Tips On Performing In Front of An Audience?

Yes, smiling, moving & looking like you're into it goes a long way. Nothing worse than a dead fish up there. At our gigs, my set list always has the opening chord noted, and on some tunes, I list the bridge chords, to ward off the occasional brain fart, it happens.

I always put the note that the song starts with up in the corner. I've got a few that start with a different note than the key it is written in. Nothing makes you wish that you could take it all back and start over like starting a song with a C when you should have started it off with a G.
 
First, congrats on being chosen!
I did a couple of things a while back to deal with this.
1) I formed a trio, then made it a quartet. Safety in numbers. And we're well liked around here.
2) I use humor, to loosen myself up, not just the audience. If it's a free concert, after a few songs I'll ask them something like "How many people feel like you're getting your money's worth?" That usually cracks 'em up.
 
Just a couple things I've found that help:

1) Start by looking over the audience while singing, and lower your eyes little by little.
1a) if there are any little kids in the front, bouncing you what you are playing, look at them. They feel special, and their parents will thank you.

2) If you make a mistake while playing, repeat it. Now, it is no longer a mistake, but a feature of your arrangement.

3) Don't be afraid to close your eyes. Sometimes, I have to do that to visualize the lyrics. I used to have to do it so that I would remember to breathe. Do it for whatever reason you need to. I can assure you, some people will see you doing that, and think it is cool, while others will think you are trying to be Jerry Garcia. All that matters is that you are doing what you want to do.

4) Whatever works, works. If that means visualizing your audience in their underwear, that's fine - but do it during a funny song, because the thought of some of those people nearly naked will make you want to laugh out loud.

5) Have fun. It is neither rocket science, nor brain surgery. it isn't even Brewing Coffee for a drive through at Morning Rush Hour (and I could tell you stories about that!); It is just having fun with your instrument.
 
Practice practice practice practice! When I'm preparing for a show playing with a metronome really helps because it will make your timing sharper and will force you to play in rhythm (some people wander a lot when they play). If metronomes annoy you just Google search an online drum machine and play with that. The key is practicing though; play till your fingers bleed and you can play all the songs in your sleep behind your head with your feet.
 
Practice the song so much that you have it memorized and you are starting to get sick of it. You want to be able to play it and not actively think about what chords/words are coming up next.

From that point it's much easier to manage your emotions and actions on stage. I find that the best performances of mine are when I'm genuinely enjoying listening to the song as I play it.
 
I sing with my eyes closed.... I don't like to see people suffer!
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By now it's already happened. Hope it went well. There's a lot of good advice in this thread.

A few things I've found that help me are:

1) Practice sitting or standing in the position you're going to play in on stage, whether a stool, chair, strap, no strap, etc. I'm quite lazy at home and like to kick back in the recliner. Not a position available outside my living room! Playing in a new position or one I haven't used in a while can be problematic for me.

2) Play the piece the way you practiced it. I have a tendency to try to improvise rather than stick to the script. You can branch out later once you've gotten comfortable with the experience of playing to an audience.

3) Record your intended performance and play it back if you can. Doesn't have to be quality. Cell phone video is fine. You'll see so many things to improve on that you didn't hear while you were playing.

4) Relax, breathe, focus. You've seen so many performers get so wrapped up in what they're playing they don't even know there's an audience out there.
 
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