Cheat Sheets on the gig

[JaamE]

i have both a large font cheat sheet on the floor at my feet with TAB or chords for the beginning and tough parts and a ring binder with my complete charts (with lyrics) off to my side on a black music stand. Last time we played it was set down off the stage to my right. It lets me be able to look at it and jump back in if i get totally lost.

IMO it's better than likelast night when a friends band ' lalalala'd' two lines because they had no lyrics with them.

[Unprofessional]

BL sends me a set list in MS Word. I add my own cheat notes next to each song and mess around with the fonts. Then, I duct tape 2 or 3 around but not on the floor. I've taped 'em on the wall near stage left, on a column near stage left, on a display case near stage left and on the side or top of my rack rig.

[mblackford]

I've found if I don't make notes it forces me to memorize the song, haha!

Seriously, for some ensambles I've memorized all of it, others I have a binder. My most frequent gig I get cues right in my ears from the band leader, which might be the worst kind of crutch.

[bassybill]

I've used most of the systems here in the past and they can all work well. I've just started using an iPad and it's the best solution I've found yet, both for convenience and visibility. I knew I'd find a use for the damn thing sooner or later.

[tomilchik]

I use what title says:

iRealB running on iPad; used to be on iPhone - but I'm getting old and don't see that well anymore

I understand that image matters more for some styles of music than others. But I don't get asked to play (however infrequently that occurs) because of my stage image anyway; and I practice what I believe - music should matter first.

The wonderful:
- full chord chart in front of you;
- transpose whole song with click of a button;
- compact - thousands of songs in very thin package;
- lots of songs transcribed by community, downloadable off iRealB site (the flip-side: transcriptions can be iffy)

The not-so-wonderful:
- no way to incorporate notes into iRealB - e.g. when you need to spell out a riff - that has to be memorized. Anything to do with notes, rests is a problem in iRealB. Still hoping it'll be addressed in one of the future releases.

Have seen same setup (ipad+iRealB) used by a pro that I had an honor to play with once; the guy apparently has gone on tours with big/medium name bands, spent quite a bit of time in Nashville, and is a hell of a guitarist. So that validated what I do even more.

[two fingers]

Originally Posted by jive1

I use notes, but mainly to jog my memory as opposed to use them like sheet music.

Here's an example of how my notes look. I note the sections, and make notes related to sections in parentheses

Every Rose Has It's Thorn - G
Vs: G - C
Ch: G - C (X2) G - D - C - G - C
Br: Em - D - C - G (Hold C at end of bridge before resolving)
Solo: G - C (x2) Em - D - C - G (repeat until resolve)

Mine look a lot like this. Often I will use numbers instead of letters in case someone calls a key change at the last second (easier to transpose). Large bold font. And my notes sit near my left foot so that when I am looking at them people just think I'm looking at my bass fret board, when I'm really looking PAST it to my notes. My binder usually sits behind the floor monitor so that most people out front don't know it's there.

[AMp'D.2play]

Thanks to prior threads on this topic, I use a format similar to those examples posted in this thread. I'm slowly weaning myself off of the cheat sheets as I become more familiar with my new band's material.

I'll usually just jot down the chords for each section (Intr, V., Ch., etc.) as I already have an idea what I'll play over them. In those instances where I need to remember a specific riff, I'll notate that out, too.

[bound'n'blocked]

It's weird, in one band I've never really had a problem remembering the songs. But in another, I would. In that band I would either do notes on the songlist, or I would walk over to the keyboard player who never forgot anything and act like I was telling him a joke or saying something funny to him but in reality was asking "where do we go on the bridge?" and then we would both laugh like it was a really funny joke.

BnB+

[Joe Louvar]

Originally Posted by Foamy

I usually annotate the setlist that the singer sends me. Still on one page, and I only need a few notes here and there. From the audience, it's just a setlist. And I only need to refer to it for a couple seconds every other song or so. Mostly for new songs though. For the standards, not required.

^^^ This.

If needed, this is what I also do.

[rtslinger]

Nope no cheat sheets

[lnichols]

I prefer to not use a music on a music stand. For my regular band I learn the songs and I think I play better when I'm paying attention to the audience and other bandmembers and reacting/leading things with them. However, when I sub for someone or play a one-time gig of songs I'm not familiar with I use Hired Gun RMS (Repertoire Management System):

http://www.hiredgunrms.com/

It runs on Windows. I use a 10.2" tablet that I mount on a mic stand. I can split the screen and show set list on one side, and individual chord charts on the other. Can scroll the setlist or the song with a footpedal. For practice, it can also play the MP3 file. Written by the guys who wrote the teleprompter SW used in the White House since 1994. Less expensive than some of the other electronic alternatives.

Leni

[Pilgrim]

Everyone in my band except the drummer uses "reference sheets" at gigs.

We don't live in the practice room; we practice about two-three hours once a week, and when we play a gig we want to get it right.

[Marko5657]

There’s a saying “The brain is for thinking, the pen is for remembering”… something like that, haha.

Typically being in only one band at a time, except for brand new songs we just learned a couple days previously, I’ve been able to write whatever I need musically on the setlist, like the first note and if I start out on 1 or wait ‘till after an intro. The rest I usually have down pat

Lyrics (as I’m singing more leads lately), I still like the crutch, usually printed small with the first word or two of certain lines bolded or highlighted with a highlight marker, which really picks up whatever little light there might be on stage making it easy to see.

Right now I have those little/cheap plastic page holders that clip to the mic stand.

I considered an ipad, but usually after we’ve done a song a few times, I don’t need anything.

Here’s an example… in this case, the setlist (back of paper is black) on the mic stand, and little charts for brand new songs clipped to the cab.


(note that this is an old pic, and not my typical rig.)

[morgansterne]

the keyboard/rhythm guit player I used to play with used a full on written description for almost every song. He did okay with this crutch normally.
We were about to play STP interstate love song -- something we hadn't practiced in ages -- and I hear the guitarists each strum their first chords noodle wise before the song starts. Something didn't sound right -- I look over and note that our keys/r. guit player is not using his capo, and playing an A minor --
"dude!" I stage whisper at him -- look at his cheat sheet which starts with A minor -- "you need to use your capo!" He gives me a blank stare. "Fourth fret!"

all his chords on his cheat sheet were assuming capo fourth fret, which he forgot to write on the sheet!

I just quit that band a month ago, surprise surprise.

[Raymeous]

The only time I've ever been in a situation where I used "cheat sheets" live was several years ago when I was stationed in Africa.

The Backstory:

There ended up being two bands made up of other service members with various degrees of experience and ability, but we made it work. One classic bar band playing things like “Signs”, “Brown Eyed Girl” (I HATE this song), “Sharp Dressed Man”, “I kissed a girl”, “Stormy Monday” etc… while the other band was an R&B Motown meets gospel thing. I played guitar for both.

The R&B outfit was made up of a bunch of guys that grew up in gospel churches, the keys player being his churches pianist back home. The band consisted of bass, guitar (me the token white guy), keys, drums, vox+sax, and a second vocalist. This was waaaaaaay out of my realm being that I listen to things like Iron Maiden, Meshuggah, Dream Theater, etc…

The gigs:

The thing that amazed me about the whole experience was that we did 3 shows in 10 days with each show being 2 and half hours long, and each show being a completely different set of songs! Holy poop! A month later we did a holiday show, and played some of the songs we’d done before along with some Christmas classics, but we even managed to muddle our way through Tran Siberian Orchestra’s Carol of the Bells. Trading 4’s with the sax was awesome. The best part of was having the audience singing along and dancing, and giving a couple hundred military and civilian personnel a taste of home while stationed abroad during the holidays.

Cheat sheets:

The keys player gave me cheat sheets that I taped to the floor, with the name of the songs and their keys, and I scribbled a few notes on them. I made a point of learning the signature bits of each song first, and then went over the rest. These guys grew up with these tunes so I just followed their lead, because other than “Purple Rain” and “Kiss from a Rose” and hadn’t heard of any of them before this.

It was a lot of fun to try something completely knew for me as a player. Sure I stumbled around a bit doing it but everyone seemed to have a good time with it.

[Biggbass]

I Put the key signatures on my set list as a reminder.
But for tunes we haven't played enough to memorize completely I use and iPad with theDeepdish Gigbook app, iKlip, and a cicada page flip.

[Bert Slide]

I only use cheat sheets if it's a short notice sideman gig with unusual chord changes and it goes on the floor by my tuner, no stand ever. I never use cheats in the bands I play in regularly.

[Ric5]

People are starting to mount ipads to mic stands for set lists, lyrics, chords, etc ...

It makes you look "high tech"

[Nate74]

I've been getting sub work lately with some original bands by charting out their songs and then when I go jam with them, I know their songs; sometimes better than they do. If it's just one gig, why spend the time to memorize a dozen songs I may never play again? Heck, I'll even put up a music stand if needed. Though I'm a fan of hanging something over the back so it looks more like a stage prop: Bushmills flag, pirate flag, etc.

On Jazz gigs, everybody has Real Books, so no worries there.

[JumboJack]

No cheat sheets for me. I'd rather look cool than sound good.