• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Nerves before a Performance

Do you get nervous before a performance?

  • Yes

    Votes: 92 50.5%

  • No

    Votes: 90 49.5%
  • Total voters
    182
#61
jive1 said:
The most stage fright I ever had was when I performed solo at my daughter's funeral. Although it was a supportive audience, they were all sober and attentive for a very emotional moment. After doing that, I feel like I can perform anything, anywhere, for anybody.
Click to expand...

Sorry for your loss, but good point. Somber, profound occasions can be extremely difficult even for the most stout among us.

I also don't recommend soloing at your own wedding. Nerve-racking. I barely got through it and nearly forgot lyrics several times.
 
#62
StyleOverShow said:
Depends on the size of the audience..somewhere between 10 to 5000 eye balls, more or less, is manageable.
Click to expand...

For me, it's the total opposite. As a guitar player, I had the chance to play a couple of times for 40k+ crowds, I thought it was a lot more easier than for 500 peeps... Playing for my family is very difficult for me, or smaller crowds. I get a lot more nervous for smaller audiences.
 
#64
I'm basically a ham, so I don't get stage fright. I want to get out there and Do It. Oddly enough, I'll sometimes go through a phase of making mistakes after I've played something a couple dozen times. I'll be cruising along, basically working off muscle memory, when a part of my brain will snap to and say "Hey, what are you doing?" and I'll lose my place for a couple seconds. The audience doesn't notice, but I sure do, and I'll get a moment of stink-eye from the lead guitarist (He's famous for it). And then we go on...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wookieeboy and xUptheIronsx
#67
Crazy_Jake said:
I rarely have nerves before a gig. I found the best way to relax is to be double/ triple sure of all your bass parts. Your performance is the only thing you can control so do everything you can before the gig to ensure you have your material down. This greatly minimizes ( not eliminates) the potential for errors - also accept the fact that despite how much you practice before hand - there will be mistakes - maybe the stage is too dark and you hit the wrong fret - maybe you have a muscle spasm and fall to the stage flapping like a fish - these random occurrences will happen - that's what makes playing live so interesting - how do you respond to mistakes. Did the guitar player just extend the solo? Did the singer miss his cue to come in? Did the drummer drop a stick? A night on stage is worth a week in the garage and will make you a better musician. Embrace it and enjoy it.
Click to expand...

I bolded this (expand the quote) because I think that is a very important observation which I completely agree with.

Originally I was nervous as all heck. But the more you do it the better and easier it gets, and then one day you find yourself just dying to get up there instead of being nervous about it. One time I was ready to coldcock the bassist up there before me, rip his bass of his body and show him how to kick bootay instead of phoning in the funk. Well, I kind of considered it anyway. ;)

The other thing I do is make sure my gear is ready. And I always have a backup rig and some cables and cords in the trunk to solve that irritating "I can't hear anything coming out of the rig" problem. Don't let that happen to you, that WILL ruin your night. Having everything well set up, maintained, tested and backed up relieves a lot of stress.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blueinred
#69
jive1 said:
I was an awkward kid that grew up in a strange family. I had to deal with embarrassment at a young age on a regular basis. Makes missing a note during a song feel like nothing.

The most stage fright I ever had was when I performed a solo version of 'Godspeed' by the Dixie Chicks at my daughter's funeral. Although it was a supportive audience, they were all sober and attentive for a very emotional moment. After doing that, I feel like I can perform anything, anywhere, for anybody.

Sometimes our imagination makes things worse than the reality ever could be. Save your imagination for the creativity of the show, not for dreaming about what can go wrong and the 'tragedies' that may result.
Click to expand...
About 10 years ago I took a opener gig at a local beach bar, the first one I had had out in a long time. I was as nervous as I could be. This guy PMed me a pic of a famous "movie" star that took all the JJ itters away. Of course, that PM got lost in the last conversion, so don't bother asking. :)
 
#70
I used to have a huge fear of speaking in public when I was younger. You can imagine how nervous I was at my first gig. After a few of years of gigging, I rarely get nervous, I do get excited, but that's different. The benefit now is I am not afraid to speak in public forum neither :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Helix
#71
I don't get very nervous about playing bass, but I run sound for the band and that usually gives me more stress than playing. Usually because set up runs late and I need to pull it all together quickly at the end. Why does it run late? Because no matter how early we start setting up, there seems to be a let up in the effort once we reach a certain point and progress slows. I had a chat with the offenders regarding this and they now have more clearly defined tasks to perform so it's not all on me.

I generally feel prepared to play because I try to practice at least a little - mainly new stuff - every day. Then I try to hit at least a handful of different "old" songs in rotation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BFunk
#74
1 Beer or a Shot is fine about 1/2 hour before stage time. But honestly, what has helped me a lot is Karaoke. This gives me plenty of confidence building stage time between gigs, and so now when it comes time for bass, I can be a performer, rather than a scared figure hiding behind 10 pounds of wood.
 
#76
Know the material inside out.

I remember when I first learned this... I HATE, no DREAD public speaking. I had to do an oral report in school. Was so scared that I called in sick for a couple of days but eventually it was my turn. It just so happened that the topic I was doing was on "allergies". This was a topic I knew inside out having grown up with all kinds of allergies and years in doctors offices and meds, etc... I was so scared at first but when I started it was pretty easy. Knowing the topic so well really made it easy.

I've found the same to be true musically as well. Know your instrument, know your tunes and you'll be fine.
 
#77
I just played an open mike night the other day, which I haven't done for a while. I was surprised at how nervous I was. It definitely feels different, to me, than playing with a group, as the focus is all on me in that situation, and there's no real cover if I screw up. With a group, there's more going on and mistakes are somewhat less obvious ... things keep chugging along regardless of whether I forget a part or have to lay out for a few bars or whatever. And if I forget the words, I can look over at one of the other players and say, "Take it around one time!" (Band mates love it when that happens, right? :D).

I'm not actually all that prone to screwing up, but we all do on occasion, and that does seem to be the main worry for me. So the other night I just picked some songs that I can play in my sleep, and got through them fine, even though I felt a little jangly the whole time. It seemed to go over pretty well. I expect I'll be a little more comfortable if I do it again, which I plan to - it's a good outlet apart from playing with the band, and reinforces my confidence. Actually was kind of fun, overall, despite the nerves. :bassist:
 
#78
I find that alcohol is counterproductive and can cause the very mistakes/miscues that I might be nervous about.

I do my best to prepare: rehearsal, knowing the material if I'm filling in, and investing in my own musical knowledge/chops/technique/etc so I'm as comfortable as I can be no matter what happens. But, the most important thing for me is to remember that I'm a perfectionist--but music is a living, breathing, and inherently imperfect thing. We've had one or two major situations, where the guitarist started playing a different song than the rest of the band--but we know our following so well that we can stop the song, laugh about it with the audience for a moment, and then move on.

Great example--I was at the Taylor Swift concert in DC last night (cough with my daughters). She got onto this apparatus that was supposed to lift her up high over the crowd, but it jammed after only lifting up a few feet. It wouldn't go up, and it wouldn't go down--a MAJOR problem for such a scripted production as hers. So she was stuck on this thing with only her microphone and her guitar, and she made it look completely easy. She was a total pro--she played a song on the guitar, then asked over the main PA for her roadies to set up her keyboard on the platform and she played a couple more songs, still stuck up there. She laughed and joked about how her crew was telling her in her IEM's that she might be stuck up there forever. She turned what could have been a total disaster into a great moment just by being relaxed and engaged with her crowd.

So for me the answer is just being loose, accepting imperfection, and being connected to the crowd.

Tom

PS I bet Taylor Swift had some choice words for her road crew later tho....
 
  • Like
Reactions: hrodbert696
#79
Last time I has a case of nerves before a show was an artist showcase set in front of a bunch of record label muckety-mucks in 1995. The band I was in at the time actually *did* have something to prove. It was a self-inflicted trainwreck... the ones who didn't crack under pressure tried to cover for the ones who did, with disastrous results.

After that, I don't care anymore who's watching... I just play my best every time. (and be thankful my livelihood is not dependent upon my performance)
 
#80
Be prepared. Muscle memory is a powerful tool. I little nervous antisipation makes me play better. If I am not a little nervous something is wrong. Really know your material, especially the first couple songs.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back