How can you get your audience to clap along during a live event?

In my experience clapping on beat 2 works better on slower songs and on faster songs clapping on beat 1 works better. And yes give the audience a rhythm to clap to.

Always have a few of your friends in Audience, one starts clapping others will follow suit. I have always observed this personally.

Start slowly, look confident, size up your audience, look them in the eye, smile, send your agents out among them, shhhh, bribe them.

Wait for the drums to kick in! There's nothing more anticlimactic than an audience trying to clap along to nothing during an intro to song only to realise they're out of time. The band is thrown off, the audience is confused, and it's killed any kind of momentum or excitement that you were trying to build. You'll think it sounds cool, until two bars in you realise you've got three different time signatures going on and your drummer is ugly crying in the corner. TLDR; Don't use your audience as a time keeper.

In any concert Audience will clap when : 1. Singer starts with the most popular song. 2. Starts communicating with them and tries to know their choices accordingly prepares the play list. 3. Maintains a balance by singing a song chosen by the male and female (Youngsters and Oldies) audience both. 4. Encourages them to clap/whistle/sing the song. 5. Establishes a good connect with them.

If I'm getting people to clap or sing along, I typically do it for the last song of the set - I spend time during my shows engaging and building a relationship with the audience, so when it comes time for them to participate (which they do seem to love doing) then they are more apt to want to be involved. If I'm playing a gig in which I'm finding it difficult to connect, perhaps a loud pub gig in which people aren't paying much attention, then I just keep playing my set and do not attempt to engage in that way.

I love having them doing it to a song I know has a part to get them involved so I can have them be the music and I vocalize with

Lead by example, sure, but lead by emotions! The more you convey emotions, the more you will get your audience to do for you, whether it be clapping or anything else really, just like a guru would!

Very easy. Stop playing, point at the audience and say, "CLAP ALONG WITH ME"!!!! Works every time. The audience LOVES to help you do the show.

Generally, the lead singer, or one member of the band raises his hands to demonstrate and initialize the tempo of clapping to enhance the mood and effect to motivate the band and audience.

This is a great way to get the crowd going, you can go through each band member to do a solo and play with the audience and do a call and response.

I've seen this time and time again where opening up the stage to the other band mates paid off. Their energy added to the energy of the crowd sends a full message. It's unreal if you can get an entire crowd singing or clapping along for their own reasons. Magical. That's how you have to be, magical.

Be energetic, charismatic and entertaining. Connect with your audience and get them into the groove by opening up to them. Show them someone on stage they haven't seen or heard through your music. Get their attention by having a moment with them and allowing them to be a part of your music journey.

Engage your audience by... Leaving blanks! If you start your audience on a clapping session, or by having them sing along, once they are set, just stop and let them do the work!

This is so important they took the time to support your craft so they need to feel special each and everyone. As part of my set I usually do a well known cover this is a perfect time for them to sing along so I share the mic with a enthusiastic fan.

Getting your audience engaged is an organic thing. It cannot be contrived or forced. For that, you have to connect with them, energetically, be vulnerable enough to be open to so much energy. That authenticity is the start point. Where you take it from there is the quality/authority and energy of what you are delivering , be it music or a lecture or whatever really...

If you reach them, it will happen naturally. When a performer actually connects with the material , and cares that it connects with the audience, it will create a connection that can’t be faked.

You can also play "games" with the audience, separating the crowd in two camps, to see who claps the loudest, who screams the most, who dances the best etc. or anything you come up with...

You can be creative, make engaging comment and give out gifts on the stage while performing to encourage audience interactions

One of my most fun experiences in each concert is when I get the audience involved. Having them clap sometimes, sing with me , dance with me etc. The ONlY way to make this happen is getting them involved. Making them feel that they aren’t just there to listen, but they’re part of the act because as a performer , audience is your best prop and band member , both at once. We can get them involved in many ways - stop at a critical point(say near a drop) and point the mic at the audience. Clap along with the kick drum beats. Perform a show like you’re building a product, talking to your customers throughout the show and incorporating their feedback at all times. That’s when they feel that they are in it with you !

Sometimes I get a few friends in the crowd to help out. I sometimes let them know beforehand to get it started on a particular song. All it takes is 2-3 people to get it started, then the whole crowd gets involved.

I like to tell them before the song that there's a part they have to clap, and then when we get to that part if they don't start clapping we just keep playing that part until we shame them in. If you want to figure out how to put crowd participation stuff in, go listen to Fall Out Boy. They do it prety well by layering stuff into the album ahead of time and then the crowd just knows. Jimmy Eat World put handclaps in Authority Song and in the liners it singled out "timely hand claps". Do that.

Tell them to clap with one hand if they don't want to join in or draw attention themselves. This way, you'll always have people supporting you by waving as though they know you.

One thing that’s helpful is to engage all their senses. Tell a story with your music performance, and have them journey along by making them participate in some way. Teach them a short dance, and get them to applaud themselves when they get it right! Showcase your band mates and let them shine. Your audience will clap along and at the end, in appreciation of the experience you’ve given them.