Ipad impact

[rpjazzguitar]

Reading on stage?

Let's start with economics. Is there enough money in the gig(s) to permit rehearsals and the time at home it would take the players to memorize the show?

What about tune selection? A lot of the groups I've played with don't want a short set list. They want a big repertoire and they want to play new stuff all the time. How is everybody going to memorize that? It's rare that there's an old fashioned casual where the tune list is going to be chestnuts everybody knows -- and with no prior arranging of the music. I can't think of the last time I attended or played a gig like that.

Arrangements. It's one thing to know the tune, and it's another to know the arrangement. It's easy to forget roadmap details, especially if they're unexpected - which is exactly what every arranger wants them to be.

Avoidance of train wrecks. Memories can fail. Charts are the antidote.

Now, I agree that it looks better when nobody is reading. And, it doesn't look good when the players have their faces planted in the charts. That's better if there's a singer or soloist in front who isn't obviously reading. And, it's somehow different if it's an orchestra.

Last point. I suck at memorizing tunes. Should I give up gigging?

[Christian Miller]

Reading on stage?

Let's start with economics. Is there enough money in the gig(s) to permit rehearsals and the time at home it would take the players to memorize the show?

What about tune selection? A lot of the groups I've played with don't want a short set list. They want a big repertoire and they want to play new stuff all the time. How is everybody going to memorize that? It's rare that there's an old fashioned casual where the tune list is going to be chestnuts everybody knows -- and with no prior arranging of the music. I can't think of the last time I attended or played a gig like that.

Arrangements. It's one thing to know the tune, and it's another to know the arrangement. It's easy to forget roadmap details, especially if they're unexpected - which is exactly what every arranger wants them to be.

Avoidance of train wrecks. Memories can fail. Charts are the antidote.

Now, I agree that it looks better when nobody is reading. And, it doesn't look good when the players have their faces planted in the charts. That's better if there's a singer or soloist in front who isn't obviously reading. And, it's somehow different if it's an orchestra.

Last point. I suck at memorizing tunes. Should I give up gigging?

My experience is that everything goes up a notch if you aren’t looking at a chart. It’s not always possible to do that for various reasons, but for working bands that play the same repertoire a lot, I think it is.

There are now orchestras that perform by memory

They must presumably feel the same. Presentation wise it actually seems a bit odd, but maybe this will be the norm in twenty years.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MarkL]

My experience is that everything goes up a notch if you aren’t looking at a chart. It’s not always possible to do that for various reasons...

It probably clear from my earlier posts on this thread that I think iPads are a great tool for reading music on stage. Whether to use charts altogether is another question. I agree with Christian's comment, and having led jazz jams for years (where audience members can come up and pick tunes, vocalists can pick keys, etc.) I find an iPad loaded with iReal indispensable. Freedom not to look at a chart (and band and audience engagement plus more creative bandwidth) is ideal, but sometimes unattainable. Plus, at least for me, it's nice to have a chordsheet open for occasional concentration lapses, and for tunes I don't know as well as I should (or as well as I think I do).

[rpjazzguitar]

My experience is that everything goes up a notch if you aren’t looking at a chart. It’s not always possible to do that for various reasons, but for working bands that play the same repertoire a lot, I think it is.

There are now orchestras that perform by memory

They must presumably feel the same. Presentation wise it actually seems a bit odd, but maybe this will be the norm in twenty years.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think it depends on how well you know the tune, how well you read, and your overall level of ability. It's probably better if you know the tune perfectly - so you don't have to read - but skilled readers do well.