repertoire of songs

[ggibson189]

How many songs do you need to know to start out playing 3 hour sets?

Are sets typically 40 minutes on, 20 minute break?

How many (average) songs per set?

[rmp]

I think 45 minutes is a pretty good way to manage w/15 minute breaks.

40/45 tunes over all should get you there. OVer time, you'll just collect more tunes, but keep the good ones and shuffle them in and out so you're not playing the same sets all the time.

Helps keep it fresh for you. IME anyway.

For sets, I'd say somewhere around 13/14 songs usually fills approximately 45 minutes, 15 for sure.

[L20A]

I find that allowing 3.5 to 4 minutes per song is about right.
Factor in tuning and song intros you will need 11 to 12 songs for each 45 minute set.
Don't take too long on the break or you will loose your audience.

Depending on the venue, you may want to see a turnover in the audience.
This is healthy for a business that is selling food while you are playing.
In that case, a longer break is warranted.

[Methos1979]

A lot depends on your playing style and material. If you looping and soloing (or have a second guitar player) then 15 songs can get you there with solo breaks. If you're like me and my wife (duo), one guitar and two vocals, no looping, no soloing plus add to that short songs (classic oldies) that are typically 2 minute songs (give or take 30 seconds) and you need more like 25 songs for a set. But then you can add banter, a little tuning, drinking, etc, and fill it out a bit.

These days we were only playing 2 hours - usually straight through with no breaks - and we had about 75 songs in our 2-hour setlist from which we chose. It's always good to have way more than you need. We just axed the two hour gigs and are only playing 1-hour shows. Our current 1-hour setlist has 53 songs on it. We average right around 20 songs played during an hour with no break.

[Tnfiddler]

As many songs as you can learn! Some won't agree with this, but our band has started the tradition of playing 3 opening songs, back to back, then tell the crowd our band name, followed by, "we know you paid to come hear us play and sing versus hearing us talk, so we're gonna hit you with as many songs as we can". Unless we're tuning and such, we keep our talking to a minimum, but always say thank you, etc. for the applause we get. We all understand that this approach isn't a very personal approach, but we do our absolute best to make up for it with our songs. We've asked people we know who come hear us about which way they prefer, talking more or playing more and everyone has said they'd always rather hear a band, singer play and sing versus talking their way through a set and have less music.

[Goat Mick]

I would say a minimum of 60 songs. I usually take one 20 minute break during a 3 hour show and I will probably play less than 60 songs, but you need to have material available in case you see that the songs you've chosen aren't going over as well as you would like. This happens quite a bit and is a part of gaining gig experience, what you thought would go over well isn't so you call and audible and switch to a different direction. Maybe you're playing mostly country songs, but the audience is reacting to classic rock. You gotta be able to change directions, so it's a good idea to have songs at hand from several genres.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by Tnfiddler

"we know you paid to come hear us play and sing versus hearing us talk, so we're gonna hit you with as many songs as we can".

This... No dead space... enough time set or reset a capo, retune a drop D tuning then bombs away for the next number.

[Skarsaune]

I take very few breaks in a 3 hour session.
If you are absent 20 minutes out of every hour, good chance you're going to lose the crowd. The rapport you've built up with that table over to the left? Start over.

Plus, what am I going to do for 20 minutes? I'm getting paid to play, which I like doing!

If the crowd's engaged, I keep playing. I will usually take a 5 or 10 minute restroom break after two hours or so.

I don't do a lot of song introductions or explaining, either. I will interact with the audience, take requests, tell them to try the gin & tonic / whatever, etc.

And as a solo non-looper using act, songs run shorter for me as well, so a larger repertoire is needed. The 25 songs / set for an hour sounds about right.

[jricc]

I would say at least 50 songs, but 60 will let you change direction as Mick said.

For me, for a 3 hour gig, I do one 1 hour set and two 45 minute sets. 14-15 songs a set. I have nearly 500 songs in my phone so I can change it up from night to night.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

...we were only playing 2 hours - usually straight through with no breaks... It's always good to have way more than you need.

When I first started playing it seemed that the norm was either a 10-15 minute break every hour, but one we began playing mostly 6-8 hour gigs it got monotonous having to break and restart so many times in a night. We then shifted to one 10-20 minute break every two hours and I fell in love with it.
I like how you think, on both aspects, and definitely agree with the concept of having way more songs than could even be played in a night.
My approach if I'm doing a show with friends is that we have at least 2-3x as many songs as can fit into the available time, which allows for changing up the play list if the audience changes in any way. Also having lots of material ready in as wide a range as possible, for the same reasons.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by Tnfiddler

As many songs as you can learn! ...our band has started the tradition of playing 3 opening songs, back to back...
...everyone has said they'd always rather hear a band, singer play and sing versus talking their way through a set and have less music.

That's what I used to do all the time when we were playing for dance floors on a regular basis. People love it, especially if dancing is what they came for, and it helps keep the dance floor crowded. It's been a long time since I've done that, playing mostly as an acoustic soloist anymore, but there were many times when I'd lead the band through up to a couple of hours with no breaks between songs, which got us asked back to every place we played during those years.
Club owners, dancers and music fans all prefer to talk to you before, after or on break.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by Skarsaune

If the crowd's engaged, I keep playing. I will usually take a 5 or 10 minute restroom break after two hours or so.

I don't do a lot of song introductions or explaining, either. I will interact with the audience, take requests, tell them to try the gin & tonic / whatever, etc.

And as a solo non-looper using act, songs run shorter for me as well, so a larger repertoire is needed. The 25 songs / set for an hour sounds about right.

I like this whole post and the focus on playing for the audience rather than talking to them.
When I go listen to others play, it's the talking part that seems to lose the most people.

[Nymuso]

We do three sets of 14 songs each. We only finish the first set which lasts about an hour. The other two we skip songs to get to 45 minutes. One note: We always know what songs we want to start and finish each set with. The songs in between are fair game for shuffling or substitution.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by Skarsaune

I take very few breaks in a 3 hour session.
If you are absent 20 minutes out of every hour, good chance you're going to lose the crowd. The rapport you've built up with that table over to the left? Start over.

Plus, what am I going to do for 20 minutes? I'm getting paid to play, which I like doing!

If the crowd's engaged, I keep playing. I will usually take a 5 or 10 minute restroom break after two hours or so.

I don't do a lot of song introductions or explaining, either. I will interact with the audience, take requests, tell them to try the gin & tonic / whatever, etc.

And as a solo non-looper using act, songs run shorter for me as well, so a larger repertoire is needed. The 25 songs / set for an hour sounds about right.

yea Agree with this. that's kind of the approach I've found works the best most times.

I've got one coming up that's looking like 4 hours. Got plenty of music just trying to sort out the set arrangement. 45s w/10~15s seem right for it.

[leew3]

you're getting first rate advise from some seasoned pros here so I'll just reinforce that you should indeed pay attention for the need for a break. Try to sit down during your break if you're playing standing up-I get busy visiting with fans and forget to do this to my detriment. I have four gigs this week so am especially aware of the need for rest I guess! Also, I'm with everyone who says to play...not talk. In my experience the crowd usually can't make out what's being said if you're talking anyway. My motto is that singers shouldn't talk and vice versa.