| A common problem in bands is figuring out how to | | | | player finish by himself. The rest of the band stops and |
| finish a song. Many songs on the radio finish with a | | | | one player finishes the song with a little riff or a couple |
| fade out, but this is not an easy option for a live band. | | | | of chords. This one is more forgiving if you are |
| So here are some tips to help you create interesting | | | | imprecise in stopping together. |
| endings that will keep your audience interested in your | | | | Leave One At A Time |
| performance. | | | | A variant on the previous ending, use this with a |
| * Practice Endings | | | | repetitive chord progression near the end. At the end |
| It might seem obvious but you must dedicate rehearsal | | | | of each progression one player stops. The final |
| time to play good endings. Practice just the end of | | | | instrument ends the song. |
| songs, try out a few different ideas, settle on one and | | | | Go Straight Into The Next Song |
| then make sure you can all play it to perfection. Good | | | | Why stop and lose the audience between each song? |
| timing and synchronization is especially important. | | | | As one piece ends launch immediately into another on |
| * Don't Finish Every Song The Same Way | | | | the very next beat. This works well with songs that |
| You already know that the endings of your songs will | | | | contrast, e.g. fast to slow, or slow to fast, or with |
| leave an important mark on your audience. But no | | | | songs that have similar or identical rhythms or chords. |
| matter how good an ending is, if you play the same | | | | Slow It Down |
| one twenty times in an evening the audience will be | | | | As you near the end of the song gradually slow the |
| bored of it. Surprise them with different endings on | | | | tempo until the whole band grinds to a halt at the end |
| each song. If you play regularly to the same audience | | | | of the song's progression. This one takes some |
| try to have more than one way of ending each song | | | | practice so that everyone slows by the same amount. |
| up your sleeves, too. | | | | Speed It Up |
| * Finish With A Bang | | | | The reverse of slow it down, your band can |
| A classic ending that works well with up tempo songs. | | | | accelerate through the chord progression to whip up a |
| The whole band simply hammers away on the I chord | | | | frenzy of excitement. Go as fast as you can, then |
| at the end of a verse or chorus progression. Decide | | | | finish with a bang. |
| upon a leader and all stop abruptly upon his signal. | | | | Finish Acapella |
| Finish Quietly | | | | Instead of leaving one player, leave the singer to end |
| Here's a more subtle approach that works well if used | | | | the song alone. Try to get the audience to join in, use |
| in moderation. You can either gradually play softer and | | | | an easy chorus or repeat a simple phrase. |
| softer, or make a sudden change to a soft sound as | | | | Liven up your band's performance with these song |
| you play through the last few bars of a verse, chorus | | | | ending tips. Try to combine some of the techniques to |
| or outro. The surprise created by this change of | | | | create more ideas. Don't forget that the end of the |
| dynamics is very effective. | | | | song is the last thing you leave in your audience's mind. |
| Let One Player Finish | | | | Give them variety and surprise and keep them |
| Can't all stop at the same time? Then let just one | | | | wanting more. |