A question for the pro's...

[Ian]

Hi All,

Well Sunday night was my solo debut performance at our local folk club. I did the Pete Molinari song " I dont like the man I am", and "House of the Rising Sun". Now I practice every day, I knew both of these songs down pat, played them all through on the same guitar (F30) for the last month. Comes the time to get on stage, the nerves kick in and mistakes aplenty !!

Being honest, I'm never going to be Joe Satriani or anything and if truth be told I'd rather be a spirited failure than a going through the motions technically correct but soul less performer, (so in that respect the gig was an OUTSTANDING Success), but it would be nice if I could deliver the same performance on stage that I do at home...

Here's the question: How do you guys that do this all the time get good at performing ?

Cheers, Ian

 

[killdeer43]

It might be the most simplistic answer you'll receive, but it's all about practice, IMHO. Just like a golfer making consistent shots in his game....practice.

Ubung macht den meister,
Joe
*non-pro

 

[walrus]

Yes, its really that simple - practice practice practice. BUT - I hear you on the nerves. I play a local open mic and continure to get very nervous, and like you, will make mistakes on songs I know cold. But if the overall song comes out well, no one cares, and at an open mic, everyone's pretty laid back anyway.

Geez, the first time I played there (less than 2 years ago), I finshed my two songs and realized I was soaking wet with sweat. So keep plugging - the nerves will get better!

Here's an intersting article about "making mistakes" when playing live that I liked a lot:

http://tomhess.net/Articles/PlayingLive ... rHead.aspx

Good luck!

walrus

 

[dapmdave]

It might be the most simplistic answer you'll receive, but it's all about practice, IMHO. Just like a golfer making consistent shots in his game....practice.

Ubung macht den meister,
Joe
*non-pro

I'm screwed! I can't golf, either. :roll:

Dave

 

[Default]

And my next tune will be "Clams Casino".

 

[spiderman]

One word Autotune :twisted: :mrgreen:

In addition to practice, just gig, the more you do the more confident you feel. Not from personal experience mind you, but from what pro and semi-pro musicians have told me. You still get jitters but once out there the confidence returns. Remember Dolly Parton once forgot the words to Happy Birthday, or was it Jingle Bells? There is a great video on Youtube of Lucinda Williams a consummate perfectionist completely flubbing the first verse of Passionate Kisses which she wrote (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=artjAo-AJxo), and of the much more laid back Jimmy Dale Gilmore forgetting the lyrics of a song he wrote also
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pouk388 ... re=related). That is a what a live performance, without all the artificial crap cluttering in a studio. Give me live any day.
Its great that you have the guts to go out there, keep it up.

Harmony H-173 bought in 1960 (retired)
Alvarez AC60S 2008
Eastman AC320ce 2008 BOOKMATCHING BOOKMATCHING WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BOOKMATCHING!
http://www.massstreetmusic.com/store/sh ... id-Cutaway
GAD-JF30E(blonde) 2008
JF55 1997
D25M 1974
Martin Grand J35E 2009

 

[chazmo]

It might be the most simplistic answer you'll receive, but it's all about practice, IMHO. Just like a golfer making consistent shots in his game....practice.

Ubung macht den meister,
Joe
*non-pro

It's also about performing. The more you do it, and do it consistently, the better you get (provided you don't have any crises of confidence along the way). Practice and performance.

I don't claim to be a pro by any stretch, but what I'm saying comes from semi-pro and a lifetime of experience performing on the trumpet. It just gets easier to focus on the music (and not the nerves) when you perform a lot.

 

[evenkeel]

While practice is a big piece of the puzzle, nothing is a substitute for actually playing in front of people. The more you do it, the easier it gets. I suffer from major stage jitters and I've been getting up in ffront of people for ages. Here are a couple of little tips that I've found helpful.

1. If it's a typical three or four song open mic kind of thing, do your strongest song first. The one you have the most confidence in. Put your less strong/confident ones in the middle, then finish with another strong tune.
2. Do not have a lot to drink, alcohol wise before hand. I might have a glass of wine or a beer, but that's it.
3. As a part of your practice, if practicle, get used to playing and singing in front of a mic.
4. Make sure you have all the "stuff". Capo, picks, etc. I' use a harmonica and rack for a bunch of tunes and discovered on stage I have the wrong key or forget the rack. A check list is a good idea.
5. Remember the audience is not there to judge you. They are on your side. They want you to do well.
6. Don't rush between songs. take a breath, introduce the songwriter. I like to have a bottle of water with me, even it's a short set.
7. Have fun. Smile.

 

[dreadnut]

Here's the question: How do you guys that do this all the time get good at performing?

We do it all the time

The more you do it, the easier it gets. Relax. Have fun, that's why you're there, right? You know you can nail those songs in your living room, close your eyes a bit and imagine you're in your living room, I've done that before, you visualize a time that you were really pleased with how you did the song...

Of course, a little nervous energy is a good thing, it keeps you on your toes. Then I tend to feed off the energy of the audience, if they're vocal and appreciative, that kinda lights a fire under me. Kinda like saying "Sic 'em!" to a dog :lol:

 

[Telenator]

When you make the transition from "playing a song" to "putting on a performance" is when it all makes sense and the nerves subside. Anyone can play a song, and some can do it without mistakes, but the music doesn't live until you perform it.

By "perform" I mean getting to the point where you're not sitting there all tensed up and just praying you land all those difficult parts. I'm talking about those times where you just close your eyes and the song begins to emanate from your deepest resources. When the playing becomes effortless and the expression begins to flow freely. When you're removed from the technicalities that burden you and you're released into the realm of pure expression. That's when the nerves go away.

How do you get there? You accept your mistakes and play through them without compromising the groove. You allow your timing to remain fluid even when you totally botch an entire chord change. If you're focused on the groove and expression, people will follow along and stay with you. If you focus on the technical merits, the same people will follow you there too.

Art isn't perfect. That's what machines do.

 

[killdeer43]

In the words of the late R. Nelson, "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."
I started out playing for myself and 40 years later I still do, even when there's an audience; but when you see even a glint of recognition in someone's eyes and a smile, you connect and the 'magic' is there. :wink:

It's all good,
Joe
*non pro

 

[Ian]

Thanks Guys,

There's some great advice here !!

Cheers, Ian

 

[evenkeel]

I'll add one more. tip. If you make a mistake do not under any circumstances acknowledge it. Play right thru it like it never happened. Don't apologize at the end of the tune.

Even better, if possible, on the next verse make the same "mistake" again. Audience will think it was supposed to be that way!!!

 

[fronobulax]

Practice.
Play/perform in front of people as often as possible.
If you still are not comfortable, serenade your pet and pretend they are listening.
Mistakes happen. My experience has been that most mistakes that seemed huge to me were not noticed by anyone else except the other musicians in the audience, and they have "been there, done that" and usually will give me a pass and a knowing smile.
Poise is important. Don't acknowledge that things didn't just happen in a way other than you intended. Consider doing it again. Someone on LTG has a tag line "One wrong note is a mistake. Two are jazz". There is some truth to that.

 

[Russell Letson]

All good advice here, and Evenkeel's catalog is a good one.

I've played for more than fifty years, but for the middle thirty I was too shy and nervous to perform. After my fiftieth birthday some friends encouraged me to join a public but informal jam at a local restaurant, and I gradually got used to playing with others in front of an audience. It takes a while to get used to playing in public, but most people will get comfortable with it--and the professionals with whom I've played all gave the kind of advice you've seen here. I still get a bit nervous playing a new venue or to a bigger audience than usual or doing a solo set, but it's manageable, and I've come to actually believe what my mentors kept telling me: the audience is on your side and only the other musicians in the house will notice the ordinary mistakes, especially if you don't acknowledge them yourself. (My wife's advice early on: "Stop saying 'Shit!' when you make a mistake.")

Oh, and don't be afraid to unleash your inner ham.

 

[plaidseason]

I've been playing live for something like 18 years and I still get nervous, sometimes I get really nervous.

The thing to remember is this: Live music is supposed to be a highwire act. It's good to to practice, we all need to. But don't practice so much that you remove all life out of the songs. I'd rather see a guy make a couple of mistakes, than see a guy with who knows the song so well that even he isn't all that excited to play.

Before the show: I sometimes actually pretend (like I did in high school) that I am playing in front of people. I don't actaully banter aloud, but I do think banter to myself.

At the show: remember it's not "us and them," it's WE. And if you've only connected with a single person on the room, that' still a very important connection. After years of striving for the big shows (outdoor festivals, big NYC gigs, etc.) I've actually come to find that it's the small intimate room that I love. The room where everyone feels like their part of something.

My other extracuricular passion is bicycle racing and one thing that happens in every bicycle race is that stuff goes wrong. You'll make mistakes, things will happen that you have no control of. In essence, you can strive for a perfect race, but you'll never have one. Instead you must overcome adversity again and again, and take heart that you gave your best performance possible.

Live music to me is the same. You practice. You prepare. You visualize a great performance. But you expect that things can never go exactly as expected. Instead you go in knowing that mistakes will be made. Unexpected events will occur. And in a strange and beautiful way this is the real beauty of live performance.

As I said to a friend of mine who recently started performing live: Don't worry, don't think; just f'n sing and play.
I have a friend who just started.

-Chris

 

[JerryR]

Don't know why I'm answering this - I'm no pro :shock:

I find several interjections of 'oh sh*t' help to break the ice - and can substitute for the words when you forget the lyrics :mrgreen:

Seriously though (as if I ever am :wink: ) a very good guitarist/singer/songwriter I know, when I asked him the self same question, answered 'Practise, practise, practise. I doesn't matter how good you are back home in the kitchen Jerry, its what you do in front of an audience that counts.'

I've found that playing in public, the hands sweat, and the hands tense, so get tired quicker. Try to conciously relax - think if you balls up, what the heck anyway - and I've found that guys who do make mistakes but soldier on often get the loudest applause (OK - so they get the sympathy vote). Above all, I try not to think of what my hands are doing (that's where practise helps - you'll play better on autopilot). Ever tried to conciously think about walking instead of just doing it - I have - but only when blind drunk :wink:

Also after a couple of songs - things often get better as you relax and worry less. Oh - and if you have a chord shape you consider difficult coming up - try and imagine you are playing it easily, no problem - if you imagine it going wrong, sure as eggs is eggs - it will :roll:

Good luck - and keep doing the Folk Clubs.

 

[adorshki]

I played for 10 years before I felt competent to go busking at a local pier. But that followed about a 6 month period of unemployment during which I played for literally 4-6 hours every day from a library of sheet music. I concentrated on making simple consistent arrangements and would play a song several times through until it came out mistake free. That burns 'em into the memory pretty well. Then, since it was busking it wasn't being scrutinized carefully by a stationary audience. That'll help you get used to playing in front of people. Also 2 bottles of beer over an hour (if you're used to it) does WONDERS for the anxiety factor! Also some of 'em'll actually drop tips, that does a lot for the self confidence!

 

[jgmaute]

I don't have much to add to what has already been said. I applaud your effort and your concern Ian. Keep on keepin' on. You practice 'til you think you can sing and play the song in your sleep then all you can do is get stage/performance time. (And remember there are many places that would love to have you come in and sing a song or two.) I was fortunate to have a local coffee house when I was 16 where I was the opening act (and unpaid for the first two months) almost every weekend for the school year. It gave me time in front of an audience as well as time watching the later acts (there used to be 3-4 acts each night) and time back stage with the pros. I can't tell you how much I learned that year and how it helped me not only as a performer but also as a teacher.

I also suggest if you're singing in front of people, don't use a lyric or chord sheet. I personally don't think you can "own" a song and truly make it yours until you know it without a lead sheet. That said, I forgot some of the words to my latest song at a songwriter's open mike last week...but, since no one else knew the song I could fake it and just make up new words.

I read a quote from Patty Larkin the other day, she was saying that there isn't any music business anymore but there's still a lot of music. That's what open mikes, local and indie singers, and live shows are about...the music...so keep the music alive. joan

 

[6L6]

I agree with the above that performing as much as possible will build the confidence you are seeking.

In my own case I'm also helped by knowing they can't send me back to Vietnam if I screw up.

6