In this video
Ready to take your guitar playing out of the bedroom and actually perform? In this live lesson I share my practical tips for getting ready for your first open mic night — choosing the right songs, practising vocals and guitar together, recovering from mistakes, changing keys to suit your voice and building a small set you can confidently perform.
Plus plenty of real song examples from Eagles, Oasis, CCR, Radiohead, Hendrix and more.
Video chapter times
00:00 – How to Get Ready for Your First Open Mic
04:59 – Why Performing Makes You a Better Guitarist
12:20 – Getting Your Songs Performance Ready
15:15 – The Road From Bedroom Guitarist to Playing Live
18:53 – Performance Skills Are Perishable!
22:38 – Choosing Your 3-Song Set
24:10 – Lyin’ Eyes – Eagles
26:06 – Recording Yourself & Getting Feedback
28:41 – Making One Guitar Sound Like Two
31:03 – The Problem With Lyrics!
32:31 – Hard to Handle – The Black Crowes
34:27 – What Happens When a Song Goes Wrong
36:23 – The 3 Songs You Need in Your Live Set
37:16 – Easy Songs You Can Play Under Pressure
38:13 – Choosing a Song You LOVE
39:15 – High and Dry – Radiohead
40:21 – Always Finish With a Crowd Favourite
41:00 – Take Me Home, Country Roads
42:06 – Knowing a Song vs Being Able to Perform It
42:32 – Have You Ever Seen the Rain? – CCR
43:56 – Change the Key to Suit YOUR Voice
47:09 – Finding Songs That Suit Your Voice
49:23 – Practise Your ENDINGS, Not Just Intros
50:14 – What to Do When Things Go Wrong Live
53:58 – Final Open Mic Tips
Songs played, demonstrated or substantially discussed:
Lyin’ Eyes – Eagles — main acoustic performance example at ~24:10.
Hard to Handle – The Black Crowes / Otis Redding — Andy works through it from memory and discusses the groove, stops and arrangement.
Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix — easy “back-pocket” live song example.
Live Forever – Oasis — another safe live-set example.
Songbird – Oasis — another simple performance example.
Save Tonight – Eagle-Eye Cherry — Andy specifically calls it one of his go-to open-mic songs.
High and Dry – Radiohead — demonstrated as a song Andy feels suits his voice particularly well.
Fake Plastic Trees – Radiohead — briefly compared with High and Dry.
Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver — crowd-favourite example and discussion of the bit performers often fluff.
Just the Two of Us – Grover Washington Jr. feat. Bill Withers — mentioned as another song from an acoustic set Andy saw.
Have You Ever Seen the Rain? – Creedence Clearwater Revival — substantial performance example used to demonstrate changing key for your own vocal range.
Common People – Pulp — Andy sings a little while explaining why some songs naturally suit his voice.
Rock ’n’ Roll Star – Oasis — real gig story about a forgotten capo and recovering from mistakes.
Keep watching!
This Stream with Fraser and Tom, followed on from Andy's stream about open mic night tips. In this stream, Tom and Fraser focus more on tips for jamming with other people.