Do you play better or worse in front of an audience?

[richnrbq]

Originally Posted by jstroop

I chose “I do pretty well in front of an audience.” but there’s a caveat - it needs to be an audience composed mostly of strangers.

This is a great caveat... I've gotten better about this, but I am almost always at ease with strangers and my most nervous moments have been among folks who know me first as something other than a musician...

[ADK]

I don’t freeze up in front of others, but I certainly don’t play my best. I’m perfectly content to play at home, relaxed, and have my wife give me the occasional “that sounds so nice” comment.

[TBman]

Wait,

Does my dog count as an audience?

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I play about as well for an audience as I do for myself, alone. When I haven't been in front of an audience for a while, it might take me a song or two to get my footing again, but then I settle in. I don't need an audience to inspire me, but an audience does not intimidate me, either.

Same here; I was a "stage kid" since the age of six, so I'm OK with an audience of ten or ten thousand - and at my age I've long since learned to take an "if you like me, good - if not, the sun still rises and sets without your assistance" attitude...

[Wade Hampton]

TBman wrote:

Originally Posted by TBman

Wait,

Does my dog count as an audience?

That depends. If he listens attentively, then yes. But if he starts howling along, he's your backup vocalist.

Then Steve wrote:

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Same here; I was a "stage kid" since the age of six, so I'm OK with an audience of ten or ten thousand - and at my age I've long since learned to take an "if you like me, good - if not, the sun still rises and sets without your assistance" attitude...

Same here. In my case it was boy soprano in the church children's choir at age 8, acolyte (that's Episcopalian for "altar boy") from age 13, licensed lay reader from age 16. And of course there were all the plays and musicals in school.

Prior to the mid-1970's, the Holy Communion mass in the Episcopal church was very elaborate, and the acolyte who stayed on the Epistle side had to ring the Sanctus bell and assist the priest with the wine and washing his fingers with water. It wasn't a huge ambition for me to do that part of it, but all the other boys routinely messed up ringing the Sanctus bell - it had to be done at precisely the right moment, and struck in precisely the right spot, or the result would be a muffled thud.

None of the other boys rang it properly or on the right beat, so far as I was concerned, and it rang with such a beautiful tone when done right that I made that my job. Because the beauty of the sound of the Sanctus bell was very important to me. Still is...

Anyway, being up in front of the congregation every Sunday probably did more to get me past stage fright than anything. I was best friends with a pair of rowdy brothers named the Snyder boys, and they were constant acolytes, as well. Their mother, the dreaded Mrs. Snyder, would watch us like a hawk, and if ANYTHING went wrong during the service it would automatically be my fault, and she would glare at me until she could tell me after the service how much I'd screwed up.

This applied even more so when it was one of her sons that had made the mistake, because I had somehow caused HIM to screw up. She'd tell me that, too, and if she was mad enough about it she'd seek out my mother in the parish hall during coffee hour and tell her so.

The Snyder boys and I laughed about it, but we were smart enough not to laugh in her face.

So, in a way, Mrs. Snyder toughened me up for my future as a music performer: I withstood years of her glaring at me whenever I'd irked her, which was often. After half a decade of enduring her basilisk gaze, a roomful of rowdy drunks was NOTHING in comparison!

Seriously, that truly did toughen me up, and I learned to not take negative comments personally. As my mother would say on the drive home after each of these unpleasant episodes: "Consider the source."


Wade Hampton Miller

[Zandit75]

I chose the last one, I play my best in front of a crowd. That's not to say that there haven't been times where there have been some crowds that really switch off when you're playing, or don't acknowledge you playing for their benefit.

I played at a charity event for a couple of sick local kids, and performed for almost an hour without a break, and barely even received a clap from the crowd. I pulled out a Garth Brooks song, and straight away people turned around and started listening. The response was excellent, even though I had played a number of other recognizable/popular songs already. The next song was Country Roads, and they all switched off again!
After I finished, I had a heap of them come up thanking me for playing so well, and commenting on how they thought it was CD playing. Great feedback, but such a weird contrast to what I was feeling from the audience while I was playing.

In stark contrast to that, I played at a small venue recently, and the place was packed, standing room only. There were three other singers playing that night, and I was last in line for the evening. There was a general amount of talking occurring throughout the night, but for some reason once I started playing, everything ceased and you could almost hear a pin drop, it was very eerie to be playing to an audience that focused on what you're playing. It changes how I perform quite drastically, and all of that focus is turned inwards, and the words come to you without thinking of them, the guitar becomes so much more delicate on the ballads, and chords seem to ring out when hit harder. It's a great feeling!

Edit:
I really don't get stage fright with the guitar, but if I have to play the Trombone in front of crowd by myself, that's when the nerves start kicking in!

[Gjimmy]

My family always tells me to stop playing...so i haven’t subjected poor strangers to hear my play.

[Wade Hampton]

Zandit wrote:

Originally Posted by Zandit75

I really don't get stage fright with the guitar, but if I have to play the Trombone in front of crowd by myself, that's when the nerves start kicking in!

Yeah, me, too. If I had to get up and play trombone....well, let's just say nobody would try to recruit me for his Dixieland band!

So which end of the trombone do you blow into, anyway?


whm

[Zandit75]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Zandit wrote:



Yeah, me, too. If I had to get up and play trombone....well, let's just say nobody would try to recruit me for his Dixieland band!

So which end of the trombone do you blow into, anyway?


whm

I have some success blowing through the smaller end. Never really considered going the other way!!

[musicman1951]

It depends on what I'm playing. I think an audience helps if I'm improvising.

If I'm playing Bach most days I'm better in the practice room. But I think that after a few hundred times the audience doesn't make a huge change for most people. If the audience is listening that's a big help (I like to assume that if they're listening they will like it).

[Shoreline Music]

All the best music I've ever made has been in front of a crowd / audience / congregation. It's not even close. The most technically adept, most creative, most musical. It doesn't matter the instrument—guitar, bass, banjo, voice—I'm at my best onstage, and it has been that way for 33 years (after a particular talent show in 1985 where my banjo-related stage fright washed away forever).

Now, put me in front of a recording microphone and little red light, and I'm a total klutz. I've done plenty of recording and studio work, but I'm far from the top of my game in that setting.

[jaymarsch]

I play fine casually around others but getting me up on a stage with mics and lights and such and I can find it pretty intimidating. I have been doing it more often and have had some fabulous experiences and a couple of train wreck experiences but mostly it falls in between. Ultimately, I want to be able to be more comfortable in front of an audience on a more consistent basis so I just have to keep at it and learn and practice performing just as I do singing and playing the guitar.

Best,
Jayne

[SuperB23]

I find that one thing that gets me is I practice sitting down and I play mostly standing up with a strap on and that dynamic affects my playing a tiny bit. I think I play a little better sitting.

[Photojeep]

I put that I play pretty well in front of an audience.

Except lately during the summer months, I've played weekly for my church over the last 20+ years. The congregation numbers around 800-850 or so every week.

Of course this isn't "performing" but it does mean being the only instrument in the place and the leading voice of a group ranging from 2 to 12.

Also unlike most performers, I have a music stand in front of me and I'm concentrating on that as I sing and play and not worrying about making eye contact with anyone. In fact if I do make eye contact, I'm liable to mess up the song.

I do remember the very first time I ever led the music at Mass and how bad it was. Since we had a leader, I'd never bothered to pay attention to what was played when during the service. And of course every part has a Latin name while we called it something else... that didn't help.

After that slow motion train wreck I quickly learned to pay closer attention when our leader returned and even today after 20+ years of doing this I have a list of where every song goes (still using non-latin names).

The people I know closely sit to the side of me as I play so I don't have to worry about "playing in front of friends and family" all that much.

Best,
PJ

[Wade Hampton]

PJ wrote:

Originally Posted by Photojeep

I do remember the very first time I ever led the music at Mass and how bad it was. Since we had a leader, I'd never bothered to pay attention to what was played when during the service. And of course every part has a Latin name while we called it something else... that didn't help.

After that slow motion train wreck I quickly learned to pay closer attention when our leader returned and even today after 20+ years of doing this I have a list of where every song goes (still using non-latin names).

Yeah, playing in a group where things are run badly can provide a quick education in what NOT to do. I spent a couple of years playing in a gospel group at a local Baptist church that was great fun but poorly organized. A large part of the problem is that most of the guitarists had their own amps onstage with them, and could control their own volume levels, as a result.

It always turned to Battle of the Amps, every week. One guy would turn up, then the next guy couldn't hear himself, so HE'D crank it up. And so forth.

Another failing in that group that I learned from was that in the absence of clear direction from the group's leader, there'd be incessant noodling from some of the guitarists. There was one older gentleman who was a fine Merle Travis/Chet Atkins-style player, and I liked what he was doing, but there were three or four other guys off on their own little clouds, so the overall effect was musical chaos that detracted from the message of the lyrics.

Once I was asked to lead a music group at my home parish, two rules I established were:

1.) No individual amps aside from the bass amp: every plugged-in instrument gets run through one board so the sound guy can balance the levels;

and

2.) No noodling allowed, only clear melodic or rhythm parts that mesh together to support the songs.

In other words, think like a band instead of of a bunch of random players who happen to be occupying the same space at the same time.

That makes a huge difference....


whm