My head won't look ahead!

[RAGEbassman]

My Band members, have been bugging me after every gig, "keep your head up, you keep looking at your bass, you have no connection to the audiance", which i find true, but i try to do it but it seems i keep lowering my head. does anyone have any techniques to keep my head up and occupied to the audiance.

[lowendgenerator]

Keep telling yourself there's naked women in the audience. Pretend you're looking for a friend. Try to find Waldo. When I don't feel like looking at the audience, I stare at the ceiling, or watch TV.

[RAGEbassman]

i like the naked one

[WILL WAHL]

Originally Posted by lowendgenerator

Keep telling yourself there's naked women in the audience. Pretend you're looking for a friend. Try to find Waldo. When I don't feel like looking at the audience, I stare at the ceiling, or watch TV.

That does happen! Kinda! tha band that i was in 20 years ago was playing at a Gospel concert and two ladies were sitting in the front row was showing us their junk! No panties! The drummer saw it first!! Dang the things you remember!!!!!!

[Depth_Charge]

Get a friend with a video camera to record your stage presence. You will be susprised how fast you can fix things once you know what needs fixing

Good posture and a well adjusted strap will prevent you from slouching.
Knowing the songs inside and out helps you not look at the fretboard.

When you practice at home or rehearse with the group, find the parts you can play without looking at your bass and rehearse some different moves to do instead.

Playing live - pick a point on the back of the wall or a poster/TV/light/bar maid that you need to keep your head straight to see. Then just generally look in that direction if you don't know where else to look during the night.

If you are struggling to look away from your bass and losing your position, add some flare to your style instead- start slapping, tapping, sliding, use a single finger (people love it when you play Black Sabbath songs that way), use 3, slides, mutes etc...throw octave skips and runs in there, get a little technical on it so the people can engage your musician side instead.

Being a little outgoing and not worrying about making a fool of yourself sure comes in handy when playing out IME

[aguacateojos]

I have a similar thing, but for me I'm always zoned out visually or watching the drummer's right foot... I know that part of a performance is just that, some sort of engagement with the people watching, but after 150~ gigs with my band I'm more concerned with the music than how I look while I'm playing.

Although, we just did an hour gig live on a local TV station today and I get to see it tomorrow... maybe I'll feel differently after I watch myself play for that long.

[makkE]

Working on this too at the moment.

I try to look only when I really need to, when shifting, for example.
I have changed the fingering on some of my lines too, so I need to shift less...

[Absentia]

I don't know I tend to stare at my drummer like he's my lover so...

[kdiggity]

^ HAHA

Yeah, not looking at the neck while playing takes time and practice.

When I first started playing it seemed like an impossible feat. Nowadays (after said time and practice) I only need to look for orientation on certain changes.

I honestly never thought that would be the case, but over time it just became so.

You'll get there. Make an effort, while letting your band mates know that you are, and ask them to be patient/understand. Or tell them to STFU. You know, whatever kinda relationship you have with them.



-K

[cnltb]

Originally Posted by RAGEbassman

My Band members, have been bugging me after every gig, "keep your head up, you keep looking at your bass, you have no connection to the audiance", which i find true, but i try to do it but it seems i keep lowering my head. does anyone have any techniques to keep my head up and occupied to the audiance.

I'd try get to the point where you know the music and your instrument well enough to not have to look at it so much whilst playing anymore.

[Fergie Fulton]

It depends on what the trigger in yourself is, so i would ask why do you look at your bass? Answer that question and you will discover the real answer to your bands mates problem.

In some players it is just a habit to break, in others it is a safety blanket, i know players that never ever look at what they do, yet put them on a stage with low or moving lighting and it becomes an issue that they need to see the neck?????? In some it is aposture thing they don't realise they do. How do you stop it?...well you practice not doing it. Stand in front of a mirror, or reflection and look at that, not your hands as such but look around in the reflection as see what you like like. I agree to some degree with your band mates, but each to their own. Find out why you do it, and then change it.

[JohnMCA72]

Originally Posted by Depth_Charge

...
Knowing the songs inside and out helps you not look at the fretboard.
...

I'll take that a little further & say that knowing your instrument inside & out helps you not look at the fretboard!

Why should you need to look, anyway? Nothing has gone anywhere. The frets haven't moved. Your fingers are right where they've always been, on your hands, at the ends of your arms. Other than the very predictable vibration, the strings aren't going anywhere, either. So, what's with the need to look at all?

Unfortunately (in this case, at least), people are very visually-oriented. Once you get yourself "trained" to locate points on the fretboard visually, it's hard to break yourself of the habit. For me, I decided that it was necessary for me to break myself of this when I took up singing. It took a lot of practice & discipline, but has paid off in spades!

I spent a lot of time forcing myself to look away when I caught myself looking at my hands. I still give it a glance every now & then, when there's something I'm unsure of, but I'm definitely aware of it when I do it & work constantly to keep from falling back into the habit. New songs, especially, I make sure to learn without looking. That makes it a whole lot easier to not look later.

[grendle]

Been playing 20 years and I still look. Who cares. 90+% of the bands I have seen do also.

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by grendle

Been playing 20 years and I still look. Who cares. 90+% of the bands I have seen do also.

His band mates it seems.

[aledeville]

+1 do Depth_Charge
He probably said everything there is. My special advice is to practise in the complete dark - that helps enormously for the feeling of the bass.
I think this might be the problem, out of fear to make mistakes you stare at your fretboard.

Dancing while playing helps too.

[oldcatfish]

Quote: "I'd try get to the point where you know the music and your instrument well enough to not have to look at it so much whilst playing anymore."

And just to be sure, when you think that you are ready, practice with a blindfold on. Then you'll have no excuse; if you still do it, then you just need to break a bad habit.

[hdracer]

I have been working on braking that bad habit myself. I practice in front of a full length mirror. It has helped me.

[1958Bassman]

I don't think the lack of stage presence hurt Bill Wyman's reputation.

I'm watching a Jaco video now and he looked at the neck a lot. If the part being played is easier, looking up or ahead should be no big deal and then look down for the harder sections.

[Randyt]

Look ahead?...dam ... I have my eyes closed most of the time.. (is this worse?)...i started doing this along time ago taking lessons, where my instructor wanted me to use my ear more becuase my visual playing was taking away from my ear....he'd say.."your thinking too much"..(jazz improv)

[grendle]

Originally Posted by Fergie Fulton

His band mates it seems.

lol! Nice