Originally Posted by Matt Till
I REALLY dont' get stage presence... whatever that is...
Everyone always talks about eye contact, how that's important... if someone is talking to me, eye contact is important... why would it be important if they were playing an instrument. And jumping around like a moron, that doesn't entertain me.
That said, I headbang sometimes, not too extreme.
Ok... not to pick on you, but an amazing thing happens when you make eye contact. There is a perceptible sensation - one you can actually feel in your body (and I would be willing to bet that with the proper electrodes, you could actually measure this sensation).
So, when you are looking in the crowd and you notice someone looking back one of two things can happen; 1) you can 'take charge of the moment and do something noticable like grin or shake your head and laugh - which will usually cause that person to grin or shake their head and laugh back or; 2) completly wimp out on the moment and quickly look back at the ground or your fretboard which will inevitably make whoever was looking at you feel like you are a scared little person who is not very comfortable or confident in what they are doing and lose control of the moment.
Since it is really so easy to take control and get a positive result, I always opt for #1. I mean honestly, all you need to do is NOT be the one to look away first - bear minimum - or simply bob you head as if you like what you are doing... And to this day, I have never gotten anything other then a very positive reaction from anyone - male or female. On the contrary... I have had dudes come up to me and tell me what a great bass player I am. And believe me, I am NOT... They were reacting to the show, not the play. I mean, come on... "All right now" by Bad Co. is only so hard and really does not require Jaco Pastorius to pull off. No offense, Bad Co. I love playing the song! And I have had ladies go so far as to bless me with a showing of their finer parts. Now, come on... do you really wanna be looking at your fretboard when that is going on in front of you? And to the lady bass players in the forum, my apologies, but this one of the job hazards we male bass players have to deal with every so often. I don't wanna be perceived as objectifying women here.
And I kid you not - ever since I made the conscious desicion to NOT LOOK DOWN and to NOT STAND STILL I have had nothing but a great time every time I play and have had positive crowd results EVERY TIME. It is a guaranteed result. If you look like you are having fun and are not scared, the crowd will wanna be near you.
Like they say about publicity; Any publicity, positive or negative, is good publicity. So any connectivity from you to the crowd is good connectivity. It takes a real ballsy jackass of a crowd member to try to bring on a bad vibe by 'dissing' the musician that is performing for them. And if they are that sort of a ballsy jackass of a crowd member anyway, who the hell cares what they think of you?
AND FINALLY (as you can see, I could go on forever on this topic)
When you are in the studio, the audience demands that you concentrate and execute your part perfectly. They do not care what you look like while you are doing it. They only care that what ends up on the final recording is really great to listen to. So, look down all you want and focus and concentrate, by all means, when you are there.
When you are on a stage, the play good thing is implied, but there is a very necessary second component that is of equal or more importance - that you be entertaining visually! They are physically there to SEE you. If all they wanted to do was hear you, they would stay home and put on the recording. So if you don't give them something to look at, you are ripping them off. Period.
--peas.
--tz
