Im happy to announce that the next episode of [highlight=]The Cordeen and Me: The Horror! The Horror! Playing in Public![/highlight] is now available at http://www.accordionweb.com
Would love to hear from any with similar affliction....
Fear. Anxiety. Trembling. Playing in Public
- Thread starter SteveH
- Start date
- Status
Im happy to announce that the next episode of [highlight=]The Cordeen and Me: The Horror! The Horror! Playing in Public![/highlight] is now available at http://www.accordionweb.com
Would love to hear from any with similar affliction....
:tup: thanks I liked the read with my coffee at work just now
I experience anxiety almost always, although I never played any venue larger than 3000 souls and that was drumming in a 4-piece band. Playing solo is another thing altogether and requires a lot more preparation. At the venue I then dirnk 2-3 beers and just go for it.
With repetition everything becomes easier. In the end I have my set nailed down so much the anxiety decreases and stops altogether. Then it's time to move on to something new. So I see it as a positive, without it there would be no satisfaction. It gives me that alert state of mind, fright, and then the pleasure of nearing the end and having done a good job.
I experience anxiety almost always, although I never played any venue larger than 3000 souls and that was drumming in a 4-piece band. Playing solo is another thing altogether and requires a lot more preparation. At the venue I then dirnk 2-3 beers and just go for it.
With repetition everything becomes easier. In the end I have my set nailed down so much the anxiety decreases and stops altogether. Then it's time to move on to something new. So I see it as a positive, without it there would be no satisfaction. It gives me that alert state of mind, fright, and then the pleasure of nearing the end and having done a good job.
Thanks, Jozz -- I appreciate the comment & the read. And yeah, I think the "few beers" approach is a good one 
I've found that writing the post is itself good therapy -- at least it lets me laugh about it. And it's encouraged a bunch of people to share there own stories, as you have here.
Again, thanks for reading! I invite you to look at the other entries in the blog as well.
__ Steve
I've found that writing the post is itself good therapy -- at least it lets me laugh about it. And it's encouraged a bunch of people to share there own stories, as you have here.
Again, thanks for reading! I invite you to look at the other entries in the blog as well.
__ Steve
Corsaire
Well-known member
An interesting read ... people talk about finding your Centre or your Core and I'm never really sure what they mean.
Ah, the clammy hands - a musicians's nightmare, whether from nerves or heat. I keep forgetting to try talcum powder but the long glove-type thing on the left hand does help a lot.
I never dare partake of an alcoholic beverage before playing in public. A couple of drinks and my hands get a mind of their own and I don't seem to be able to control them. I came unstuck once after a couple of rather strong cocktails and made a complete horlicks of myself ... a lesson learnt !
Like Stephen, I rarely feel nervous in public but that may be because I'm not alone and I don't dwell on any mistakes I make. If you make a mistake but carry on, most people won't notice and those that do aren't going to worry about it half as much as you might !!
The only time in my life I remember my knees wobbling and my hands shaking was the first time I had to write out a parking ticket :lol:
Ah, the clammy hands - a musicians's nightmare, whether from nerves or heat. I keep forgetting to try talcum powder but the long glove-type thing on the left hand does help a lot.
I never dare partake of an alcoholic beverage before playing in public. A couple of drinks and my hands get a mind of their own and I don't seem to be able to control them. I came unstuck once after a couple of rather strong cocktails and made a complete horlicks of myself ... a lesson learnt !
Like Stephen, I rarely feel nervous in public but that may be because I'm not alone and I don't dwell on any mistakes I make. If you make a mistake but carry on, most people won't notice and those that do aren't going to worry about it half as much as you might !!
The only time in my life I remember my knees wobbling and my hands shaking was the first time I had to write out a parking ticket :lol:
StargazerTony
Well-known member
When I get nervous and start trembling in public, I just call it bellows shake and say it was intentional.
Steve, I am going to apologize first and then make a comment about something that you likely already know.
Playing on video and playing to an audience in front of you... About the same level of difference like playing in a locked room and playing center stage in front of thousands.
Every, and I do mean EVERY performer goes through what you do to some lower or higher level, or even worse. Whether he admits it or not, even your Dallas has those same fears. From beginner to world class performer, it is felt by all. Everyone basically has the same answer... Play through it, the feeling passes. It might come back if you leave stage and return, but guess what, it goes away again.
The brain is wonderful, but it can only do ONE thing at a time properly and you can push it to where you need it to go. One can sit there and worry, causing a bad performance or one can let the music take you away with the words silently wordrd in your head... "Feel the music and nothing else, I am alone in my own world for the next 3 minutes". Close your eyes and let whatever happens, happen as it does... without expectation.
Know what happens? No matter how you perform, you have a good time. Learn to worry about the things you should and let go of the stupidity that is fear.
Would you like to know the heights the fear can go to? Try playing in front of a group of judges that are holding a copy of your music and scrutinizing every sound and note you make... analyzing your technique to the Nth degree, and KNOW they are grading everything... Now THAT is Preassure! How do those musicians handle that? By not caring about the judges for those 3-5 minutes, and being themselves and concentrating on the music, not the judges.
Now, you are not doing this, yet internally, you can go the easy way or you can go the hard way. Yes, surprisingly, it is no harder than making a simple choce. Choose to worry and fear or choose to enjoy... maybe oversimplified, but fact none the less and all the psychology matters little if you look at it this way. Why overcomplicate so simple a pleasure?
You choose.
Playing on video and playing to an audience in front of you... About the same level of difference like playing in a locked room and playing center stage in front of thousands.
Every, and I do mean EVERY performer goes through what you do to some lower or higher level, or even worse. Whether he admits it or not, even your Dallas has those same fears. From beginner to world class performer, it is felt by all. Everyone basically has the same answer... Play through it, the feeling passes. It might come back if you leave stage and return, but guess what, it goes away again.
The brain is wonderful, but it can only do ONE thing at a time properly and you can push it to where you need it to go. One can sit there and worry, causing a bad performance or one can let the music take you away with the words silently wordrd in your head... "Feel the music and nothing else, I am alone in my own world for the next 3 minutes". Close your eyes and let whatever happens, happen as it does... without expectation.
Know what happens? No matter how you perform, you have a good time. Learn to worry about the things you should and let go of the stupidity that is fear.
Would you like to know the heights the fear can go to? Try playing in front of a group of judges that are holding a copy of your music and scrutinizing every sound and note you make... analyzing your technique to the Nth degree, and KNOW they are grading everything... Now THAT is Preassure! How do those musicians handle that? By not caring about the judges for those 3-5 minutes, and being themselves and concentrating on the music, not the judges.
Now, you are not doing this, yet internally, you can go the easy way or you can go the hard way. Yes, surprisingly, it is no harder than making a simple choce. Choose to worry and fear or choose to enjoy... maybe oversimplified, but fact none the less and all the psychology matters little if you look at it this way. Why overcomplicate so simple a pleasure?
You choose.
donn
Prolific poster
If anyone's interested in pursuing the origin of "Bullet-Proof Musician" Kageyama's ideas about finding inner serenity, an introductory Ki Society course in Aikido will probably give you a clue where he's coming from. (There are a couple branches of aikido instruction, Ki Society focuses more formally on ki development - ki is Japanese for Chinese chi. I took an into course and a couple months more. Our teacher mentioned once that the "one point" is really located, according to oriental principles, at the anus.)
My own trouble with this is a little different, in that there's no build-up. I might be a little jittery, or not, in the hours, minutes, seconds before I'm on, but no real sweat. I'd even say I don't suffer from stage fright, but I guess a lot of it is that I'm playing in a group. A couple months ago, though, I volunteered to sing while playing, in public, which I've never done outside of very small situations, and I guess to make it worse I may have been a little under-rehearsed. Confident as I could be, right up to the moment. But when I started off, it wasn't there. The words, the tune ... it seemed that my brain had shrunk, and only little bits of things could get through it.
If I ever go back and try to get on that horse again, I mean to take a moment before starting, and concentrate on the details of the beginning of the piece. Kageyama is of course right about the different parts of the brain, and I feel particularly vulnerable to that - my left and right brains, if you will, simply do not cooperate over music, and only my right brain is able to play music worth a damn. Really have to focus on the music, to keep the left brain at bay, and ever so much more when it's a novel situation.
My own trouble with this is a little different, in that there's no build-up. I might be a little jittery, or not, in the hours, minutes, seconds before I'm on, but no real sweat. I'd even say I don't suffer from stage fright, but I guess a lot of it is that I'm playing in a group. A couple months ago, though, I volunteered to sing while playing, in public, which I've never done outside of very small situations, and I guess to make it worse I may have been a little under-rehearsed. Confident as I could be, right up to the moment. But when I started off, it wasn't there. The words, the tune ... it seemed that my brain had shrunk, and only little bits of things could get through it.
If I ever go back and try to get on that horse again, I mean to take a moment before starting, and concentrate on the details of the beginning of the piece. Kageyama is of course right about the different parts of the brain, and I feel particularly vulnerable to that - my left and right brains, if you will, simply do not cooperate over music, and only my right brain is able to play music worth a damn. Really have to focus on the music, to keep the left brain at bay, and ever so much more when it's a novel situation.
Keymn
Prolific poster
Here my steps to a successful gig:
1. When I am booked for a French, Italian or German, etc. event, I tell the customer I play and sing the music but add, in English only.
2. Setup early. Sound check before customers arrive.
3. Never bring your wife or significant other to the gig if it is a private party.
4. Refrain from excessive alcohol. Best start with water, soft drinks.
5. Volume control.
6. Focus on your audience. Act like you are having fun (even if you had a bad day).
7. Wear appropriate clothing. I sometimes ask before if casual will be o.k.?
8. Try to get your pay before you start. There is nothing more frustrating then waiting to get paid after you tear done.
I think many can add to this list....happy gigging!
1. When I am booked for a French, Italian or German, etc. event, I tell the customer I play and sing the music but add, in English only.
2. Setup early. Sound check before customers arrive.
3. Never bring your wife or significant other to the gig if it is a private party.
4. Refrain from excessive alcohol. Best start with water, soft drinks.
5. Volume control.
6. Focus on your audience. Act like you are having fun (even if you had a bad day).
7. Wear appropriate clothing. I sometimes ask before if casual will be o.k.?
8. Try to get your pay before you start. There is nothing more frustrating then waiting to get paid after you tear done.
I think many can add to this list....happy gigging!
Keymn post_id=61581 time=1533138358 user_id=2502 said:
why exactly? because of professional conduct?
I go to most of my partners gigs as a plus-one, either for chauffeur duty or photographer or just company. Most of the time I end up in the crowd to give some encouraging glances.
Because most tend to want to spend time with them instead of performing. I once made that mistake of bringing a girlfriend to a gig... it was NO fun for me and she sat there most of the evening alone bored.
It is distracting and takes away from what you should be paying attention to... the music. In some cases it can go as far as not being too professional.
I've been receiving emails from the maker of "The Bullit-proof Musician" for well over a year now, and quite honestly, I started to see a pattern after a couple of months. He may be good for many, but at some point, one has to get tired of micro-examining and over analyzing every piece of minutiae and eventually get down to brass tacks... and make music in front of other human beings.
It is super simple to get all caught up in that vicious circle of how we must practice, how we must prepare, how we must play and how we must think and more... all to perform in front of other human beings, that we forget a very basic concept... that we make music to have fun, and that in sharing something that we find fun with, we spread that pleasure around to others.
It is distracting and takes away from what you should be paying attention to... the music. In some cases it can go as far as not being too professional.
I've been receiving emails from the maker of "The Bullit-proof Musician" for well over a year now, and quite honestly, I started to see a pattern after a couple of months. He may be good for many, but at some point, one has to get tired of micro-examining and over analyzing every piece of minutiae and eventually get down to brass tacks... and make music in front of other human beings.
It is super simple to get all caught up in that vicious circle of how we must practice, how we must prepare, how we must play and how we must think and more... all to perform in front of other human beings, that we forget a very basic concept... that we make music to have fun, and that in sharing something that we find fun with, we spread that pleasure around to others.
donn
Prolific poster
I'm guessing it depends on various factors. Some of them not apparent until you get there, some of them not apparent to you but to others. I only do amateur level gigs, so my standards of professionalism are pretty relaxed.
Well, playing in a group is easier because we feel we can depend on others if we make a mistake, but I used to do all levels as a professional and today as an amateur and ONLY for personal fun. Matter of fact, I just recently joined up with this very... I think to be polite, I shall use the word "eccentric" gentleman who wants a broad swath of unique instruments and arrange gigs for them. I was interested the minute he asked me if my accordion could make bassoon sounds... lol
Who knows where *that* is going to take me... lol
Who knows where *that* is going to take me... lol
I started playing (bass) in a four-piece dance band when I was 15. I was a bit nervous on the first job, and the trumpet, who'd been playing jobs a bit longer, told me to remember that most of the people out there were talking, and the rest were drunk, so what I did wouldn't really matter. Somehow that stuck, and by the time I was playing for people who were paying attention I was immune. A few years ago I started taking piano lessons and it was completely different--with my teacher in the room, my skill level dropped a good 40%. Now I'm back, pumping concertina, but my stage fright hasn't been tested yet.
- Status