Dinner music, I need some suggestions

[kaptainkeys]

To make a long story short, I was asked to play some dinner music tonight for a volunteer event and I need some song suggestions.  The set only has to be around an hour, probably will be less though, so I'm reaching out to my fellow forumites that have more experience in this genre for some suggestions that are fairly easy to play, I don't have really any time to practice.

[BenWaB3]

Part of it will be gauging the average age of your audience. When I first started my solo job it was mostly elderly (for that time period) so I did a lot of standards. They're still in the repertoire but now I've included a lot of "Boomer tunes" (Beatles 60's Soul, 70's hits, etc.) Of course now we're needing to put some 90's & new century tunes in there as well. Usually if they ask for Broadway tunes it will be from 90's forward. Hope this helps.

[Reezekeys]

I've played thousands of "cocktail music" sets when I did weddings, essentially the same thing as "dinner music." You're audio wallpaper. Being one of "those jazz guys", I had a trove of standards I knew and could play. Some were "GASB" tunes, show songs that jazz players took to ("I Could Write A Book", "My Funny Valentine", "Surrey With the Fringe On Top". etc.). Others were jazz standards that were in the Real Book. Pop songs I did were usually Stevie Wonder and an occasional Billy Joel. Bossas were perfect for this, especially since playing brazilian music is one of my favorite things to do.

 

The point is that nobody is really listening to you! Nobody is going to critique your choice of material. My piano teacher, the well-known (at the time) John Mehegan, told me of a "dinner" gig he did at a private home where he played the same song over & over in all twelve keys! As long as what you play is not "too chromatic", you can probably get away with anything. At some of these gigs I would find myself trying to think of what song to segue to, and just noodling around for a few minutes – totally improvising, until I decided on a song. Bottom line, imo, is to just make sure you keep things in the mellow and diatonic zone and play whatever you like - you'll do fine!

[Ivan May]

You should play some classical music at your dinner party.

 

Specifically piano music by Emanuel Ax.

 

 

[allan_evett]

If you know some standards and are comfortable reading basic lead sheets cold, older standards shold be fine for this rather impromtu gig. That's what I'd do for a simple, one hour or less set.  From the late 1980s through 2007 - then a few times recently - I did  'background' cocktail sets; so a lot of playing the 'audio wallpaper' role. Like Reezekeys said, essentially no critiquing. For many gigs I was so thoroughly ignored I could make up things, try out various versions of 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' and so forth. On one of those recent gigs the wedding reception cocktail hour crowd was so rowdy they all but drowned out the piano; and I was playing on a Mason & Hamlin BB Grand!

 

[drawback]

2 hours ago, BenWaB3 said:

Part of it will be gauging the average age of your audience. When I first started my solo job it was mostly elderly (for that time period) so I did a lot of standards. They're still in the repertoire but now I've included a lot of "Boomer tunes" (Beatles 60's Soul, 70's hits, etc.) Of course now we're needing to put some 90's & new century tunes in there as well. Usually if they ask for Broadway tunes it will be from 90's forward. Hope this helps.

You'd be surprised how many younger people are fully versed in those Boomer tunes. I do a lot of Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bacharach etc. They are the new standards. And a great many people not around for the first go-around still appreciate the early Broadway tunes that became standards (Gershwin, R&H) and I have a particular reverence for Hoagy. 

 

Melody is king. 

[RTPRocker]

"Play 'Misty' For Me" has always worked for me!

[BenWaB3]

54 minutes ago, drawback said:

You'd be surprised how many younger people are fully versed in those Boomer tunes. I do a lot of Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bacharach etc. They are the new standards. And a great many people not around for the first go-around still appreciate the early Broadway tunes that became standards (Gershwin, R&H) and I have a particular reverence for Hoagy. 

 

Melody is king. 

Yes, the number of 20-somethings that ask for Sinatra is surprising. I don't know if there's some sort of music appreciation class in high school but you're right about them knowing Beatles, Stevie, etc. Maybe it's listening to their parent's (or grandparents) play the stereo back in the day or something like that.

[Reezekeys]

It's interesting to hear everyone's theories on what "younger people" are listening to today. I remember when the faux "rat-pack" and "swing" phenomenon happened - younger bands like the "Squirrel Nut Zippers" and guys like Harry Connick with his decidedly Frank-like approach. Regardless, for this kind of gig, I have never had anybody ask me to play anything! You're invisible. Again I say - don't sweat this at all. I actually like these gigs sometimes – you're usually left alone. All the better if you're off in a corner by yourself. This is not a "performance." 🙂 

[ProfD]

@Reezekeys is nailing it in this thread. 

 

Think of yourself as the musician equivalent of the Muzak being piped into a restaurant. 

 

Back in the day, there would be someone playing a piano in the middle of the mall. 

 

Nowadays, a pianist might be playing in the foyer at a conference or convention.

 

Either way, there's no real audience.  It's not a performance.  Play anything. 

 

Just don't play too loud.  Slightly above the sound of glasses clinking and folks chewing and talking.  😁😎

[Bill H.]

If it's a volunteer event and you have no time for practice, just go with what you know - whatever it is. As others have said, no one will be listening anyway. 

[zxcvbnm098]

I'm a huge Bacharach fan.....if it were me, and given Reezekeys comments (which I agree with), I'd play all Burt because I love Burt. I did a similar gig at a jewelry store event and just improvised, played parts of songs, anything that felt fun and that was melodic. Nobody listened, although many enjoyed it...:)

[AnotherScott]

6 hours ago, GotKeys said:

To make a long story short, I was asked to play some dinner music tonight for a volunteer event and I need some song suggestions.  The set only has to be around an hour, probably will be less though, so I'm reaching out to my fellow forumites that have more experience in this genre for some suggestions that are fairly easy to play, I don't have really any time to practice.

The easiest thing to play is what you already know. I don't know what your typical repertoire is like, but assuming it has any ballads, that might be all you need. As people have said, you're wallpaper. Just be inoffensive. ;-) Personally, I do some standards, but I'll usually do mostly the gentler songs that are most solidly in my head. So, stuff like Imagine, Fire and Rain, Your Song, New York State of Mind, Beatles (Long and Winding Road, In My Life, Something), Carly Simon, Norah Jones... play stuff you know, and you don't have to stress about it. :-)

 

4 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

At some of these gigs I would find myself trying to think of what song to segue to, and just noodling around for a few minutes – totally improvising, until I decided on a song. 

 

I've done that... and at one gig, I started that way, and at some point I realized, hey, I've been doing this for 10 minutes, I bet I could do the whole cocktail hour this way... so I did! Played the entire time with not a single recognizable song. I'd fall into this or that chord progression for a while, play around with it, do some freer stuff, then transition to some other bunch of chords, play with a couple of motifs, it was a fun challenge to myself, to never stop and keep coming up with new directions. I wouldn't do it as a matter of course, because I'm lazy. Keeping improv varied and interesting (at least to me) over that long a period of time takes focus. It's much easier to flick on auto-pilot and play the songs I know. ;-)

 

[Reezekeys]

3 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

I've done that... and at one gig, I started that way, and at some point I realized, hey, I've been doing this for 10 minutes, I bet I could do the whole cocktail hour this way... so I did! Played the entire time with not a single recognizable song. 

 

I could do this too but I know I'll wind up boring myself - the gig will seem longer! I'd rather play songs I like, it's just that I forget to decide on the next one to play before reaching the end of the one I'm currently playing. That's when I go into "noodle" mode!

 

You didn't report any issue with guests or the client complaining about your noodly set, so I assume all went well - as I would expect.

[Mark Zeger]

I’m the guy who listens, off & on, to someone playing during cocktails, dinner, etc. I always walk over to offer a short, specific compliment between songs because it’s a nice thing to do and everyone likes to be appreciated.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Late to this party- ehr, this thread, and too late for your event dinner- and I'm just a simple guitar player; but I'll toss in a few suggestions, with this being solo piano in mind as best as I can imagine...

A few selections from Kind of Blue (I really don't have to name the artist or list it's tunes here, right? ), just close enough to be recognizable to those present who will recall having heard them. OK, I will mention that I think it's safe to say that "All Blues", "So What", and "Freddie Freeloader" would lend themselves to the endeavor and not be too difficult to get down well enough on short notice, sound "classy", and impress and delight at least a few event-goers.

How 'bout a solo piano cover of the Allman Bro's "Little Martha"? Even if you just got the gist of what are effectively the verse and chorus, it'd probably be more than good enough- and it's beautifully melodic and joyful, without exactly being boisterous.

An instrumental solo piano rendition of "Benny and the Jets". Most of the arrangement work's already done for you, throw in any reference to the vocal melody and synth solo now and then and you're golden.

A solo-piano performance of "White Room" by Cream (you know, The Cream ). I've done a solo rendition of the tune on guitar before...

Pick things up when the time seems right with a playful rendition of "Gimme Some Lovin' ". Maybe following or followed by "Linus and Lucy". (Is that a corny suggestion? EVERYBODY LOVES "Linus and Lucy", and everybody loves letting others know that they know what tune it is when you begin playing it- or at least, blurting "Oh! Charlie Brown! The Peanuts theme!" )

Waddya think? Are my suggestions alright and sensible? Or ridiculous and out of touch with keyboard performance, particularly with the short notice for prep-time? Do I have too much faith in pianists? I figure, I could probably knock some rust off and fake my way through some or all of these on guitar, even without any looper deployment (I would S0O0O fake, Fake FAKE my way through the Miles tunes!), while keeping my volume and tone low-key enough to smooth out any bumps in the road. As has been stated before here, a lot of the audience isn't paying much attention, if any of them do at all...
     

[RABid]

I used to dj some of these and was always surprised at how well cuts from the Theolonious Monk Memorial album went over. Especially early in the set.

[o0Ampy0o]

Playing the Linus and Lucy theme seems counter-productive to the background music concept. You might as well draw upon Sing along with Mitch material.

[Adan]

I did a dinner gig recently with a guitarist friend.  He'd not done one before, so I warned him just how disorienting it can be if you're used to getting feedback from an audience to get none at all.  That's why you either do these gigs for money or charity.  There's nothing else to get out if except some practicing and maybe a free meal.

 

There are the very rare exceptions.  At a wedding dinner where I played Pearl of the Quarter, an obscure Steely Dan tune, a guy came up to me later ecstatic telling me I'd made his day.

[bill5]

On 7/22/2022 at 12:02 PM, Reezekeys said:

The point is that nobody is really listening to you! 

BINGO wow somebody else gets it, thank you. People don't like to hear that and I don't blame them, but it's reality and can work in your favor because what you play (and even how well you play, within reason) isn't that big of a deal. It's background music at a social event, not a concert. You aren't the center of attention. Act accordingly. This is why I hate sound engineers at bigger (mostly outdoor) events who always...always....have the band's volume WAY TOO D*MN LOUD...there are so many times I've wanted to walk up to them, smack them in the face, and go "Turn it down you idiot." 

[zxcvbnm098]

On 7/24/2022 at 1:21 PM, Adan said:

I did a dinner gig recently with a guitarist friend.  He'd not done one before, so I warned him just how disorienting it can be if you're used to getting feedback from an audience to get none at all.  That's why you either do these gigs for money or charity.  There's nothing else to get out if except some practicing and maybe a free meal.

 

There are the very rare exceptions.  At a wedding dinner where I played Pearl of the Quarter, an obscure Steely Dan tune, a guy came up to me later ecstatic telling me I'd made his day.

That is such a great song...love that first album!

[D. Gauss]

IMO subversion is the key. If you have the chops/re-arranging skills (and i don't), cocktail versions of "non cocktail" songs will make you feel like you are meeting the gig criteria while also being true to yourself and seeing if anyone even notices you are there.  i.e.  instrumental cocktail version of the dead kennedy's "too drunk to fuck" 

 

[EricBarker]

I just noodle. My repertoire has always kinda sucked, I learn songs for dozens of bands, and then promptly forget them in a few years. Whenever I've done loungey-type gigs, I just improvise for an hour and it goes over just fine. I'm more comfortable doing that than half-assing my way through standards. I used to improvise music for radio dramas, and I treat the audience like their actors in dinner theatre.