Tips for playing in Front of others !

[Rich35]

Hi All
 I play Chromatics and love the sound, play fair in my practice ,some songs better then others , then I totally enjoy slidemiester thursday zoom sessions and the LIHC zoom meetings , but when ever I get on zoom with others I screw up.
 Any tips for nerves ?

[Grizzly]

When my future wife was nervous about playing on an open mic, a former boyfriend gave her this advice: "Nobody's gonna shoot ya." She did fine.

I would say, play for yourself, for your own enjoyment. Forget the audience is there.

Lastly, experience is the best teacher. The more you do it, the less nervous you'll be. Substitute the word "excited" for "nervous."

Tom

[Gnarly He Man]

Wim DeGraaf had a great quote, “Nobody cares if you don’t play.”
Try to have fun.

James Taylor says, “the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.”

[servus]

What's wrong with being nervous? And what's wrong with screwing up? I do both all the time...not just on Slidemaster...and I'm alive to tell the tale.

                     PJ

[Age]

Nervousness is fine as long as you don't give it more recognition than your music. Major on the music and minor on the nervousness. A  little nervousness is actually healthy; it forces you us focus, but more than a little can be paralyzing, cuz it saps all of our creativity. You know that's true, right? Ever wonder where all that relaxed confidence, tone and phrasing goes when you know there's an "audience" in front of you? Nervousness is like an insatiable carnivore that eats all that good stuff, and will continue to do it till we quit feeding it.

They say "Butterflies are nothin'; all ya gotta do is get'em to fly in formation." Sounds too simple, but it's the truth. Like the family dog, it just hasta be trained to go outside to pee. That's pretty much the single pet issue, We can deal with the rest as they show up, but house-training is the biggie. Nervousness is as basic as the need for house-training: it's the first one we gotta get out of the way.

Conquering nervousness. There IS no easy way. Just like "patience always comes in a do it yourself kit," nervousness hast to be "burned through." It will remain an enemy till we become willing to make mistakes in front of people. I suggest that you just start with folks you know, and work your way up. Heck no, it ain't easy, but nothin' worth having ever is, and here it comes: our Thursday afternoon Zoomers are a great place to start. We're all friends, and we all screw up, laugh and start over.

Remember, we never learn anything from playing something right. Playing something "rong" among friends is where the lesson begins, and where the best lessons live, actually. Finally, playing it right in front of a buncha strangers, is where it ends.
 

[Age]

As I mentioned a little nervousness is a good thing, but as we progress, we'll notice it takes less and less time to shake it, when standing in front of an audience, or even a TV camera. When in front of an audience, there are some things you can do, say or play to help vanquish those nervous gremlins.

I don't perform much "publicly" anymore but I'm always pretty nervous to start out, whether it's fifty people, several hundred, or a TV camera, but it ALWAYS just kinda goes away in thirty seconds or less, and that's a hoot. I know who I am and I guess I must have simply gotten "comfortable" with it. I think, in a nutshell, that may be the whole story right there.

[Rich35]

 A J and all
  Thanks for the info , I have been  a lector at Church ,spoke at events , and played suck harps with a band for party's 5 or 6 time no problem , but with the backing and me with the Chromatic  in front of 5 to 10 people on a computer is different  and I don,t understand it ,but  every one in slidemiester s and LIHC groups have been nothing but Great ,it's my  quirk, And keep putting my feet to the fire ,lack of better wording , But bottom line I enjoy the zoom sessions,  so I keep coming back .
 Thanks

[Gnarly He Man]

Chromatic is tough to play!
Don’t tell anyone.

[Age]

Yeah, Gar, I've heard that one too.

[Gnarly He Man]

Doesn’t stop me from trying tho!
It’s fun, but challenging.
If I could see what I was doing it would help!

[Age]

That may be one of the few thing good about my A.D.H.D.; while it kept me from playing the piano with two hands, singing while playing all but simple chords or the guitar, (I can't multi-task at anything ) I may not be all that hot on the Chromatic, but I can honestly say that it never intimidated me very much at all.

[servus]

Nervousness is like tinnitus. It's there but so what?

[Lockjaw Larry]

At a huge picnic-like gathering of dozens of strangers decades ago a band member asked me to hop on stage and play along with them. I had never played in public and never with a real band. I foolishly agreed even though I didn’t know their tunes nor keys.  Well dontcha know it…they stuck me front and center and started playing something.  Ok, spotlight on me, oh noooo.  They started a familiar tune and luckily I had the right key in hand.   I tried to sound decent then the monitor speaker just quit! ( I didn’t know I was bad enough to kill the stupid thing!)  The band was really loud and I couldn’t even hear myself!  My tongue decided to quit doing its part and I’m sure I sounded like I was playing a corn cob or something. I foolishly made it through that tune with my stiff tongue hibernated.  Ok, stage left, adiou, so long, outta there, goodbye.  Talk about nervous!

Sometime later I needed a stage moniker and while considering one I quickly realized “ stiff tongue” would not sound appropriate.  Thus my handle became “Lockjaw Larry!”

[RichChrome]

I think it's something we all go through at one time or another and that includes our zoom calls. I have found that I make more mistakes if my mind is thinking about something else when I'm playing. I try to focus on just playing the song and keep my mind clear of everything else. If I'm still making mistakes when I'm really focusing on what I'm playing, then I know that I need more  practice. Remember that on the zoom calls we all want  to hear what everyone else is playing and were not listening with a critical ear. We're there to listen, learn and above all, have fun. Just my two cents.

[Gnarly He Man]

I may not be all that hot on the Chromatic, but I can honestly say that it never intimidated me very much at all.

My problem is I already play an instrument that informs my note choices.
That, combined with the “music in my head”, cause me to imagine that I can “boss the harp around”, as my departed friend Dane Terry (Roland Tumbler) used to say.

[brorat]

My "nervousness" seems to be intermittent and selective

I used to be nervous on the Zoom sessions.  After a while, I became familiar enough with the "audience" that I didn't feel intimidated at all.  Now, on Zoom sessions, I feel very comfortable even when I "mess up" the tune.

When I did my first "program" at a senior home a few years ago, I was very nervous at the start.  As I began to see how the audience responded to the songs and my banter between them, I became more relaxed ... like I was just chatting with friends.  Now, when I do gigs for seniors, I still feel a few butterflies at the very beginning, but that feeling doesn't last long at all.

This past summer I attended DannyG's Party.  While there, I decided to join in on the "Ohio State Harmonica Championship".  As my turn to play approached, I began sweating like a prostitute in church!  All through the piece I had chosen, I could feel my diaphram jumping around in my chest.  It was an awful feeling that did NOT go away during my playing.  Why?  I've thought about that some.  First, I was actually being judged.  That's pressure I hadn't felt before.  Second, I was playing while standing at a mic.  My norm is sitting on a stool and holding the mic in my hand. Just wasn't comfortable.  Third, I had heard some really good playing before I got on the stage, and that was intimidating a bit.  However, I fought through the weird feelings and made it to the end of my song.  If I'm lucky enough to get into this same situation again, I think I can do better.  First of all, I'll make sure I do things in a way that make me comfortable ... i.e., sit and hold the mic and play to the audience instead of concentrating on the judges.  (I mean, the judges were all good guys!  It was just a new thing for me!)

Bottom line for me:  I think there will always be butterflies when I perform.  However, I know from experience that the audience doesn't bite, and neither do the butterflies!  Being a bit "on edge" in the beginning actually heightens my senses and MAY cause me to do a better job!  In any case, nerves are part of my nature, and truth be told, I think they're part of everyone to some degree.  I just try to make myself think that my efforts are bringing a bit of joy to someone in my audience, and that helps me keep moving.

Everyone has "nerves".  We just all handle it in our own way.

[Rich35]

Hi All
  Thank You for responding,  I think more than anything playing the Chromatic and backing  is doing the melody Your the main attraction not the backing ,when I played
 at parties with the diatonic harps I was adding to the sound of the band not the main event so it did not bother me as much . But Playing the Chromatic,s is much more fun.
  All Your response, s made me lighten up a little ,like I say my frustration is with my playing ,my reaction to audiences .not the audiences

[HUGO]

Hi All
 I play Chromatics and love the sound, play fair in my practice ,some songs better then others , then I totally enjoy slidemiester thursday zoom sessions and the LIHC zoom meetings , but when ever I get on zoom with others I screw up.
 Any tips for nerves ?

Hey Rich
I depended on playing the local open mic scene to keep my butterflies "all flying in the same direction." (Love that one!)  Sadly, it didn't survive the "pandemic" so, onto Plan - B, which is to focus more intensely on my interpretation of my music. That's something that I normally do but with greater emphasis with the onset of the Butterflies.

 One thing to consider is your choice of material. If it's suited for your current abilities, you should be able to play it through without difficulty. If instead you find yourself struggling with them in any context - practicing alone or performing with others, perhaps, altering your repertoire to better reflect the numbers more in line with your current abilities might be a viable option to explore.

 From the perspective of your audience;
a) Most of them will never realize you made a mistake. I call them - "Musician's mistakes" because only other Musicians will notice them
b) most of them have no idea how anyone could perform music in front of other people. They think you're incredible
c) when you're not paying exorbitant money to see artists perform, you expect to see / hear them make mistakes. Keeping that in mind will help you roll with the punches that making mistakes feels like. 
d) Sometimes the "birdies" we make endear our art to our audiences. I'm at a loss to explain why that is as I'm not a doctor, although I do play one on television.

- HUGO

[Age]

Oh that was some good stuff, Al!

Oh yeah, and you folks be sure to check the classifieds later today. We got a couple new listings comin' up. 

@ge

[Rich35]

   
 Hi
   To All of You, thanks for the wisdom and info ,
   Rich

[Age]

Oh, I almost forgot, the longer we stay away from "public" performance, the bigger that herd of butterflies gets, and the longer it takes to get'em to "fly in formation."  So if ya wanna keep your "edge," play in public as much as possible, even if it's sitting at a bus stop, doctor's office waiting room or whatever.

One time, I was waiting for a light in "the hood" in Cleveland, (on the job) playing a WH-12, along with the radio, and the guy in the car next to me yelled out, "Hey, dude! Izzat a Chromatic?"  I just smiled, and held it up, showing him the button going in and out. He just smiled and said: "That's cool!" and made his left turn. 

[Wendellfiddler]

hmm.  First of all, I didn't know that Age was from, or lived in Cleveland - as did I until I moved to New England in 1972.   Secondly, on the topic, playing the chromatic is tough enough - playing the chromatic with other musicians (especially good musicians) is tougher, and playing jazz with good jazz musicians is completely, ridiculously, difficult and perhaps even more so if the other musicians are of "lesser" skills.   One must to willing to humiliate yourself to play jazz on any instrument, even if you are the only one who knows you have been humiliated (other people, I have discovered, seldom notice).  For me, once I have accepted the possibility that I may suck, I often find I am free to be "good" (which if nothing else, is subjective).

doug tanner

[Age]

Yeah, born in Cleveland, and lived on the east side, right next to St Lukes hospital between Buckeye and Woodlad. Around 1972, I lived in Parma and was working at my Newburgh & South Shore railroad job. The yard I worked out of was at 71st and Harvard. (just about a third of a mile from Cuyahoga Hts.)

Remember when the Cuyahoga river caught fire? It damaged one of the bridges I yoosta drive trains fulla molten iron across. Deep sigh! I still miss the railroad! Had no idea you were a Cleveland boy. How cool is that? Makes me curious how much you remember about the Cleveland area. Downtown nowadays is pretty much all Cleveland clinic. So much has changed now that it's spooky.😬

[Gnarly He Man]

Chromatic is tough to play!
Don’t tell anyone.

Diatonic is easy, until you try something it doesn’t want to play.
Back to playing chromatic in front of others, go to a department store and play Christmas music.
What are they gonna do, crucify you?
Bring an appropriate hat, and you can even fool the management.

[Age]

"Diatonic is easy, until you try something it doesn’t want to play."
Bwaaaaahahahaha! Oh, that's a classic, Gar! I love it
Gnarley nailed that one fer sure!

[grstatdoc]

Chromatic is tough to play!
Don’t tell anyone.

Diatonic is easy, until you try something it doesn’t want to play.
Back to playing chromatic in front of others, go to a department store and play Christmas music.
What are they gonna do, crucify you?
Bring an appropriate hat, and you can even fool the management.

No, they'll just send mall security after you...

[Gnarly He Man]

Back to playing chromatic in front of others, go to a department store and play Christmas music.

I did this today for five minutes outside the local Sprouts.
Everybody ignored me.
Humbug.

[Grizzly]

Back to playing chromatic in front of others, go to a department store and play Christmas music.

I did this today for five minutes outside the local Sprouts.
Everybody ignored me.
Humbug.

Kinda closed circuit (not in public): I play Christmas music on harmonica at a Christmas themed amusement park. People love it. It also helps that I'm the park's Santa Claus! (see avatar)

Tom

[Gnarly He Man]

Back to playing chromatic in front of others, go to a department store and play Christmas music.

I did this today for five minutes outside the local Sprouts.
Everybody ignored me.
Humbug.

Kinda closed circuit (not in public): I play Christmas music on harmonica at a Christmas themed amusement park. People love it. It also helps that I'm the park's Santa Claus! (see avatar)

Tom

Quite cool!

[Lockjaw Larry]

Grizzzzzz, I need to send you my current address.  You have been missing me so I assume you gave my gifts to owners of my previous house. 
Use caution approaching my house because there are enough flying geese to feed all your elves for a long feast.
PS: I had my chimney removed so will leave my back door unlocked.  Never mind the cameras.  The dogs won’t bite if you give them treats.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good jam.