5 Smart goals for performing songwriters Pt 3
5 Smart goals for performing songwriters Pt 3
Goal no 3: Audience reaction during at least one song in your set – memorable moments during songs that have lasting impact.
If none of the songs in your set have a sing-a-long part that’s easy for an audience to lock into, create one! It can be one word or part of a line. I’m certain that as a songwriter you are more than capable of coming up with at least one line in your whole set that your audience can join you in singing, even for one minute, it’ll make the show more memorable.
PHOTO: TROY BLATCHFORD
Even two days ago, I witnessed an artist attempting to get an audience of 250 to sing a really complicated chorus, with about four lines to remember. This approach has a very strong chance of failing, embarrassingly! Keep it simple.
If sing-a-longs are not your thing, get some clapping happening. One of my coolest memories was at one of my “pin-drop” shows when I got the audience to finger snap with me. It was an awesome cacophony and an unusual collective sound that I’d be surprised if everyone who was there that night hasn’t at least mentioned it once since then.
These smart goals are specifically intended for “performing” songwriters really, but even as songwriters, we can create memorable moments during the writing process too. There’s an art to doing that so that it doesn’t sound like it was written ONLY so that you can invite audience participation. Of course, these are often happy accidents that occur as we are writing but because this post is about setting smart goals, why not implement this one into our creative process!
Why wouldn’t we want to create moments in our songs that make a difference and ensure that the experience stays with our audience long after the event, no matter how small or humble our gig or our show is?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, feedback on these smart goals for performing songwriters. Feel free to use the voicemail feature by clicking on the speak pipe tab on the right sidebar of this page. You can talk right into your computer’s microphone and leave me a message!
All the best, Karl.
