Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 23 Nov 2015 12:11 am |
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An old musician once told me that it doesn’t matter if you hit a few bad notes in a song, as long as you end with a really good one. I don’t know if that’s exactly true, but it is really important to end a song with flair.
VOLUME:
I have noticed over many years of performing live, that the audience does react more positively to a strong ending than to a wimpy one!
In fact volume is a major factor, and when I play softly in a more “background music setting†nobody applauds. So I have learned a little trick: When the crowd is eating and conversing I provide a pleasant atmosphere at a volume that they can talk over, but as I approach the final chorus and tag line I bump up the volume a bit to finish the song with a flourish. It works! The audience notices that the music has stopped and it triggers an unconscious reflex of putting their hands together... (I often play LUAU’s where I begin playing my set as dinner is served, then as they finish eating I play louder as " the entertainment")
FADE OUT?
Fade outs may work ok on a recording or over the air on the radio, but in a live performance situation they are ineffective at best with a tepid response,or worse completely ignored by the audience.
THE LAST CHORD:
I often like to end a tune with a cool altered chord, like a 9th or 13th or a mellower major 7th, but as I am typing this I realize how predictable I have become with ending chords. (I'm in a rut)
On Western Swing numbers, a half step slide up to the 6th chord root. On blues and rock songs quite often I’ll play the opposite half step slide down to the 7th chord. And with Hawaiian songs… the full octave slide at the end (with or without harmonics)
So starting today I am working on some new endings... slants, hammer on's, pulloff's and licks to fit each particular song better.
I just spent an hour in the woodshed and I am seeing a little progress!
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