Repertoire and setlists
Building, pacing, charting and rating the songs you play.
Adding new songs: proposals, votes and vetoes
A fair process for adding songs to a band's repertoire: how to propose, vote thresholds, who gets a veto, promoting winners into the set and killing dead songs.
5 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Building a wedding setlist that fills the floor
A wedding setlist built by moment: ceremony, drinks, dinner, first dance and party sets, with a tempo curve, era mix, must-plays and the songs to leave out.
6 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Choosing keys for your singers
How to find the right key for each singer and song, when to transpose or capo, and how to document keys so nobody counts in the wrong one again.
6 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Chord charts, lead sheets and Nashville numbers
Which chart format to use for a working band, what belongs on a one-page chart, and how to share and print charts so deps play the right version.
6 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Covers vs originals: making both pay
How working bands mix originals into paid cover gigs without losing the floor, with ratios by gig type, placement tactics and honest money maths.
5 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Handling song requests live
When to say yes to a request, how to say no without losing the room, and the request policy and list that keep weddings and bar gigs under control.
6 min read · 8 Sept 2026
How many songs does a cover band need?
Repertoire numbers by gig type: what a bar, wedding, corporate or festival night needs, how much overlap to rely on, a growth plan and a learning cadence.
6 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Medleys and mashups for cover bands
How to build medleys that keep the floor moving: key and tempo matching, join points, arrangement rules, worked examples and the mistakes that empty rooms.
6 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Printing setlists for the stage
Font sizes, page layout, what to print per set, inline keys and cues, tape and lighting: how to make a stage setlist readable at 11 pm from 2 metres.
5 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Rating your repertoire: find the songs that actually work
A three-scale rating method (audience, performance, enjoyment) that shows which songs earn their place, how to run a rating round, and when to cut.
5 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Repertoire for jazz and function trios
What a working trio needs in the book: standards that always land, dinner and background sets, volume and pacing, and how to turn a lounge into a dance floor.
6 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Setlist pacing: the science of a three-set night
How to pace a three-set night: energy curves by set, tempo and key sequencing, where the breaks go, closer and encore rules, and a paper test for any setlist.
7 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Song structure notation the whole band understands
A shared vocabulary for intros, verses, cues and endings, with a one-line form notation your band can write on any chart or setlist.
5 min read · 8 Sept 2026
Tempo and BPM: keeping live songs at the right speed
Why live bands rush, how to set a reference BPM per song, count-in habits that hold tempo, and what to do about adrenaline without a click.
6 min read · 8 Sept 2026