What is a setlist, and how do you build one?

What is a setlist?

A setlist is the list of songs a band or musician will play at a single performance, written in the order they will be played. In short, it is the plan for that night. On stage it usually lives as a sheet taped to the floor or a list open on a tablet.

A setlist is not the same as a repertoire, and the distinction is useful in practice: your repertoire is every song you can play; the setlist is the selection from it, put in order, for tonight. A hundred-song repertoire yields a twelve-song setlist.

• Song titles, numbered in playing order.
• The key of each song — especially if it has been transposed.
• The programme split into sets (first set / break / second set).
• Stage notes: who counts in, which song needs a capo, where the talking goes.
• Encores and spare songs, kept separate at the bottom.

“Set list”, “set-list” and “setlist” all mean the same thing; the one-word spelling is the most common today.

Start with the clock

Everything begins here: how many minutes do you have? If the venue says “two sets, forty-five minutes each,” that is what you plan around. Simply adding up song lengths is misleading — everything that happens between songs eats into the time too.

• Song lengths. Use your length, not the record's — an extended solo adds two minutes.
• Gaps between songs. Allow 20–30 seconds each for tuning checks, capos and counting in.
• Talking. Greetings, song introductions, thank-yous — three to five minutes in total.
• Applause and encore. If you plan to come back on, put those five minutes in the plan.

A working ratio: fill about 85% of your allotted minutes with music and leave the rest for everything else. A 45-minute set, at four minutes a song, means nine or ten songs; writing twelve almost always means overrunning.

Choose the opener carefully

The first song does two jobs: it turns the room towards you and warms the band up. That is why the opener should not be the hardest thing you play. Voices are cold, hands are stiff, and you only hear the stage sound properly thirty seconds in.

• Make it familiar. Something the audience recognises pulls attention in immediately.
• Keep it mid-to-up tempo. Opening with your fastest song leaves you nowhere to go.
• Stay in the middle of the vocal range. Do not meet the highest chorus with a cold voice.
• Give it a clear start. A song that is counted in and begins without hesitation sets the tone for the night.

Shape the energy curve

A setlist should not be a flat line. All-fast wears the room out; all-slow lets it drift. A good set rises and falls, and peaks near the end.

Do not stack ballads. Two slow songs back to back measurably drops the room's attention; one mid-tempo song in between rescues the curve.

Read the list again, in keys

Once the order is set, read it a second time looking only at keys. The closer two consecutive songs sit, the smoother the join sounds; distant keys need a beat of silence or a short link between them.

• Avoid three songs in the same key in a row — the set starts to sound like one long piece.
• When you jump to a distant key, put talking or a short instrumental link in between.
• Put the hardest song for the singer in the middle: warmed up, not yet tired.
• If a song sits badly for the voice, move its key rather than the list — the transposing guide covers how.

Write the stage notes on the list

A setlist made only of song titles is half-finished. Everything that has to be known on stage belongs on it — nobody should be relying on memory mid-show.

• Key and capo. The key you play it in, and the capo fret for the guitars.
• Who counts, who starts. One-word notes: “drums count”, “guitar intro”.
• Tempo. A metronome number, especially for bands that rush live.
• How it joins. Songs that run straight into the next one must be marked.
• Instrument changes. Acoustic to electric, anything needing a different tuning.

Group songs that need an alternate tuning (drop D, open tunings) next to each other. Retuning is the most expensive pause on stage; changing once and playing two songs beats changing twice.

Keep spare songs ready

No show runs exactly to plan. If the room is livelier than expected they will want one more; if the band before you overran, your set gets cut. Be ready in both directions.

• Pick two or three spares. Familiar songs everyone can play without a rehearsal.
• Mark what comes out first. If time runs short, nobody should be debating it on stage.
• Write the spares at the bottom of the list. A spare held in someone's head is not remembered under lights.

Get the list to the band

The weakest point of any setlist is the gap between the version you worked on and the version on stage. Two songs swap places in rehearsal, one gets dropped — but the sheet in the bass player's pocket still has the old order.

• Keep one source. Everyone reads the same list; the more paper copies there are, the more versions drift apart.
• Share the last change before you walk on. A verbal correction on stage never reaches everybody.
• Keep the order visible while you play. Where you are and what is next should be a glance away.

A digital setlist solves this on its own: the order lives in one place, changes reach everyone at once, and when the next song is picked on stage every screen turns to it together. The practical side of playing in sync is covered in using tablets on stage.

Final check before you go on

1. Have you timed it again, gaps included?
2. Are the opener and closer settled? Neither should still be up for debate.
3. Did two ballads end up back to back? Put a mid-tempo song between them.
4. Are the retunings grouped together?
5. Are the spares chosen and the cuts marked?
6. Does everyone have the final version?