10 Steps to Planning The Perfect Setlist
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- musicians blog
- Updated: 24th October 2022
Whether you're a new band trying to make a name for yourself or an experienced band looking to give your long-time fans a show to remember, all great performances start with a well-thought-out setlist.
A set list is so much more than just the list of songs you've decided to play on the night - instead, think of it as more of a road map of the journey you're about to take your audience on. Every stop along the way must be carefully considered for a professional band, amounting to a well-paced trip that never loses momentum.
But before you even take to the stage, there are a couple of essential questions that you need to ask yourself:
How long is my set?
The length of your set will decide how many songs you need to choose, with breaks taken into account. The type of gig you have booked will give you an idea of how long you'll have to play, but make sure you agree on this with the event organiser well in advance so you can make a plan and stick to it.
If you're one of many bands on the bill, you'll probably get about 30 minutes, depending on how many other bands are playing at that event. Because you need to consider the other bands, all of whom will want to make the most of their allotted time, it's crucial that you don't outstay your welcome.
If you get hired as a function band and therefore will be the leading entertainment for the evening, you'll likely perform two 45-minute sets, taking a 20 - 30 minute break in between. For functions such as weddings, check in with the event organiser so you can factor in any announcements or key moments such as the father-daughter dance - plus, you might have to make way for a DJ set towards the end of the evening.
Who am I playing to?
Again, the setting and the crowd will significantly impact how you plan your setlist. It's easy to get wrapped up in your own ideas of how you think a show will go, but if you can bring yourself back down to Earth and think about what it's actually going to be like at your venue, you can play to your strengths.
If you're the opening act for a band with a large local following, you will have to work extra hard to win everyone over. Unfortunately, it's often down to the opening act to tempt audience members away from the bar and onto the dancefloor - so it's a good idea to keep upping the ante with each song to stop them from wandering away and save the mellow jams for another time.
If you're performing at a function, the guests will likely warm to you as the event goes on. Don't be disheartened if it takes a while for them to get out of their seats, plan ahead, and save your more danceable tunes for later on.
Once you know what you're dealing with, here are our top tips on how to plan the perfect setlist:
1. Introductions are in order
You only get to make one first impression on your audience, so think about how you want to set the scene. With your audience and your band's style in mind, think about how you can build anticipation before the 1, 2, 3, 4 count.
At the height of their fame, some bands and artists announced their arrival by playing pre-recorded snippets of classical music, TV and movie themes, or even clips of classic film dialogue that promised the type of show they were about to deliver.
Elvis Presley went through a stage of walking on to the epic fanfare of Strauss's 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' from '2001: A Space Odyssey', whereas the Smiths teased something a little darker with the jarring strings of Prokofiev's 'Montagues and Capulets'.
However, there are a few ways you can achieve a similar effect without pre-recorded music. If you're a rock band, have your singer greet your audience to a backdrop of guitar feedback and cymbal washes.
If you're a jazz or string band with a vocalist, have the main band play a few bars of your first number before the vocalist walks onstage - Frank Sinatra-style!
TIPRegardless of where you're playing, it's always a good idea to have a 'test' song that you can use for your soundcheck.
It can take your audience out of the experience if you play your first song once to test the levels, then again when your set begins, so try to keep your sound check and your set separate. That way, you can re-cast your magic spell on them all over again when you properly take to the stage.
2. The grand opening
A lot of bands and artists understand what is meant by your first song being your 'statement of intent'. All this means is: to start as you mean to carry on, and your audience will know what to expect from the rest of your show.
Think about your signature song - or your genre's signature song if you're a covers band. By this, we mean a song that features all the hallmarks of what the type of music you play means to people.
A strong set opener works for the same reasons as a strong album opener - in the first ten seconds, we get told everything we need to know about the Beatles' jangly energy in 'A Hard Day's Night', or Nirvana's quiet-loud dynamics in 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.
Are you an eighties band? Pick an upbeat song that features a lot of vintage synth sounds. A string quartet? Choose a piece with some soaring violin harmonies over a meandering bass line.
However you decide to introduce yourselves, ensure your audience knows how much you appreciate them coming to see you!
3. Ahead of the curve
Regardless of your band's style, people will get bored if all your songs are played at the same tempo. The energy needs to rise like a great wave, then crash down again as it hits the shore.
The key is to find the correct arrangement and the right balance between your higher energy and your lower energy songs. A popular method that bands use is to build up the energy to a peak with 3 or 4 faster tempo songs, then bring it back down to a trough with a couple of slower tempo songs. Then, once you've brought the energy down, it's time to start building it up again, heading towards an explosive conclusion.
These peaks and troughs of energy are often referred to as an arc or curve. The reason is that, if you plotted the tempo or energy levels of each song in sequence, you'd see the levels lower with each song until you reached the middle, then start to rise again, forming a U-shaped curve.
This is only one way of plotting your set - if you're playing a longer set, you might even want to plot a few peaks and troughs to keep your audience captivated. The idea is the same, though: once your set reaches peak intensity, give your audience a rest, and once they've had a chance to catch their breath, it's time to ramp the tempo back up!
4. The key differences
Different keys have different effects, and understanding these effects can help you use them to your advantage.
The easiest difference to recognise is between major and minor keys. Major keys tend to sound happy, uplifting, and triumphant; minor keys tend to sound sad, moody, and reflective.
You can plot songs in major and minor keys similarly to how you can plot songs of faster and slower tempos. For example, you could put 2 or 3 major key songs together to create a positive mood, but then change it up with a minor key song before your audience gets too comfortable!
Grouping songs of the same key can be another valuable tool in your kit. If a song ends on the same note or chord that the next song starts on, you can leave that last note hanging in the space between songs or even jump straight into the next song, making the transition seamless.
Only play a few songs in a row that are in the same key, though, because any more than that will start sounding the same to your audience.
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5. Something old, something new
Play with your audience's expectations by mixing old classics and new favourites. Old classics remind us why we fell in love with a particular style in the first place, and new favourites show us that the genre is alive and well, with much more to offer.
If you're an originals band and have built up a following, your fans will no doubt have their favourite songs of yours. Although exercising your creativity and keeping things fresh with new material is essential, honouring your fans' support and understanding what they came for is important.
Equally, it's always a good idea for an originals band to keep in touch with their roots. If your band is influenced by, say, classic rock, think about dropping in an AC/DC or ZZ Top cover towards the end of your set to show your fans that you know the history of your genre.
If you're not an originals band, you must appreciate that you get hired to play a range of well-known cover band songs. People expect to hear Pachelbel's 'Canon in D' when they hire a string quartet for a wedding, for example.
However, try playing a contemporary song in a classical style to stand out from your fellow bands who play in a similar fashion.
What's in the charts, or what have you been hearing a lot on the radio lately? See if you can rework 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' from Disney's Encanto into an acoustic folk song or the latest hit from Harry Styles or Lizzo as an instrumental jazz piece.
6. Getting from point A to point B
Plan how you get from one song to the next, with minimum silence between them.
Try not to have more than 10-15 seconds of no music playing. Any more than that, and the audience members' attention might start to drift - or, worse still, you might hear them talking amongst themselves instead of listening to you!
From a song selection point of view, you could use songs that share similar tempos or keys and transition from one straight into the next - a technique also known as 'segue'.
For example, the Kinks' 'All Day and All of the Night' is a similar tempo and has similar key changes to their other song 'You Really Got Me'. So if you wanted a Kinks section in your set, you could either segue from one into the other, or mash them together into a medley.
From an equipment perspective, if you need to make any adjustments to your instruments - such as clamping a capo onto your fretboard or tuning down to drop D - make sure you know when these adjustments need to happen. This way, you can plan to have something else going on to fill the gap, such as the singing engaging the audience in a bit of back-and-forth (this is also a helpful way of buying you some time when you need to change a broken string!).
TIPIf you're a guitarist and don't have a tuner pedal - get one! Nothing drives audience members madder than having to hear you twang in and out of tune, so spare their ears and get a pedal that lets you tune silently.
7. Speech! Speech! Speech!
Since your gig is a show, not just a recital, you need to make an effort to engage with your audience. At the very least, you need to throw in a "how's everyone doing tonight?" and a "thank you very much!", but those are just the basics.
Put aside a few precious seconds of your slot to share some key messages with your audience.
For unsigned or supporting bands, there's no shame in giving yourselves a quick plug, once you've won your crowd over with a good string of songs. In fact, it's downright advisable - you can be sure that the other bands on the bill will take whatever opportunity they can to get their name out there too.
Here are a couple of things you need to remember to cover at your show:
- Remind your audience what your band is called
- Inform your audience of any shows you have coming up
- Tell your audience where they can find you online and on social media
For function bands, always remember that you are a - very important, mind you - part of what could be a significant life event for the organisers. As we mentioned earlier, particularly if the function you've been hired for is a wedding, you may be expected to use the power of your microphone to help give announcements.
By all means, give your function band a plug too, but some of the other types of announcements you might be asked to provide include:
- The food being served
- The cutting of the wedding cake
- The best man's or key speaker's speech
- Last orders at the bar
8. Do you do requests?
This is an important question to ask yourself way before the day of your gig. One way or another, you need to be prepared and stick to your decision.
Audience members are less likely to ask a support band to play a song they know - and if they shout out "Freebird!" or "Stairway!" then, unfortunately, it's more likely to be a heckle!
In these situations, the best thing you can do is smile and carry on with your set as planned - chances are, if you stick to the 10-15 seconds of silence rule, they won't even have time to shout out!
It's not uncommon for guests at a function to approach the band or DJ and request their favourite song, but this isn't always the best way of doing things.
You can agree with your event organiser beforehand whether there are any particular songs they'd like you to play - the bride and groom might, for instance, ask you to play a special song for their first dance. Also, at this stage, you can let the organisers know whether you're happy for people to approach you with requests or not, and then they can share this with their guests.
9. Expect the unexpected
No matter how much time you spend in a productive band practice, the gig will never be the same as the rehearsal.
This is nothing to worry about - it can be a good thing, especially for your creativity, and to test how you perform under pressure!
Some things can happen at any gig that are just out of your hands - drinks being spilled, cymbal stands falling over, and jack cables getting unplugged - but rather than letting these mishaps throw you off, expect them to happen and prepare for them as best you can.
Set list-wise, always factor in a few extra minutes for things to go slightly wrong. Rather than letting the awkward silence creep in when your guitarist accidentally disconnects their pedalboard with a misjudged kick, make sure the rest of the band knows what to do. Have the bass player and drummer play an improvised intro to the song while the guitar gets plugged back in.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are some unexpected changes that you can be in charge of. Whether you're an originals band with a growing fanbase or a covers band that has booked for another function on the strength of your performance, you don't ever want to give your audience the same show twice.
Leaving room for improvisation is an excellent way to keep the set you've rehearsed for months from going stale. Is there a section you could extend into a jam, or is there room for an extra guitar or drum solo here and there?
10. End on a high note
While getting your set opener right is the most important because your audience will decide then and there whether to invest in your whole performance, getting your set closer right, to give your audience something to remember you by. The first and last songs you play will be the key moments that stick in your audience's minds.
If you have a 'secret weapon' song, whether it's an unexpected cover of an extremely popular song, a guaranteed sing-along, or a second 'signature song' that serves as a greatest hit of your band's style and message, save a spot for it at the end of your set. This will leave everyone in high spirits and, more importantly for your band, wanting more!
That being said, it is a great feeling, once you've brought your set to an exciting crescendo, to hear the crowd's cheers give way to chants of "one more song!".
For this reason, it's always better to over-prepare your set and plan more songs than you'll need. On the night itself, it's much easier to cut songs out than to rack your brains trying to think of another song on the spot that you all know how to play.
TIPEven when you've road-tested your perfect set list and have received a great reaction from your audience, don't get too comfortable. Your set list will always be a work in progress.
Every time you learn a new song, shuffle around your set list to make sure it fits into the flow of what's worked for you in the past. Even if you haven't got any new material ready for your next show, see if you can rearrange the order of your existing songs to keep your set fresh and exciting.
