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I'm playing acoustic guitar and singing with my mate who plays assorted other acoustic instruments (guitar, mando, harmonica). We're not being paid to be the entertainment - it's open mics and we're not putting ourselves out there as "an act". We do it for fun. so anyone sneering at me for using a prop when they're watching us play can go and do one.
I use OnSong on an iPad to remember lyrics and chords. When I'm playing my own stuff, I don't need it, but for covers, I often do. For songs I've played for years, of course not, but something we've just knocked up for fun and might only play a couple of times before moving on to something else, no - I need prompts.
It stores all of my music notation - chords charts, lyrics, tabs and scores on staves. I no longer have notebooks full of this stuff, just the iPad (and backups). You can scroll up/down/next/previous using a bluetooth footswitch. You can get it to autoscroll roughly in time with your playing. I've got mine on an attachment that fits onto a mic stand.
if you don’t know the lyrics to a song, whether that’s your own original composition or a cover of someone else’s song… you don’t really know the song… you can’t possibly know the melody and you won’t be singing in anything close to “in tune”…
have to admit, this is a personal bug bear of mine… us lowly guitarists, bass players and drummers etc get short change if we don’t know the songs!… We take the time out to commit what we have to play to memory… and contrary to what @rolamd said, a lot of musical parts (and especially drum patterns) are far more complex than remembering a few words…
as musicians does it not piss you off when a vocalist swans in and doesn’t know the words to a song? Seriously?…
from a crowd perspective there’s nothing worse than a massive black music stand front and center or an iPad lighting up the crutch of the lazy singist!…
as for big names using autocues… they are putting on shows that cost 100’s of thousands… a bit of back up doesn’t hurt… besides, most of the “names” mentioned so far are over 60 and spent most of their lives off their nuts, surprised they can tie their own shoes tbh
ive sat this morning watching sing2 with the littleuns… they’ve seen it a couple of times… they know all the words!…
If two little kids can learn the lyrics so can a grown up man or woman!….
I do worry that this makes me rely too much on the iPad for lyrics, but it does allow us to get new songs into the set with very little rehearsal time (zero in some cases). I'm also depping for other bands and there wouldn't be enough hours in the day to learn everything perfectly.
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Having done a gig last night (thankfully without forgetting any of the words) I’ve come to the conclusion that having something like Onsong or Bandhelper onstage is a useful aide memoire for selected moments. If you just need a peek to remind yourself how the next verse starts, the rest will come spilling out if you know the song.
If the singer’s glued to their iPad (or worse, phone) because they don’t actually know the words, that’s a different matter. Difficult to connect with the audience in that situation. And as others have noted, there’s more to a song than just the words - what’s the melody, when are the breaks, etc.
An analogy would be rock climbing with a rope vs free climbing. The rope is there to prevent you from falling to your doom, not to haul you up the rock face.
Ultimately we’re there to entertain the audience. If we have a brain fart on stage and draw a blank for the next line because we’re far too cool to have any prompts, that’s not entertaining.
Just because I might be a little hazy on the fourth verse or that surprise double-chorus that has a different final line does not mean I can't perform it well.
I take it from your posts so far that you've never had to sing 3 hours of lead vocals for paying punters when they are free to choose requests from a song list of 300 or so? If I played the same set night after night then for sure the lyrics would be hard-coded in my brain. That's not my gigging reality though.
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@cols if you’re a band that meet up once every couple of weeks for a run through and gig every other weekend… you shouldn’t need “safety rope” at all as you’ve learnt the songs…
if you’re a band (like our old function band) who meets up only for a gig then you also don’t need a safety rope as you’ve learnt the songs, even new stuff that’s been put in the set the day before the gig!…
if you’re a one man an his acoustic taking requests you should have a repertoire big enough that you can cope with what’s requested…
none of this is rocket surgery!…
and to be fair, if there’s someone in your band that can’t remember the songs… bin them off in favour of someone who can!…
however, routinely gig with covers and function bands without rehearsing!… as mentioned above sometimes getting the set the day before and sometimes never having played with the other musicians or even played some of the songs… but… everyone knows what they’re doing…
Actually having the printed words in front of you is a hindrance for two reasons,
1, I can’t see them anyway eyesight too bad and too vain to actually wear glasses when I perform
2, in most cases all the words of a verse when originally written never fit into the verse of a song when performed (Bruce Springsteen lyrics especially) causing eye to mouth co ordination issues
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
I don't think anyone is saying it's viable or desirable to literally read all the lyrics off a screen. The point of a prompter is to help out if you find yourself struggling to remember a particular part. What if Robert forgot whether he should be squeezing his lemon or some other food item?
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Our singer uses an iPad. I'd like him to learn the stuff but also I'd rather have him in the band than not. I think it's easier if they love the songs but in cover/function/dep land you could be doing something once then maybe never again.
https://youtu.be/ZUkSGT_4xUo
Of course, it looks better if the singer knows the words and doesn't need a prompt.
Of course I try to use the lyric sheets as little as possible.
I'm not advocating printing off the lyrics and winging it on the night, or not putting any attempt into learning the songs... I'm sure most of us have worked with singers like that (How are those the right words in the right order? They don't even rhyme when you sing them that way round, FFS!)
That said, I draw from a huge playlist, most of which is NOT of my own choosing (bit of a sore subject, as it happens..). I not only sing, I also play guitar - so I need to know chords and structures too. It also doesn't hurt to have prompts on there like "Capo at 3rd", although of course that can go on the setlist.
I also have a very time-demanding day job and get a ridiculously high number of requests, often at ridiculously short notice.
I'd love to be able to rehearse the songs thoroughly, both individually and with the band. This simply isn't going to happen.
I do, however, practise the songs as much on my own as I can to ensure I can play them to a sufficiently high level.
I give it some welly when I play and do my darndest to engage with the crowd. I am not mumbling into my lyric book when I play.
All of that said, I would much rather be seen as unprofessional by fellow musos on this forum for using a lyric book than to be seen as unprofessional by a bride and groom for messing up their first dance.
For what it is worth, I have my own band and work with a number of other line-ups doing the same thing as me, and all of them use lyric prompts of some sort. And, yes, I'm happy for bassist, drummer, spoons player whoever to use sheets (paper or virtual) to keep them on track.
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