Having come up through the School of Hard Knocks and being on the cusp of geezerdom I figured it's time to start sharing some tips.
Things most guitar players learn the hard way:
It's way more important to be a good bandmate than being the world's greatest guitar player.
You’re not the star – the song is. You’re just a conduit for it. Play accordingly.
That “perfect” tone you like alone in your practice space is probably terrible in a live band context.
No pedal will make you play better.
When using an OD or Distortion in a live band setting, take the very minimum amount of gain you think you can possibly get by with and then cut that in half.
A smaller amp will usually sound better than a larger one.
Practice with the record, when you can no longer hear yourself, you’ve got it.
NEVER practice at performance tempo without a metronome, click or drum loop.
Take the amp reverb off, you don’t need it and it adds mud. If you really need the depth add in subtly mixed delay, start at about 15%.
Compressors are the one pedal you may actually need, especially with single coils or a wireless.
You’re allowed to have 10 pedals in your chain, but if you use more than two at once chances are you’re burying yourself in the mix.
Too much effects is the number one reason for playing too loud.
You don’t need to memorize every scale and mode but you do need to know where the flat 3 and flat 7 are for the position you’re playing in. Get those right and everything else is cake to fake.
Listen to the entire band, not yourself. If you’re listening to the entire band the solo will just “happen” and have a lot more space to it.
When improvised soloing: Slow the heck down! Don’t go past a 16th note unless you have a Super Trouper on you in a packed stadium and your rehearsed, blocked and look good in Spandex with long curly hair. And only for a little bit, not the whole solo.
Playing too many notes removes syncopation and hence – the groove. Never lose the groove. One well-placed triplet or a dotted eighth can render 12 bars of meedly-meedly irrelevant.
Always be making eye contact with the rest of your band.
If you need more than two guitars you need someone to wrangle them for you. Nothing kills a hot set faster than timeouts for equipment swaps and tuning. BTW, always tune in silent mode.
If you hit a clam and then do the old reach for the tuning pegs like it wasn’t your fault, you’re not fooling anyone – and now your guitar is out of tune.
During a set, don’t use the mic for anything else but vocals. No jokes, shoutouts or “we’re here all week, try the veal”. It’s OK to thank the audience, pimp the band or hawk some CDs after the set is over - but be brief.
Have Fun! Don’t take yourself too seriously and take time during the gig to just soak it in and enjoy it.
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Originally Posted by Tele-Bob
