This introvert actually sang and played in front of people!

mikelz777

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I am an introvert. I've been playing the ukulele for almost eight years and in that time I've only ever attended a uke gathering once where I was happy to participate but remain an anonymous face in the crowd. I usually sing/play behind closed doors at home and if my wife walked in I'd usually stop playing.

I've actually been trying to coax my wife into learning the ukulele for years. She's never shown the least bit of interest. (Nor have my daughters unfortunately.) Then recently a local DJ announced on his radio show that he was starting up a ukulele club. All of a sudden my wife is interested in trying out the ukulele and wants to attend. She asked me to attend with her but I was hesitant because the "club" was designed for absolute beginners (first meeting was learning the C, F, and G chords) and I didn't know if I should take up a spot since the spaces were limited. I told her I'd go if only for the hope that she would like playing the uke and would want to continue to learn how to play it. I ended up going to support her and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

After the meeting and all the picture taking we hung back to talk with the DJ. My wife had insisted that I bring one of my song books along to show him. He took a look at my book and said that we should play a song together. At that point, how could I refuse? What was weird about it is that normally, I would get really nervous and my heart would start racing. Oddly, I wasn't all that nervous. It's probably because I knew all the songs in my book so well and that I had been playing the uke longer than the DJ had. He chose "The City of New Orleans" to play together. The room we met in at the radio station had a stage in it so we went up on the stage and sang/played together. I guess it also helped my nervousness that the majority of the group had already left so we were only performing for an audience of three. Even so, t was fun!

My take away from the experience is that it may very well have "broken the seal" so to speak. I shouldn't be afraid to sing and play with or for a group of fellow ukulele enthusiasts. Granted, it helped a lot that I was was one of the most experienced players in the crowd and I'm not sure if I'd feel the same way with a room full of like-experienced or better players but I'm left with the itch that I'd like to play/sing with others again. I just need to make the effort of opening up that closed bedroom door and stepping out!
 
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Congratulations! Hard to take that first step. I'm still trying to memorize even a simple song well enough to do it (I pick not strum).
 
Congratulations! I know how you feel. Unfortunately, I have good enough relative pitch to know I can't sing worth ... So, my introvert ways keep me enjoying learning and playing my ukuleles on my own (or with one other close friend). We'll see what the future brings.
 
Good for you. I think that a lot of us have the same story, up against the wall and no good way out of it. But then it gets addicting and you can't quit. You'll probably be on the radio pretty soon.
 
Good on ya! Fact is, most people enjoy hearing a song or two and they're not listening for mistakes. If you're having fun, the audience will, too. Besides, as long as there's at least one other person up there, you've got somebody else to blame ;-)
 
Hey just get out there and do it! I'm not an advanced player by any means,,,,,I wrote a simple song.....I've always kind of put together simple verses and poems......I've written a couple of songs this past few months.......I put cords to one of them.....showed up at a work staff meeting to pass on an a monthly award.....I plugged in my Godin and microphone.....played my first public gig.....work related song....I sucked.....my tempo/timing was all off....but the crowd liked the lyrics and they were gracious.......

If you enjoyed the experience get out there and do some some more.........
 
Hey, way to go!
I give kudos to anyone who has the guts to get up there and belt it out, sing, strum, pick, whatever.
HA, I even blow on a kazoo in front of people now. I hear they're made of wood and sound way better than plastic!
 
Hey, way to go!
I give kudos to anyone who has the guts to get up there and belt it out, sing, strum, pick, whatever.
HA, I even blow on a kazoo in front of people now. I hear they're now made of wood and sound way better than plastic!
 
Mikelz777,
Congratulations! Great on you and I hope your wife continues to play and have a good time.

Playing in a club is a great way to play, sing and makes some friends. In a group, your mistakes are not obvious and pretty much ignored. I've found the ukulele community to be very forgiving of mistakes and singing. I'm an okay singer and a mediocre strummer. But I have fun performing with others or solo on open mike nights.

I get nervous. I make mistakes. But I have fun. And people respond to that. So keep it up. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

Practice one song together, and do a duet with your wife.

Most of all, have fun.
 
A big WELL DONE Mike. The more you do something the more comfortable you become, even if it is just a little bit.

I like Kens idea of you and your wife working towards a duet. Might not want to spring that on her just yet. One thing you will learn is Uke Jam crowds are the most friendly,welcoming, tolerant audiences in the world, you are one of them.
 
Excellent, well done you.
Hope this is only the start, tomorrow... the world!
 
Excellent, it takes great courage. I've done it once in front of some family and friends. Played the first song very badly, then got settled into my stride. But still, the thought of doing it again scares me to death. I'm in a few clubs, but I just mingle in and make up the numbers. What I have done though is to start my own YouTube channel and I've put a couple of songs up. The praise and encouragement from other ukulele players is fantastic. The ukulele community is the nicest group of people, but I'm still terrified of getting up there on my own in front of people.
 
That's great that you enjoyed that experience. As a hard-core introvert, I don't think I'll ever brave it like you did, so I'm very impressed.

How is your wife doing with the ukulele?
 
Keep doing it, and it'll be old hat in no time. At first, I was self concious singing and playing in public. But I got over it, and ended up in a gigging band for 7 years, until my hands crapped out on me. Always love the chance to sing and play uke for friends and family now. Just go for it! Like fab uker Heidi Swedberg says "uke players have no shame!"
 
I understand what you mean about singing before a group. Singing with even one other person makes all the difference, especially with an audience of three.
I might say, not to steal the thread, but if someone is feeling shy and a little unsure of themselves but still see themselves someday going public, a half dozen voice lessons will do a great deal to help the confidence. People who think that they can't sing are often surprised how well they can with just a little coaching.
 
Keep doing it, and it'll be old hat in no time. At first, I was self concious singing and playing in public. But I got over it, and ended up in a gigging band for 7 years, until my hands crapped out on me. Always love the chance to sing and play uke for friends and family now. Just go for it! Like fab uker Heidi Swedberg says "uke players have no shame!"

Oh I have plenty of shame both real AND imagined! :D
 
That's great that you enjoyed that experience. As a hard-core introvert, I don't think I'll ever brave it like you did, so I'm very impressed.

How is your wife doing with the ukulele?

So as a fellow introvert you totally understand the internal tug of war. There's a part of you that really wants to go out and do it and then there's another part that succumbs to fear and relishes the comfort of staying in the background. I think I was near the tipping point that night and being put on the spot pushed me over to the "do it" side. It's weird when you think about it because it doesn't seem as if it should be that hard. It took less than 2 minutes! It turned out to be fun and it wasn't nearly as bad as the fearful part of my brain was telling me.

The jury is still out on my wife. She is my opposite, an extrovert. I think her initial desire to go to these club meetings was the lure of a local market celebrity leading the group and the fun of learning with a big group of people. (The first meeting was limited to 40 people) Plus it was an opportunity for us to do something together even though I've been trying to coax her to learn for years. It's certainly an illustration of the contrast in our personalities. Me - let me teach you one on one (introvert). Her - come with me to learn with a big group of people (extrovert). I'm still hopeful but I'm not sure she truly wants it enough to push through the "tedium" of learning enough to play and wanting to continue improving. It's still very early in the process and I'm being supportive so I'm hoping for the best. She's been taking piano lessons the last several years and that's been a slow go. I'm hoping she'll discover that the ukulele is so much easier to learn and she likes to sing so it would seem to be the perfect pairing.
 
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So as a fellow introvert you totally understand the internal tug of war. There's a part of you that really wants to go out and do it and then there's another part that succumbs to fear and relishes the comfort of staying in the background. I think I was near the tipping point that night and being put on the spot pushed me over to the "do it" side. It's weird when you think about it because it doesn't seem as if it should be that hard. It took less than 2 minutes! It turned out to be fun and it wasn't nearly as bad as the fearful part of my brain was telling me.

I don't think it is uncommon for people to have that fear. A lot of performers never escaped it. They have just learned to charge head long through the fear. I actually think that overcoming that fear and putting oneself out there is the thing that makes it so addicting. I think that performers are adrenaline junkies, they're all scared, or crazy, one or the other.
 
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