Those of You Who Don't Play With/For Others

buddhuu

buddhuu

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Deach and Tuscadero (individually, not as a duo... YET!) are getting into the playing-in-front-of-an-audience thing, and Baron did his busking a while back. That is all SO great. :D

Those of you who don't yet play either with, or for, other people, what is stopping you? That's not a rhetorical question intended to imply that you're doing something wrong. It's my genuine curiosity wondering if you feel you need more practice, or if you find it hard to locate receptive venues, or if you have difficulty finding musicians to jam with...

What are the biggest hurdles you'll need to overcome before you can jam/busk/perform?

Maybe you've no desire to play except to strum happily in your bedroom/sitting room/yard.

Nosy sod, ain't I? :eek:
 
I just started playing with a jazz/rock band consisting of drums, bass, guitar, and keyboard. Prior to that, I played mostly by myself at home.

What got me out was recognizing that I wanted to get better at playing music. Lessons had gotten to the point where me and the guy would sit, play, and sing a bit. Then come back next week and do it again.

The band first got together late last year. They were meeting at the same place I was taking lessons and one of them asked me sit in and strum some rhythms with them.

I joined them a couple of months ago and while I'm still "just a strummer" I am definitely part of the band and have learned more about music, song structure, timing, and a host of other things. All because I stepped up when the opportunity presented itself.

We are the house band at the Guitar Merchant and play for friendly crowds at recitals and small parties. I sing (if you want to call it that), strum, and help fill the sound. It's a blast!
 
I realy wanna jam with others, but I don't realy know any other musicans to jam with :p
On the busking matter, I feel I need more practice:p
 
Serious lack of experience and confidence. I'd love to do it, and have a friend at church who, if he has his way, will have me up in front of the congregation before the end of the year...but for now, the idea of even making a youtube video scares the bejeebers out of me.
 
It took me a while to play and sing in front of my family... Its just nerve wrecking.. It took me a while just to play in front of a camera too. Just knowing there is another set of eyes on me make me nervous.. One day :D
 
I've wanted to get together with someone for a jam but I work full-time and was going to college part-time. But I just finished my last final exam *EVER* and so I expect I'll have more time coming up. An old friend of mine has recently been playing the banjo so hopefully one of these weekends I can meet up with him and we can try a little jam.

Regarding an open mic: at first I had no interest in it. Playing the ukulele (and before that, the harmonica) was strictly a personal thing. It was something I did after work and on the weekends to relax and just enjoy myself.

But... I'm beginning to get interested in trying an open mic or maybe busking. Now that I'm considering it though, I'm starting to focus my practice on a few songs. I can play a fair number of songs now all the way through but don't have many of them commited to memory or polished enough for playing in front of anyone other than my wife. I'm thinking in a couple of months once I have a few songs that I can play forward, backwards and upside down, I'll give an open mic a shot.
 
I play for myself. Just the pure enjoyment of stumming and picking. My favorite place to do this is on the porch of my apartment. people walk by all the time and hear me. I guess I don't really feel the need to go out somewhere to show others what I can (or cannot) do with a ukulele. I wouldn't mind jamming with some other musicians and there are groups in my area I just seem to be un able to free up my schedule to go out and jam with them.
 
I've had a long music career as a professional drummer, so I'm really enjoying the self-contained joy of sitting on a porch swing playing my ukulele, without having to concern myself with audiences, bandmates, or the hassle of setting up an entire drumkit. Having played for lots of people over the years, I kinda have that out of my system, and am happy just playing for my own enjoyment.

I may eventually start doing some youtube stuff or performing at parties, but I'm not much of a singer and still a beginner on ukulele, so I would need to feel like I was in a very non-judgmental environment to be comfortable doing that.

After so many years of music being my job, it's an unexpected delight to get back to playing sheerly for fun!
 
Not confident, horrible performance anxiety, and I'm not any good. Yep that pretty much wraps up the trifecta of why I don't play near people!
 
Self confidence, is my downfall. Played Guitar for years and people told me I was good, but when I listen or see myself all I see are my mistakes.
Now I'm a wheelchair user, I feel my stage days are over. I don't mind playing in front of friends, but once it get to strangers, I turn into a jibbering wreck.
Being on UU has boasted my confidence and I'm slowly changing my attitude, even started to post on YouTube, so progress is being made. The strange thing is I'm quite an outgoing person, I think I need hypnotising or something:D
 
It doesn't bother me to strum with a group, but to play in FRONT of a group is intimidating to me for some reason. At the UWC, I had the chance to jump in and strum with several different groups, but there was no way I would have gotten up on that stage. Maybe next year.
 
I think I recommended this book in another thread, but I'll do it again here:

The Inner Game of Music

Perfect for anyone who dreads playing in front of people, or who plays great when practicing but has a trainwreck on stage.

I've had a lot of experience performing in front of others (on piano), but I still found the book extraordinarily helpful in freeing up my improvisation, getting into "the zone", etc.

:shaka:

JJ
 
Eroll, I don't think a wheelchair should disallow you to play uke on stage.. Don't limit yourself!

JJ, thanks for the book recommendation. I saw that the first time you posted it and was very interested but I had forgotten about it. I'll definitely check it out.
 
For me it was not being comfortable with my skills. But I finally did it back on May 9th, first ever open mic. It was fun, but scary. Even though I have performed before on guitar. Hope to do it again this Saturday.
 
I'm a hobby singer and took up the ukulele to have a way of accompanying myself, only to find out that I'm an even worse uke player than I am a singer and that I suffer from BB Kingitis in that I can't really sing and play at the same time.

I do like playing outdoors though, by the lake, enjoying the sunshine, strumming you belong to me in my flip flops. Somehow feels more ukulele-y if that makes sense. Plus the guys sure seem to dig it if you know what I mean (the guys don't seem to dig it).

Also yesterukes is the coolest.
 
Last edited:
UkuEroll said:
Now I'm a wheelchair user, I feel my stage days are over.
Click to expand...
Nonsense. If anything it gives you a slight advantage because, whether it's appropriate or not, people are likely to cut you some slack for your nervousness or mistakes. Take advantage of it! (Plus there's always extra income from lawsuit settlements for those stages that aren't wheelchair-accessible! ;))
 
I am maladjusted, antisocial, and darn mean. :mad:
 
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