Tips To Improve Your Jazz Band Performance
Today, jazz music has become very popular and you will find live music performances in most of the public venues. The trend of live music has started to entertain the crowd in various ways on special occasions and festivals. Many of the restaurants and hotels keep a live music performance for entertaining their guests having a meal. With this trend, lots of musicians get the opportunity to perform in front of a crowd and it becomes a motivation for their band to perform well. Many emerging singers and musicians strive to make their first live performance, but they fail due to lots of reasons like lack of opportunities and more. But, today, with the emerging trend to entertain their guests on various occasions, the restaurant owners hire musicians who perform for the purpose of entertaining the audience. Moreover, by doing so, they also get a golden opportunity to reach the audience and present their musical skills and talents. Also, there are lots of people today, who are music lovers and so, they enjoy every bit of the performances. Now, talking about a jazz band, the musicians and singers are dedicated and they work hard to make their performance a success. Moreover, they give their musical performance, so that the crowd can know them and their music. A jazz music band like NYJA, whenever performs, they have to be perfect in that and see every bit of their performance should go in the right direction. However, here, we shall point out a few tips that will help in improving your live performance.
Let Them Hear Your “Count Offs” Whenever you perform, start your band with a count off and it should be loud enough for the audience to hear you. It is usually two bars long, but, slower tempos often require only a single bar count off as compared to fast tempos where it is required four tempos. You can include any pickup notes in the count-off bars. To bring an innovation and allow the audience to participate and engage them with your performance, you can create a tempo with handclaps or finger snaps. It will make an interesting environment for the audience to enjoy your performance where they feel that they too are getting occupied with your band. Make a Set List Before the performance, it is advisable that you sit down and make a set list, wherein every member of the band knows what song to play next. When you make a set list, it involves considering keys, tempos, genres and last but not the least, your audience. It is very important to put all these things in an order to not get confused at the time of performance. The main aim is to take the people sitting in the room, to a ride by dictating their mood, when you put your sets together. It is important for you to create and perfectly utilize great segues and medleys, which will help in engaging the crowd actively. Manage The Sound Check It is an important aspect of a live performance. If you have a professional person in your team for checking the sound, he must be knowing the systematic order of the instruments to be checked for their specific sounds. The sound check process usually follows like drums, bass, keyboards, guitar, other instruments, background vocals, lead vocals and the full band. The sequence of the sound check is not set in stone, but this is how most sound engineers like to work. It is always better for you to act like the sound man knows more than you do because it is a fact that he knows the exact tempo at which a particular instrument should play, and he tests every instrument in a sequence to ensure their proper functioning. For example, if you are playing at a club or a bar, your sound engineer knows the room well and so you should play as he says. Check Your Stage Volume Often, most of the musicians do not take this matter so seriously. But, setting your stage volume will have a huge effect on how your music will sound to the audience sitting in the room. If you are too loud, you will blow away your band mates and it will become hard to take out a proper mix of all. If you are too low, the folks won’t
be able to hear you. So, in any of the case, it is advisable that you ensure your stage volume is proper, thereby making your performance to the mark. Pick The Right Songs Selection of the songs is one of the most crucial aspects of your show/performance. It is very important that you should be making the right choice of songs that you want to play. It has a huge effect on the overall environment and the moods of the crowd. Interact With Your Audience The success of any live performance depends on how you communicate with your audience. While performing live, you should be able to connect yourself with the crowd through gestures like bending down to them on the edge of the stage or interacting them with some other gestures. It will make your crowd feel special and they will enjoy your band to the highest level. Moreover, you should know your audience in the sense that what type of songs they will love to listen. Give them the importance and they will happily join in your performance. There are lots of ways you can improve your live performance by bringing a few changes in the way you prepare and perform. It is a treat and an inspiration to watch a Jazz music band.
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