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How do you buy time on stage?
- Thread starter Anthony Lap
- Start date
Get some funk going with the drummer...If you know the rhythm and are good with scales,play something that matches the "C Tuning" guitar solo and when your guitarist is done tuning he can take over..
- Oct 18, 2012
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The lead singer talks to the crowd. It shouldn't take more than 20 to 30 seconds to tune a guitar. A good front man can easily fill that time.
That was the problem w/ my ex band. I told the guitar player 100 times, but he didn't change his attitude. I would play him the videos of us showing him how amateur it looks, but still didn't get it. Did I mention that it was my ex band?
I play mainly in a bluegrass group, so there's LOTS of tuning between songs. We try to group our set list by keys. In the tuning breaks we usually introduce members, talk about our social media, and heckle each other. The interaction between band mates usually is interesting enough to get by
Second guitar. Nobody re-tunes more than one string on the fly. Well, Beppe Gambetta will tune on the fly, but he talks while he's going to one of his 17 tunings, and never takes a breath...not many folks can do that.
Write a short song not requiring guitar.
Work out a jam not requiring a guitar that you can adjust length to taste.
Play a cover not requiring a guitar.
Work in a jam outtro to the previous song where the guitar changes tuning while y'all keep playing and when he gives the signal move on.
Cut the song.
Even if the guitarist has a second guitar, the change-over can take some time so you should have some fill material ready, even if it's only announcements of upcoming gigs or the like.
Work out a jam not requiring a guitar that you can adjust length to taste.
Play a cover not requiring a guitar.
Work in a jam outtro to the previous song where the guitar changes tuning while y'all keep playing and when he gives the signal move on.
Cut the song.
Even if the guitarist has a second guitar, the change-over can take some time so you should have some fill material ready, even if it's only announcements of upcoming gigs or the like.
When a delay occurs on stage I find it best to kind of shrink back into the shadows and wait it out quietly.
Some kind of joke or question ... something that'll excite the audience ... like "so, how 'bout those impeachment hearings, huh?". 
Tell your retardist to acquire a double neck guitar. Or, drop the song. He must think he's Slash, or something.
A well endowed beautify lady with the tip jar circling the gig, while the singer talks with the audience. Works for us.
But get the guitarist another guitar on stage, even if he borrows one for every gig, until the tight wad buys one.
But get the guitarist another guitar on stage, even if he borrows one for every gig, until the tight wad buys one.
You don't need it to be scripted. You just play the riff until the guitarist is ready, and then count in the actual song start. Lots of great songs lend themselves to this, especially songs that are danceable. We've done it with Superstition, with Sly Stone's Thank You, and several other good dance tunes. See if you can get the audience clapping along. Introduce the band members. Give a shout out to the bartenders and wait staff. Welcome some of your friends who came to see you by name. There are all sorts of ways you can fill dead air and use it as an opportunity to connect with the audience.
