Playing to an audience that isn't listening

[Jack Orion]

I think in a cafe/restaurant you don't really want to be the centre of attention - its kinda taking away from your role.

Maybe in a bar that's known for music you wanna be noticed, but then that doesn't always work out either - I played a gig the other week and was sandwiched between two local 'folk/punk' bands and everybody was there to see them not me - I strolled on stage and did my Beatles/Dylan/Donovan act and nobody listened apart from my friends and one lad down the front... So I just spoke to him from the stage and, right near the end, started a really, really long surreal story about the last song and, eventually, people were like 'what's this guy saying?' and they all went quiet and I went into the song - ended up with a big cheer eventually!

The other side of the coin is that a friend and I went for dinner once and there was a guitarist playing right next to our table - we're both guitar players and pretty much spent the whole night watching him very intensely, copping all the chords, talking about his sound etc etc - we spoke to him afterwards and he said it was the most nerve wracking gig he'd ever done!

[Rich]

I went to see Paul McCartney at Citifield last year and had floor seats about 100 feet from the stage. While Paul sang Blackbird and a few other numbers, solo, just him and his acoustic guitar, four women behind us loudly gabbed and laughed about a gathering they had the night before. They seemed to be totally oblivious to anyone around them, including what was going on on-stage.

If Paul can't keep their attention after they've paid over $200 a ticket to see him ... please don't see people's inattentiveness as reflecting upon the quality of your performance. They just do not "get it" when it comes to live performance.

These people did not shut up until the music again became louder than they could talk.

[BULLSPRIG]

I think its generally reflective of a culture with way too many options for entertainment.

Wasn't all that long ago, entire families sat in front of an a.m. radio in their living rooms to listen to other people tell stories.

[taropatch]

Originally Posted by gibson311

I played a show in a bar this weekend to a room of about 200 people. I play solo acoustic fingerstyle stuff, a lot of Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins, and other songs in that style. I would say that about 99% of the people there never stopped talking and were paying little if any attention to me. Now I realize that this shouldn't really bother me since they did not come just to see me but I still found it very annoying. I wasn't even nervous when I was playing because it felt as if nobody was listening anyway. It almost makes me feel like it's not worth doing again. There was no pressure which is good, but there was also no rush, and no feeling that people actually enjoyed what I was doing. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

If the bar is happy with what you are doing, then you are good to keep going. As others have posted, these types of gigs can be considered "paid practice." You can solidify your playing chops and try out new material "live" without pressure. The experience is excellent for preparing you for gigs where all eyes are on you. Hopefully, you find a few people in the crowd that appreciate what you're doing, but you need to enjoy it yourself. If it doesn't feel right, then seek out something else.

Finally, Tommy often talks about groove. With instrumental music, groove and a little bit of banter in between songs goes a long way in potentially connecting with the audience. Good luck.

[Ivob]

you guys who have the courage to play in bars, where people don't go directly to listen to music, have my admiration. i can't imagine myself to play in front of such an audience. to say the truth for me it's a problem to play even for my girlfriend. i consider my music as something very intimite and what is intimite is quite difficult to express. i think i'll never become a guitar star

[RamóN]

Originally Posted by Ivob

you guys who have the courage to play in bars, where people don't go directly to listen to music, have my admiration. i can't imagine myself to play in front of such an audience. to say the truth for me it's a problem to play even for my girlfriend. i consider my music as something very intimite and what is intimite is quite difficult to express. i think i'll never become a guitar star

I can say from experience that it is something that can change any day. I was just like that and years passed and suddenly i found myself enjoying singing and playing in front of anyone, i even dont really care if people listens or not i just play and have a great time

[TBman]

The biggest reason why I never yearned to play in public is because I don't want to be background music for someone else's life

[RevGeo]

Anytime I get hired to play anywhere for anyone and get paid for playing my guitar it's a good gig. Of course I've had bad gigs - just like anyone can have a bad day at work - but being ignored doesn't really bruise my ego too much.
What's so bad about being background music? Playing music, to me, is a craft as well as an art. Just because I am there playing my guitar doesn't mean I have to have everyone in the room's undivided attention. I am thankful that some venues still prefer live background music instead of pre-recorded stuff. It provides employment for musicians and that is a good thing.
To paraphrase a cliche, the worst day I ever had playing a paying gig was light years ahead of the best day I ever had working a real job.

I agree with BULLSPRIG about people being inundated with entertainment nowadays. Hell, they carry way more music in their pocket than I had in my entire record collection back in the day. People are used to being entertained on demand and live music is just another app. Some of them probably wish we came equipped with a pause button....

Rev George

[ForcesUndivided]

And what I've noticed is no one listens until you give them a reason to pay attention...in my case loud electric rock & roll children. Yep, that pretty much does it, and lots of attitude, showmanship, providing a performance, and even with this you can only slide in a couple of acoustic songs before they wane. The best of us, only a few acoustic numbers children. People want to be entertained, be shown something, so you will have to show them something, be confident, strut, etc...perform, not just play well, but perform. Not everyone who can play well can perform, but with practice you can get better at performing, you just need to be willing to fail yet keep coming back for more. And I'm out...

[desertguitar]

For all of those who have felt the sting of not being appreciated after playing a gig, whether it's at a bar or a wedding, or on a street corner, please read the article below. The Washington Post did an experiment by taking one of the best violinists in the world and placing him down in the middle of one of the busiest sections of Washington D.C. What happens is fascinating on many levels.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040401721.html

[JohnnyDes]

Your post reminded me of the social experiment that the Washington Post set up where they had violin virtuoso Joshua Bell play in a DC subway station to see if anybody would notice. Really a fun read, and I think there are videos too.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040401721.html

Oops. Just noticed that desertguitar beat me to the punch on this story. Sorry!

[Hack Amatuer]

I like that style of playing, I do some of that. It's interesting that ordinary people don't understand all that goes into some of these styles. They have no apreciation of a good guitarrist.

[Losov]

Originally Posted by Hack Amatuer

ordinary people don't understand all that goes into some of these styles. They have no apreciation of a good guitarrist.

Perhaps not but consider the audience member's point of view. The fact that something is hard to do and requires great skill to accomplish does not in and of itself mean that the product of that effort must be lauded, appreciated or even noticed. When you sit down in front of cable TV with your remote and choose a show, do you give any thought to all the talent, effort and expense it took to produce those shows you did not choose to watch? Are you required to watch those shows that don't appeal to you simply because of the effort expended to produce them? Not in my opinion.

As a performer, I am mindful that it is my responsibility to reach the audience. If I don't the failure is mine not theirs.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Losov

As a performer, I am mindful that it is my responsibility to reach the audience. If I don't the failure is mine not theirs.

That's true, but it starts with being mindful about where you play, and getting a good match. You wouldn't expect Pavarotti, upon finding himself misbooked in a country bar, to suddenly please his audience by singing country/western. There's a certain point where you need to find the right place for your style of music. There are so many kinds of music, and so many different tastes, you can't please everyone. You can either choose a place, figure out what kind of people go there and what they like, and play that, or play what you enjoy, and try to find people who appreciate it. For people to really enjoy your music, you should also enjoy it, not be playing something you don't just like to please them. Hopefully, you find a way to play stuff you enjoy and that the audience likes too. Hard when your tastes aren't mainstream pop.

That Joshua Bell video is always interesting, but I think it says more about the mismatch of the artist and the venue than anything else. Would you want to listen to classical music in a noisy subway when you were late for work? Not really. He was misbooked :-)

[GHS]

Absolutley right DY. That video proved nothing. In a society where commuters step over and around obviously injured people laying on the street do you think they would stop for a moment to hear someone playing in that terminal? Place Joshua Bell, even in disguise, at an outdoor art show or fair and you would have to call in crowd control.