself with a metronome then without it, and listen back and compare.There’s literally no better way to evaluate your time, so get on it! This will help you a ton. Improving your time and feel is a process - not an event. Near perfect time doesn’t just happen, and there’s no such thing as a human having perfect time anyways. So be patient with yourself, knowing that you’re getting better and better as you do this. If you’re easily becoming frustrated, back up and just practice this metronome-then-no-metronome process with just a simple beat (think “Billie Jean”). This will help your brain be able to focus on the time, dynamics, and feel.
I’ve played a lot of gigs in my 10 years of professional playing, some to a click (and tracks) and some to no click. I’ve played 4-song-gigs with lots of prep time and 30-song-sets with not much prep time. Be prepared for whatever might come your way, because new opportunities WILL come. Just be patient, and do what you can in the meantime.
Keep playing, keep practicing, and stay non glamorous!
Stephen
