While I gently weep

Helms

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Hey guys!

I'm going to play for my entire school tomorrow (~1000 students). Just tiny me, in front of everyone else. While my guitar gently weeps. I know the song in my sleep so playing it is no trouble. The only problem is my nervousity. I'm extremly nervous. What can I do to prevent my nervousity to ruin my playing? (Sorry for gramma mistakes)

EDIT:
I've posted the final result on page 3 of this post .. ;)
I was really nervous so I am very pleased with the outcome.
 
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while I haven't preformed to such a large audience at one time I did preform in front of the school a couple 100 at a time.

but there is no way to prevent the nevousity just handle it :p just don't worry and enjoy the show
 
Hey Helms! You're going to be just fine, as you say you know the song in your sleep! Just be confident in your skills! Good luck! :D
 
You'll do fine. I used to be totally nervous while singing in church and when I started singing and playing guitar it seemed to help me since there was a buffer between me and everyone- at least it seems that way. I don't- knock on wood (ha)- get nervous anymore. Relax and have a wonderful time. If you can have someone do a vid it would be nice as well so you know what to improve for the next time. ;)
 
Hey guys!

I'm going to play for my entire school tomorrow (~1000 students). Just tiny me, in front of everyone else. While my guitar gently weeps. I know the song in my sleep so playing it is no trouble. The only problem is my nervousity. I'm extremly nervous. What can I do to prevent my nervousity to ruin my playing? (Sorry for gramma mistakes)
Tequila.
Works for me. A nice 100% agave reposado...
 
You'll do great out there! Just knock 'em dead with your uber uke skillz!

Mason671
 
Thanks everyone!
My friends at school has been very supportive and with the help from you guys I think/hope I'll do just fine. I've forced myself to do positive thinking instead of constantly going through worst case scenario.
 
You'll do great. I find that the more nervous I get, the better I am in front of audiences (I am nowhere near good enough to be able to play the uke in front of people, but I do have to do public speaking.) Good luck to you!
 
While my experience on stage is with Magic and not music, I would say the same as everyone else. No worries.

Once you start performing, you will get into "the zone" and everything will be fine. As a bonus you will have all that extra adrenaline to enhance your performance.

One thing, if you mess up, make it part of your performance. Do not take it too seriously. Just laugh it off and keep going. The crowd will love it. Makes you more human and allows them to relate to you better.
 
From playing at church a few years ago, my advice is to just go for it and don't stop if you miss a note or a section goes off slightly, just keep playing through it.

The truth is... I doubt anyone will know if you made a mistake or not. It is when a person is insecure/timid in his or her playing that things go bad.

John
 
Thanks again! Really helpful!
Ive never made big mistakes while playing for an audience, but Ive never played in front of more then 40~ people. 1000 people is quite many. But if I succeed (which I hopefully will) it will be an amazing day - no doubt! And not least a great experience.
 
I just wanted to echo what everyone else has said, relax, you'll do fine and have fun!

Good Luck and let us know how it goes :D
 
if you really wanna test your self, i sometimes do this
1. play it through, if i make it all the way through great! (youll probably get this one anyways)
2. if i miss a note then i play sponatneously in the key of that note
3. wing it and play your own interpreted version on that same key
4. if you know its gonna get worse you can end it whenever you want with a finisher of your choice

idk i just kind of do this to challenge my self and see if i can improv-play and still make it sound impressive
 
A lot of "nervousity" (love that word) is in your head. If you go on stage thinking "oh, I hope I don't screw up, I hope I don't screw up" chances are you will be so keyed up that if you make the tiniest mistake - something the audience is very unlikely to even notice - you'll start obsessing over it and things go downhill from there (been there, done that, once).

Instead, you hit the stage with the idea that you are going to be entertaining, and you and the audience are there to have fun. Chances are you won't make mistakes, but even if you make a really big one, it doesn't pull the legs out from under you. What you'll find is that when you hit the stage with this in mind even a "bad day" is okay because you and the audience have fun and that's what they'll remember, not that there was one sour note in the fifteenth measure.

Good luck, and knock 'em dead!

John

Edited to add - I love Clapton's "unplugged" album. On one of the songs he completely boogers up the start and has to wave off the band and start over - they left it on the album. It's very entertaining - and nobody thinks he's a boob 'cause he screwed up once! :)
 
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I did it!
A few mistakes, but nothing that ruined the song overall.
Amazing experience! And people I didn't even know came to me afterwards :)
 
Awesome! It's about dealing with those mistakes so that you're the only one that knows about them. :) Congrats on keeping your head. Stage fright was always my biggest nemesis.
 
Congratulations!!!! I'd love to see your playing... and I only dream of playing that wonderful song. ;)
 
Actually it was recorded by a friend of mine, without me knowing it. So I might post a link later if possible
 
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