Showmanship and Faking It

When you’re performing, (whether it’s classical, pop, or jazz music, a little showmanship and “performance awareness” can go a long way. Here are some tips from the trenches:

Keep going, no matter what happens. This applies to all performance situations and musical styles! Whether you’re in the middle of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” or the Beatles’ “Lady Madonna,” you should never stop if you fumble in mid-performance! Instead, keep going at all costs, striving to maintain the rhythm as consistently as you can. As musicians, we always tend to be our own worst critics, but I guarantee you that the great majority of your audience will not notice those imperfections, provided that you keep going, and are “in the pocket” rhythmically speaking. I regularly play gigs attended by other musicians here in L.A., and even those guys often don’t notice our little flaws (unless they’re too polite to tell us!). As the old saying goes (or maybe I just made this up!?), “If you keep going, maybe 2% of your audience will know you made a mistake. If you stop, then 100% of them will notice!” If you’re on a pop or jazz gig and you lose your place in the form of the song, use your ears and try to figure out where the band is (i.e., are they on the I chord, the V chord, and so on?). Worst case: if you’re playing a tune with a repetitive form (like a blues, or jazz standard), try to catch up when the band returns to the top of the form again!

Make your performance visually as well as musically interesting. This is admittedly styledependent, and is perhaps most important when playing the popular styles. Rock bands will routinely move around a lot on stage, including some keyboard players who use strap-on keyboard controllers as an alternative to (or as well as) the more conventional keyboard “rig.” This kind of showmanship is much less common in the jazz world, although Chick Corea (a giant of acoustic and electric jazz) still uses his strap-on keyboard at concert performances. Otherwise, we keyboard players are stuck behind a grand piano or electronic keyboard rig! Whatever the gig, it’s important to look relaxed, happy, and confident, as this will then be conveyed to your audience. As much as I recognize the profound contribution that Miles Davis made to the jazz world, I don’t subscribe to his theory of “turning his back” on the crowd. If you engage your audience, they will in turn be more receptive to what you have to play, to everyone’s benefit!

Talk to your audience. This again mainly applies in the pop, rock, and jazz styles. I think it’s good to introduce your songs (either before or after you play them), and if they’re from a CD that you have released, then you can mention that too. It’s also good etiquette (particularly on jazz gigs) for the leader to introduce the band members at least once in every set, and maybe more often if some players are featured soloists on particular tunes.