Pre-performance question: How long before a show should you NOT play?

UncleGoatLips · 2011-05-23T19:13:13+00:00

A question that's been on my mind for a while, I couldn't really find any answers online relating to this. Sometimes when I've had a day where I practiced h...

Pre-performance question: How long before a show should you NOT play?

Keira-WitherKay

interesting question

i do a residency at Sun City where i for the 1st 6 months ( over summer nov - end april) of it did up to 270 shows in 6 months ( thats 40 shows a month) now thank goodness it's quietened down to 6 (3 hour) shows a week every week till end of july and because i play so much i find i need to be careful how much i practise.......... i'm also a player that unless i stop myself i will play literally all day . but i'm also not that young anymore and my hands carry 25yrs of wear from being a pro muso , thankfuly not having any problems , but they do get tired ....so i consciously listen to what my hands tell me, if they feel achy a bit i won't play at all, even tho i'd be burning to ..........

i want to still be playing at 70 if i live that long ......

so yes for me i say listen to your body, it knows what it wants........

and as morecowbell says a warm up is essential especially if you playing some complex pieces , anyway i always use the first 3 -4 songs of the night to ease into it

FruitarGeek

Keira WitherKay wrote: i'm also a player that unless i stop myself i will play literally all day .

How? I really envy people like you who can just play all day, are you not distracted by the joys of good movies, friends, food? I wish I could just sit and play, but after a while I get bored, or find something 'better' to do.

singemonkey

Morecowbell's is a good summary of what I've been starting to learn with the more regular gigging I've been doing this year. I'm finding it exactly as she describes.

There's definitely no benefit to not playing before a gig. But perhaps, if your hands are aching, you need to take it a bit easy on a gig day. Secondly, do a bit of stretching of your hands when you're finished up (but not after you warm up for the show. Stretching leaves your muscles weakened temporarily and is for "warming-down" to prevent stiffness and preserve/extend flexibility - not for limbering up).

I find that, venues being the warm-up unfriendly places they are, even having warmed up an hour before the show at least gets me over that, "What the hell is this thing in my hands and how does it work?" feeling. I fully agree that it takes 40-45mins to start playing like you think you can, instead of like some other person who's only ever had two lessons.

Just don't give yourself the full workout on gig day is all.

arjunmenon

MoreCowBell wrote: In my experience, the more you perform, the more you get a sense of where your limits lie/what works best for you. I, for one, prefer not to have a mammoth practising session say, the afternoon before an evening gig - I find my body/brain takes a few hours to regroup after an intense musical 'workout', but I think it differs for everyone, because everyone has different mental and physical stamina. I don't see how practising hard hours before a show can really have a negative effect (unless your technique is shite & you inadvertently injure yourself) - though it might wear you out unnecessarily if you overdo it. (Invariably though, you get those hairy gigs where you have no choice but to be practising 'til the moment you walk on stage! lol!)

Warming up is always super important though - no matter what happens in a day before a performance. Ideally, I like to warm up at the venue, for atleast 40 mins and then take no more than a 10 min break before going on stage (so my muscles are still nice and warm when the adrenalin kicks in). Of course though, a lot of the time life happens, and ideal circumstances can't be arranged, in which case you just have to make the best of the energy levels you got! (I've played gigs at the end of rehearsal-packed days, which were heavy going, to say the least. Where would I be without Redbull? haha!)

I don't know that there's any one/right answer to your question, to be honest. My advice would be to listen to your body, trust your instincts, and try and discover a balance that works best for you.

+1 and what MoreCowbell said.

Jacquesg4j

Well my 2c worth...

I use every second I have before a show to practice the pieces that I have to play. I don't practice scales and licks and all of that, but rather the pieces that I am going to play. Muscle memory goes a LOOONG way! I never find that my fingers get to stiff or what ever from excessive practicing, they rather get retarded from too little practice.

For example: This past Sunday I played at church for the first time in like a month. The morning service was a bit touch and go... One song with a big solo (Lincoln Brewster - Today is the Day) went okay, but let me tell you, I had to stretch every single everything in my hands to hit the right notes. Then I went home to practice for the evening service... I practiced for about 3 hours, and the evening I really nailed everything, big solos or not! My fingers just knew where to go and I could focus more on the music than on what I'm supposed to play. MUSCLE MEMORY!

But then again, I might be screwing up my limbs and suffer from arthritis when I hit 40? But I find that if I practice hard before a show, it always goes better! You think less and rock more!!!

ROCK N' ROLL

Cleric

Personally, I prefer to not play the day of a gig at all, unless I've got relatively new strings on that may still need a bit of stretching.

One thing I have noticed though is that while I don't have an issue during practice, the my thumb and the muscle on my palm get pretty sore during a gig, sometimes resulting in me losing grip on my plectrum.

Jack-Flash-Jr

There's definitely no benefit to not playing before a gig. But perhaps, if your hands are aching, you need to take it a bit easy on a gig day. Secondly, do a bit of stretching of your hands when you're finished up (but not after you warm up for the show. Stretching leaves your muscles weakened temporarily and is for "warming-down" to prevent stiffness and preserve/extend flexibility - not for limbering up).

First you need to hold the beer. this involves flextion of the fingers. the muscles used for this are: flexor digitorum superficialis; flexor figitorum profundus; flexor pollocis longus.

then you need to pronate your wrist. this uses : pronator teres; pronator quadratus; brachioradialis

you also need to flex the elbow joint. this uses : biceps brachii; brachialis; brachioradialis

then finally you need to abduct the shoulder: middle deltoid; suprispinatus; pectoralis major.

On a similarly serious note, I finding practicing alone on the day to be fine, with the band (even the night before) though I tend to use a lot of Qi that's reserved for the stage...

Cannon

Heith Richards has been playing every day of his life (with loads of 2hour concerts thrown in between) & still goin strong!!!

That being said...... He is Keith Richards!!!

8)

arjunmenon

FruitarGeek wrote:
Keira WitherKay wrote: i'm also a player that unless i stop myself i will play literally all day .
How? I really envy people like you who can just play all day, are you not distracted by the joys of good movies, friends, food? I wish I could just sit and play, but after a while I get bored, or find something 'better' to do.

Interesting point FG. I used to suffer from distraction quite a bit...until i learned to tune out all the other stuff and discipline myself.
I have in the past (for a whole year - 2002) played 6 - 8 hours a day and then gone out and gigged up to 4 times a week.
I always stopped myself from playing (show material) at least 2 hours before the show. The only thing i'd do at the venue after soundcheck was find a quite spot, fish out my metronome, set it to 120 bpm and play 16th notes for about 10 minutes, then i'd increase it slowly from 120 to 160, then to 200 and finally 240 bpm. This exercise used to take up about 40 - 45 minutes. Lastly, i used to drink 500ml of water with a vitamin C tablet thrown in (it can get hot under lights) and check my tuning.

I try to keep the same focus when i practise at home but it's more about learning different things as opposed to warming up.
At home, i try to implement Steve Morse's philosophy of playing/learning something new every time i sit down with the guitar so i can walk away from the session with a sense of acheivement.

Averatu

I dont practice on the day of a gig, but I'll do about an hour warm up and work thru passages that worry me. I'm mostly a rhythm player, so I'll make sure my strumming hand is well ready.

killafo

I gig about 1 to 2 times a month....i practice before i get to the place, but i play anything but my set list for that day.

I play better under pressure and then when i'm about to stuff up a chord i let muscle memory take over. (i know, i know....most people will argue, well you should practice more, blah blah).I practice enough during the week to rely on that method.

Like i said it works for me.

As far as warming up when we're hanging ou at the place, i really don't do that. I go over the songs in my head and i'm happy with that. I just think of a gig as a glorified practice, it puts my mind at ease. But i let all the awesome energy that you get from playing on stage come through.

Averatu

killafo wrote: I gig about 1 to 2 times a month....i practice before i get to the place, but i play anything but my set list for that day.

I play better under pressure and then when i'm about to stuff up a chord i let muscle memory take over. (i know, i know....most people will argue, well you should practice more, blah blah).I practice enough during the week to rely on that method.

Like i said it works for me.

As far as warming up when we're hanging ou at the place, i really don't do that. I go over the songs in my head and i'm happy with that. I just think of a gig as a glorified practice, it puts my mind at ease. But i let all the awesome energy that you get from playing on stage come through.

When you break it down physiologically, that all we're really doing, generating muscle memory, but it comes with practice.

UncleGoatLips

Thing is, the more I play the more I want to play. I feel that any excuse not to play more guitar is probably a bad excuse. I did it for years where I wouldn't play guitar the day of a show but i'm sure it just slowed my progress(and I do an average of 3 gigs a week, not as much as Keira but still, 3 day's practice a week lost for a few years... ouch), so now I think that even if I don't play 100% on the night because of a day of hard practice at least i'm getting better overall, does this make sense?

Bob-Dubery

I've heard it suggested that you should warm up at the venue but not play anything you are set to perform. Advice I happily disregard myself, and I heard Martin Simpson and his band soundcheck with their opening song of that night's show (and Simpson's played a gig or two).

I do think that some kind of warm up, especially of the voice, is a good idea - even if you have to go into the loo to get some privacy.

Jack-Flash-Jr

I think there's a spontaneity that's lost if you walk from practising your set straight onto stage... As (if not more) important as warming up is ensuring the group psych is set to create the magic space...

UncleGoatLips

Pre-show warmup is a given. Whether you practice the set or your own warmup routine etc. you do what works for you. For me, I actually like watching the bands play before my band and I try boogie on down, it gives me a sense of rhythm, it get's me tighter with the pulse, then 30-40 minutes before the show I pick up my guitar and do my routine and vocal warm ups.

singemonkey

UncleGoatLips wrote: Pre-show warmup is a given. Whether you practice the set or your own warmup routine etc. you do what works for you. For me, I actually like watching the bands play before my band and I try boogie on down, it gives me a sense of rhythm, it get's me tighter with the pulse, then 30-40 minutes before the show I pick up my guitar and do my routine and vocal warm ups.

And how do you do that in a small bar, that's what I'd like to know? Going "mi-mi-mi-mi-MI!" for 10 minutes is probably not going to endear you to the manager.

arjunmenon

UncleGoatLips wrote: Pre-show warmup is a given. Whether you practice the set or your own warmup routine etc. you do what works for you. For me, I actually like watching the bands play before my band and I try boogie on down, it gives me a sense of rhythm, it get's me tighter with the pulse, then 30-40 minutes before the show I pick up my guitar and do my routine and vocal warm ups.

I have a similar approach but it involves silence. I usually tune out and visualize myself playing the set and going over the stuff in my mind.
Thankfully, i don't sing ?

UncleGoatLips

Singemonkey: I actually have a few exercises that I do inside clubs. If the club is big enough to have a backstage area where you can warm up your voice it's fine but if it doesn't then it's usually so noisy that nobody can hear me go mi mi mi and stuff, I wear earplugs so I can hear myself as well. I also get my ear in pitch by singing along to whatever is playing over the p.a. or the band that's playing too.

singemonkey

UncleGoatLips wrote: I also get my ear in pitch by singing along to whatever is playing over the p.a. or the band that's playing too.

Yeah I do a fair bit of that. Helps to psyche up a bit too.