This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares 5 things he keeps in mind for stage banter, for anyone who finds talking to the crowd between songs nerve-wracking.
This one’s for anyone who loves performing live but dreads the between-song talking. Even if you’re not confident at it, there are plenty of situations where you simply have to do it — and since people came out to see you, you naturally want that talking to be enjoyable too, not just the music. I actively perform live and handle between-song talking myself, and here are 5 things I’ve come to prioritize from years of doing it.
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Don’t Script Out Every Single Word
If everything you say follows a rigid script — “Thank you all so much for coming out tonight. Seeing so many of you here makes all that practice feel worth it. Our next song is called…” — it loses all spontaneity and gets boring fast.
That said, jotting down rough talking points and keeping them on your music stand is something I did myself until I got more comfortable — bullet points like “song 2: mention the city this song is associated with,” “song 3 (original): mention where the melody came to me,” “song 4: mention a memory from a past gig where we played this.”
Don’t Try to Be Funny
If you’re not confident in your stage talking, don’t go for laughs. I’ve had the experience of going for a laugh and getting dead silence instead — that “oh no, what do I do now” look on my face spreads through the room instantly and kills the energy (trust me, I’ve been there). Landing a laugh on purpose takes a performer who’s genuinely comfortable both on stage and with talking. You don’t need laughs or applause — just aim to say what you actually want to say, clearly and directly.
Explain the Tune in a Way Anyone Can Follow
I do a lot of talking as a live jazz performer, and with jazz in particular, plenty of people in the audience are just enjoying it as background music over drinks and conversation. When I introduce a tune, I try to add a bit of context — who wrote it, the story behind it, what the title means — rather than just naming it.
So instead of just “Our next song is ‘Days of Wine and Roses,'” I’ll add something like, “Our next song is ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ — it actually won the Oscar for Best Original Song back in the ’60s.” A little extra context like that gets a lot more people nodding along, recognizing it, or just feeling more connected to what they’re hearing.
Remember There’s a Wide Range of People in the Room
When I first started playing jazz, I didn’t even know standards like “Autumn Leaves” or “Fly Me to the Moon” myself. Early on, I once heard a band introduce “Autumn Leaves” with “you all probably know this one already” — and since I genuinely didn’t, it stung a little, like I was the only person in the room who didn’t know it.
To someone who’s been listening to jazz for decades, saying “this next one’s called ‘My Favorite Things'” might earn you an “obviously, I know that” — but it’s worth remembering that all kinds of people, at all kinds of familiarity levels, are out there listening.
If You’re Going to Plug Yourself, Commit to It
Depending on the venue, self-promotion may not even be appropriate — playing background music in a hotel lounge, for example. But if it is appropriate for the setting, commit to doing it properly when you do.
I went on a tour overseas last year, and weaving a story from that trip into my self-introduction got people genuinely interested. It’s easy to think “I don’t want to repeat myself” and skip this kind of thing, especially across back-to-back shows — but remember, most of the people in the room are hearing it from you for the very first time.
At the end of the day, the main event is always the music itself. But I’m constantly thinking about how good stage banter can help even more people connect with and enjoy a performance — these are the things I personally keep in mind, based on years of doing this.
Reading a room and adjusting your stage presence on the fly is a skill that’s hard to build through self-reflection alone — feedback from an outside perspective speeds it up considerably.
Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?
This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.
At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.
Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.