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Beth Fridinger
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3/15/2008 9:51:16 PM
well now, stage fright anyone?
I've had the flu this week!! Not fun!
Okay...I am wondering...how does one deal with stage fright/adrenaline surges..
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Larz Boah
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3/16/2008 12:47:28 AM
Monster energy drinks for me!... heh heh
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Susan Raven
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3/16/2008 4:51:05 AM
Using vocal warm-up exercises as a meditative tool...
Keeping focus on the fact that I am doing it for the songs and not for me...
And hey, stage-fright and nerves are a good thing, they are there to show you that you care about what you are about to do!
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srm
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3/16/2008 7:05:06 AM
Susan said it well. I prefer to think of "stage fright" as "nervous energy", and try to focus that energy on the music. It doesn't hurt to do a few push-ups or try to expend a little of that energy, so it isn't all concentrated in your hands or voice. Also, a shot of Irish whiskey doesn't hurt, either.
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Larry Migliore
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3/16/2008 7:05:18 AM
Just say to yourself, the crowd is there to see me! So give them their monies worth. Try to remember that the vast majority of the folks just "listen" to music on their radios or computers, they don't necessarily "make" music. So don't worry about hitting a clunker of singing above or below the note!They did take their time to come see you, so you should give them the best show you can. But don't be nervous looking at faces.Remember, because of stage lights, half the time you can't see them anyway. If this doesn't ease the nervousness, an old trick I used will help. Just imagine the members of the audience are completely naked, or all wearing a paper bag over their heads. This will help with stage fright as well as public speaking!
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srm
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3/16/2008 7:11:22 AM
Sometimes I like to imagine the audience all knitting (or doing crosswords). It tends to provoke a more energetic 'performance'. It's true though, with 'proper' lighting, you can't see the folks at all.
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The Man With No Band
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3/16/2008 10:04:20 AM
Well .... it's been awhile since I performed live but I always pretended I was the audience and the audience was the show ...
Like when you are in the back at a live show as an audience member, cutting loose. pounding and jumping on tables and stuff ... no nerves there .... and Steve's suggestion of a shot of Irish Whiskey doesn't hurt either ... :)
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Maria Daines
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3/16/2008 10:59:12 AM
Good luck Beth & I think all of the above comments are great advice, I try to take a few deep breaths before a song but not too deep or you can overdo it & come gushing forth like a fire breathing dragon! And I've found wearing dark glasses helps me especially if the gig is in daylight, smiling keeps you from showing fear & it really does help you to forget your fright quickly :)
All the best
Maria xx
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SILVERWOODSTUDIO
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3/16/2008 2:28:32 PM
preparation ---a sound check b4 you start---is a must!
It's all been said- a few deep breaths----Smile----a little chat---a song list that you love playing!----------- smile!
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JOHN FRY
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3/16/2008 3:08:14 PM
This isn't really advice but this is what I do. If I notice somebody else is nervous, then I can relax. It's the same thing when I'm in a long line at the bank, and it's not moving because two of the tellers have gone on a break. Somebody in line will get extra irritated, it calms me.right out. In a way, I'm letting others carry my emotions for me.
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Tony Vani and Debbie Hoskin
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3/16/2008 5:37:34 PM
I experience performance anxiety all the time. I have no answers for you. I have not been able to overcome it. I believe that I was never meant to be a performer. I am too much of an introvert. I don't like the attention of performing. I love music and playing though so I'm between a rock and a hard place.
Some people are very comfortable being in the limelight. I am not one of those people. Wish I had better advice, then I could follow it myself. deb
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Beth Fridinger
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3/16/2008 9:01:03 PM
It's funny, I like the limelight...and I can get the audience riveted on me...If I am just singing, I have NO fear at all. I got people telling me I'm fantastic...the 2nd time I did it 2 people including the sound man told me this and I nearly dropped from shock as I was so scared to death...this was last May....my FEAR comes from playing the guitar which I've only done since 2006 this time around, and usually my voice will get me through any song...sometimes I feel like a million bucks up there...I've had seasoned musicians say to me they can't believe I've only been performing and writing for 2 yrs...well...it's more like 9 months...so I can pull it off...but there are times when I just mess up the song...like when I changed the chords the day before...and played them perfectly over and over but on the stage I just couldn't find them...I wish I just played the damn bar chords that night...ha ha...and when playing my guitar I can't move, I am glued to two microphones...and I'm a dancer, so no way to expend my nervous energy either...I gigged in a band in a bar where I sang, NO FEAR, but I played NO guitar in that band...so now I am doing open mikes, and feel like I don't want to continue doing them because I don't want to fuck up in front of the wrong people and I am so frustrated that I can't play as well up there as I can in the back room before I go on stage. I probably do need a bit of a drink but I usually do not drink. I was hoping that the more I keep doing it it would get easier but its getting harder instead & I dunno why! I just HATE that feeling when the adrenaline causes my fingers not to work and simple shit on my guitar I can't do....it's damn ridiculous...now back to thinking about all this advice!!
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Beth Fridinger
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3/17/2008 4:39:02 AM
that's interesting...so it's not concentrated in your hands...that's where it was last week...hands shaking like a leaf...and sittin there ya can't move....
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Beth Fridinger
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3/17/2008 4:41:03 AM
hmmm that's interesting about dark glasses...but I have pre_scription glasses...I do smile...and usually people have no idea I am nervous...there are some pics of me on my page at the open mike and I look pretty comfortable up there.
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Beth Fridinger
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3/17/2008 4:49:05 AM
Deb you look very cool up there on the stage with those dark glasses! I'm not sure which one you were but I am guessing you are the one playing the drum?
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Black Velvet Lace
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3/17/2008 6:20:49 AM
Beth, when I first began playing out I was literally terrified. I, like Deb, am more of an introvert, and so any attention focused on me was quite uncomfortable. But my love of playing was greater than my fear of playing out, and so eventually as time (and years) went by, taking the stage was no more threatening than sitting in my living room. The more I played, the more of a household name we got to be in our locality, our regular audiences got to know us, and I had less fear. The more I connected with my audience and bandmates, the more I goofed around, and the more adept I began at covering *bloopers*, the more comfortable I became. I recall one gig sitting on the floor of the stage before we started, just hanging around, people came up to chat, beginning that night was like partying with a room full of old friends.
It's been several years since I played the club circuit, although I led worship for our church's women's bible studies until I became ill in 2004. I'm inching back to playing live tho, and so I'll let you know how returning to the *spotlight* goes! :D
xox
~Lace~
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Carolyn Stewart
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3/17/2008 8:10:08 AM
Great advice from everyone! I know when I first started at an open mic I was nervous as could be, my frozen white hands on guitar showed it :-)
I'm much better now, it used to be a nervousness of will they like me, am I good enough. Now it's more an excitement to share the songs again. It's much easier when you know the audience has come to see you. I also like when it's my second time performing at the same venue.
Depending on the show, talking before I start singing and playing helps me to calm down. It's kind of a mini sound check of the mic for how my voice is going to come out. Mistakes are part of a good show :-) Have fun with it - everyone's there for the experience not necessarily the song. Make it a great night for everyone, and they'll remember the good time they had....yes smile and look around even though you can't always see everyone :-)
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Beth Fridinger
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3/17/2008 4:43:02 PM
Yeah I do smile and look around and I'm good at connecting with them. What bothers me is suddenly it got harder rather than easier and I thought it would get easier if I kept doing it not harder. I did talk beforehand and told them how my song Honey has been no. one on one of the sites. then I went to play my war song, "Oh Why Must They Die", and told them the song is posted on the Neil Young LWW site...My fingers just could not grab simple little Am, Dm Em chords...I got so fed up I just left the stage...the first song I did they loved and someone asked to cover it...but thinking about it...I was among friends who know me well, and I felt comfortable enough to express my frustration and exasperation in front of them, and I thought, if Van Morrison can walk off the stage, so can I! But usually if my hands freeze and I have trouble with the guitar, I just push my voice and that usually covers me well...but If this had happened at another open mike, I would have recovered, kept going, or switched to another song. What gets me is I have to really practice each song that day before I get up there....I've been writing a lot of songs and at the same time learning how to play my guitar so it's really hard and then if I got some folks telling me I am fantastic then I feel like I have to live up to this and that is scary too. I got really mad that I could not play something so damn simple and I have to keep it very simple to do it up there...frustrating!!
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SILVERWOODSTUDIO
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3/17/2008 5:10:01 PM
I think you have given up the clue in your blog where you say you "changed the chords" in some way-----------our fingers have memories and it takes a while to "recode " them !
So i reckon by changing what you were doing, the night b4, but not having lots of time to recode ---you simply fooled yourself!----- and your mind went blank!
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Black Velvet Lace
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3/17/2008 5:48:50 PM
Beth, given the tendonitis you mention in another thread, are you sure your finger freezing is from stage fright? Perhaps it's physiological and then when your fingers lock up, you panic.
I only had one instance of fingers freezing playing guitar. It happened when I sat in with a friend for a solo rendition of Rhiannon. I always use light strings on my acoustic, he'd strung his guitar with heavy strings. At the last chorus my hand cramped (actually went into a frozen claw!) from trying to hold down the heavier strings and I ended the song acapella. I played it off and the audience figured it was intentional. But I made a mental note to NEVER sit in playing someone ELSE'S guitar again.
xox
~Lace~
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Jack Heinicke
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3/17/2008 7:53:44 PM
Play in bars where people are fighting.
You end up trying to protect your equipment more than anything else and stage fright takes on a whole new meaning.
Now you get to take out some wicked energy on the music!
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Beth Fridinger
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3/17/2008 10:49:35 PM
yeah, it's fear my fingers won't play this guitar....and it's maddening...It's not are they gonna like me, cause I know they will, at least in this venue
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Beth Fridinger
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3/17/2008 11:20:14 PM
Lace that must have been awful playing someone else's guitar with big strings that you weren't used to. Sorry you were ill in 2004 and I hope you are better now. Well I started this music thing in 2006 so it's pretty late in life and not much time doing it.
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Beth Fridinger
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5/24/2008 7:13:45 PM
Yes I learned that I cannot change how I do something at the last minute and I need time to recode the fingers to do stuff. Also for a new song it's best if I wait 2 weeks to really get it to memory, but sometimes I just can't wait and want to get up and play something sooner. I started playing mandolin and was on the stage playing it after 3 days....played my Pearly Gates song that first time...with easy chords...did fine....I went 5 days almost not playing my guitar because I was at the mandolin constantly....what a fun instrument it is.
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