Nervousness

I just got back from my talent show audition, it went pretty good, except for the fact that I was quivering and felt some kind of burning sensation in my chest like it was engulfed in flames or something. I never had a problem being nervous in front of people until my 6th grade talent show 2 years ago, I bombed it. I don't want to do the same thing this year. Does anyone have any suggestions on how not to be nervous? If that is possible. And the thing is, I don't even know Im gonna be nervous until I get up there, before I play I don't feel very nervous at all.

I used to get really nervous while playing as well. My knees would shake and what not. I have gotten over stage fright just by performing a lot. I'm not sure when I stopped being nervous, but now I can handle crowds.

i'm not sure if this really helps, but i take group lessons which kinda peak my confidence cause not only am i being taught but i'm playing alongside randoms i don't know, plus i play infront of random flatmates friends and stuff (i haven been playin long btw). maybe thinkin your the **** works as well :).

i guess the onli other thing is really get into the mood of the song and kinda phase the ppl out but i mean thats easier said then done.

Ive always found it that if you really dont think about it, you're fine. That basically applies to anything that normally makes you nervous. If you over analyze it, you typically mess up. If you just do it, you usually wont really do that bad.

For auditioning/performing, it still works like this. You just need to make sure you know your material perfect, then when the time comes, just wing it.

thanks, I think I'll try to get the material down perfectly and try to sort of ignore the audience, like not pay attention to the audience and just concentrate on what I'm playing

You've just got to block everyone out. I just look at the stage lights. Once people start cheering for you, it'll be a lot less nerve racking, as egotism sets in. ;)

Originally Posted by: guitarfreak141thanks, I think I'll try to get the material down perfectly and try to sort of ignore the audience, like not pay attention to the audience and just concentrate on what I'm playing

One cause for your nervousness, I am not knockin' ya I used to be the same way, is what you stated earlier about getting it down perfectly.

Tangent-Why do all guitarist, myself included, want to play it note for note?

You may be putting too much preasure on yourself. Some advice given to me once and I would like to pass it along is--

1)Not every person listening to you know exactly how the song is "supposed" to be played. As long as you can get across the song and everyone can recognize it (if you are playing a cover. If it's original they don't know JACK!) So playing perfectly is actually a monkey on your back. Have fun and jam. People will react more to your attitude and stage pressence than-unless they are guitarists themselves-unfortunately what you are exactly playing (it hurts us all to realize this).

2) If you play a "wrong/Sour" note chord etc. DO NOT STOP!!! DO NOT MAKE A FACE!!! :mad:

Big mistake. You are bringing notice to everyone what you did. Instead--a)make sure to play the same note (if you are soloing) at least 2 more times so people think it is supposed to bethere (discretion works here should it be short staccato or long bend etc.) b)bend the hell out of the note when you hit and find the correct one. c) if it is a wrong chord do not use the above mentioned "tricks" ever. Unless it sounded kind of cool then try to play it again even funkier or later when you are wood sheddin'.

This may not help right away but it should let your mind not focus so much on --Next note, next scale, next chord, how manytimes do I play the bridge--YEAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
Instead focus on the moment and Shred it!

Alos you really should try playing Open mikes.Just you and your guitar. 2-3 of those and your nerves will vanish.

I'll get off my soap box.

Good luck with the show.

honestly have some beer chill out !!!! breath go up and rip sum ass, i used to get nervous and felt like spewing but yeah i found beer and it works for me ! dont go over board though u still have to play

Originally Posted by: jimmy_kwtxOne cause for your nervousness, I am not knockin' ya I used to be the same way, is what you stated earlier about getting it down perfectly.

Tangent-Why do all guitarist, myself included, want to play it note for note?

You may be putting too much preasure on yourself. Some advice given to me once and I would like to pass it along is--

1)Not every person listening to you know exactly how the song is "supposed" to be played. As long as you can get across the song and everyone can recognize it (if you are playing a cover. If it's original they don't know JACK!) So playing perfectly is actually a monkey on your back. Have fun and jam. People will react more to your attitude and stage pressence than-unless they are guitarists themselves-unfortunately what you are exactly playing (it hurts us all to realize this).

2) If you play a "wrong/Sour" note chord etc. DO NOT STOP!!! DO NOT MAKE A FACE!!! :mad:

Big mistake. You are bringing notice to everyone what you did. Instead--a)make sure to play the same note (if you are soloing) at least 2 more times so people think it is supposed to bethere (discretion works here should it be short staccato or long bend etc.) b)bend the hell out of the note when you hit and find the correct one. c) if it is a wrong chord do not use the above mentioned "tricks" ever. Unless it sounded kind of cool then try to play it again even funkier or later when you are wood sheddin'.

This may not help right away but it should let your mind not focus so much on --Next note, next scale, next chord, how manytimes do I play the bridge--YEAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
Instead focus on the moment and Shred it!

Alos you really should try playing Open mikes.Just you and your guitar. 2-3 of those and your nerves will vanish.

I'll get off my soap box.

Good luck with the show.

pretty awesome advice there, i was kind of doing that whilst i was practising and it was working every now and then when i actually connected with my guitar. guess it also depends on wat mood ure in.

do you think perhaps practicing directly before your performance helps, as in it's might help you warm up and htus become more comfortable with the guitar before you go up to the stage?

Originally Posted by: suicidalmoosepretty awesome advice there, i was kind of doing that whilst i was practising and it was working every now and then when i actually connected with my guitar. guess it also depends on wat mood ure in.

do you think perhaps practicing directly before your performance helps, as in it's might help you warm up and htus become more comfortable with the guitar before you go up to the stage?

What you will realize the more you play is-whatever works for you. In my opinion you should always warm up before any playing. Even before practicing, a warm up is good. But try not to do this right before you play. A warm up should be a --you put it aptly-- a re-connection to your axe and a loosening up of the mind,spirit and body (the yin/yang answer--GO GRASSHOPPER :D ) give yourself some time to warm up then a little time to relax and do the pumped up HEY HO thing --See the scene in Spinal Tap where they run around the back of the Venue to get to the stage--Hillarious!

Here are some suggestions.

I usually warm up with a 4-finger exercise up to the 5 th fret and then a "waterfall" exercise up to the 12th. "fart" around with some licks and riffs (basic ones) and try to play different rythym parts--never whole songs.This should take about 15minutes tops. These things help me "loosen" my fingers and arms and the riffs and rythms -- if you play the ones that are most fun for you-- help get you to a "Fun Mode", "Loosey Goosey" and a "relaxing, I am gonna go out and blow minds!!!" set of mind.

Try not to practice any of the songs you will be performing that night.

The time for that stuff was before the gig and all things should be worked out in rehersal--MY opinion again.

Tangent--I read somewhere that Queensryche and Def Lepard used to rehearse as is if they were performing a live show and all songs and "jamming sessions" for the show are planned ahead of time. I prefer to wing it.

Anyhoo-- The reason I suggest you shouldn't warm up to any of the songs you will be performing is because you may "find" something to fret about (pun intended thank you very much). Which , you can see where I am going-- You loose your relaxation, you tense, you have going in the back of your mind -- middle of song such and such, hope I get that part right--YEAAAAAAH!!! NO Fun and you walk away from the gig thinking about one friggin wrong note and the whole experience you had--which was totally AWESOME--is wasted.

And all of your warming up was for no reason at all except to stress you out more.

I remember a time when my first band had an audition for the Black Cat Lounge in Austin. We were excited and we strayed from our usual routine. We had a practice the day of and 1 hour before the audition and did 2-3 drystring runthroughs right before we were to perform. We were excited and really wanted the gig. As you can probrably tell we were so worked up about nailing everything perfect and all the things we discussed right before and leading up to this that -- you guessed we BOMBED--No wait we SUCKED!!!.

They crituiqed us and they said we did not have a "live" enough vibe, sounded to mechanical, you name it we heard.

We took this to heart and our second audition we took it more "lightly" and we performed at the Back Room 2 weeks later.

I hope this helps and good luck with the Show. HAVE FUN!!!! :cool:

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Originally Posted by: suicidalmoose
do you think perhaps practicing directly before your performance helps, as in it's might help you warm up and htus become more comfortable with the guitar before you go up to the stage?

I don't think there is a single guitarist out there that doesn't jam, practice, warmup directly before going on. Usually you're cold when you start playing... it's just like anything else... You have to play for a good 10-15 minutes to really loosen up. It may be more or less for some people. I personally wear my guitar around back stage or off to the side before a gig and just play... then carry it on to the stage with me and plug in. This way, if I know there is a part that I have trouble with or something I can go over it prior to the gig... that way when I'm doing it on stage it's not going to be the first attempt of the night. If there is no backstage... and no staging area for the next band... I usually just go outside with the drummer and his drum pad or go outside with the bass player and jam on some rough parts in certain songs... Once you play enough though your warm ups become more of just loosening your fingers up and getting aquanted with the fretboard... after awhile when you play the same songs over and over you get use to them. That's why practice is soooooo important... especially whole band practice. Chemistry goes a long way in calming you down during a gig... just follow most of the advice on this page and you should shake the nerves right away.

Amen to that!

I take Xanax.....

thats a palendrome...

Play in front of people as much as u can . sister. brother. mom. the beach.on the buss. take an acoustic to school once and a while and play something easy during lunch break. Remember there are a lot of people that can't even hold a guitar and play even 1 note. The odds are that most of the people that u play for will proably be wishing that they could play something on the guitar too. Not everyone is your musical peer. SO rock till u drop. :)

the more you do it the better it gets.....now when i go onstage i could give a rip....it is silly if you think about it...but don't think about it, it may make you nervous ;)

much thanks for all the advice! I am feeling more confident about it now,I made the audition and now I am playing with a drummer, the talent show is june14th, I'll let you know how it goes, thanks :D

seriously, the only way to get over nervousness completely is to not care. do it for fun. if you make a fool of yourself, you make people laugh. and i love doing stupid stuff to make people laugh so it doesn't bother me.

ive noticed that the people who never get nervous are a certain type of people.. so i give you this advice...

you have to KNOW you're better than everybody. you have to be more confident. confidence is the opposite of nervousness. the more confident you are, the less nervous.know youre cooler than anybody there and even if you screw up you're still the coolest guy there. i know that makes you feel like some prep or something, but are preps ever nervous?

Originally Posted by: pure
ive noticed that the people who never get nervous are a certain type of people.. so i give you this advice...

i know that makes you feel like some prep or something, but are preps ever nervous?

It does take that certain kind of personality... Not so much for rhthym guitarists... but for lead guitarist and frontmen... it takes that certain bit of outgoing personality. You have to start by not caring what people think about you... dress the part... dress how you would dress if you were a rockstar. It may sound stupid... but if you put yourself in the role 24/7 it'll make it that much easier on stage. Put yourself in front of people and at the center of attention as much as possible. Take public speaking classes if your high school offers them... Take theater classes if your high school offers them... I didn't and I almost wish I would have. But I've never had a problem being nervous... which leads me to the next part...

I was considered a jock/prep in high school... I was a starting guard on the basketball team... and the starting shortstop on the baseball team... all four years. I don't consider MYSELF a prep... or whatever, I was always good friends with people from all different cliques in my school. People use to call me "the bridge" because I bridged gaps between a lot of cliques in our school. I connected the stoners/skaters/rockers with the jock/preps.... But anyway, I was always in front of crowds... and I always had to act confident... I was a leader on my athletic teams so I had to show my confidence... I got use to it... That helped me out a lot... I think that's why people stereotype preps like that........ that, and a lot of them are cocky... which is a type of confidence... It's good to be a little cocky... but not arogant.

Originally Posted by: aschlemanIt does take that certain kind of personality... Not so much for rhthym guitarists... but for lead guitarist and frontmen... it takes that certain bit of outgoing personality. You have to start by not caring what people think about you... dress the part... dress how you would dress if you were a rockstar. It may sound stupid... but if you put yourself in the role 24/7 it'll make it that much easier on stage. Put yourself in front of people and at the center of attention as much as possible. Take public speaking classes if your high school offers them... Take theater classes if your high school offers them... I didn't and I almost wish I would have. But I've never had a problem being nervous... which leads me to the next part...

I was considered a jock/prep in high school... I was a starting guard on the basketball team... and the starting shortstop on the baseball team... all four years. I don't consider MYSELF a prep... or whatever, I was always good friends with people from all different cliques in my school. People use to call me "the bridge" because I bridged gaps between a lot of cliques in our school. I connected the stoners/skaters/rockers with the jock/preps.... But anyway, I was always in front of crowds... and I always had to act confident... I was a leader on my athletic teams so I had to show my confidence... I got use to it... That helped me out a lot... I think that's why people stereotype preps like that........ that, and a lot of them are cocky... which is a type of confidence... It's good to be a little cocky... but not arogant.

yep, that definitely completely explained my last post.

as a matter of fact im the center of attention amongst my friends and i got stuck in public speeking classes. the teacher said i was a natural. im a freshman and didnt feel like playing sports this year so wait till im on the track and basketball team. i'll have prep/jock labeled all over my forehead. and i really don't care.

read over aschleman's post carefully and don't leave your confidence in the guitar case.

but i dont have enough confidence to ask a girl out.

the irony.