datamusicata

I received this post from a musician that I met when performing with John Batdorf at a Benefit at Soho in Santa Barbara last summer and I thought that his question was one that we all could benefit from. Here is his post and my response:

Hi James,

Thanks again for all the great articles. I am reading all the posts and may come across the answer, but…I wanted to write and ask while I had a few minutes.

I have been playing the piano for about 20 years but learned mainly classical music. It is my “best” instrument, and I have several songs that I have written/perform on the piano, but…I find myself writing more on the guitar and enjoying performing more with the guitar. However, I am more a “rhythm” guitarist, and my wife tells me the piano sounds more full.

So… my question is, is it okay to switch back and forth. Being a “classically” trained pianist, the switch to more rhythmic, modern music has been a complete mental mind shift. I don’t feel my upbeat songs sound very good on the piano (almost too heavy and congested). So, the fast songs I enjoy on the guitar and the slow I enjoy playing on the piano. However, in a few house concerts I have done, I have tried switching, and just putting down the guitar and moving to the piano feels like I lose some of the audience. I have tried doing two sets, one on guitar and one on piano, but then the piano seems to get too “relaxing” or I don’t feel like I hold the attention the same as with the guitar. I don’t leave feeling like the show went well, but I always get complements.

Your posts have so much great information, I thought maybe you could help with this, or knew someone who performs with two completely different kinds of instruments, and how they do it.

Any wisdom would be helpful J Thanks so much in advance,

Andrew andrew@andrewlael.com

P.S. Are you starting to feel like Yoda?

Andrew, thanks for the post. Really good question and there are several ways of addressing this. The most obvious to me is to present a concert of your piano work exclusively. That would bring only those interested in hearing that sort of presentation and you won’t lose any of the audience while at the piano. But that doesn’t really address your question.

For me, I have played piano in concert off and on for thirty years. I only stopped doing it because so many of the venues that I played in did not have a piano that was up to snuff. There is also the fact that I began touring with Peter Tork, and part of his solo performance is to demonstrate his versatility on a variety of instruments. I felt that the show would not be as entertaining if I did that as well. It would seem like a competition and on stage, we should compliment each other when we’re up there together.

But given that you would like to do both at the same concert, let’s look at the pacing of the set. If you come out with an attention grabbing guitar opener and then keep up the energy level for two or three more songs, the audience will be ready for a change of pace. Be certain that you talk to them as you take off your guitar and then once you are at the piano, talk to them a little more. One of the things that I do is to sit down at the piano but turn so that I am facing the audience. Then I talk to them as tho we’re all just sitting in a living room somewhere, then I turn to the piano and begin.

And as I share your feelings for the uptempo songs being more effective on guitar and the ballads being more effective on the piano, I almost exclusively do slow beautiful things on the piano. But I only do a maximum of three songs (spending no more than ten or twelve minutes there at most). The reason being, that after the audience has had you standing there and facing them, they do feel a little distance when you move to the piano. That’s the reason for the suggestion of first facing them as you sit there and chatting with them. I usually do a short instrumental and one sung and played ballad and go back to the front of the stage.

When you are performing with someone else who is a guitar player, if they go first, I suggest you starting with the piano. That way you’ve changed the texture sonically and visually, then when you move to the guitar, you will be getting even more intimate with them and they will feel even more drawn in.

When Peter Tork and I play together, I always suggest that after my guitar and voice segment, he should come on with banjo, then move to the piano and then finish up with the guitar. Starting his portion with the guitar after I have just played guitar exclusively for twenty minutes or so keeps the same texture and also invites comparison which I don’t want to do if I can help it. You want to entertain and you want the feedback that comes with succeeding at that. If you just want to play, you can do that in your own home. If you’re up there on stage, you want to entertain.

Hope that this helps and please, I invite all of you to give us your comments. We learn from each other and that’s part of my goal. To learn as much as I can from all of you.