I've been to my fair share of open mic nights over the past 2 years, I even won an award at one (sad I know) and I've witnessed a whole range of performers from complete beginners to seasoned pros that play. Here's what I've learnt along the way and probably broke a few of these unwritten rules myself.
1. Have your instrument tuned up before you go on.
An acoustic guitar will need to adjust to the ambient room temperature so chances are that if you tuned your guitar at home and bring it out into a different climate it might be out of tune. Also when the artist before you is playing their last song, start getting it out of the case etc. Time is always precious at popular open mic nights. So don't be in the toilets or outside when your name is called up!
2. If it's a 3 song rule...
Don't play 3 epic ballads which have 6 choruses and go on for 7 minutes each. 1 long song is fine, but make sure you compromise with a couple of short songs. Songs should ideally be no more than 4 minutes long. You might see people starting to yawn if you take advantage by playing exceptionally long songs!
3. No life stories in between songs please.
30 seconds of chat is fine and a bit of crowd interaction is better than none. You can do the life stories at your own gigs.
4. Stay to watch at least a few of the other performers after you've played.
There's nothing worse than seeing the all important musician quickly scoot of after playing his or her set. If you have to be somewhere please at least stay for the next artist after you, it's just courtesy.
5. Alternate tunings in between songs.
Spending a couple of minutes in between each song tuning to DADGAD or some exotic tuning doesn't go down great. Only attempt it if you can do it quickly.
6. When you mess up, as we all do.
Don't stop the song! I've seen amateurs and pros do this. If you make a mistake, no one cares so just carry on. If you are a self conscious person, stopping the song or admitting mistakes is the worse thing to do to draw attention to yourself! If you really have to stop the song, don't start again right from the start, just carry on from the 2nd verse or wherever you messed up.
7. Introduce the songs.
This might seem a bit of a no brainer, but the amount of performers I've seen go into songs with no introduction always leaves me wanting to know if they wrote the songs themselves or which artist it's by.
8. Be supportive and encourage other performers.
Remember we all start off somewhere, and the place where most people learn to perform in front of people will be at an open mic. Go and tell someone afterwards if you enjoyed their set, it really makes the difference between a bad and good night. There is a huge difference between having a song down perfect at home and then bringing it in front of people. Nerves and stage fright will be the biggest thing to overcome for most beginners, so applaud generously you could be seeing the next big thing.
If you agree with the above tips, please pass this on and let's try to make open mic nights a greater experience across the country!
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