First(ish) Solo Show

[mtierney]

So I'm in this combo with a drummer and we've been playing a few shows where he brushes or sticks lightly and I do chord-melodies and chord solos. And we booked a gig for tomorrow evening a few weeks ago, but he said today that something came up and he couldn't make it. So I decided that this would be a good opportunity for me to try to play completely solo, because hey, I have to try it sometime, right? So I called the venue and they're fine with it and everything's okay but now I'm feeling the huge amount of pressure.

Any general advice? And what can I do to spice things up from just being song after song sounding like the same sort of thing?

Thank you everybody!

[Kman]

Maybe play a couple easy songs first? You should be fine after that.

[mike_k]

So, how did the gig go?

[mtierney]

It's tonight! D= I'll let you know though

[mike_k]

Knock 'em dead.

[mtierney]

It went fairly well, all in all. A friend of mine decided to show up with his bass trombone, so he joined me, but I didn't really have any bass clef charts, so he only played a few songs with me...

Starting with easy songs was a good way to get comfortable, but another was to drag a song out a bit, believe it or not. The first chorus or so of How High The Moon for example my chord phrasing was stale, but I started coming up with better ideas once I got into the tune more and once I became less nervous.

[Dookychase]

Congratulations. You may or may not like this idea, but perhaps you could try using a looper on the gig. You wouldn't have to use it on every song, but it would give you a chance at improvising.

I saw Rich Severson do this at a guitar show once. Some people like it and some don't. Its just something different to try.

Anyway, hope you get more gigs to play.

[jayv999]

To get some experience playing solo, Ted Greene suggested that I book myself to play for free at some local nursing homes, assisted living, and convalescent homes. The elderly people are usually familiar with the old jazz standards and they are a receptive crowd. There's no pressure and you can experiment and get comfortable getting your act together. I did this quite a few times and found it very rewarding. Ted Greene said that he did this many, many times.
One time I thought I was playing a bunch of obscure tunes that they wouldn't know, but I was wrong! Some of them even sang or hummed along....and they really appreciate the live entertainment.
My only suggesting would be to play for the "less fortunate" places rather than the up-scale nursing homes. The "richer" they are the more they will demand from you, and be less appreciative.
--Jay

[mike_k]

Congrats. I am glad to hear that it went well. I have been to a few open mic nights, but there is nothing like playing full sets solo.

[mtierney]

Dookychase: I'm usually not into loopers at least for jazz... I do support the idea of the pedal, but I'm only doing solo gigs this summer until I can go back to college in the fall to meet back up with my band... The solo gigs are kinda just to accelerate my improvement at thinking about chords quickly (the rest of my band kinda kicks my ass every practice )

jayv: The nursing home idea is actually really good. Although it's nice to play in places where if I play a chord for too long or goof a melody no one will care, I still know that that's not right, and in a weird way (even though that wouldn't be a paying gig) the fact that they may know the song increases the pressure.

mike_k: I didn't think it would go well. If you're kind of on the edge about doing a full out solo gig, you might surprise yourself. Like Kman said, taking it easy at first is a huge confidence booster. Even if you just work your way up to playing for an hour, coffee shops would love that.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, responses, kind words, etc!

[Earl]

I have a gig next week with a flute and bass player. I,ll let you know
how that went.

Earl of Soco

[Earl]

This is probably a matter of personal choice. Actually, I started (over 60
years ago, now) learning my open string simple "cowboy chords" then closed chords like F major. Being self-taught, I discovered where G major
was & A & Bb major as well. Same thing starting with C7 and then saw the relationship between thse 2 chords which allowed me to comp on
simple songs like "Anytime" and other country songs.
In 1957, I heard my first jazz guitarist...Barney Kessel. I immediately went
out and bought his albums. I tried to imitate as much as I could on my own. Later, I bought method books like Johnny Smith and Mickey Baker.
I also learned to understand key centers from Howard Roberts ...
articles he did in Guitar Player magazine. Still, I play everything plectrum
style. I am on you tube (handle is melodyplayer) If anyone wants to listen and comment..it would be appreciated.

The Earl of Soco

[Tom Karol]

I guess this thread has sort of drifted, but I've posted before about this: I play in a duo with a keyboard/sax player at assisted living places about once a month. The audiences really appreciate it, and it's very gratifying. These gigs are generally only an hour on a weekend afternoon, and they do pay us. I highly recommend it!

[ronjazz]

I do 2-3 senior citizen gigs a week, from nursing and rehab homes to high-end assisted living facilities. They like all sorts of music from the 30s to early 60s, from jazz to pop to country to ethnic, and they love to be informed about who recorded the song first, who wrote it, and any other information that's interesting. All too often, jazzers neglect the entertainment aspect of putting on a "show". Senior audiences may be old, but they're not stupid, and they really appreciate a good effort and a good show. Whatever device you want to use, from a looper to making your own backing tracks and bringing them on an Ipod, it's all good. Those of you with home studios in your computer, try recording a simple rhythm part, including an intro and ending. Use a click if necessary, do an intro, three choruses, and an ending. Play the melody once, play jazz on the second chorus and for the first half of the third chorus, and play the melody from the bridge out. I do a lot of this using one of my 7-strings for the backing tracks, and even recording another track with the "bongo" sound you can get from tapping on muted strings. Quick and easy, and you're playing along with your own set of changes. I have now about 200 tunes to do, and can break them into specific 1-hour programs with themes so that I can easily sell a return booking. Programs such as Movies and Broadway, Latin Sounds, Songs of Sinatra, etc. If you can sing at all, even a handful of songs, they like that more than anything. I do a lot of Spanish guitar programs, which are mostly instrumental, but I have learned to sing a few traditional and flamenco tunes, and it really goes over, even though I am, at best, an ordinary singer. I do senior gigs instead of teaching, it's more lucrative and very rewarding once you get a good reputation. You can make anywhere from $50-$200 for a 60-90 minute performance, most of them are in the afternoon during the week. If you market well and do a good show, you're looking at another $10,000 a year, playing music. Not bad. There is even a touring situation in the big retirement areas like Florida and Arizona, where you can go for two or three weeks and come home with a nice piece of change, if you get really serious about your promo materials and entertainment aspect.