Wasted Talent By Choice Of Programme

[JimLucas]

"Plot" - Many people don't require or expect a "plot", a movement toward a single goal, even if they enjoy one when it's present.

Fair enough, but there are nonetheless items in any performer's repertoire that work well as openers, closers, encores or two-thirds-of-the-way-through-the-second-half-ers. ...

Absolutely. I certainly didn't intend to imply that one shouldn't pay attention to the structure of a performance. This entire thread is based on the assumption that one should, and the question is either how to arrange the structure or (more appropriate, IMO) what factors to consider in constructing a performance. My point is that "plot" is only one of many potentially appropriate structures.

 

"Entertaining" - To me that word implies adding some sort of "decoration"... patter, body movement, some sort of "show" above and beyond the content of the individual numbers. ...but that also can be overdone to the point where it's worse than none at all (IMO).

I agree absolutely with your last statement, and there's no single rule for this.

For "this" or for just about any factor. My contention is that believing in a "single rule" which covers any factor for every performer or performance is a fairly reliable recipe for disaster. Paying attention to the possibilities and results has the best chance of working, though that's also an area where people's skills differ. After a while, if an individual or group discovers a "single rule" that works for them, then that's great. But it certainly doesn't insure that it will work for someone else.

 

I wonder whether the careers of Alistair Anderson, John Kirkpatrick and Last Night's Fun would have been quite so successful if they hadn't used such devices as body movement, witty patter, and onstage banter, respectively.

Maybe not, but there are others who have been quite successful without making heavy use of those techniques. (And I remember Alistair as much for his witty patter as for his body movement, but it was his playing that led me to follow him around.)

 

Have you also practiced and timed the speaking parts in between "numbers"? That's not the only important aspect of performing, but it is the one most often neglected.

... In my own set I allow an average of five minutes per item including chat, but allowances need to be made for, say, a long ballad, or a piece which I know I might like to ramble on about.

I try to maintain a record of the actual peformance length of each item in my repertoire (including both individual tunes and medleys I construct from them). And I try to time things more than once, on different days, to get a sense of my own natural range of variation. On some numbers it's very small, but on others it can be considerable. I also practice speaking parts -- sometimes in both long and short variants -- and time them. Although I never recite those speaking parts word for word, having practiced them provides a framework which keeps me from going too far astray on the timing.

 

Also in arranging a set, durations are as important as other factors. E.g., the story behind the tune "The Spanish Cloak" (="The Munster Cloak") is fairly long compared to the length of the tune itself, even played through 3 times, so I'll normally follow it with something longer and at most a few words in between, or even "introduce" the next number only after I've played it.

[JimLucas]

It does seem an unlikely place for a heavy metal group.

...what I really want to know is, what does the lady peering out from beneath a burka, and rejoicing in the name "ph34r", signify in your message?

Hmm. Another example in support of my "different people view things differently" philosophy, I think.

 

I have no idea what the "ph34r" stands for, but I've always thought that "smiley" represented a ninja.

 

A woman in a burkha? Both at once? Seeing some directions that last thought could lead, I think I'd best not pursue it.

[Brian Peters]

I've always thought that "smiley" represented a ninja

Ah yes......... I can see it now. But the question still remains: what does a ninja signify in the context of a concertina discussion?

[Brian Peters]

the only heavy metal groupin bicester that night causing mayhem was myself ..... YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN MY GROUP DICK MILES AND THE MILESTONES.

Dick, I'm sure you could make any heavy metal group look like mere amateurs in the art of causing havoc. Dick Miles and the Milestones, eh? The mind boggles. But didn't Sarah Graves once have a band called Sarah and the Gravestones?

Cheers,

Brian

[JimLucas]

But the question still remains: what does a ninja signify in the context of a concertina discussion?

To paraphrase Humpty Dumpty... anything you want it to.

 

In that particular instance the context was more heavy metal than concertina.

 

Otherwise it might suggest (possibly tongje in cheek) a sneak attack, or just general havoc.

 

One has to be creative in interpreting smileys, since some common expressions -- a "wry" smile, a "sheepish" smile, or simply raised eyebrows -- aren't available.

[Alan Day]

With regards to performers having good days and bad days reading the audience.We can of course have bad days performing and you can only do your best in these circumstances. J K uses his personality to get himself out of trouble.A recent concert of his he did make a lot of errors, but turned them into jokes ,which was almost better than if he had played the right notes.

I have seen a number of artists who perform a strict repertoire,same songs,same tunes,same jokes,I have said this before ,but on two consecutive evenings at different Folk Clubs I saw the same act,same songs,same tunes,same jokes but from a different artist.He must have been up all night learning a taped copy of what he heard the night before.

On this point, isn't it annoying when you do something on stage and someone comes up afterwards and says "That song you were singing ,did you get that from so and so " Your reply "No, He got that from me"!

Al

[Samantha]

I'd like to apologise to Al for effecting major thread drift here! But I do find the replies interesting. I suppose I should have thought of starting a thread about constructing a set sooner ...

Samantha

[Alan Day]

No need to apologise to me Samantha.

Drift all you like,it has actually opened up the discussion and it is connected so we can drift along with the flow or the tide if you prefer.

Al

[lildogturpy]

But what I really want to know is, what does the lady peering out from beneath a burka, and rejoicing in the name "ph34r", signify in your message? Sorry, I'm an Emoticon Luddite.

 

It's funny but cold sober I never understood ph34r ether but now ... fear?

[JimLucas]

It's funny but cold sober I never understood ph34r ether but now ... fear?

I'm aphr41d you may be right! Good one!

[Chris Drinkwater]

the only heavy metal groupin bicester that night causing mayhem was myself ..... YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN MY GROUP DICK MILES AND THE MILESTONES.

Dick, I'm sure you could make any heavy metal group look like mere amateurs in the art of causing havoc. Dick Miles and the Milestones, eh? The mind boggles. But didn't Sarah Graves once have a band called Sarah and the Gravestones?

Cheers,

Brian

YEAH, PERHAPS SARAH AND I SHOULD GET TOGETHER,GIGS IN CHURCH YARDS A SPECIALITY, ETC ETC

Nah, Dick, that would be dead boring. And a grave error too.