Oyez! Oyez! Recent Posts

What do you know anyway?! Songs you know.

We all know a bard or other accomplished performer that is really good at what they do. But whether you have considered jumping knee deep into the bardic scene or not, Im sure you have seen all kinds of opinions on how you should do it.

I know Sophia the Orange would slap my hand here, but I consider myself a baby bard, so take what follows with a grain of salt. Since there are many others more appropriate than I to school the great unwashed in how to do what they do, I have a specific question:

Do you try to memorize all your pieces?

Despite those hazy ‘misspent’ fun days in the 80’s that wrecked my memory, I try very hard to find songs that have legs, and commit them to memory. Part of the reason I try to memorize, is that I love to move around and interact (no I’m not Italian). I need to engage the audience and try to project as well as entertain. The songs I tend to perform usually run afoul of ‘period’ and are bawdy. Some of the stand up I’m working on is bawdy, but at least that is period ;p

I think it is important, like a DJ, to be able to see and interact with the audience to see where their preferences may lie, who are the people you can interact with. Who are the people you can get to sing a little louder when you notice they know the chorus etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I know ‘Book Bards’ who play mostly from books. This makes them no less effective, and opens their repertoire to an extent Ill never achieve. I love hearing songs I haven’t heard in a long time, if ever!

If you are someone who memorizes songs, does your song list grow and grow forever? There is a bard that stops by our camp every year it seems at Pennsic, and he knows all the songs by heart it seems (me, in awe). Im amazed that someone can know so much, though I shouldn’t be given the amount of 80’s songs I know by heart.

In the end it may all come down to charisma, engagement, timing, luck, whether there is water on Mars, etc… Perhaps I need to swap out my 1980 with 1480.

As a closer, I’ll leave something I like to say just here….

“It isn’t the best voice, it’s the voice thats heard”

 

An A&S competition? Where do I sign up?!

“Or do you?” is the question!

When you know there is going to be a competition are secure in the knowledge you know exactly what is going on and ‘wing it’?

Do you alert the organizers that you are coming? Sign up ahead of time?

I know that some people love to compete every chance they get, while others will wait until the competition fits their expertise.

So the question is, do you announce your awesome-ness, or do you show up last minute and surprise the world?!

If there is an A&S competition, I....

  • never signed up or let people know but I like to play (100%, 1 Votes)
  • walk in like a boss at the last minute and own it! (0%, 0 Votes)
  • always make sure I alert someone Im coming (0%, 0 Votes)
  • never thought about checking in (0%, 0 Votes)
  • never knew these competitions existed (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 1

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