how do you cope with the pressure of performing?? I myself can say i get very very very very very very very anxious before i perform to even 10 people. I flip out and either dont do it or make a massive fool of myself.
Next semester our school will be having a jam in the PAC at lunchtime every thursday, so i'll be playing my songs to the people every thursday. But, i honestly reckon i wont be able to cope with the pressure, an i know there are a few people with handy tips about performing, so spit em out!

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riley

Haha, that's awesome, Riley!! I wish our school had something that cool.

And performing for me is one of the things that gives me the most amount of joy around, despite the nervousness I feel beforehand.

What I do to cope with the nervous feelings before I perform, is just know that no matter what happens up there, I will make it fun in some way or another. If your goal is to just simply have FUN, then your performance is guaranteed to be better. I sometimes joke around with the audience and ask them to give me a beat by clapping so I can do some soloing. It's always SUCH a great experience, and I love each performance that I do more than the last. I have the audience to thank for that, though, because of their support by whooping and hollering when I'm playing. Support from the audience can really boost one's self-esteem.

Another way I calm myself down is saying to myself, "Ariana, calm down. All of these people are just that--people." Knowing that the only thing that separates me from the audience is that I'M the one performing and they're watching usually calms me down. It just makes the audience seem a lot less intimidating, you know? They're just people.

Hopefully some of that can help you out. And just remember to enjoy yourself, for that's the main goal in your whole career in music, isn't it?
Enjoy what you do, and chances are, you'll stick with it and thrive on it for the rest of your life.

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"If it's planned, it's boring." - Freddie Mercury

I remember way back in the old halcyon days of the late 60s wten I was starting to play I used to get wound up with butterflies in my stomach,jitters and the whole issue.Being anxious is normal for everyone when starting gigging.The best thing you can do is to get together with your bandmates or close friends before the gig and have a little pep talk then take the stage with a positive attitude keeping in mind that the audience is there to listen to You and they deserve your best effort. I believe it was Eric Clapton who said to play each note as if that's the only one the audience will hear.The main thing to keep in mind is that you're doing something you love and enjoy it and make sure that you let the audience know that you enjoy entertaining them and you'll have them eating out of your hand.Lots of luck,l'm sure that you're more than capable of handling any gig.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I enjoy being the center of attention so it's not a problem.
Remember that these people came to see/hear you perform. Just do you thing and enjoy it.

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

good advice people's,

i just played 5 songs to my mum on the decking, i went very good compared to last time, and she's the person who i cannot play at my full potentiol to.

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riley

I had a hard time dealing with stage fright at first. The best thing to do to get rid of it is to play in front of people as much as you can. The more you do it, the more normal it becomes and the less scared you get.

And as Khashoggi pointed out, have fun! I remember one gig a few years ago when all I had to do was play drums on a couple of songs. Sunshine of Your Love and Purple Haze. I was seriously messing up on the first one, Sunshine of Your Love. But after that I had a break and I calmed myself down and decided that no matter how many times I messed up on Purple Haze, I would have fun doing it. And actually, with that mentality it was a lot easier to play and I did a lot better.

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IF I ever go on stage to perform for the first time....
I think I will wear a blindfold, smoke a cigarette and convince myself no one is really there, yet pretend I am entertaining an audience.
That may sound psycologically twisted but.. that's the best thing I can think of at the moment.

It's probably no different than riding a bike. Once you get over falling down in front of everyone you're confidence improves.

Riley just get well rehearsed and bite the bullet and go do your best.

You keep doing that until you don't get nervous anymore. You'll get excited, but not nail bitingly nervous.

Once you get bitten by the bug, It's all you'll ever want to do. Nerves won't come into it.

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No no and no

I can empathize. I used to get very nervous, too. It took all of my self control to not run from the stage.

Then I figured something out. The crowd already assumes you know what you're doing. Most of them haven't got a clue about music.

I played a gig once and I was not on my A game. To two guys in front of my amp thought I was great. I said thanks and walked away wondering how they missed all of my mistakes.

Sting said once, if you make a mistake do it twice and the audience will think you did on purpose.

I hope this helps.

Paris

First time I played (in front of my youth group...) I blacked out and had to slouch over on my amp to fully regain consciousness.

I've gotten a lot better about it though...

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Kid: "Hey Smokey! Where did you get your name?"
Smokey the Bear: "Well..."
(former user jimbo612)

Pressure? It's all fun. Just think of it as fun and the pressure goes away. Just clear your head and do what you do best.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

a lot of good suggestions and input here, I have been working my way up to playing at the local blues jam in town here. i played with several of the older guys who are out there and whose playing I respect a lot and mentioned to them that I was about a month or so away from trying it out, just wanting to get better practiced and they all say i am ready now to at least go and lay down some good blues rhythm work, but that my soloing is good enough to give it a go with some slow blues so that was encouraging. I figure nothing to lose but I am still going another week or 2 since I want to play some songs that no one out there is playing to bering some variety.

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

Riley,

All of us have "stage" fright at some point when we are playing. Until you feel comfortable playing in front of people you won't be over it. Small steps, the school thing is a great way to get your feet wet. Also you have postd some stuff on the net, this is a good way to overcome some of the fears.

The big thing is to practice your material and most of all have fun. Take any criticism with a grain of salt. Remember the ones who really bash guitarists are either ones who either cannot play, or ones too affraid to play in front of people.

Just have fun and do it. Yeah there are going to be people that can out-play you, but you have to just accept that. Some day you will be the one who can out play someone, remember back to these days and how you felt.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

niki said it. Just put in plenty of practice on the particular songs you are going to perform. You will be fine.

Good on you, Riley.

Personally, 'play bass at Saturday Mass for 500-1500 weekly, 201 "gigs" so far.

Practice what you will play, keep things short until you do it enough to get looser. Not being a solo act takes away some pressure.

From the US military, modify this for music. "Train like you fight, fight like you've trained.

Best of fortune.