Acoustic gigs are SO much fun! They are simple to organize, usually pretty personal with the audience, and you can pretty do whatever you want! I have to say, I’ve been a part of quite a few acoustic gigs from songwriter nights, cocktail parties, small acoustic shows, house shows, and more. The only downfall of them is if you aren’t mindful of spicing things up, songs can end up sounding similar because you don’t have a band to play the parts, the show can drag because there aren’t surprises in dynamics, and they just aren’t as high energy because you simply don’t have as many people on stage.
As you all might already know, my sister and I started a band last year because we wanted to do something that was totally no pressure with music. It’s always important for me to have a good attitude about music and make sure it’s always staying fun! We played this regular gig a lot of last year and it was outside at the happiest little stage looking into a patio of an adorable healthy Mexican food place. Not only did we get paid and get free margs (heyooo!) every time, but we also got a lot of experience changing things on the fly when the equipment wasn’t working, since what people would be interested in, and being very connected to a small group of people. From this gig, we’ve gotten to play at a lot of other Nashville venues and feel way more comfortable playing music together as a result of this acousticy gig!
I wanted to pass some of my favorite things I’ve learned through experiences like this to you! I didn’t include harmonies on this list since it’s aimed at a solo gig, but that would be amazing if you can add that! So I wanted to write this blog for the player who is looking for some fun ways to give their audience a more fun and entertaining show!
Tip 1: Using Effects
The H( is absolutely incredible! It took my a while to fully realize what all I could do, but now that i’ve spent some time with it, I love it!
Making an acoustic pedalboard is a great idea! Adding reverb, compression, EQ, and maybe chorus (or really whatever else you want, can make a huge difference in your sound and make your guitar sound a lot bigger. Making a little pedalboard is very simple and you don’t need too much to get started!
Here are somethings I would suggest!
P.S. I know a lot of you reading this are not new to these effects, but I wanted to explain a little for the newer players!
1) A DI- This is the most essential! Direct Inject boxes help balance your sound going into a PA. This a good idea as more a necessity type pedal so it sound cleaner. I liked this article about DI boxes from Sweetwater!
2) Reverb
Reverb is my favorite effect. You can take it a million directions from a cool shimmery effect, to sounding like you are in a large concert hall, to just a little to make your guitar sounds a little bigger. Reverb sounds AMAZING on acoustic because it just adds takes up a lot of room so it doesn’t sound so small.
3) Delay
Like reverb, the delay also takes up a lot of room and is more like echos on your guitar. You can think about these like reverb would be hearing yourself singing in a stairwell or somewhere with acoustics, whereas delay is the actual repeats of your notes back. Just a little bit of delay on occasion is usually good for acoustic gigs.
4) Compression
Compression is something that I didn’t realize I needed for a long time and I also had a hard time hearing it work it’s magic. I just like a little compression. If you are confused about compression, basically what it does is squishes your note to make it more consistent. So you wind up having a more consistent sound because it squeezes any random frequencies together but can also sound shrill if you aren’t careful.
5) Chorus
Chorus is a cool almost 80’s- y sounding effect that makes your guitar sound retro and awesome!
There are so many more but you get the point!
7) A vocal harmonizer pedal
I don’t have one of these but have seen other people use them and they sound SWEET! Not something you would need to use on every song, but a super cool idea for a slower or vibey song when you don’t have that other person there to add the harms.
Tip 2. Playing some songs on electric
A lot of people think of electric as an instrument you layer in with other things, but just playing with an electric sound super cool! It’s important to get your tone right so it sounds good by itself (typically in a band you want your electric brighter/higher and solo you might want to leave in more low end!). If you have something like the HX Stomp, it makes it as easy as just switching guitars an settings for this. On an electric, if I’m playing solo, I’ll try to using open voicings (aka chords that use open strings!) to make it sound more full.
Tip 3. Befriend your audience
I love this about small venues because you can really see people’s faces and a lot of times it’s more laid back than being up high on a stage. You can be a lot more engaging and interactive in these kind of settings which I feel like always makes things more fun for your audience!
Tip 4. Use a looper
Loopers are so so cool! I’m honestly still getting the hang of mine (my HX Stomp has one)! But you can make cool rhythms on your strings and add a lot to give an overall band like the effect of your playing. They do take some practice to use because your timing has to be spot-on in starting, playing and stopping the loop or it sounds weird. But it’s definitely worth it because you can add a lot of dynamics and beats to your playing.
Tip 5. Mix up the types of songs you are playing
My sis and I try to tailor our setlist to the demographic of every gig. Also, we will change it up by observing the audience and just seeing if they are bopping to a faster song than we will keep playing those for a bit. We also try to play covers that fit the age group of who we are playing for so there’s something for everyone. Since performing is a gift to the audience, I think covers are fun when they don’t know your songs yet and that’s not what they want to hear, so choosing good ones is essential! I have heard (in Nashville at least) a lot of people hating on covers, but I feel like I have 1) learned most of what I know by in-depth learning other artist’s songs 2) Love when other bands cover a song I love 3) Know that not all gigs you get are looking to really listen to my songs, but might just want to have some nice vibey music to set a good mood
So those are my top tips for making your solo gigs more interesting and fun! This kind of gigs are an amazing way to grow, see what type of songs feel best playing live, work on not feeling nervous on stage, get songs really tight, learn o troubleshoot with sound issues, and meet amazing people. So don’t underestimate them! I love the quote (I can’t completely remember it tbh) about it being all the little unimpressive things that lead to the impressive things. I think a lot of times with music, it can be easy to start thinking that if you are famous and playing to a lot of people then you are more valuable, but sometimes these smaller types of gigs can be the ones where you really can connect with someone and that’s truly what it’s about. I hope you liked these tips and thanks a ton for reading!! You rock!
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