Hand signs on stage

I noticed alot of musicians using some quick hand signals on stage to either bring the volume down, suggest certain changes coming, or stopping the song, etc. Does anyone else use these 'secret' signals? Do certain signals always mean the same thing? It's like a secret code!

 

Trey has always had some pretty righteous hand signs.

 

Ahhh, man.....why would these people give YOU these hand signs?

 

In my limited experience, waving hand/finger around in a tight circle above head usually means 'wrap it up' in terms of finish the song on the next bar or where the next appropriate ending is.

A flat hand pushing slowly downwards and slightly crouching just means play softer, quieter, more mellow etc...

A guitarist/singer who faces the drummer, makes eye contact, raises eyebrows and face upwards and also raises the guitar neck as if he's about to say something very profound, this usually means imminent ending of the song.

When an electric guitarist looks at you with a questioning expression on face and a foot near a stomp-box, this means he (and yeah, it's almost ALWAYS a he!) wants to go on a self-indulgent, ego-glorifying, masturbatory guitar solo... not that I find many guitarists to be annoying or boring or anything.... haha

 

ah james brown used to use certain arm swings and moves to direct the drummer to hit certain cymbals and drums and stuff, or improvise or whatever...cool stuff

 

Frank Zappa used alot of hand signs and sound signals when the mothers were playing, if you listen to them live you can usally hear a few

 

Nah man, me and deano have like a psychic connection. We just both know what to do. It's just a matter of looking at each other, and we can feel and read what each other are playing too.

 

What you are talking about is called the "Nashville Numbering" system.

Using this system, the root note of the key is called "one". When there is a change to another chord, it is counted up from the "one" by notes/frets.

example: if we are playing an open E chord, and I want to change to G, I give you three fingers, and you count up three notes.

its also used in place of staff notation and tablature for writing music quickly for sessions. It was used often by Nashville backing bands, thusly the name. I dont use it often enough to tell you what the hand signals are for six-eight tho!

 

I nod to my drummer and smile to confirm taht we're about to change into a chorus/bridge etc.

 

the reason it's unlucky to whistle on stage is because actors used to get sandbags dropped on them, whistle signals were used by techs to affect the raising and lowering of curtains and set pieces occasionally an actor would adlib a whistle and get something heavy dropped on him and sometimes die or perhaps even ruining the show from a mis dropped setpiece.....


so be careful that your house techies don't have rote patterns...... or are actually paying attention to whats going on.....

 

very true, quest techie
also, much of the rigging was done by former sailors, who began the use of the whistle signals.

I myself know an actor who was badly injured by a large piece of flying scenery, and many other actors and techs who consider themselves just a little more fortunate on more than one occasion. That stuff is deadly huge, and often moving in near dark conditions!

the best advice for any of this, rehearsals! Rehearse it like you are going to perform it, and minimize your sudden surprises, be it music or dramatic theater.