so i did my first open mic performance last night

NukeDOC

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they way it works at this place is everyone that wants to perform has to put their name in a hat, and if your name gets picked, you get to pick what time you wanna perform. needless to say, not everyone gets to perform. so im the second to the last name to be picked. i pick the second to the last time slot. 10:50pm. good, because by then people are pretty much on their way out and only the hard core are still there.

i played "something" by the beatles. and halfway through the second chorus, my nerves were getting the best of me, my fingers started to shake, i was trying my best to just feel the music and roll with it but it wasnt happening. then it happened. i totally forgot the next chord. and i very loudly said "AHH!" lol.

so i have this stage freight problem that ive seriously been trying to get over for the sake of the band. i want to perform. i love to perform. but i need to get over these nerves. any tips out there other than "just gotta keep doing it"? dont worry i will. just any secret tips any of you have im willing to try... well, anything short of illegal drugs, that is haha.
 
Hey no worries Nuke, everyone gets those stage jitters. Heck Aldrine gets nervous sometimes before big gigs too. What helps me sometimes is just to realize that people don't have a memory for the mediocre. They only remember things that are really good, or really really really bad. If you forget a chord or 2, or the words, chances are, you'll be the only person who remembers that you did by the end of the night.

I played a gig at the Mai Tai bar, which is one of the biggest night spots in Honolulu and TOTALLY forgot the 2nd verse to a song. Not only that, I picked the riff in the WRONG key. Oh well. I was embarrassed for a while, but when i got home, i just figured, meh noone is going to remember me by tomorrow. And that was 2 years ago and still no one has come up to me and said, "Hey you're that guy who was playing at the Mai Tai bar and totally f'ed up on that one song you were trying to sing!"

Just enjoy being on stage and be grateful to everyone listening. The rush of being on stage and seeing a crowd into your music is one of the best highs imaginable.
:D
 
i will be totally honest...
before a bigshow i ALWAYS get a bad case of nasea...
when this happens i talk to myself in my head...hahaha
i pray... then i got through everything in my head...
usually when i go on i am still a bit uneasy...
but i look at the crowd and boom...
i just go for it...
if i mess up i just laugh it off...
 
.... And that was 2 years ago and still no one has come up to me and said, "Hey you're that guy who was playing at the Mai Tai bar and totally f'ed up on that one song you were trying to sing!"
...

Oh! That was YOU ? :p

rayan is right. People will only remember things that they really didn't like or things that they really loved.

I think the only advice I have besides "keep at it" is A) even if you screw up, try not to let it show and B) think about why you love what you are doing instead of what people will think if you screw up.

I think most audience members love to see someone enjoying themselves, not neccesarily a perfect performance, so just think about giving them what they want.
 
I think the only advice I have besides "keep at it" is A) even if you screw up, try not to let it show and B) think about why you love what you are doing instead of what people will think if you screw up.

I think most audience members love to see someone enjoying themselves, not neccesarily a perfect performance, so just think about giving them what they want.
thats exactly it. i love doing it. i love showing it off. but at the same time i want to show how beautiful the uke can sound to people that have never given it a second thought. so i think thats where the pressure is coming from. i dont really care what the other people think of me or if they remember me or not. its not so much about me, as it is that im afraid im not doing the music justice. ya know?
it so weird how i live for that show, but my body tries its best to get me off of it! hahaha. but there are some great suggestions here. and trust me im going to try everything until i find something that works. so keep em coming. please! haha
 
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First of all, congratulations on playing your first open mic. Awesome. It's great that you are confronting this fear head-on.

I don't really think one conquers the stage fright beast. I think if you're not anxious and nervous being up on stage, then something is wrong. I have played out at least 500 times and I get nervous before each one.

Anxiety comes because we are afraid of not meeting expectations. If we are not afraid of not meeting expectations, then that may mean we don't care about giving a good show. It's great that you're nervous. It shows that you care about your audience.

The key is to convert that energy into something useful. You have to ride it, you can't fight it. Fighting it will only make it worse. Let it fuel your performance. Sometimes the high that we get after a performance is directly related to how nervous we are before the show.
 
First of all, congratulations on playing your first open mic. Awesome. It's great that you are confronting this fear head-on.

I don't really think one conquers the stage fright beast. I think if you're not anxious and nervous being up on stage, then something is wrong. I have played out at least 500 times and I get nervous before each one.

Anxiety comes because we are afraid of not meeting expectations. If we are not afraid of not meeting expectations, then that may mean we don't care about giving a good show. It's great that you're nervous. It shows that you care about your audience.

The key is to convert that energy into something useful. You have to ride it, you can't fight it. Fighting it will only make it worse. Let it fuel your performance. Sometimes the high that we get after a performance is directly related to how nervous we are before the show.
seeso, thanks for the pep talk. i knew you had a lot of stage experience. so it means a lot. but of course i say that not with the intention of belittling all the other great suggestions here so far!

thinking about making a poll with the following:

what experiences do you have associated with your stage fright?
*sweaty palms
*knees shaking to the point you cant stand
*fingers shaking like you just pounded 4 triple espressos
*sweat dripping down your brow into your eyes
*voice crackling and shaking (no i dont mean vibrato either hehe)
*nausea
*flatulation
*urge to urinate
*memory lapse
*crying (hehehe)
*clumsiness
 
Gees....I get nervous playing my uke for my dog. I don't want to let him down....he has very high expectations for me..ha. Seriously...I admire the fact that you at least got up there and tried. Each time it will get easier for you. Just look at it like each time is just "practice" for some really important show 5 years from now..

Also know that the audience are humans and deep down they admire anyone's courage to get up on stage in front of a large group of people....we all know it takes a lot courage...props to you Nuke!
 
I get nervous playing my uke for my dog.

I get like that sometimes when playing. I use to do alot of theater when I was younger and I always got shakey hands and blotchy. That ended after my first few plays.

I get 2 or 3 people I don't know around me when I try to play now and I get the same way :( I don't really try to play for people or at least not yet. Hopefully the more I do that the easier it'll get.
 
Oh well. I was embarrassed for a while, but when i got home, i just figured, meh noone is going to remember me by tomorrow.

This is so true. Unless your famous, ppl are there to just enjoy your music, not you. Focusing on your material instead of your anxiety will get you thru it.
 
First of all, I give great credit to anyone that has ever gotten up in front of an audience by themselves and done this.

Nuke - What did you bring with you? Accoustic uke to mic? Or, did you bring uke with pickup to plug in? I know every place that does open mic's will be different, but I am thinking about working up a couple of tunes that might be ready to put in front of people. Knowing something about others' experience will be helpful to keep my overall stage fright down.

I have performed in front of people before (it has been longer than many of you have been alive, your might notice that I am in that over 40 group on age poll in another post). But I have never performed completely by myself. Guitar duet, three piece band (guitar, bass, drums), larger bands in high school and college. Getting up there all by myself the very first time with nothing but me and my uke is going to take a little extra intestinal fortitude.
 
First of all, I give great credit to anyone that has ever gotten up in front of an audience by themselves and done this.

Nuke - What did you bring with you? Accoustic uke to mic? Or, did you bring uke with pickup to plug in? I know every place that does open mic's will be different, but I am thinking about working up a couple of tunes that might be ready to put in front of people. Knowing something about others' experience will be helpful to keep my overall stage fright down.

I have performed in front of people before (it has been longer than many of you have been alive, your might notice that I am in that over 40 group on age poll in another post). But I have never performed completely by myself. Guitar duet, three piece band (guitar, bass, drums), larger bands in high school and college. Getting up there all by myself the very first time with nothing but me and my uke is going to take a little extra intestinal fortitude.

i was plugged into their system. my uku has a passive pickup in her, so i ran my line into my pre-amp before running into their system. worked out fine. but my settings at home were a little different from the settings i should have made for their system, because i was shooting for a fatter tone. all in all though i got my point across and did my performance (with an embarrassing hiccup in the middle).

good luck on yours. im planning on doing it again on monday to keep working on my stage fright.
 
hey duke i don't really play the uke in front of people, but i've freestyled (hip hop) in front of big crowds and i get the same way. The thing I feel the most is jittery nerves and then feel a lot of heat in my head.

I think the best way to get rid of it is get a good start on whatever you're performing, and once you realize you start doing well you just gotta take notice to it. If you like it, i'm sure other people will too, unless you have terrible taste which i'm sure you don't. Once you get that first flow of chords out and you feel you played it well then it just comes out much easier. Kinda hard to explain, but that's how it works for me when i battle :D
 
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