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hi guys.. actually i just got an offer to play in a bar in Japan. (i'm studying here). But i don't have any experiences playing in bar.I'm not so good in jazz or improvisation. I really want to do it. So, what songs are usually played there? pop? classic or jazz?.any recommendations?

thanks

Don't guess. Either stop in for an hour or so of listening, making note of the crowd's reactions to the tunes played, or ask someone to go in and tape a set or two for you if it's not possible for you to pre-screen the room yourself. If that's not possible, ask the club owner. If he's oblivious, ask the bartenders or even ask to be put in contact with the pianist or one of the pianists working there.

kyaa thanks!

I played in bars for 20 years before becoming a concert artist. My take is that people want to hear recognizable melodies. Style is less important. You can play musicals, movie themes, folk songs, old pop songs. Here's a general formula: 1. Play the melody 2. Embellish the melody 3. Improvise 4. Repeat the melody perhaps in a new key.

Another important thing - don't play a tune, stop, play a second tune, stop, play a third tune, stop..... Keep things flowing. You can either put together medleys that have a common thread (Rogers and Hammerstein tunes, drinking songs, three tunes you play well in the key of E, whatever), or just go in with an arsenal of tunes, and fiddle with improvised bridges to get you to the new key. Your job is to play - not to stop for applause. The longer a stretch you play, the more you sound like you really know what you are doing, and the tip jar will reflect that.

I've been playing every Wednesday for a year (after a loooong break from barroom gigs), 2 hours without a break, and generally do continuous half hours, stop long enough to sip my beer, and then start the next half hour.

Your playing improves every week - you have to play through mistakes and learn to rescue yourself. You may learn to improvise, because when you forget the tune or the chord changes, you have to figure out something to do.

Don't set yourself up to take requests unless you have a huge stable of tunes ready - you don't want to turn some folks off becuase you didn't play their request.

It is best if you have everything memorized. If not, try to use fake books, or small sheets. Nothing is more distracting than the piano player shuffling a four-page sheet at the start of each tune.

And, however horrible a tune if may be, learn to play Happy Birthday - create an interesting arrangement, know it in several keys, and be prepared to drop it in to any tune, in any set, at any time. Lousy tune, but the best primer for the tip jar.

(doesn't hurt to know Piano Man either...)

Good luck.
Steve


drinkin

I agree with everything Steve has told you. The single most requested song I was asked to play is "Misty". Be certain you have mastered it. Good luck. Oh, that crazy "Happy Birthday" ditty is a must, too.

Hi, new poster here:

Thanks for the great advice in this thread - I've just said yes to a solo gig in a restaurant in a couple of month's time. This'll be my first solo gig (aside from classical recitals way back when) and I'm pretty nervous about it (though I decided to bite the bullet and accept the gig, as if I wait till I'm sure I'm ready, I reckon I'll probably never do it...).

Anyway, since it'll be background music for people eating, rather than a focal point, I'm thinking of playing mostly down-tempo well-known standards (Misty, Georgia..., My Funny Valentine etc.) mixed in with a few movie/pop songs that I'll slightly jazz up, and more-or-less follow Bradley's structure for each piece.

One thing I'm not great at at the moment is, as Steve suggests, transitioning smoothly from one tune to the next. However, I reckon if I can work out a setlist in advance, I should be able to sort this in time.

Regarding "Happy Birthday", I learnt this years and years ago, as when I waited in a country club as a teenager, the pianist had normally gone home by the point on a Sunday lunchtime when the birthday cake got wheeled out for whoever was celebrating that day, so I had to sit in. My advice on that one is to not play an intro to it as people used to start singing the minute you started playing and they saw the cake, making you sound pretty silly if you were playing a couple of bar's lead in...

Go for it.... you will learn more than you may ever want to know doing a bar gig.

Don't break any legs or anything else... my best advice at the moment.

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My christmas holiday music :
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You have some great advice there Steve for folks who want to try doing bar gigs.

I'll chime in with... in most cases it is good to mix it up. Don't play a steady diet of waltzes. Or playing everything in the same key or with the same rhythms. Grab your audience by the ears by using contrast. (some you might wanna grab by the horns btw as you will never be able to please everybody).

If you sing along with the piano in many cases you may want to have some sound reinforcement handy even if it be a small but nice sounding amp.

Try to learn each venues sound acoustic situation will probably be like when you are playing and how it will change depending on the how many bodies you have in that room and if those bodies are chatting it up loudly. Play it by ear to decide when you need to play louder stuff, and try to what your audience of the momment would enjoy.

The audience at one point in time during a gig at a bar/lounge/coffee house etc will differ as people go in and out so keep that in mind.

Learn what the bar owner, the manager and the staff like to hear also. And more importantly learn what they don't want or like to hear. Because you got to keep them as well as the audience happy to have you around. Try not to get in the way when they are conducting business like serving folks, and such.

Always strive to be a professional in all respects--- I have found that my clients appreciate my professionalism.

Most of all have fun and be approachable.

Let us know how your gigs go. I am excited for you.

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Hallelujah!
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