Using a music stand in a covers band

[JTUK]

If you are a function gig then no one cares as they are dancing to a musical juke box...
but they go to watch a band in a pub first and foremost and reading those sort of gigs
is boring to watch... and possibly boring to hear.
People know which gig is which and which gig they are 'acceptable' at..
I think you can have visual prompts, but don't think they should be visable.

A pub gig is by no means a serious gig but you wouldn't be taken very seriously
by punters if you used a lot of charts and you'd be a filler band and not one of the better draws
around here.
Know your market...

Edited December 7, 2014 by JTUK

[TimR]

I don't use music when playing in the current covers band.

I used to in other bands.

For me it depends on whether you are performing or whether you are just playing the music. I like to be able to see the reaction of the audience to what I am playing. It's a two way thing when performing. The problem is, even if you've been booked for a party or wedding, you don't know until part way through the evening whether the guests are the type to dance or the type to watch.

For a function band I would learn 100% of the popular most played tunes. The ones that are called out as requests, learned specifically for that gig or not regulars in the set; it's out with the pad.

[AndyTravis]

I dunno, I've never thought about it.

Our singers have them and use them 2/3 times in a set, and they're to the side.

One singer is bang on all the time, but as they chop and change lines etc, she has the other singers parts highlighted if she needs to pick anything up. The other singer is bang on most of the time, but prefers having them there, and always sings great and engages well.

We tend to learn in, but I have a reminder note on my bass head of any changes in newer tunes.

If your band plays well, who cares.

Some of us have enough to memorise, and in my case, some of us have crap memories 😂

I've always been the same, it's not degenerative.

I've seen crap bands with stands, and f***ing terrible ones without.

Whatever floats ones boat.

[jezzaboy]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1417968839' post='2625563']
Music stands? That's disgusting, next thing you know some people will be using frets.
[/quote]

Or things that let you check that your instrument is in tune [size=4] [/size]

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1417987287' post='2625818']
Or things that let you check that your instrument is in tune
[/quote]
Amateurs.

[MarkW]

A 100-piece symphony orchestra using stands to perform classical repertoire is one thing: five blokes in a pub who can't remember the chords to a handful of cock-rock covers is something else entirely. I always think it makes us look either under-rehearsed or just lazy, especially as our pro guitarist is the worst offender ;-)

[EssentialTension]

http://youtu.be/wTWidM53Ayc

[dand666]

I use a hercules ipad stand and that attaches to my mic stand. After just coming off a cruise ship for the last 2 months, we play over 250 songs, and I just don't know all of them off by heart.

In a pub, 2 hour set no one should need them. But if you are playing every single night for up to 5 hours a night, I think it's ok to have chord charts..

[MarkW]

OK, OK - I take it all back ET! I want one of those!

Edited December 7, 2014 by MarkW

[mrtcat]

It's totally different for different types of band. A function band with a repertoire of hundreds of songs doing requests or playing stuff at the call of an md are totally ok to have music stands. That band works by being polished and flexible so that's a valid reason. A pub rock band knocking out time old classics with a set of 30 songs and maybe a dozen spares just look terrible imo with stands as the whole point is to be engaging and rock n roll and a bit rough and reasy. Using a stand in a pub tells me they either don't know their stuff or they're taking themselves way too seriously. I'd never play a pub with a regular singer / guitarist if he /she needed a stand.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='MarkW' timestamp='1417988120' post='2625830']
OK, OK - I take it all back ET! I want one of those!
[/quote]
It may be the future. Also I thought the guy was funny.

[rushbo]

As a diehard REM fan (OK, sue me...) I've seen Stipe use a music stand dozens of times. Does it bother me? No. Does it make me think any less of him or the band? No. I'd much rather see a band use stands and get it right than fudge lyrics and chord changes. If you're slavishly staring at the music stand, then you may need to have a rethink, but there are far worse crimes that covers bands commit than using stands on stage.

[chris_b]

You guys kill me; making up all these rules about when others should do this and then when they shouldn't do that.

[AndyTravis]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1417994060' post='2625902']
You guys kill me; making up all these rules about when others should do this and then when they shouldn't do that.
[/quote]

This.

[fingerz]

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1417994848' post='2625910']
This.
[/quote]

Exactly. How do they sound? Do YOU enjoy it?

[gjones]

A lot of people I play with have tablets on a stand. It's slightly less intrusive than bits of paper you have to leaf through.

[barneyg42]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1417994060' post='2625902']
You guys kill me; making up all these rules about when others should do this and then when they shouldn't do that.
[/quote]

Why shouldn't they?? After all these guys are perfect, never forget anything, have the perfect stage set up and look perfect! We are obliged to look and be like them, if we can't attain their perfect standards we have no place being on a stage, we are lesser beings not fit to be called musicians! How do symphony orchestras get away with it??!!!

😉😉

[TimR]

They're just jealous because they can't read music/don't know the names of the notes.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1417985422' post='2625798']
If you are a function gig then no one cares as they are dancing to a musical juke box...
but they go to watch a band in a pub first and foremost and reading those sort of gigs
is boring to watch... and possibly boring to hear.
People know which gig is which and which gig they are 'acceptable' at..
I think you can have visual prompts, but don't think they should be visable.

A pub gig is by no means a serious gig but you wouldn't be taken very seriously
by punters if you used a lot of charts and you'd be a filler band and not one of the better draws
around here.
Know your market...
[/quote]
Around here people dance at pub gigs. Know your market.

[MarkW]

I don't really give a damn what anyone else does!

I was a classically trained musician, and if I were playing in an orchestra I'd have a stand. Similarly, when I play in the big band I have a stand. But when I go to a pub to knock out the same set list we've been playing for the last couple of years (and that's another issue right there) I don't see one good reason for any of us having one.

[Number6]

So in this discussion, am i right in saying that we've ascertained that some use music stands and some don't?

It would also seem that a majority of those that don't believe that those who do shouldn't.

The don'ters appear to categorise the do'ers as maybe less capable than the don'ters.

However the do'ers are questioning the don'ters on their right to see them in a lesser category than the don'ters.

Would that be a fair appraisal of this debate so far?

It certainly makes for very interesting reading.

😎

Edited December 8, 2014 by Number6

[FuNkShUi]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1417961199' post='2625443']
It seems it's an amateur thing, thinking it's unprofessional to have stands and music on stage.

[/quote]

I agree with this.
If given the choice to hear every song as it should be played, or having people busk their way through songs they aren't 100% comfortable with, i'm fine with a band using stands.
I dont ever recall someone saying "That was a great night. The band were sounding awesome. I must say though, that music stand was off-putting. Really spoiled my night"
Saying all this, i dont use a music stand. Never have. I prefer to learn the songs, so i dont have to be worried about whether i can see the sheets etc. I enjoy the gigs more this way.

[DaytonaRik]

I absolutely detest this with a passion. Sure, I forget a few lyrics now and again - but I'll make light of it and be brunt of my own joke.

[bigd1]

I am a bass player , 6 string guitarist , Tuba player and vocalist.
When playing with the brass groups music stands are used no question. The big advantage I feel is, we can if we have the music with us play anything. Even music we may never have listened to or rehearsed, something I'm sure most pub/club band couldn't possibly do and have no way of playing without the musical dots, words and chords.. I would much rather go see a band/group play something right, not note perfect (we all make mistakes even with dots) but I think its less likely.
I have noticed so called top pro bands use tv monitors to scroll the lyrics etc when playing live. The monitors are usually on the floor and from the front of stage look like speaker monitors.
I do feel if it improves the performance, go with it. Nothing worse than a band that forgets words, chord run or finishes to early by forgetting the last verse etc. You might think the audience don't notice, but they really do.
Is a music stand really that bad ?

Edited December 8, 2014 by bigd1

[TimR]

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1418026909' post='2625997']
So in this discussion, am i right in saying that we've ascertained that some use music stands and some don't?

It would also seem that a majority of those that don't believe that those who do shouldn't.

The don'ters appear to categorise the do'ers as maybe less capable than the don'ters.

However the do'ers are questioning the don'ters on their right to see them in a lesser category than the don'ters.

Would that be a fair appraisal of this debate so far?

It certainly makes for very interesting reading.

😎
[/quote]

Time for a Venn Diagram?