Struggling on first tune in a set

[Deliberate1]

So I have kept a promise I made to myself at the beginning of the year; that I would do each monthly open mic event at the local opera house. Last night was the third in consecutive months that I performed the usual three tunes. I am in my fifth year of playing, and two years of finger style, which I do most of the time and increasingly so. I just adore it.

I did the usual three tunes. I started with the one I thought was my strongest, and least complicated - Make Me A Pallet on Your Floor, a classic made popular by Mississippi John Hurt. I then did two original tunes, one flat picked and the other finger style.

So, despite thinking that the Hurt tune was my strongest, I struggled mightily just to finish it. It was a challenge right out of the gate. It is a very "busy" tune, with all four fingers moving most of the time. Again, I had it down, breezing through it at home for weeks. But, in performance, I had to stop, and start and fumble my way through it. I did not give up, when a more sensible person likely would have. The other two tunes, both originals, and really more complicated than the Hurt song, went very well.

Deconstructing the experience, I think that nerves were fueling the tempo from the start, and I crashed because I could not keep up. Like when you run down hill faster than your legs can move. And then the fingers did their "concrete" thing, which just added to the misadventure. So, in the future, I will really concentrate to get the tempo right, and not start until I do have it in me. I play lead tenor sax in a 17 piece big band. A chart is always kicked off with a measure count for tempo. I need to practice doing that, so I do it under the lights.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions about choosing the right kind of tunes that would make for a more successful set, and how to prepare for that ice-breaking, first song. After something similar happened in January, I thought I should start with a picked/strummed song, not finger style, and that did work better last month. But that is just an avoidance, not a solution.

Thanks, as always, for the help.

David

[JonPR]

You identifed the main problem. It's not the song, it's the adrenalin that makes you play it too fast.

It is a good idea not to start with your most complicated song - even if it is your best or favourite. You will probably never dispose of stage fright altogether (it can get milder, but remain on a subconscious level, which is where it's a real killer) - so you just have to resign yourself to the fact you will NEVER play as well live as you do in private at home. How much your chops suffer will vary - for me, my live skills vary between 60-80% of me "home" skills - but never play a tune live that you've only just mastered (one that requires up to 100% of your technique).

So stick with songs you could almost play in your sleep. If you have the skill to play MJH's Pallet on the Floor perfectly well at home, then you have plenty enough skill to entertain an audience with easier tunes. At least, start off with a simpler and more familiar one.

Audiences in general (even at guitar open mics!) are not too focused on your guitar technique anyway, and respond much better to singing and general presentation. So, whatever you play, you have to feel you have some "headroom", to play and sing with feeling, to express the song and not just get all the right notes in order. Confidence on simple music is much better than nervous performance of something impressive,

One idea for tempo is to set a metronome to the comfortable speed you play it at home. Then check it (flashing light, not sound!) before you start, take a breath and feel that tempo. (Switch it off before you play of course.) You might still speed up in the middle, but at least you don't start too fast.) The metronome could be a small digital one, or a phone app, anything not too obtrusive, and which can be easily and quickly checked on stage.

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Confidence on simple music is much better than nervous performance of something impressive,

Jon, thanks for your usual, sensible and practical advise. I will take this heart as I craft my own tunes, which do tend to be lyric-centric.

But after a lifetime of single note playing on the clarinet and sax, I confess that I am just so enamored of the multi-tonal sounds the guitar can produce, I find myself attracted to songs for the guitar (my own included) that are rich in chords and voicing, and the wonderful complexities of finger style which plumb that depth.

I should strive to be more like John Pryne than Leo Kottke.

Thanks again.

David

[Mandobart]

Any performance I start off with a fast, energetic tune that I know absolutely cold and can play very confidently. For me that's flatpicked versions of Big River, Me and My Uncle, Georgia on a Fast Train, etc. The fingerstyle songs are after I'm more warmed up.

I'm curious and not trying to be critical - but you mentioned "the usual three tunes" a couple times. Do you play the same 3 songs at the same open mic every time?

I've attended and hosted a few open mics over the years, and one critique myself and others shared was the players who always played the same song(s) every time. I encourage folks to learn enough songs to provide variety.

[jeanray1113]

I could have written this post when I started doing an open mic back in 2015. The first one was really awful. I was trembling and feeling downright panicky and wishing I could just miraculously disappear. I flubbed my first piece, which, like yours, was a rather busy one and it quickly fell apart under the stress of performance. I don’t remember what the other two were. I somehow did my three songs and got off stage. Everyone was very kind, and that’s why I went back. It gradually got easier. Now, I can actually say I enjoy performing and have very little anxiety on stage. But, it takes time. What I would say is, first of all, don’t give up. Go every month, and if there are other opportunities take advantage of them as well. Even playing for family and friends will help. Play pieces you feel extremely comfortable with, especially the first one. As you get more at ease on stage, you can add more complicated pieces. Remember the audience is not there to judge you. As for other performers, most, if not all, can relate. The week prior to the open mic, play those pieces until you can play them in your sleep. The day of, maybe run through them a time or two. Get enough rest the night before and eat well. Exercise a few hours before will lessen anxiety. Before you get on stage, take a few slow, deep breaths. Then give it all you’ve got and have fun!

[Brent Hahn]

Every band I've ever been in, and me playing solo, there have always been one or two bulletproof good-energy opening songs that can't fail. Like that one dish you know you'll get right when you have people over for dinner. You'll find yours.

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by jeanray1113

I could have written this post when I started doing an open mic back in 2015.....Then give it all you’ve got and have fun!

All great advise for which I am grateful. I guess I am in a bit different situation that most who have been playing for as long as I have and are playing out.

I have been a serious, I guess you could say, semi-professional classical and jazz musician, all my life. I am in two bands currently - a cover/jazz band and a 17 piece big band, where I play lead tenor and clarinet. And have performed throughout my life, to the point where I could play my horns naked to a crowd of cannibals without a second thought - and may have.

So, I know in my bones what it feels like to to be comfortable on stage. That is a good thing, and not. It frustrates me that I choke on guitar and don't with my horns. But I also know from experience that it is possible to feel the unbridled joy of performing. Which I do with my horns.

Strangely, I experienced those polar opposite emotions it last night when I accompanied, on clarinet, a uke player, and then a guitarist on two tunes that I had never played with them, or anywhere else. I went from fully engaged angst on guitar to fully engaged joy with my clarinet on a musical bushwhack. Mind spinning.

David

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

I'm curious and not trying to be critical - but you mentioned "the usual three tunes" a couple times. Do you play the same 3 songs at the same open mic every time?

Fair question and apologies for my clumsy phrasing. The tradition is for three songs at this open mic. That is what the "usual" referred to. I have never duplicated a tune in the three events I have played at. I have several original pieces in the can, and that I am working on. I recognize them as "jam-busters," and would never inject them into that setting. I do these open mics to introduce new work, to see if they float or sink. A parent loves each of his or her children. The world is not similarly inclined....

David

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by JonPR

You identifed the main problem. It's not the song, it's the adrenalin that makes you play it too fast.

It is a good idea not to start with your most complicated song - even if it is your best or favourite. ... At least, start off with a simpler and more familiar one.

I think this^^^ is the key.

When I used to perform on stage, I would always start off with a song that was easy to play, so I could get over my nerves. It would often take me one or usually two songs to get comfortable up on the stage and get over my nerves. And during that time, it seemed like my natural tempo was always too fast because of adrenaline. About the third song is where I became comfortable and at home on the stage. For me, anyway, it took some time to settle down, and during that time, I needed to do songs that were easy to sing and easy to play.

Once I was comfortable, my hands stopped shaking and the world stopped operating at 100 mph.

- Glenn

[Charlie Bernstein]

I agree it's the adrenalin.

It took me a long time to tame it. I did it by (a) learning to not taking myself too seriously and (b) being more fatalistic: Everything will go wrong, there's nothing I can do about it, no one cares, and then it'll be over and I can enjoy the rest of the show.

I also learned to simplify. People aren't there to be blown away by my astonishing manual dexterity and soaring vocal pyrotechnics. They're there to be entertained. So I leave the fancy stuff at home and choose songs that are easy to pull off and likely to be enjoyed by more people than just me.

It's also good to vary your repertoire. One reason people ever like hearing me is that they don't have to sit through all the same tunes every time they see me take the stage. Originals, popular tunes, obscure old chestnuts — it doesn't matter. Part of entertainment is the familiar, another part is the surprise.

John Prine started out playing at open mics and coffee houses. At first, he wrote new songs for every show — because he thought he was supposed to!

[Mr. Jelly]

Something that I continually have to remind myself of when I perform is to consciously think about how the song goes before, I start. It only takes a second really. I won't start unless it feels right in my thinking. That gets me through a couple of bars and the rest goes more smoothly.

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

I agree it's the adrenalin.

It took me a long time to overcome it. I did it by (a) not taking myself too seriously and (b) being more fatalistic....

It's also good to vary your repertoire. One reason people ever like hearing me is that they don't have to sit through all the same tunes every time the see me go on stage. Originals, popular tunes, obscure old chestnut — it doesn't matter. Part of entertainment is the familiar, another part is the surprise.

My friend, I was sitting at my table performing my obligatory hot cereal breakfast ritual when I read your thoughtful response to my dilemma. Being a bit bleary-eyed, well, much of the time, I mis-read your word "fatalist." As in, "I did it by being being more fantastic...." And I thought, good on ya, mate. There's a man who walks with pride - the punch line to a joke that would ring the nanny-bell here. I will tell it to you sometime.

And you are so right about the need to vary one's repertoire for the sake of the audience. My wife and I went to a concert last week where a solo, singer-songwriter performed all original material for 90 minutes.

It was a courageous, yeoman effort for an audience of 10-12. Thematically, her lyrical style focused on deep, dense introspection in a musical structure that featured no relief typically provided by a chorus. More like poetry set to music than lyrics, I thought.

Conversely, her guitar accompaniment for the most part was a I, IV V structure in each song. Most of the variety was provided only by a capo. My mind wandered after a few doppelganger songs, and I found myself focusing on her fingers, watching for the move on the neck I predicted in advance.

Again, it was a strong effort on her part. I just did not relate to the music. And that made the sameness all the more challenging for me. I learned a lot that night, frankly about what to avoid in my own sets.

Best

David

[KevWind]

Lots a great suggestions let my reiterate and add some thoughts

First 5 years is actually not all that long of time (especially if you have not spent that 5 years at -- 1 to 2 hours a day, at least 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year practicing) Because it is not the years having played, it is the hours of playing that matter .


Yes definitely make the first song very simple And as noted the stage is a far different nerves wise situation, than at home

So do not assume you "have it down" until you can actually play it in the dark (not eyes closed) in the dark ,,,at least 3 times straight through with no mistakes or hesitations. and besides those three reps ---additionally at three different speeds = quite slow --your normal playing speed-- and quite fast so 6 times

[rllink]

It happens, just put it in the trash and move on. It is like golf, you can't let a bad shot dictate the game. We all have good days and bad. If you dwell on the bad ones they just get in your head and take over. The best thing to do is let it go, at least you got up there and did your thing. That's what really counts.

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by rllink

The best thing to do is let it go, at least you got up there and did your thing. That's what really counts.

Thank you. You are so right. I know that in my heart, and, recently, have actually begun to accept it. When you mess up, the world does not open up and swallow you whole. Nor does it begin to rotate in the opposite direction.

At the open mic in February (same venue), I was most of the way through an original song about a guy way down on his luck. Well, I guess it rubbed off, because in the middle of a verse I just blanked on the next line. And I stopped, looked up at the audience and literally said, "I just forgot the next line," to which someone replied, "It will come to you." It didn't, so I just moved onto the next verse and finished.

As I was leaving, a fellow came over and said to me, about that song, "you got a real winner in that one." Despite my injustice to it, publicly confessed, the song survived, and so did I. But, I think next time that happens I will refrain from making the stage a confessional. It never occurred to me that I would not return the next month. I think I am getting used to crashing. Or, at least just accept it as part of the growth curve. Worrying about crashing becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

David