Tips for your next Open Mic

[VJP5]

Lots of good tips here. I haven't played in front of a crowd in about 40 years. My goal this year is to break that streak and do an open mic night .... somewhere ..... anywhere.

I will certainly post about it when it happens.

[FolkRock Rules]

Originally Posted by VJP5

Lots of good tips here. I haven't played in front of a crowd in about 40 years. My goal this year is to break that streak and do an open mic night .... somewhere ..... anywhere.

Whew, that's a longer "dry spell" than I had. Go for it!
Maybe these will help you locate something near you:
http://www.openmic.us
http://openmikes.org

I will certainly post about it when it happens.

Looking forward to hearing about it.

Another thing that seems to help me control nervousness: "chatting" with the audience. I like to throw out some little bit of trivia, like how the Byrds actually released "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" three years before Bob Dylan (who wrote it) did.
The OM nearest me is kind of a jam/singalong thing, so for "Feelin' Alright?" (which I might do for the February one), I might say something about being somewhere between the Traffic and Joe Cocker versions, just to see who knows what it is. (They catch on quick.) Then I'll probably invite a couple of backup singers and a "qualified cabasa operator" (I'll bring the cabasa) to join me. Another good comment for that would be that in one of his songbooks, Justin Sandercoe (justinguitar.com) says it "shows what you can do with two chords and attitude."

[VJP5]

Originally Posted by FolkRock Rules

Whew, that's a longer "dry spell" than I had. Go for it!
Maybe these will help you locate something near you:
http://www.openmic.us
http://openmikes.org

Looking forward to hearing about it.

thanks for the links! I'm looking forward to the experience. Just have to make sure I go to the right one and know my songs cold.

[billder99]

Reading thru this thread, I remember both Toby and Silly Mustache offered me essentially the same tips when I was preparing for my first open mic. That was 3 years ago... Thanks you guys! I went on to start my own Open Mic, because there were none in town I was living in.

One other tip I would add... don't play until you are REALLY prepared with 4-5 songs. Know them by heart, lyrics and guitar, and also practice breathing in the right places... make breathing a part of your song... good breathing will relax you more than any other thing.

One other thing... even knowing your songs by heart you WILL make mistakes. During practice, make sure you are playing the whole song from beginning to end. This is how you learn to play thru your mistakes... don't start over when you make mistakes!

[freerider87]

I feel like this thread should be a sticky

[CaffeinatedOne]

One thing to keep in mind that may help you when you feel about to freeze up - and we all feel that moment at some point every time we walk out on stage.

And that is folks in the audience showed up because they want to enjoy themselves. If you are obviously terrified, they will feel empathy for you, and may even worry a little for you. Those are not enjoyable feelings. But a performer's honesty will be genuinely appreciated, and that is an enjoyable feeling.

So - be yourself instead of trying to be some pro type. If you're nervous, say so, but use humor and a smile. Like - walk out and look at them for a second and then say into the mic " . . . uh oh. . ."

And then chuckle. So will they.

Remember that humor is contagious. I often would tell folks something like "I'm going to have a blast tonight and you're invited" or something like that. By saying something like that, you're also telling them that you don't take your self too seriously (he's not a prima donna), you will probably make mistakes (yes! he's real) and that you aren't going to panic if you do (whew - now we can stop worrying about the poor kid and enjoy the music). And you're doing that without being self deprecating.

They want to enjoy themselves, they're inclined to, and they actually will if you allow them to. So have a blast and have at it.

[Ditch]

I haven't been playing a year yet but I have to tell you one of my biggest hurdles are my nerves. Even playing for my family. My hands shake so bad I can hardly hold the pick and I don't think I can get one more breath of air. I go to a local jam once a week and I did get through two weeks where I played ok but the last week I froze. Felt so silly one bar into the song and forgot the chords and words. A very, very simple song at that. Talk about feeling small ! The others were cool with it so that helped. So going on a national tour may be a ways out you think ?

[FolkRock Rules]

Originally Posted by Ditch

I haven't been playing a year yet but I have to tell you one of my biggest hurdles are my nerves. Even playing for my family. My hands shake so bad I can hardly hold the pick and I don't think I can get one more breath of air.

I once read something that suggested if you get stage fright, just imagine the audience sitting out there iin their underwear. I've never tried it, but there's also a next level if the underwear idea doesn't work . . .

I go to a local jam once a week and I did get through two weeks where I played ok but the last week I froze. Felt so silly one bar into the song and forgot the chords and words.

My first time out after a long "self-imposed exile" was New Year's Day. I went stuck on the the lyrics to the second verse of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere." I just kept playing while I made a confused face and asked "What's next?" Somebody just said "letters," and I was good to go. They were all helping me sing the choruses, too, so it was cool.

I need to remember the thing about "You can practice until you get it right, but it's better to practice until you can't get it wrong."

[-ST-]

Please don't belittle yourself, your song, your efforts, your preparation.

Self-deprecating banter is not charming. To me, it is an attempt to lower the stakes. It's understandable, but inappropriate.

You are asking for people's time and attention. Don't tell folks that what you are offering in return is worthless (I haven't practiced this, I didn't take time to plan what I was going to do, I'm going to flip through my song book*, I'm going to stand here and tune up while you wait ...**).

It's okay to do your best and fail, but to offer less than your best so there's less to lose, don't do that.

Respect yourself, respect your audience. They'll know the difference.

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* If you are going to bring your sheet music up on stage, bring what you've planned to perform, just what you need. And put it in order so that the transitions are quick and smooth. The same thing applies if you are using a tablet or other device.

** I understand if one or two strings have drifted out of tune on the way up to the stage, but please don't stand there and tune all six strings through the PA.

[Dreadfulnaught]

I would say, don't obsessively tune, retune, or micro tune. No one is impressed, and I think it may be an outward manifestation of knowing you are not prepared and really have no business up there. It is just the most boring thing ever to watch someone retune, kills the momentum of the show dead. Learn to lube the nut with a pencil, install quality tuners if need be. There should be a hallway or room where performers can tune before they go on.
I once saw someone retune to three different open turnings for three songs consecutively. And it was a 12 string. Aaaaaah! Please treat an audience better that that, even if they did not pay.

If you use different turnings please bring multiple guitars. My personal exception to that rule is that I use a Foote capo to simulate dropped D, goes on in a second.

Hope this is useful, and break a leg.