A question for the pro's...

[kdavid]

I used to gig, a TON! One thing I always thought about listening to a live band is, if I wanted to hear perfection, I'd listen to a Juke box. If I wanted to get the most out of a performance, I wanted to hear something a little different from the musicians. I wanted to hear who THEY were.

I carried that mindset to the stage with me when I gigged. I'd give them my take, my creativeness. I've never had anybody come up and tell me that they didn't like that.

Also, in many venues, you are the background noise. In clubs, people talk loudly to each other. Yeah, turn it up, they'll just talk even louder.
If you missed a note, they wouldn't know or care.
I missed many notes along the way. I was just saving them for the next song.
Gotta be careful ya know. Don't ever want to run out of notes.

fused

theres a lot of truth in all this
come to think of it...its all way true 8)

 

[wontox]

Performing in public can never get worse than this:

When I was about seventeen, I was playing the intro notes to “Places I Remember”, sitting cross-legged on a hollow old wooden stage at my high school —well, you’ve probably got this one figured out by now— I emitted an untimely and entirely inadvertant and quite voluminous body noise which was eminently amplified by the soundbox effect of the hollow wooden stage. But here’s the especially weird part; not a single one of the audience of thirty or so teenagers and a couple of teachers seated in folding chairs EVER laughed or made a single comment. There may have been some facial twitching, but at that moment I wasn’t about to look anybody in the face...it was like that particular sustained sonic vibration had some kind of paralyzing effect on the audience.... Anyway I managed to keep it together and continue playing—since that is, er, never a good time to stop. I had to sing in a breathy little voice, afraid to exert any kind of diaphramal pressure and cause an encore. Very light applause at the end. Some funny looks, but never heard a word from anyone about it later.

Perhaps this is one reason modern bands play so loud.

I can generally mitigate stage fright these days by realizing that it can’t get any worse than that horrible day in my teenaged life. More than a few decades later, I still can’t play “Places I Remember” without feeling a little mortified. The guitar at the time of the offense was a Yamaha, not a Guild, so I guess I’m entirely off-topic here.

 

[kdavid]

got me beat :lol: :lol:

 

[RussD]

When I was about seventeen...

Lawsy, THAT story is funny! :lol:

 

[West R Lee]

Performing in public can never get worse than this:

When I was about seventeen, I was playing the intro notes to “Places I Remember”, sitting cross-legged on a hollow old wooden stage at my high school —well, you’ve probably got this one figured out by now— I emitted an untimely and entirely inadvertant and quite voluminous body noise which was eminently amplified by the soundbox effect of the hollow wooden stage. But here’s the especially weird part; not a single one of the audience of thirty or so teenagers and a couple of teachers seated in folding chairs EVER laughed or made a single comment. There may have been some facial twitching, but at that moment I wasn’t about to look anybody in the face...it was like that particular sustained sonic vibration had some kind of paralyzing effect on the audience.... Anyway I managed to keep it together and continue playing—since that is, er, never a good time to stop. I had to sing in a breathy little voice, afraid to exert any kind of diaphramal pressure and cause an encore. Very light applause at the end. Some funny looks, but never heard a word from anyone about it later.

Perhaps this is one reason modern bands play so loud.

I can generally mitigate stage fright these days by realizing that it can’t get any worse than that horrible day in my teenaged life. More than a few decades later, I still can’t play “Places I Remember” without feeling a little mortified. The guitar at the time of the offense was a Yamaha, not a Guild, so I guess I’m entirely off-topic here.

:lol: :lol: :lol: I would have given you a standing ovulation! Now that is maintaining your composure under pressure.......both internal and external pressure.....though one man I work with would say internal and outernal pressure :wink: .

West

 

[West R Lee]

I've seen him make mistakes and blow right through them.....

Thanks, West. but let's face it, sometimes I just blow! :lol:

And West definitely is under-representing his abilities!

Just two tips from me:
Having fun, or at least looking like we are, engages an audience.
I strongly recommend practicing songs in front of a mirror; no do-overs, no pauses, just play and appreciate that cutie looking back from the glass!

:lol: Well you certainly "blow" far less than I Rusty One. You might on very rare occasion be considered a light breeze, where I come in consistently at a catagory 5 hurricane.

West

 

[Bikerdoc]

Great story. So, was it one the downbeat? :lol:

Peace

 

[wontox]

Unfortunately, it lasted far longer than one beat.

 

[adorshki]

Unfortunately, it lasted far longer than one beat.

At the end of the tune I would have looked around the stage with a perplexed look on my face and said: "Man, that must have been one BIG mouse". :wink:

 

[wontox]

Yeah, woulda, coulda, shoulda. Next time I'll know.

wontoxic

 

[devellis]

Wontox, the only thing that could've made that story better is if you were playing Classical Gas.

 

[killdeer43]

Wontox, the only thing that could've made that story better is if you were playing Classical Gas.

Or
Blowin' in the Wind.
Call the Wind Mariah
Summer Wind
etc.

:lol:
Joe

 

[West R Lee]

Or "Runnin' with the Wind"....or "The Wind Cries Mary"....or "The Wind and the Wheat".

West

 

[JerryR]

And I've only tried to accompany myself on a mouth harp - never full (br)arse :shock:

 

[wontox]

"At the end of the tune I would have looked around the stage with a perplexed look on my face and said: "Man, that must have been one BIG mouse". :wink:[/quote] Al


More like a wolverine, actually, adorshki.

Sorry to hijack this topic with that long-winded high-school story, but, folks, everyone should learn not to sit cross-legged on hollow stages when performing acoustically. That all happened in the era of Cat Stevens and Donvan, when it was tres cool to perch thusly.

Thanks to all who had the dignity not to respond with puerile, frat-boy humor to this poigniant, sensitive telling of a traumatic event in the life of a young aspiring performer.

Wontoxy

 

[onewilyfool]

Ian, I know exactly what you are going through. My first open mic was a shocker. First of all, I usually play sitting down on my sofa, lol....at open mic, I had to stand.....just new and uncomfortable. Secondly, I'd never used a mic or amplification, so that was new and exciting. I couldn't hear my guitar, but had to hear it through the house speakers....(no monitors), so that threw me. So, if you can, try to practice with amp and mic, try standing, and try rehearsing in front of a mirror, so you can see what your audience sees.......I think all of this will help. Concerning mistakes, after my first open mic, people came up to me and told me they really liked my music, and I said, what about the mistakes????? They responded.......What mistakes?????? Sometimes I think we are harder on ourselves than anyone else......so lighten up. There may be mistakes, but what the crowd really gets, is if you sing from your heart, not so much thinking.....have fun.....they will get that.....good luck, break a leg!!!

 

[adorshki]

Sorry to hijack this topic with that long-winded high-school story

Some forums call it a hijack, but here we just call it a veer,
'Cause for us it's only a sidetrack, on the road from there to here. 8)

Thanks to all who had the dignity and empathy not to respond with puerile, frat-boy humor to this poigniant, sensitive telling of a traumatic event in the life of a young aspiring performer.

We're nothing if not supportive. Sharing with the group is good for you. Don't hold back. Tell us how you feel. Show us something human we can rip to shreds.
That'll toughen you up for a real audience.

 

[wontox]

Thanks adorshki; that first part sounds like the beginning of a song...go for it.

Wontochs

 

[adorshki]

Thanks adorshki; that first part sounds like the beginning of a song...go for it.
Wontochs

 

[jgwoods]

My progression went like this.
First I was nervous and played poorly
Then I wasn't nervous anymore and played poorly- my fingers didn't get the message I guess.
Then my fingers started to work too.
Then I took second place in the local Banjo contest. Probably never happen again- the competition is higher grade, and my fingers are older and more wore out.

I don't really have the drive to perform. It is not what interests me. I like playing with others and getting in the groove, don't care if I ever get a solo.
If I can play well enough to contribute them I am happy.