Give the audience a great ending:

As a performer and a writer, you want to treat the audience to a great ending. Hopefully, we never find ourselves in a situation where our listeners feel it’s great that we’ve ended. To prevent that, take the extra step and come up with a great ending.

A fade works great in your records but live performances will get a lot more mileage from a big finish. In this preview from my lesson on The Breakfast Blues, I demonstrate the components of a sweet little ending.

A great ending from the beginning

I learned this principle from Peter Berring, an accomplished musician and acclaimed composer who played piano in one of my early bands. Before we started to jam on a song, Peter would come up with a great ending to play.  When we went through the song and arrived there, it was ready and waiting for us.

The most memorable stories generally have the best endings. So remember, when you are arranging or writing material, don’t forget to structure your song to have a great ending.[ssba]