The ultimate experience of pleasure for any musician is in the finished product of the hours and hours of hard work and practice which ends with the fruits of their labor being showcased. This of course is when a musician gets to play a gig. The lights are on, the crowds are buzzing in expectation and the waiting for that great applause! Your practicing has paid off, you are fantastic and the audience love you; what more could you ever wish for? But what about those nights where anything and everything go wrong? Any musician will tell you that sooner or later this happens to everyone but if you know how to cope and how to deal with these problems as they arise then this will be a mark of how professional you really are. To be able to overcome a problem you almost have to think like a boy scout and be prepared for anything. Have everything that could go wrong backed up with spares or replacements. If you are a guitar player you must always have spare strings and plectrums. Always carry a spare amp or fuses for your amp. The best way to deal with a problem is to have your solution ready to be replaced at a seconds notice and to be able to carry on playing your set as quickly as possible. If a fuse has blown in your amp then have a spare waiting in your pocket, pop it in within 10 seconds and you are up and running again without disappointing your audience and leaving the room in silence. It would look incredibly unprofessional if you are shouting from the stage to ask if anyone has a spare fuse and everyone will become frustrated and lose interest in you. If your guitar should break whilst on stage then always have a backup guitar waiting. Don’t make the mistake that many musicians do and pick up the spare only to find that they have forgotten to tune it. This is what sound checks are for after all and this should be done and ready before the performance. No audience spending their hard earned money will want to wait whilst you tune up a guitar before continuing to play for them. Audiences can be fantastic but they can also be unforgiving; they want to see professionals that have got every base covered and will entertain them from beginning to end.
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