Keep doing it, and eventually you won't pay much attention to the camera.
First few times I played bass in the church band I was nervous as heck, but after a while it became easier and easier to get up there. Then I did a solo acoustic guitar piece and the jitters returned, but just like before the more I did it, the easier it became.
Before the gig, try to practice as much as possible in front of other people. Worked for me.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
when I am home recording that RED light really threw me. I would forget everything.
now it does not matter.
you get used to the distractions in time. the 'freeze up' does go away.
my first gig as a lap steel player went by so fast. it was nearly out of body; my focus was on my playing and the cues from the singer. he stage monitors were horrible. I could only hear myself and the drummer. I just played as in rehearsal.
it all turned out fine. and that will be the same for you.
try and get out in front of folks. try your front yard. then down the street. church could work if you use one.
just remember, no one notices the flubs, continue to play through a lost lyric or note, the audience likes you in the first place, they don't play an instrument so you have special powers.
watch this and be healed....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJTeAWRcXP0
#4491....
Hi,
This question gets asked pretty regularly on some forums. When I searched for it on a piano site I found six or seven different threads with "stage fright" in the title. This was my favourite reply, from a guy called Greg Guarino:
My live performance experience has mostly been with bands. I had my first semi-real gigs when I was still in my teens. I can remember wincing when I made a mistake, certain that the whole audience had heard, chuckled and remembered the clam.
They hadn't. Not any of them.
In the thirty-five years since there have sometimes been a couple of musicians in the audience. They're easy to spot, scrutinizing the band like Sherlock Holmes eyeing a clue. But the rest of the people simply don't hear music the way we do.
This is not to say that they can't tell good playing from bad playing at all, but their perception is spread over a much longer time scale. Transient errors in the middle of otherwise decent music pass by without notice.
An error has to be pretty spectacular to poke through the threshold of the average listener's consciousness. If the whole band stops dead in the middle of a song, that would qualify. One of the musicians catching fire would also. Other than that, you're more or less safe.
I can remember a gig with a ten piece band in which every player knew the drummer, but almost none had ever met each other. No charts, no real idea of what songs we would play or what keys to play them in. After a fairly chaotic set, we took a break. A couple approached me, saying "You guys are the tightest band we've ever heard, how long have you been together?"
Looking at my watch, I replied, "About an hour". They laughed and said that was a good joke. Experiences like that have cured me of any stage fright I might have had.
Greg Guarino
:
I tend to think "What's the worst thing that can happen?". No matter what I do some people will think that I'm worse than I am, and some will think that I'm better. Some might take an instant like or dislike to me for the most irrelevant and non-musical reason. But most simply won't notice me much at all. What it really seems to boil down to is that we fear feeling like a fool. But after 60 years of randomly foolish behaviour I have discovered that temporary embarrassment is a non-fatal condition. So I've mostly managed to dispense with fearing it in advance.
I've also read opinions from some of the most highly acclaimed stage actors who said that the day you don't get a touch of the old butterflies in your stomach before going on is the day you know it's time to retire.
Just remember Greg Guarino's words. Most people don't actually know or care if you make an error. As long as you don't actually catch fire or stop completely, you're safe. :D
Cheers,
Chris
A couple of years or so back, I got invited to an acoustic pub jam - called in on my way home, knew one of the guys there, got talking, agreed to take a guitar in the week after. Next seven days, I was in a total blue funk - I'd never played with other musicians like that before. What if I don't know any of the songs? What if I freeze? What if I make mistake after mistake?
Came the day, I'd more-or-less developed a "hell-with-it" atttitude. Didn't care any more - I was taking my guitar and playing with other people. Got in early (before anyone else, by choice!) had a couple of beers, tuned up. Fortunately, the one lad I knew came in next - so we ran through a couple of songs we both knew. Didn't make too many mistakes, and then I was off in a world of my own - I was lost in the music. I've noticed it happen again, frequently - I was enjoying playing so much, there could have been a pub full of aliens for all I knew. Or cared.
I think concentration and focus are the keys; focus on the fretboard, concentrate on the music. Once you get into the music, it has a way of taking over - the world around you just doesn't matter. If you make a mistake, forget it - it's not the end of the world. Carry on playing - no-one will notice, more than likely. As long as you are enjoying the moment, that enjoyment will be conveyed to your audience.
Everyone loves a trier - I know, I can be very trying at times!
Best of luck!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
I think concentration and focus are the keys; focus on the fretboard, concentrate on the music. Once you get into the music, it has a way of taking over - the world around you just doesn't matter. If you make a mistake, forget it - it's not the end of the world. Carry on playing - no-one will notice, more than likely. As long as you are enjoying the moment, that enjoyment will be conveyed to your audience.
Everyone loves a trier - I know, I can be very trying at times!
Best of luck!
:D :D :D
Vic
Vic is exactly right about getting absorbed in the music, not the audience.
Before you start to play, just imagine that there are only three people out there who are really listening. One is Greg Guarino, and he'll only really sit up if you catch fire, :) the second is Vic (and he'll be enthusaistic and sympathetic to what you're doing no matter what happens). And if I'm in the audience then I'll actually be quite reassured if I hear a clunk or two, because it will remind me that you're human just like me, and all the other players that I know. If I want note for note perfection I put on a CD. If I want to be a part of what Vic called "the enjoyment of the moment" then you can't go past regular, fallible, human beings.
Another "Enjoyment of the Moment" Story:
Last Saturday we had some good friends round for dinner. John plays the sax, purely for his own enjoyment at home, but I'd never heard Linda play anything, although I knew that she played piano as a kid (she's now in her 50s). They have an old upright at their house but I'd never heard her play it. Soon after they arrived she spotted my Roland digital piano - a fairly new arrival that she hadn't seen before - and sat down to have a fiddle around with it. At first she picked up one of my beginner books and played through a few songs. She made plenty of mistakes, but kept going and gradually got back into the groove of it all. So I brought out a book of standards and old favourites from across many eras. This is a thick book (267 pages) with everything from songs like Greensleeves, Oh Susannah, Camptown Races, Amazing Grace, I've been Working on the Railroad, through Goodnight Irene and on to Sloop John B and Woodie Guthrie and Bob Dylan songs. She then proceeded to get completely absorbed in the way that Vic talked about, and played page after page with great enthusiasm and enjoyment... Wonderful to hear.
There were plenty of errors and small hesitations, but they made no difference. Sometimes we listened more carefully, often we chatted amongst ourselves, sometimes we sang along. But she played for over two hours, and only stopped when she got to the end of the book. If the house had caught fire I think we would have just had to play a hose on her to keep the flames away from the keyboard, because I doubt that she would have stopped... :mrgreen:
