MadStrum Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Man I f***** it up. Forgot my lyrics at one point and played a wrong chord. Irritated with myself.. just like to know what do you guys do to prepare yourself for such gigs? Pier. * Godin Freeway Classic * Seagull M6 * Timothy S10J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A String Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 First off, don't let it get you down. These things happen and there will be more chances down the road. As for preparing... practice, practice, practice. Drill the song into your head so much that you hear it at night when you are trying to sleep. You will find that going over the lyrics in your head every chance you get will help out too. Sorry about the competition, but maybe the next one will go bettre for you! Craig Stringnetwork on Facebook String Network Forum My Music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Sounds like you were nervous. Geez, I've never been nervous. Never had stage fright in my life. And if you believe that, I've got some prime real estate just west of Miami I'd like to sell you. A String's right about the "practice, practice" etc. part...but, it STILL goes out the window when you get in front of folks. So, the thing to do is practice in a real setting as much as you can. For nerves, don't wait until a songwriting competition to play your song. Go to a ton of open mic nights, play your songs in front of a crowd that scares the shit out of you. Gradually, the nerves thing won't be so crippling. Do what a very famous singer/guitar player did one night he went, scared shitless, on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964...tape a cheat sheet to your guitar with chords and lyrics. Doesn't have to be full lyrics, sometimes just the first word or two in a line will be enough to jog your memory when you panic. The other thing that gets me is distractions. People talking too loud, someone drops a pen on the floor, a door slamming, whatever, all that can be distracting and increase your nervousness, and henceforth make you screw up. Practice your tunes in a room where a couple of young kids are playing cowboys and Indians or something...something distracting. That will get you used to that sort of thing. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njrocker Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 The first "gig" I ever played (school dance) was pretty bad too. The mic volume was way too low, and at one point, some jackass jumped on the stage and started dancing around right in front of me. I kicked him. After that I felt great and didn't mess up at all. So, the moral of the story is... kick something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 You've got a point, Hippy...not in kicking something...but, in assuming that when you're up there, the stage is YOURS. YOU OWN IT. Screw everyone else...if they're so frickin' great, let THEM get up there. Picture every last one of the audience singing an off-key crappy version of "Elvira" at some crappy karaoke contest. The point is attitude. This is my problem too...I tend to be humbled...and you can't be, or they own your ass. Not to say you have to be overly cocky and arrogant and an egomaniac...just a little...enough to enjoy what you're doing without being paralyzed. Believe in yourself. Now all I've gotta do is take my own advice. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiC Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Originally posted by MadStrum: Man I f***** it up. Forgot my lyrics at one point and played a wrong chord. Irritated with myself.. just like to know what do you guys do to prepare yourself for such gigs? Pier.Don't let it get you down. It happens to the best of us. My advice is this, when you do mess up, AND YOU WILL, do not dwell on it. Immediately forget about it and move on with the song. If you let it get to you, you may mess up even more since you are dwelling on that one mistake. I know it's easier said than done. But trust me, you don't want to be dwelling on that one mistake throughout the song. It'll only make matters worse. You'll knock'em dead next time! Peace "Treat your wife with honor, respect, and understanding as you live together so that you can pray effectively as husband and wife." 1 Peter 3:7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadStrum Posted July 18, 2004 Author Share Posted July 18, 2004 thanks for the encouragement! Guess I was just too frickin nervous.. guess more exposure will help me get it. I won't let it get me down.. the next time I'll nail it! Thanks again, you guys rock! Pier. * Godin Freeway Classic * Seagull M6 * Timothy S10J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiC Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Originally posted by MadStrum: thanks for the encouragement! Guess I was just too frickin nervous.. guess more exposure will help me get it. I won't let it get me down.. the next time I'll nail it! Thanks again, you guys rock! Pier.That's what family is for. Peace "Treat your wife with honor, respect, and understanding as you live together so that you can pray effectively as husband and wife." 1 Peter 3:7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalhair Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Like others have said, don't sweat it- literally. When I can often try telling a bad joke either before I start or some time during a performance, it sort of sets my mind at ease because I know it is a bad joke and the joke is sort of on the audience because their thinking that maybe I thought it was a good joke-- I'm showing my Andy Kaufmann influence. What ever it takes to relax naturally. Remember they're their to hear music and support your art-- even in a competition, not that I've played any songwriter competitions-- so even if you screw up they're on your side theoretically. For remembering tunes. There are three kinds of memory: aural (what it sounds like and singing it back from memory), muscle (the fingers end up on cruise control and you play things out of habit), and analytical (where you know the "where the song is going" and the reasons. It is best to know all three equally well. A lot of guys mix up the order of lyrics, understanding the story and the way it develops might be helpful. I played with guys that would mix up word orders and it would fly past most people and I think that might be like a muscle memory thing where the wrong order feels right even though it makes little sense. But these three ways of remembering a tune go for both the singing and the playing as well as the combination of both. Also, I'm sure this has been mentioned but test drive material infront of an audience as a bit of a higher stakes dress rehearsal than just playing it at home. Let the guitar aclimate to the temp/humidity of the place your playing to help tuning stability and do your vocal warm ups. Most of all, have fun. It took me years to figure that one out. "Pardon my French" but, this isn't sex, if you're not having fun no one else is either. check out some comedy I've done: http://louhasspoken.tumblr.com/ My Unitarian Jihad Name: Brother Broadsword of Enlightened Compassion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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