No matter who I play to even my own teacher! I get a bit nervous this can sometime affect my playing. Is it because Im new and not confident enough? Can anyone give any tips?
No matter who I play to even my own teacher! I get a bit nervous this can sometime affect my playing. Is it because Im new and not confident enough? Can anyone give any tips?
I'm also nervous about playing in front of others. Small groups more so, because it feels more personal.
I was in this band a few years back. We did a lot of gigs, and after a while i didn't think much of it. In fact, i enjoyed playing for an audience. But, like said, i still get nervous today depending on the situation. Mick Goodrick says in his book 'The Advancing Guitarist' something in the sense of -'You always have an audience' (i don't have the book with me so i can't quote the exact words), and for some reason that got to me. I always listen to myself playing, and that is the most critical audience i'll ever get. From that perspective there's nothing to be nervous about.
Everyone gets nervous playing in front of people, and your performance level does drop by about 50%. If you wanna play it right you've got to know a piece backwards, know every note totally, know everything you can possibly know about it, then there's no ****ups, (hopefully!!!!)
You need to channel your feelings of fear and nervousness into better playing and taking more chances. Playing live is the ultimate rush, be in the moment. Remember music is all about the now.
"Listen to the Spaces Between the sounds."
Szulc's Site
Szulc is right on the money, youve got to channel it. But if you want regular western tips id say:
1. Concentrate on your playing, not looking at people
2. If youre playing a gig either a) dont close your eyes or b) close them till youre all wrmed up and playing right then open them, then start making eye contact with people you see are enjoying themselves.
3. Try taking a couple deep breaths and keep your body relaxed before your start playing.
Hope this helps ya
Ads, we all get nervous at some point. It's like giving a speech in class. You can be a wreck the first time, but the next time it's a little better, and you get used to it.
Realize that you're creating music. It's not a competition or anything. No one cares if you make a mistake or can't play at a bazillion notes per second. Just be honest with yourself and play to the best of your ability and you'll be fine!
Live music is a performance and doesn't have to be perfect. It's good to strive for perfection and continuous improvement, but everyone makes mistakes! It is what makes us human!
Welcome to iBreathe!
p.s. you should just post your question once, I noticed another "nervous" one out there.
-Bizarro
Google is your friend
One thing to overcome this is: play in front of people as much as possible.
When I was starting out, I always played for a friend of mine who used to visit me once a week. Every week, he´d come over and I´d play for him what I had learned throughout the week.
( I wonder how he put up with it, cuz at first, it must have sounded horrible )
And that helped, because for me, it soon was natural to have someone watch me when I played. Sure, it´s a different thing to play in front of several hundred people, but to play in front of a small crowd ( maybe only one person ) on a regular base is a good way to get used to it.
Warm regards
Eric
Thanks for the help I try that advice everyone. I apologize for my posting too many threads.
Thanks.
No need to apologize really ( look who´s talking *grin* )
Eric
well I don't play out.....yet. But, my advice is go with the zakk wylde school of thought. He bascially said, The music hasn't magically changed, its the same music you jam at practice, and the same music you jam at home, go out there get the job done, the people came to see a show.
SOunds good to me.
i get nervous even jamming with my band mates! i dont know why. i play sport and dont get nervous when i train, nor when im playing in front of big crowd. so i dont know why music brings this out in me. it might be the adrenalin pumping, but im sure that you will get to a stage during your performance where you just forget about it and just play (assuming you know the song well). several times ive been playing and i cant even remember any of the music i have just played, because i was in that zone where you almost forget what your doing. funny feeling...cool though
but I get A LOT more nervous when I play for people who aren't musicians.
but I get A LOT more nervous when I play for people who aren't musicians.
funny about that. i guess maybe..... i get more nervous around muso's because they actually know (generally) whether what im playing is quality stuff or just average. whereas people who dont have much music knowledge probably think anything you do on a guitar is amazing regardless of skill level etc
Not in my country dude! I wish that was the case! Over here musicians appreciate what you can do and non-musicians won't give you the time of day. Local bands doing REM covers get great crowd reactions and guys telling the guitar player he's really great, but when a friend of mine went to watch one of the best jazz fusion bands in Scotland his friends who went with him left after half an hour saying it was **** and comparing their music to tuning up. Really good music here is marginalised in the extreme, you have to go to dingy little ****hole clubs to hear the really good players on the scene, while up the road the Pink Floyd covers band sells out the local venue! I find that I can play any old rubbish in front of non-musicians, ****, I can play in the wrong key and if I pull enough faces they'll like it. In front of musicians though, especially when some are better than me it's a different story, u can see if u goof even one note some people turn to each other and say something, it's not paranoia honest. Besides, when at gigs and the guitar players goofs up I turn to my mates and go ahaaaa, so people do do it. I think playing in front of musicians is lot more putting ur *** on the line coz it'll get round the grate vine pretty quick on how u did, so there's a lot riding on pulling it off I think. Basically I think all non-musicians should be given a crash course in music appreciation, then we can get rid of pop music F O R E V E R!!!whereas people who dont have much music knowledge probably think anything you do on a guitar is amazing regardless of skill level etc
some said dont look at the people concentrate on ur playing. where are u supposed to look at your guitar? it can look amaturish and isnt the best way to perform.
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