Wish me luck!

Nickie

Nickie

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In the morning, I will be playing for the audience at my church for the first time. A lot of them are my friends, but some very good musicians play there. I'll be accompanying the kids singing Xmas songs. I'm still pretty new at this, and want the songs to be perfect, so I'm nervous, and ran short of practicing time the last couple of days. I've beat on the strings so much that my fingers are sore, so I'm going to bed. If I don't get so embarrassed I have to leave town, I'll let you all know how it went. (I'm the third ukulele player to perform there, and the other two are trained and accomplished musicians, I'm really amateur... but at least I'm not in competition, Yay!) Please send me some good energy!
 
You'll do well! :)
 
Give it your best and I'm sure God will be pleased. Most churches I've attended are pretty supportive. Most in the congregation will understand not everyone can be musical "pros". And of course the kids will probably be the center of attention, so no worries, eh? :)
 
I'm guessing by the time I write this you'll have performed by now, hope it went well. We await your verdict ;)

By the way what songs did you perform?
 
Thanks for your support, everyone! I sucked, my mind went blank and my hands went numb, and my heart about jumped outta my chest. But the audience loved my audacity! And the kids were great. I asked the lead guitar player how you get over stage fight, and he said "You don't, but you get used to it." Wise words to remember, and I'm gonna do it again, because I love the kids and I'm such a ham!
 
MrKempo said:
I'm guessing by the time I write this you'll have performed by now, hope it went well. We await your verdict ;)

By the way what songs did you perform?
Click to expand...

Oops, sorry. We did Jingle Bells (easy) Rudolph (easy) and We Wish you a Merry Christmas (I don;t EVER wanna play it again!)
 
good on ya for having a go, you are a great sport. merry christmas
 
Nickie said:
Thanks for your support, everyone! I sucked, my mind went blank and my hands went numb, and my heart about jumped outta my chest. But the audience loved my audacity! And the kids were great. I asked the lead guitar player how you get over stage fight, and he said "You don't, but you get used to it." Wise words to remember, and I'm gonna do it again, because I love the kids and I'm such a ham!
Click to expand...

Stage fright = Performance Anxiety. We've all had it. I got over mine by remembering a quote from Miles Davis: "Mistakes? There are none." I was always so worried that I was going to make a mistake. So I just told myself, "You're going to make a mistake." I do, from time to time. I played a solo in church once and I knew I had played a blooper. I asked a couple of very good musicians in the congregation about it and they said they didn't hear one. The best way to avoid performance anxiety is to be prepared and then just concentrate on the actual music as much as possible--also, don't day dream. That sounds incredible, but it's easy to do even with a large audience. FWIW
 
Woo-hoo! Congrats on the successful gig! Addictive, aren't they? :)

I've been playing music professionally on and off for over 25 years, and I make mistakes all the time. I just get better at covering them up. :)

Stage fright is basically due to all the "what ifs" your brain throws at you. After you do it long enough, all of the things you worry about happening to you have actually happened to you, and you've discovered that it's no big deal when they do. In other words, the more you gig, the more good answers you have to the "what ifs". That's how you get used to it.

JJ
 
Thanks everyone. You have helped me a lot! I'm ready to go to work on the next gig!
 
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