5 Tips To Help You Play Better Live

Baxter and Jonathan give you 5 tips to help you play better live and get more confidence doing it!

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[XoseGuitar]

Just do it is the best advice, you're right. Remember, the audience is rooting for you 99% of the time!

[Scaredycat-dad]

Good stuff guys! That dog is adorable.

[mileswatkinson]

Good list, but that puppy was the highlight of my morning. I remember the first time I played live. I was all nerves until we started playing, then I lost myself in the music and all was well. Thanks, guys.

[leslie]

Well I stopped paying attention to what you were saying the minute you picked up the puppy!

Best wishes with her. We just got a puppy recently after our beloved 16 year old poodle mix passed this year. They are worth the effort in training etc.

[widam]

I must say, I found your channel by mistake, but i find it so entertained that I keep watching your conversations..

[calumm]

Practice your stage dives in an empty room before moving on to doing them with actual people.

[scoggers]

As demonstrated in this video, shit happens, you’ve just gotta keep going, hahaha!

[RevDice]

You both are the coolest, funny, informative, encouraging guys on YouTube. I really enjoy and appreciate the channel. Keep on keeping on Baxter and Johnny!

[RonBaker]

Nothing like performing live with just me and my acoustic. I may never be a rock star but I make a fair income and get to play my favorite tunes as part of it. It's one thing AI will never be able to replace (in my lifetime). I play my act sitting as well because my D41 is mic'd and it's the only way to keep the sound consistent. Great work as usual, gentlemen. Rock on, guitar playing friends.

[tonywhetham]

A pro told me once to play live every chance I get and to remember that everyone in the audience wants to do what you’re doing.

[TheFeelButton]

If it weren't for blind confidence I'd have no confidence at all! Cheers Casino!!

[bb_lz]

Important to be able to hear everyone or if not, be able to see what others are playing. I just did a fundraiser with my high school bandmates from the '70s. My first public performance since 2016. A week of rehearsals went great because I could at least see what one of the other guitarists was playing and could usually hear him. At the performance, we were set up three-deep. Two guitarists and two singers in the front, two drummers in the middle and me (on guitar and sometimes bass), the other bassist (when I was playing guitar) and the keyboard player in the back.

The sound guy only put the vocals through the monitors and it wasn't until it was too late that I had no idea what one guitarist was playing (he was diagonal from me with the two drummers in between) which I needed to key off of to play a solo. I could see the back of his arm moving, but couldn't hear him at all. A learning experience for sure!

[RByrne]

For low light, i use glow in the dark stickers. I cut fret markers out of them. If you hold them up to a bright light or hit it with a flashlight for 10seconds, theyll stay bright for hours.

[garrysimmons]

Practicing in low light is really about not needing to look at your guitar neck all the time. Practice without looking at your neck regardless of light. Brief glances on big position changes are OK, but you want to be looking at the audience as much as possible. I make a conscious effort to not look at my neck and to move around, yet videos of our live shows are proof that I have a long way to go.

[Journey-of--Miles]

I’ve played in bar bands for many years. The pandemic put a stop to that. Then the inevitable falling out with the drummer, so I’m still looking for a rhythm section. I miss it muchly!

[SeikoticTV]

I watch a lot of your videos, guys, and this was a great one. A lot of good stuff was covered in the comments too. One thing that I've not seen covered is performing on a postage stamp sized stage. If you're used to having your pedal board directly in front of you, or slightly to the right, and working it with your right foot, try positioning it to your left and twisting your body left every time you need to engage a pedal. That may be your reality on a tiny, cramped stage, and it will induce glitches and flub ups in your performance that wouldn't be there if you had even one square yard to stand in.

[paristhalheimer]

1. Have clear communication and expectations between you and the venue. POSs leave, customers get upset when they need to move and gear is being stacked around them (this happens a lot).

2. Communication between band members (this has tripped us up a few times, but has improved over time).

[dungeonwolf]

Hey BOYZ. You should of mentioned smashing your guitar on HEROIN (Cobain style) like our old singer used to do. Shows true rock and roll SPIRIT! #GETSOME!!

[ericwagner]

The band I was in a few decades ago was toying with "Summertime Rolls" by Jane's Addiction at practice. I had not heard the song. I was just basically mimicking the bass line with my guitar. On our next gig we decided to play this song, impromptu, towards the end of our set. I still had not heard the song but followed what we did in practice. The audience really dug it. A year or so later I actually heard the song for the first time. We weren't even close. We played our crappy rendition of the song with utmost confidence and it somehow worked.

[mikefawcett]

As someone who’s just started to play live – here’s my 3 additional tips for starting to play live:
1) Practice / rehearse with attention to detail. I found myself getting lazy as I practiced songs that I knew by heart / muscle memory… but this needs to be re-enforced in case you lose this on stage (that will happen). Keep foot tapping through every song for rhythm and thinking ahead to each upcoming chord change / section - no matter how well you know the song.
2) Serve the music first. It’s not about you yet rock star. PS: this will also reduce your nervousness when you’re less selfish.
3) Conserve energy. You’re nervous and your adrenaline is pumping… that alone will start to drain you. Make sure your rested and have energy to enjoy that last sweaty song on stage.