Dealing with a broken string onstage

Dealing with a broken string on stage

If you’re anything like me, breaking a string on stage is your biggest fear about playing a gig. Well, maybe you aren’t as scared as me about this, but every guitarist will agree that breaking a string on stage is not fun. And what about breaking TWO strings?
Over the years, i have considered and tried different methods to get around this.

You can bring a spare guitar to the gig. Well, i’ve never tried it myself because i play solo and rely on public transport to get around so carrying one guitar is enough, thank you very much. However, i know plenty of guitarists in bands with a van who do this. For it to work smoothly, make sure you tune your spare guitar during soundcheck, you have a quick soundcheck with it (eg check something hasn’t gone wrong with the instrument during transport), and use one of those cables you can switch off (also known as Neutrik “silent” guitar cable), so you don’t make a horrible pop sound while switching guitars.

As an alternative to bringing a spare guitar, i used to ask another band if i could borrow their guitar. They usually agreed but thought i was a bit weird; i later learnt that many guitarists don’t like to lend their guitars to strangers but they were too polite to refuse (i’ve never had to actually use any of those guitars but i’m sure they wouldn’t have been so happy if i had).
I considered learning how to change a guitar string under 10 seconds. Well, my problem with this was that, well, i couldn’t!

Now, i don’t sweat over it. If i break it, i break it. In fact, i have on some occasions broken 2 guitar strings on stage, because usually, when one goes, another one follows a few songs after. Once, i broke the string i was playing a riff on. So I just moved up to the next string and played as if nothing wrong was happening. Being a solo performer makes it easier for me to change the music, though of course, it also means that every note i play is noticeable and i can’t afford to stop playing for a few seconds.

It’s safe to assume that people at your gigs either know your songs or not.
Well, people who don’t know your songs aren’t a problem - you can change the tune, change the lyrics, change whatever you like and pretend that’s the way it’s meant to be played. Keep your cool and they won’t notice.

What about people who know your songs? Well, they aren’t a problem either, as long as you treat them with honesty. Basically, what i do, i carry on as if nothing happened, i change the music/guitar riff is necessary, but when i finish the song, i acknowledge i broke a string and i joke about the changes i had to make when playing. Fans are always happy to go home with a story like “he/she broke the guitar string, that was so cool the way he/she just carried on playing”.

Not convinced? Recently, i went to see PJ Harvey live in London. She was using a drum machine and couldn’t get the right beat for the song she wanted to play next. She joked about it and her inability with technical things, then gave up and played the song without the drum machine. Now, that is first class performance - no matter what the technicalities of it, she came through as a musicians and an artist. This is all that matters to the audience - no one will judge you badly for breaking a string, so get on with the set and make it a memory for the audience to take home!