SLOW DOWN!

[Mr. Jelly]

I have dealt with this also. When I find myself feeling rushed on stage, I stop myself and get my mind to look up and around and become present in the room. THINK! Breath! This only takes seconds really. Besides it's often a good thing to have a little space between songs. Then I start the next song with what feels like to be a touch slower than I feel. Then I stay at that tempo for the remainder of the song. Most always it works out well. And if by chance you play a song a bit slow it's more likely for it to come off with more impact.

[Methos1979]

For us (wife and I, acoustic duo) we employ a few 'tricks' to help:

1.) Practice the song at a slower pace (using a metronome) than what we actually want the song to be played live. That way, when the inevitable speed up occurs you're only a little faster than what you want.

2.) I use a tablet for live play (and practice) that has a four measure metronome count-in for each song. At the beginning of the song I clear my head and sync my mind and foot (tapping) with the count-in tempo.

3.) Once I have the temp steady I sing in my head a few words from the verse or chorus at that tempo to help further internalize it and get me 'in the moment'. At that point I look at my wife and count us in at that tempo.

Tip number 1 is probably the most important though. If you practice it fast then you'll not only get used to playing it fast but it will sound/feel like the song is dragging when you play it at the slower, correct tempo. It's not until you listen back at to a recorded performance that you realized you've been playing that delicate ballad at death-metal speed!

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by fpuhan

No matter how much I tell myself that playing to a crowd is no different than playing solo at home, I find I always speed up songs when playing live. Tapping my feet, and having my inner voice tell me to slow it down, I always seem to play faster when performing.

I bought myself a SoundBrenner Pulse (a wearable metronome) in hopes it would tactically keep the beat slow, but I haven't used it live. Setting it up prior to performing has been a bit of a hassle for me (I know, I know: practice...). But I wonder if there's an easier way to just slow the tempo down when playing. I know when I'm practicing, I can "think ahead" for notes, chords, lyrics, etc., but when I hit the stage, it's all a blur. How do people manage to do this?

Hi fpuhan…
Metronomes (unless you are recording movie scores), are not for live play.

I find excitement and rushing correlate with shallow breathing when I'm playing/singing/performing publically. Discovered this in college as a vocal major.

I'd start pushing my accompanist and by the end of songs the tempos would be out of control on some pieces, and I'd be out of breath.

My coach/advisor/teacher encouraged me to take two to three slow deep breaths through only my nose before starting the next song.

It seemed like they were minutes long breaks, but in reality it was an extra 10-15 seconds…which to the audience was not EVER mentioned or noticed by audience members.

I've trained myself when playing guitar in public (solo or ensemble) to take two or three long slow breaths before I start pieces, and to breath deeply when playing instrumental breaks, intros etc. When I'm playing in a band setting (and not the lead singer) that I just remind and practice breathing deeply…especially approaching more technically difficult situations. The more relaxed I am the better I play and sync with others. I even practice this while playing.

I've inserted instrumental breaks in a song a time or two to give me time to 'breathe' and bring the tempo (and my brain) under control.

My observation for myself and other singers/players is the more excited we become, the shallower we tend to breathe…which feeds the shortness of breath and tempo increases.

This has brought my 'speeding' back under control without metronomes.

I play on a Worship Team and I turn the 'click track' off in my headphones. I just listen to (and sync with) the drummer. I focus on the flow of the song better if I'm not the trying to sync with the machine-gun-stacatto of a metronome.

[Jaxon]

never heard of all these things in 50 years of playing out..drummer would click it off or it'd be counted off in whatever tempo we wanted

[Brent Hahn]

Try feeling your grooves in smaller subdivisions. Instead of quarter notes -- one, two, three, four -- first break it down to eighth notes. One and two and three and four. And then sixteenths. One ee and a two ee and a... This can make you both steadier and, well, groovier. More funk in the feel. And this is the kind of funk that fits in Bluegrass, Americana, whatever you're doing. Check out this TV theme in the English Music Hall style -- tons of "little subdivisions" feel.



And this thing -- slow as mud, but rock steady and what a pocket.

[Robin, Wales]

Well, I'm 2 years or so in to playing/singing solo at open mic's and concerts. And it gets more comfortable every time.

The thing is that we don't get that much "real time" experience (that's physically playing in front of an audience) compared to the time we spend rehearsing. I use the term "rehearsing" rather than "practicing" because I think it is more appropriate in this scenario.

So don't beat yourself up for going a bit faster on stage than at home. The reality is that you will have had very little real time practice to date. If I added up all my stage time over the last couple of years it would come to a very small fraction of the time I spend playing at home.

The good news is that you recognise you are playing a little fast. And with more experience on stage that will just naturally sort itself out.

Our choir master commented last night that a few years ago it was difficult for him to get anyone to do a solo spot during a concert. Now he has a number of us who have the experience to perform really well. It just takes time.

The only words of advice I would add is that after a few years some folks will have the experience behind them of playing 20+ times at their local open mic'. Others have the experience behind them of playing once at the local open mic' 20+ times! There's a BIG difference between the two. Make sure you are in the former category by taking every opportunity to learn from every performance, and making changes before the next.

[Cecil6243]

My problem is when memorizing a new song I go too fast and have to keep telling myself to slow down.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Well, I'm 2 years or so in to playing/singing solo at open mic's and concerts. And it gets more comfortable every time.

The thing is that we don't get that much "real time" experience (that's physically playing in front of an audience) compared to the time we spend rehearsing. I use the term "rehearsing" rather than "practicing" because I think it is more appropriate in this scenario.

So don't beat yourself up for going a bit faster on stage than at home. The reality is that you will have had very little real time practice to date. If I added up all my stage time over the last couple of years it would come to a very small fraction of the time I spend playing at home.

The good news is that you recognise you are playing a little fast. And with more experience on stage that will just naturally sort itself out.

Our choir master commented last night that a few years ago it was difficult for him to get anyone to do a solo spot during a concert. Now he has a number of us who have the experience to perform really well. It just takes time.

The only words of advice I would add is that after a few years some folks will have the experience behind them of playing 20+ times at their local open mic'. Others have the experience behind them of playing once at the local open mic' 20+ times! There's a BIG difference between the two. Make sure you are in the former category by taking every opportunity to learn from every performance, and making changes before the next.

What you say is very similar to the amount of preparation teachers and other presenters spend vs. their actually presentation.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by Cecil6243

My problem is when memorizing a new song I go too fast and have to keep telling myself to slow down.

That’s me. The only way I can keep myself slow is using a metronome. Due to the nature of how my brain responds to syncopation and the fact that I prefer to play ragtime type pieces, that usually means I have to play phrase by phrase to work with a metronome. Which is meticulous and frankly kind of boring. But I know it works so I keep cycling back to it.

[Mr. Jelly]

Here's another tool I use for vocal songs. I just takes a second. I mentally sing the verse or chorus. When I have it in my head, I am ready, I start playing and I'll play a bit of the verse or chorus before I start singing. From that point it is a matter of focusing on staying on tempo and performing the song. Nothing else should enter your head but performing the song. To do it well you should be all in mentally. If need be, you can do a dramatic pause or extend a word in the middle of the song and when you go on with the song you can get back on track.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by davidbeinct

That’s me. The only way I can keep myself slow is using a metronome. Due to the nature of how my brain responds to syncopation and the fact that I prefer to play ragtime type pieces, that usually means I have to play phrase by phrase to work with a metronome. Which is meticulous and frankly kind of boring. But I know it works so I keep cycling back to it.

Thanks I'm going to try that!