As a musician, you strive to be good at your craft. You have worked hard for years to master your instrument. You want to play well, sound good, and entertain the audience. But who is your audience?
I ask this simply because I read a post on The Gear Page where someone was bummed that they lost the battle of the bands they were in. They were told they sounded great by a fellow musician but complained that the judges were people who did not play an instrument at all. To me, this sounds like a very likely scenario. Who do you normally play for, a bunch of musicians or a bunch of people who want to hear music.
I struggle with this occasionally. There are some very technical things that I have done at a gig only to have people look at me like I was from mars. On the other hand, I have played simple blues bends with a big stink face that had people hootin’ and hollerin. In fact, I am reminded almost every gig I do with my buddy Dale that I need to play less notes. This is a guy who has been doing this for 30+ years so I guess I should listen.
This is where knowing your audience really helps as a musician. If you can size up the audience in the first few minutes of a gig, the you can play to your audience. If you take the approach that you are going to play to musicians, you may be sorely disappointed when they don’t respond. Remember, people want to hear things that move them, that they can connect with, that they feel. Sometimes they feel a single note bent until feedback kicks in. Sometimes they feel the words of the song and could care less about what the guitar player is playing. So play to your audience. You will be surprised at how well your gigs go.
Scott
