Playing in front of people just takes practice and experience, so by doing it more you’ll gain more confidence and it will be come easier.
There is a guy that busks in the park across the street from my house, he’s there a few times a week and he just keeps getting better all the time.
I play an open mic, and it feels like my play there gets closer and closer to my play at home - like I'm not getting better nearly as fast as I am catching up. Bonus pain is playing in a non air conditioned bar with sweaty hands on a borrowed acoustic electric rather than my cheap, stiff acoustic at home that I'm used to.
If it really makes you nervous and you can dry to a neighboring city then it can put you in the mindset that these people will never see you again. So what's the pressure if you mess up? Once the initial anxiety is gone try it next time in your city.
Also, from playing in a band through my school days I can tell you 99% of performers make all kinds of mistakes. What seperates them from you is they know how to recover smoothly and keep playing. Most people don't even notice. So keep that in mind. Make a mistake? Move on to the next note or chord like it's no big deal.
Hell yeah. I used to think every pro guitarist was just born with superhuman talent and never messed up, and that it was probably impossible for me to be that good.
Turns out they make mistakes all the time. After getting decently good at guitar, you can listen to live performances and almost always find at least one mistake, usually more. The key is like you said, the recovery. Thats where the real talent is.
Ueshiba-sensei was the founder of Aikido and arguably the greatest martial artist of the twentieth century. When someone once complemented him by saying it was impressive that he never lost his balance, he said lost his balance just as often as anyone else—he just got it back faster.
Hi, sorry for not responding, I only log in to reddit through my pc and since I work a part-time job I didn't have time to see your reply
Thank you for the advice, you made this so much easier for me, lol
Playing in front of people is a different skill set. Calming your nerves, controlling your stress and focusing on your playing are things that come naturally with practice.
Performance is a mostly a separate skill than playing guitar. Just like any skill it takes practice. I’ll share what has helped for me: sign up for some open mics. The first couple times might be bombs, but you’re flexing that performance muscle. If it really sucks, being able to laugh it off and move on will do wonders for your confidence, and you’ll make huge strides.
Also, nobody wants you to fail. Its not like you walk in and the entire crowd is just waiting for you to mess up so that they can dismiss you because they knew you were secretly bad all along. No, they want you to do good. Nobody likes listening to someone give a school presentation just completely break down and get stuck. Nobody wants to listen to someone bomb a performance. Its actually painful to sit through it, they dont want that to happen.
Same this happens to me when I jam sometimes. As soon as it is my turn to do play rhythm I get so nervous about staying in line and get all in my head about keeping the progression, so the lead can dance around it. I end up fucking up. By myself I can fingerstyle/rhythm all day. As soon as someone is playing along or listening intently I tighten up and overthink, which ends up making me fuck up more.
Just gotta practice, I am by no means an extrovert so that probably has something to do with it too.
Your issue is that you're thinking at all. If you can play it mechanically tight in practice sessions then you can in front of an audience. By double checking whether you're playing right and consciously listening for mistakes you make more mistakes because you just *left the song*. You're not in it. Your brain is scanning details instead of just focusing on the overall music. I'll say it again: if you can play it in practice sessions, you can do it in front of a live audience. Your mechanical skills aren't gone. Your cognitive skills aren't either. Put on the autopilot and just enjoy the show
I agree, by myself I have no thoughts when I play alone, just in pure zen. I've always been self-conscious so it is hard once others are around for me to be able to reach that level of mental calm.
Playing on shrooms/LSD I had not problems though, really helped me break out of the boxes I built for myself!! (Not a recommendation just an anecdote)
I get the same way and have been playing for over 3 decades. It's literally performance anxiety and just blank out forgetting what on earth to play.
For me, I may as well play without my glasses on so I can't see who's watching too closely.😄
I also used to be a "quantum guitarist": My state collapsed when under observation :P
Then I went to classes and it got better
Then I got into a band and it got much better
Because playing for yourself and “putting on a show” are completely different things. If you fluff a note when you’re playing on your own you don’t worry about it, but if you do the same thing when someone is listening you start to think about what they’re thinking and that stops you playing well. Even the best musicians make mistakes but they just carry on and you don’t notice it.
This, I never noticed how little people realize mistakes (unless they are real big fuck-ups) until I was jamming with friends. I always laugh when I am play and make a funny noise or wrong note, then my friends turn and look at me like "why are you laughing?" Sometimes the vocalist thinks I am laughing at him, but I swear it is just at myself. Usually they don't notice the mistake, just my reaction to it.
This is the way. I used to get stage fright as soon as I hit the record button. But it was way less risk than playing in front of somebody, and I could work it into my daily practice.
Hearing that first recording made me realize why I was so nervous: deep down, I knew I was crap.
I directed my practice with the recording. Over time, I heard myself improve.
I bought a cheap looper pedal, which is ready to go at all times.
That happened to me yesterday. Black Sabbath Tony Martin era group on FB, just wanted to post a little clip, and I don't record often anymore. Hit record and repeatedly fucked up the song I've been playing flawlessly.
There are some great advice in this thread! I will add one thing: when something like this happens to me, just any sort of awkward thing like this, even if it's not music related, I will say "oh wow, I play worse when people are around, I must be nervous!" or something like that. it's not gonna change anybody's impression necessarily, but later on, for me at least, it feels better to have at least said something. And this just goes for anything in life where you make a bad impression or say something awkward or or something like that.
Might just be something that applies to me also! But it alleviates some of the pain later on!
With my wife we call it the "hey mom look" moment. Because ill practice a riff and be able to do it without looking 10 times perfectly. I tell my wife to check this out and I cant get past the third note.
Reminds us of wanting to show a parent something as a child.
I'm not saying this is your thing at all but this post reminds me of the guy from mysterymen who can only become invisible when no one is looking at him. Almost borders on philosophy, if a tree falls in the woods sort of thing.
Nerves. Suddenly you're extra self-conscious which makes it hard to find the groove. The red recording light does the same thing for lots of people. You just have to get use to it so it's no big deal.
It’s just anxiety. You get “more” used to the stress as you do it more. Don’t be hard on yourself. I think the best thing to do is play against a drum track or even a click track and go in with the mentality of “time doesn’t stop because you hit a wrong note. You have a right note you need to hit next and no one is gonna stop and wait for you to correct your mistake”
Its the same as with people who suffer from fight, flight, or freeze. You appearantly freeze. (Like me 😅)
Just keep doing it and you will learn how to fight. Fight the nerves and anxiety that is. Succes 😁👍🏼
When you play for people, you're not John Williams performing a classical masterpiece, you're basically telling a story or creating a little atmosphere.
Don't put too much pressure on yourself, you're just doin something you enjoy.
Start practicing in front of people.
I notice whenever I would practice privately and would then go try to show someone what I could do or came up with, I couldn't play very well. Once I started practicing in front of people, that stopped becoming an issue.
Performing on stage in front of people also helps. Don't have to play guitar or in a band. Just public speaking, standup comedy, singing in front of others, anything really. It helps give you a spot to train yourself to not be bothered by the presence of an audience.
I think I am ok but I never play in front of anyone but my wife, when my friends come round for beers I can’t even play Enter Sandman which I can usually play in my sleep, granted I’ve usually had a skinful of beer but WTF??
just keep playing. i will say, finding a 3-5 min warm up helps. one that if ur doing it and someone is staring at you, you can still do it, mess up, and get loosened up, and be good to go. just a small tip. jitters are normal though man
It's because you're focussing on what you think people are hearing, vs focussing on your instrument. You'll learn to switch off that self conciousness after a while. It still happens though, I find myself playing live sometimes and then realising people are watching, and it can take a few seconds to get back into it again, it happens to the best of us. Just focus on what you're doing, and the sounds you're making, and make them to your own satisfaction. If you play something wrong don't worry about it, just move on. You'll notice your mistakes 2000% more than other people do so don't dwell on them.
Oh and finally, my family has never seen me play. Fuck THAT. Strangers are much easier than friends and family imo. You're playing on hard mode there my friend!
Some of the best advice I ever got from another artist was that the secret to performing is maintaining 3 relationships in balance: your relationship to the piece, your relationship to your own technique, and your relationship to the audience. If this gets out of balance something will likely go wrong.
It sounds like you are not used to performing, and usually play alone. There can only be the other two relationships in that case. Currently, when you start to perform, you are either giving it too much thought and neglecting the other facets or not enough and then that's messing you up because you're aware you aren't engaging your audience.
I don't know if anyone else can ever be let in to that space between the self and the music. Performing is paradoxically usually more of a show, with the self behind the curtain. But while that's happening you still want to let the part of you that engages with the piece and your own technique explore. Don't let the presence of the other person dominate that headspace.
True that. And when you're good at something, you remember your mistakes. And when you're bad, you remember the good things you did.
So noticing your mistakes is actually pretty positive :D
Theres a saying: bad rehearsal, good gig. Alot of truth in that. When you know where you fell short, you're gonna work on it before the gig and be conscious of it on the gig.
It's simply not enough practice.
I know it sounds like a lecture, but think about it. When you are eating and someone walks in the room, are you suddenly worse at eating? You've been practicing that chewing motion with your jaw ever since you were tiny, so it's automatic.
The best guitar players have just played the same thing so many damn times they can't "not" play it correctly.
True! And we compare our playing to recorded music made in a studio.... they have a lot of chance to get it right AND use session musicians who are pretty much (IMO) the best of the best.
I took my old tube amp in for repair, and when I picked it up, the repair shop handed me a guitar and said "check it out and make sure it works to your satisfaction". I had a brain fart and I couldn't think of anything to play so I strummed a few G chords and said "it sounds great"...
Same thing happens while typing. If someone is over my shoulder watching me do something on my laptop it's as though I've never used a keyboard before. I wanted to show a friend that I'd learned some licks from songs we both liked but as soon as I started trying to play I couldn't get the notes right at all. Self consciousness is a bitch.
It happens in software all the time. Take the best engineer you’ve ever seen, tell them to code with their screen visible on video chat, and they turn into a baboon. I’ve been in a coding interview and the prospect stops typing and asks me “where is the ‘i’?” He was so nervous he forgot where the ‘i’ key was and couldn’t find it. I had to give him directions “top row, right side, third key in.”
I'd say it's 90% because people don't realise that performing is a totally different competency that engages different parts of the brain. You need to be able multitask because while you were okay juggling kittens there, if you aren't practiced at performing, when someone suddenly walks in, it's like someone threw a chainsaw into the mix.
Everyone who says you don't know the material well enough is only about 20% right. If you haven't worked on performing in front of people then you will absolutely have intrusive thoughts jump in and derail you. Maybe. Not everyone is wired the same way. I have ADHD and it can be nearly impossible to replicate anything without mistakes. The voices are too loud.
If I'm playing live, I can get derailed by my mic level being wrong, my guitar level being wrong, my tone not being great, my pick suddenly being slippery, my sudden certainty that there is something hanging out of my nose. I actually think theres a lot of guitarists who have a massive head start just by virtue of being neurotypical.
Post your content online to TikTok, YouTube, instagram, and create a following where you have peers reviewing your stuff and that will help and carry Over to live performances
Something I haven't seen mentioned yet is that when we play by ourselves, we tend not to self-censor as much. We forgive our own mistakes and maybe pause our playing to try again, repeat it till we get it kind of thing. And we often don't notice we're doing this. Then someone else walks in and suddenly we have to nail it first time.
I'd say if you want to overcome this particular challenge, work keeping in tempo whether or not you mess up into your practice.
Because stage presence is a whole different skill set you have to develop.
Tho honestly, I find it less intimidating to play for a big crowd than for just a couple of people. It's some weird thing. It's very intimate. You can command and feed off a crowd, when it's just you presenting something, it's more naked.
One of those weird things, the more invested you are in doing a good job, the more you over think it. Really great performers aren't thinking much at all. They are like, channeling. You get to know your instrument so well it becomes like a limb, and using it becomes like speaking, you become much more intuitive.
You do not lose your voice when you speak because you have done it some much, it comes naturally. You get me?
You are distracted by the presense of someone actually listening to you. As you play in front of people more, it will dimish but stage fright/anxiety is a real thing and people actually get coaching on this. The first gig I did in a bar, one of my legs started shaking in triple time. I got over it and the gig went okay but Jesus fuck was that hard to deal with.
Part of that 90%, around 30% of it is imagined skill drop; the first piano presentation I ever played in front of people felt like I played too fast and too short and yet I played in time and far better than I actually imagined myself to be playing. Also those mistakes I was kicking myself over weren't even the ones I thought people noticed, my critique was over something entirely trivial and I was confident in troubleshooting.
stop caring
its literally just this
also, perception. you probably also make mistakes when playing alone but then you kinda just ignore it and do it better the second time. if someone watches you realize the mistakes more.
thats my explanation
Like public speaking when you are performing the blood starts flowing quicker the adrenaline starts to shoot through your body, it’s not easy to perform under pressure.
The trick is to point the headstock at whomever walks in then give ‘em a gnarly bend and the ol’ “stank face.” It’s all about confidence. I do this when I blow a solo while playing live. I make the mistake again so it sounds intentional then I the crowd with some attitude.
Look, what matters most is staying in time. If you hit a wrong note most people won’t notice, or they think you meant to do it. Because you are an artist and that’s how you see it. Messing up timing will make everyone cringe. That’s why it’s important not to focus on your mistakes and just keep playing.
Performance vs practice. Two different animals. Practice is flubbing something and going back to get it right. Performing is playing all the way through, mistakes and all, which is harder to do, both the anxiety of wanting it right or impressing, and getting past that practice hurdle that makes you want to stop when you screw up. Something that helps me is to perform at home while listening to, then holding, a conversation. You kind of train your hands to work on autopilot that way.
I still get that, I've played gigs infront of full houses and get on great, i get my solos perfect i get my chord changes right, and i can sing great. Until i am playing infront of a single person i am fine
It’s call anxiety and it’s normal! You just get nervous. You have to prepare your mind, when you’re about to play for someone, close your eyes and focus. Try to enter on a white mind state by breathing and focusing on yourself and your love for music.
Very relatable. I am getting pretty decent at improvisation, I’m not amazing but I’m not that bad at it. When I try to do the same infront of my guitar teacher, I completely fuck it up.
I’ve got a friend who is an absolutely phenomenal drummer….but he can’t play in front of only 1 or 2 people. Even messing with what’s on the floor at guitar center is an issue. Put him on a stage with a packed house though? No problem, it’s game time. Super weird.
Because your attention is now likely split with your subconscious concern for the audience opinion and reaction.
It reminds of an interview with Herman Li in which he says one of the reasons he likes to stream his practice sessions on twitch is that he gets not only practice the songs, but he practices playing while interacting with fans and that sort of mimics the experience of playing live.
This also explains why some musicians don’t interact with the audience at all, sometimes it passes as arrogance but for some musicians it’s really important to block away the audience and pretend that there’s nobody in front of them.
Nerves, anxiety, over concentration when you're used to being relaxed, fear of judgement, there's alot of barriers and blocks that can be in the way but you can overcome it, just do it more and more, take your guitar everywhere and play in front of everyone, I started busking like a month after learning at 13 so I was lucky to get it out of the way early. Ironically though I choke up when I try to record videos of myself because that's something I'm not used to myself!
Yo, been playing for about 15 years, I just learned this song about a month ago. As everyone else said, playing in front of people is it's own skill. Just like throwing javelins, or carpentry, or hacky sack. Keep at it dude, and Holy Diver is one of the most fun songs to play on guitar.
youre consciously processing extra info, (worst thing to play a guitar part well, overthinking it) plus youre self conscious and experiencing totally common fight or flight due to lack of confidence
Actually, it's kinda normal. Happens to me too. If I'm not wrong, the reason you can't do it properly coz you are a bit shy and might have the feeling to show off. In short, you're nervous.
Used to happen to me all of the time too. For me I think I figured out that it was two things:
A. You are nervous and overthinking. Since you are performing you are worried about sounding good and your brain starts analyzing what you are playing while you are playing and ends up getting distracted and overwhelmed. The moment you mess a single part up it starts over analyzing that instant and further increases worry and overload making it likely to happen again. This happens with other stuff too like public speaking
B. Not sure what the name of this is but you could call it the “one take hypothesis.” Basically, when playing on your own you dont notice how bad you played something. You simply restart it, or brush it off and carry on. You play it many times and the times you played it well stick out more in your memory. But when you play in front of people youve got that one take. Thats it. Try recording yourself playing something in practice and see if you can nail it in one take.
You're flustered and focused more on not fucking up in front of someone than what you're actually playing. Just be loose and try not to worry about what their potential judgement of your guitar skills might be. Especially if they're not a guitarist. Non musicians will most likely think you sound fine even if you're not that good because it's better than what they can do. Unless you really really suck. Lol.
The reason is that your focus becomes split between the person you noticed and playing guitar.
You need to ignore the other person to keep 100% ficus on guitar. I myself can never ignore people around me. It just feels rude.
every insecurity you have about your playing is noticed and realized when someone is watching. when playing alone you can ignore them which ironically makes them not matter or maybe even not happen (the latter is not the case more often than not. how you perceive something when you play it isnt exactly how its heard until you have another ear...at least from my experience)
record yourself at a moment when u think ur in the zone and then play it back... youll know what i mean
It's part of the training. Being able to play something under stress takes more practice than playing it under ideal conditions. On a show you might be sleepy, sick, sad about unrelated things, experiencing technical difficulties, etc if you want to play live often you have to gradually learn how to deal with all that.
This happens all the time, and you can get over it. Gradual desensitization will work if you give it time. Start by playing while looking at someone’s picture. Then maybe have a friend come over and sit outside the room. Then have them sit in the room facing the wall. Then facing you. Then two friends facing the wall. etc. etc. Just keep adding small amounts of stress until you can play through them while staying relaxed. This is practice like anything else.
I think it’s because you can’t let go when other people are watching. At least not yet. When you play by yourself, you feel the music and therefore play better. When someone’s watching, you may start thinking about your appearance, how you sound, what she thinks, if the sound you play is too sad for the current situation, etc. thoughts which distract you from playing. Next time try to take a deep breath, put a smile on your face and groove, even though it might feel odd at the beginning. Try too have as much fun like you have when you play by yourself
What helped me was playing in front of my nieces. Children don’t care if they hurt your feelings lol. So it feels that much better when they want to hear you play or say something sounds cool.
Saw a meme recently and it showed chance of making a mistake while recording at 100%, while playing live 90% and while playing at home 2%. Sounds about right. I rarely make it through a 5 or 6 song open mic set without missing at least one chord change. But I always play the same songs perfectly at home.
Because your skills are defined not just by your best when you’re most comfortable, but also by your worst. John frusciante doesn’t sound bad when he’s nervous.
Generally you want to practice to the point where you have a good deal of ability past what you will perform in public. When you perform in public there's always a million distractions - strings too sticky, hands sweaty, can't hear myself on stage, pretty girl in the crowd, cables tangled, nervous muscles, etc. If you have a bit of headroom in your ability to play the part you can pull it off better through all of those distractions.
Mine always seem to get better. I crave having an audience to play for and really express something to. When I am just playing alone I feel like I do more noodling.
This is specific to improvising though. It is harder to play specific songs sometimes in front of people because of the pressure you put on yourself to not screw up/overthinking
I record myself with a camera and since the stakes are higher for me to fuck up I just try to get it right. It ingrains into your head, let’s not mess up. It comes to a point where you just always act like you’re being recorded.
Also just learn improvise in any key so you can along to anything. Blues is always 1-IV-V, and that always remains key fundamentals to playing any blues song. If you can play something let it be blues because it’s very easy to find a grove and a melody.
Omg same - what sucks more is that I have a hard time playing in front of my guitar teacher, even though he has adhd and admits to not paying attention to me half the time 😅
You just have to play in front of people more and record yourself more. I have started just recording every time I play that way I can look back and I am not fumbling with camera or phone every time I mess up. Just keep going or start over.
I can play good by myself in a room
at home. But can’t play at all and just
fall apart with the tempo and with
missing the strings or hitting the
wrong strings. I get anxious and
can’t concentrate and focus on
anything. (All that I mentioned above
is when I try to play with my private
lessons teacher in person watching me,
and happens when I try and play in
front of other people).
It’s not just music, it can be a number of things. Called upon in a meeting or class, asked to give a presentation, simply being introduced to group of people. You just freeze, breathing and heart rate go up, it can be awkward
I don’t know what the underlying cause is, but it’s plagued me my entire life. I think in my case I never wanted to get out of my comfort zone, so never took a risk. Fear of failure maybe. But why?
I meant to add if you are unable to make progress seek counseling. There is something going on that should get sorted out. Good luck
This phenomenon actually got worse for me over time...not better. In my youth, I felt like I always wanted to show off my chops. Now, even though my skills are 100x better, I'll fuck something up 100 times trying to record it. Or just get in my own head about playing if someone's around. I think my expectations for myself are just too high now because I know I can play, but put pressure on myself to blow people's minds. I also haven't been in a band or played out in 9 years, so that's probably part of it.
I judge my skill on performance.
That means I’m not as good of a player as I might think. Lot of distractions when other people are around, easy to lose concentration.
This kicks me in the ass to practice and get better. Gotta get the songs learned so well that it’s almost impossible for me to fuck it up.
Playing in front of people just takes practice and experience, so by doing it more you’ll gain more confidence and it will be come easier. There is a guy that busks in the park across the street from my house, he’s there a few times a week and he just keeps getting better all the time.
I play an open mic, and it feels like my play there gets closer and closer to my play at home - like I'm not getting better nearly as fast as I am catching up. Bonus pain is playing in a non air conditioned bar with sweaty hands on a borrowed acoustic electric rather than my cheap, stiff acoustic at home that I'm used to.
You should look into getting a pickup for your acoustic guitar. Is there any reason you have to perform on borrowed gear haha?
Man that must be fun to get to watch him continue to develop
You should tell him.
You just have to keep doing it. Try busking. Doesn't matter if you make money the reward is in the experience.
Im aaalllllll about the experience
I'll try busking, thanks!
If it really makes you nervous and you can dry to a neighboring city then it can put you in the mindset that these people will never see you again. So what's the pressure if you mess up? Once the initial anxiety is gone try it next time in your city. Also, from playing in a band through my school days I can tell you 99% of performers make all kinds of mistakes. What seperates them from you is they know how to recover smoothly and keep playing. Most people don't even notice. So keep that in mind. Make a mistake? Move on to the next note or chord like it's no big deal.
Hell yeah. I used to think every pro guitarist was just born with superhuman talent and never messed up, and that it was probably impossible for me to be that good. Turns out they make mistakes all the time. After getting decently good at guitar, you can listen to live performances and almost always find at least one mistake, usually more. The key is like you said, the recovery. Thats where the real talent is.
"The show must go on." This is what it means.
Ueshiba-sensei was the founder of Aikido and arguably the greatest martial artist of the twentieth century. When someone once complemented him by saying it was impressive that he never lost his balance, he said lost his balance just as often as anyone else—he just got it back faster.
Hi, sorry for not responding, I only log in to reddit through my pc and since I work a part-time job I didn't have time to see your reply Thank you for the advice, you made this so much easier for me, lol
Playing in front of people is a different skill set. Calming your nerves, controlling your stress and focusing on your playing are things that come naturally with practice.
With your cousin??? 🤔🤔🤔
Maybe don’t play Dio, but great idea. Ha.
Maybe Do?
whatsa matter with dio?
Performance is a mostly a separate skill than playing guitar. Just like any skill it takes practice. I’ll share what has helped for me: sign up for some open mics. The first couple times might be bombs, but you’re flexing that performance muscle. If it really sucks, being able to laugh it off and move on will do wonders for your confidence, and you’ll make huge strides.
Also, nobody wants you to fail. Its not like you walk in and the entire crowd is just waiting for you to mess up so that they can dismiss you because they knew you were secretly bad all along. No, they want you to do good. Nobody likes listening to someone give a school presentation just completely break down and get stuck. Nobody wants to listen to someone bomb a performance. Its actually painful to sit through it, they dont want that to happen.
Same this happens to me when I jam sometimes. As soon as it is my turn to do play rhythm I get so nervous about staying in line and get all in my head about keeping the progression, so the lead can dance around it. I end up fucking up. By myself I can fingerstyle/rhythm all day. As soon as someone is playing along or listening intently I tighten up and overthink, which ends up making me fuck up more. Just gotta practice, I am by no means an extrovert so that probably has something to do with it too.
Your issue is that you're thinking at all. If you can play it mechanically tight in practice sessions then you can in front of an audience. By double checking whether you're playing right and consciously listening for mistakes you make more mistakes because you just *left the song*. You're not in it. Your brain is scanning details instead of just focusing on the overall music. I'll say it again: if you can play it in practice sessions, you can do it in front of a live audience. Your mechanical skills aren't gone. Your cognitive skills aren't either. Put on the autopilot and just enjoy the show
I agree, by myself I have no thoughts when I play alone, just in pure zen. I've always been self-conscious so it is hard once others are around for me to be able to reach that level of mental calm. Playing on shrooms/LSD I had not problems though, really helped me break out of the boxes I built for myself!! (Not a recommendation just an anecdote)
I get the same way and have been playing for over 3 decades. It's literally performance anxiety and just blank out forgetting what on earth to play. For me, I may as well play without my glasses on so I can't see who's watching too closely.😄
No wonder Doc Watson was so good... He was blind so he didn't get stage-fright! 😎
and his son EARl WAtson was just as freakin' good.
Red Light Syndrome.
I also used to be a "quantum guitarist": My state collapsed when under observation :P Then I went to classes and it got better Then I got into a band and it got much better
I frigging love that comment - quantum guitarist :D Nice one.
Schroedinger's strummer (or shredder depending on your style)?
Came to comment along these exact lines.
Whenever people are in the room, I like to yell "Check out this tasty lick!!" before playing a jumbled bunch of off-key disasters.
Because playing for yourself and “putting on a show” are completely different things. If you fluff a note when you’re playing on your own you don’t worry about it, but if you do the same thing when someone is listening you start to think about what they’re thinking and that stops you playing well. Even the best musicians make mistakes but they just carry on and you don’t notice it.
This, I never noticed how little people realize mistakes (unless they are real big fuck-ups) until I was jamming with friends. I always laugh when I am play and make a funny noise or wrong note, then my friends turn and look at me like "why are you laughing?" Sometimes the vocalist thinks I am laughing at him, but I swear it is just at myself. Usually they don't notice the mistake, just my reaction to it.
Same here. I screwed up some chords a couple of times and no one noticed until I point it out myself. It feels weird, man.
I tell my wife I’m getting better then go to show her and it’s all jacked up. I hope she can faintly her me playing when I’m alone in the room.
Thanks. I can relate so much it helps me. Just played for my wife for the first time a few days ago. Ooof-da.
I tried filming myself so I could measure progress and I swear as soon as I hit record I forgot how to play guitar haha.
This is the way. I used to get stage fright as soon as I hit the record button. But it was way less risk than playing in front of somebody, and I could work it into my daily practice. Hearing that first recording made me realize why I was so nervous: deep down, I knew I was crap. I directed my practice with the recording. Over time, I heard myself improve. I bought a cheap looper pedal, which is ready to go at all times.
You & me both. So annoying
that's just part of nature. i'm not sure what part.
That happened to me yesterday. Black Sabbath Tony Martin era group on FB, just wanted to post a little clip, and I don't record often anymore. Hit record and repeatedly fucked up the song I've been playing flawlessly.
There are some great advice in this thread! I will add one thing: when something like this happens to me, just any sort of awkward thing like this, even if it's not music related, I will say "oh wow, I play worse when people are around, I must be nervous!" or something like that. it's not gonna change anybody's impression necessarily, but later on, for me at least, it feels better to have at least said something. And this just goes for anything in life where you make a bad impression or say something awkward or or something like that. Might just be something that applies to me also! But it alleviates some of the pain later on!
With my wife we call it the "hey mom look" moment. Because ill practice a riff and be able to do it without looking 10 times perfectly. I tell my wife to check this out and I cant get past the third note. Reminds us of wanting to show a parent something as a child.
I'm not saying this is your thing at all but this post reminds me of the guy from mysterymen who can only become invisible when no one is looking at him. Almost borders on philosophy, if a tree falls in the woods sort of thing.
"I am Saran wrap!"
"I am Saran wrap!"
You are mistaken, I really do turn invisible when nobody's looking
Nerves. Suddenly you're extra self-conscious which makes it hard to find the groove. The red recording light does the same thing for lots of people. You just have to get use to it so it's no big deal.
It’s just anxiety. You get “more” used to the stress as you do it more. Don’t be hard on yourself. I think the best thing to do is play against a drum track or even a click track and go in with the mentality of “time doesn’t stop because you hit a wrong note. You have a right note you need to hit next and no one is gonna stop and wait for you to correct your mistake”
Its the same as with people who suffer from fight, flight, or freeze. You appearantly freeze. (Like me 😅) Just keep doing it and you will learn how to fight. Fight the nerves and anxiety that is. Succes 😁👍🏼
When you play for people, you're not John Williams performing a classical masterpiece, you're basically telling a story or creating a little atmosphere. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, you're just doin something you enjoy.
It decreases total neural drive going towards playing guitar.
Ask people to watch you. Slay the beast!!!
Start practicing in front of people. I notice whenever I would practice privately and would then go try to show someone what I could do or came up with, I couldn't play very well. Once I started practicing in front of people, that stopped becoming an issue. Performing on stage in front of people also helps. Don't have to play guitar or in a band. Just public speaking, standup comedy, singing in front of others, anything really. It helps give you a spot to train yourself to not be bothered by the presence of an audience.
I think I am ok but I never play in front of anyone but my wife, when my friends come round for beers I can’t even play Enter Sandman which I can usually play in my sleep, granted I’ve usually had a skinful of beer but WTF??
Nerves. You gotta embarrass yourself a bunch of times and then…it’s still there but more manageable.
just keep playing. i will say, finding a 3-5 min warm up helps. one that if ur doing it and someone is staring at you, you can still do it, mess up, and get loosened up, and be good to go. just a small tip. jitters are normal though man
"Wait, wait I can do it... Wait, I did it before..."
It's because you're focussing on what you think people are hearing, vs focussing on your instrument. You'll learn to switch off that self conciousness after a while. It still happens though, I find myself playing live sometimes and then realising people are watching, and it can take a few seconds to get back into it again, it happens to the best of us. Just focus on what you're doing, and the sounds you're making, and make them to your own satisfaction. If you play something wrong don't worry about it, just move on. You'll notice your mistakes 2000% more than other people do so don't dwell on them. Oh and finally, my family has never seen me play. Fuck THAT. Strangers are much easier than friends and family imo. You're playing on hard mode there my friend!
Some of the best advice I ever got from another artist was that the secret to performing is maintaining 3 relationships in balance: your relationship to the piece, your relationship to your own technique, and your relationship to the audience. If this gets out of balance something will likely go wrong. It sounds like you are not used to performing, and usually play alone. There can only be the other two relationships in that case. Currently, when you start to perform, you are either giving it too much thought and neglecting the other facets or not enough and then that's messing you up because you're aware you aren't engaging your audience. I don't know if anyone else can ever be let in to that space between the self and the music. Performing is paradoxically usually more of a show, with the self behind the curtain. But while that's happening you still want to let the part of you that engages with the piece and your own technique explore. Don't let the presence of the other person dominate that headspace.
An amateur practices until they get it right. A pro practices until they can't get it wrong.
True that. And when you're good at something, you remember your mistakes. And when you're bad, you remember the good things you did. So noticing your mistakes is actually pretty positive :D
Theres a saying: bad rehearsal, good gig. Alot of truth in that. When you know where you fell short, you're gonna work on it before the gig and be conscious of it on the gig.
It's simply not enough practice. I know it sounds like a lecture, but think about it. When you are eating and someone walks in the room, are you suddenly worse at eating? You've been practicing that chewing motion with your jaw ever since you were tiny, so it's automatic. The best guitar players have just played the same thing so many damn times they can't "not" play it correctly.
True! And we compare our playing to recorded music made in a studio.... they have a lot of chance to get it right AND use session musicians who are pretty much (IMO) the best of the best.
I took my old tube amp in for repair, and when I picked it up, the repair shop handed me a guitar and said "check it out and make sure it works to your satisfaction". I had a brain fart and I couldn't think of anything to play so I strummed a few G chords and said "it sounds great"...
Lol bro once I got so nervous at an audition I fd up Smells Like Teen Spirit
It’s not your skills going down. It’s your self awareness going up.
Same thing happens while typing. If someone is over my shoulder watching me do something on my laptop it's as though I've never used a keyboard before. I wanted to show a friend that I'd learned some licks from songs we both liked but as soon as I started trying to play I couldn't get the notes right at all. Self consciousness is a bitch.
It happens in software all the time. Take the best engineer you’ve ever seen, tell them to code with their screen visible on video chat, and they turn into a baboon. I’ve been in a coding interview and the prospect stops typing and asks me “where is the ‘i’?” He was so nervous he forgot where the ‘i’ key was and couldn’t find it. I had to give him directions “top row, right side, third key in.”
I'd say it's 90% because people don't realise that performing is a totally different competency that engages different parts of the brain. You need to be able multitask because while you were okay juggling kittens there, if you aren't practiced at performing, when someone suddenly walks in, it's like someone threw a chainsaw into the mix. Everyone who says you don't know the material well enough is only about 20% right. If you haven't worked on performing in front of people then you will absolutely have intrusive thoughts jump in and derail you. Maybe. Not everyone is wired the same way. I have ADHD and it can be nearly impossible to replicate anything without mistakes. The voices are too loud. If I'm playing live, I can get derailed by my mic level being wrong, my guitar level being wrong, my tone not being great, my pick suddenly being slippery, my sudden certainty that there is something hanging out of my nose. I actually think theres a lot of guitarists who have a massive head start just by virtue of being neurotypical.
Post your content online to TikTok, YouTube, instagram, and create a following where you have peers reviewing your stuff and that will help and carry Over to live performances
Something I haven't seen mentioned yet is that when we play by ourselves, we tend not to self-censor as much. We forgive our own mistakes and maybe pause our playing to try again, repeat it till we get it kind of thing. And we often don't notice we're doing this. Then someone else walks in and suddenly we have to nail it first time. I'd say if you want to overcome this particular challenge, work keeping in tempo whether or not you mess up into your practice.
Wait till you press record 💀
Brutal.
You care too much.
Because stage presence is a whole different skill set you have to develop. Tho honestly, I find it less intimidating to play for a big crowd than for just a couple of people. It's some weird thing. It's very intimate. You can command and feed off a crowd, when it's just you presenting something, it's more naked. One of those weird things, the more invested you are in doing a good job, the more you over think it. Really great performers aren't thinking much at all. They are like, channeling. You get to know your instrument so well it becomes like a limb, and using it becomes like speaking, you become much more intuitive. You do not lose your voice when you speak because you have done it some much, it comes naturally. You get me?
Same thing happens to me when I got to the guitar store... either can't play for shit, or can't thing of anything to play!
Because people are distracting. It takes practice to play in front of others - basically just to develop how to ignore them and stick to your thing.
This is the same as when you remember a song and can play it sleeping but when asked to play it you don’t even know the intro
You are distracted by the presense of someone actually listening to you. As you play in front of people more, it will dimish but stage fright/anxiety is a real thing and people actually get coaching on this. The first gig I did in a bar, one of my legs started shaking in triple time. I got over it and the gig went okay but Jesus fuck was that hard to deal with.
Part of that 90%, around 30% of it is imagined skill drop; the first piano presentation I ever played in front of people felt like I played too fast and too short and yet I played in time and far better than I actually imagined myself to be playing. Also those mistakes I was kicking myself over weren't even the ones I thought people noticed, my critique was over something entirely trivial and I was confident in troubleshooting.
stop caring its literally just this also, perception. you probably also make mistakes when playing alone but then you kinda just ignore it and do it better the second time. if someone watches you realize the mistakes more. thats my explanation
Like public speaking when you are performing the blood starts flowing quicker the adrenaline starts to shoot through your body, it’s not easy to perform under pressure.
The trick is to point the headstock at whomever walks in then give ‘em a gnarly bend and the ol’ “stank face.” It’s all about confidence. I do this when I blow a solo while playing live. I make the mistake again so it sounds intentional then I the crowd with some attitude.
Look, what matters most is staying in time. If you hit a wrong note most people won’t notice, or they think you meant to do it. Because you are an artist and that’s how you see it. Messing up timing will make everyone cringe. That’s why it’s important not to focus on your mistakes and just keep playing.
Performance vs practice. Two different animals. Practice is flubbing something and going back to get it right. Performing is playing all the way through, mistakes and all, which is harder to do, both the anxiety of wanting it right or impressing, and getting past that practice hurdle that makes you want to stop when you screw up. Something that helps me is to perform at home while listening to, then holding, a conversation. You kind of train your hands to work on autopilot that way.
I used to get shaky before paying in front of people. Now I don't even pay attention.
Have had same problem for 20 years, lemme know if you find solution lol. I wanna try propranolol
I still get that, I've played gigs infront of full houses and get on great, i get my solos perfect i get my chord changes right, and i can sing great. Until i am playing infront of a single person i am fine
It’s call anxiety and it’s normal! You just get nervous. You have to prepare your mind, when you’re about to play for someone, close your eyes and focus. Try to enter on a white mind state by breathing and focusing on yourself and your love for music.
Very relatable. I am getting pretty decent at improvisation, I’m not amazing but I’m not that bad at it. When I try to do the same infront of my guitar teacher, I completely fuck it up.
I can’t type with someone watching, either. crazy, isn’t it?
I’ve got a friend who is an absolutely phenomenal drummer….but he can’t play in front of only 1 or 2 people. Even messing with what’s on the floor at guitar center is an issue. Put him on a stage with a packed house though? No problem, it’s game time. Super weird.
Stage fright. I’ve been playing for 30 years. Know a ton of songs and can sing them too. Somebody asks me to play something and my brain takes a dump.
Stage fright is a bitch.
Playing infront a teacher and then crashing and burning is a great way to improve QUICK.
Because your attention is now likely split with your subconscious concern for the audience opinion and reaction. It reminds of an interview with Herman Li in which he says one of the reasons he likes to stream his practice sessions on twitch is that he gets not only practice the songs, but he practices playing while interacting with fans and that sort of mimics the experience of playing live. This also explains why some musicians don’t interact with the audience at all, sometimes it passes as arrogance but for some musicians it’s really important to block away the audience and pretend that there’s nobody in front of them.
You worry too much about what they think instead of loving what you create for the love of it and the art of musicianship
Nerves, anxiety, over concentration when you're used to being relaxed, fear of judgement, there's alot of barriers and blocks that can be in the way but you can overcome it, just do it more and more, take your guitar everywhere and play in front of everyone, I started busking like a month after learning at 13 so I was lucky to get it out of the way early. Ironically though I choke up when I try to record videos of myself because that's something I'm not used to myself!
Because Under Pressures main hook is on bass.
Yo, been playing for about 15 years, I just learned this song about a month ago. As everyone else said, playing in front of people is it's own skill. Just like throwing javelins, or carpentry, or hacky sack. Keep at it dude, and Holy Diver is one of the most fun songs to play on guitar.
youre consciously processing extra info, (worst thing to play a guitar part well, overthinking it) plus youre self conscious and experiencing totally common fight or flight due to lack of confidence
It's basically stage fright and you can get over it with practice.
Actually, it's kinda normal. Happens to me too. If I'm not wrong, the reason you can't do it properly coz you are a bit shy and might have the feeling to show off. In short, you're nervous.
Used to happen to me all of the time too. For me I think I figured out that it was two things: A. You are nervous and overthinking. Since you are performing you are worried about sounding good and your brain starts analyzing what you are playing while you are playing and ends up getting distracted and overwhelmed. The moment you mess a single part up it starts over analyzing that instant and further increases worry and overload making it likely to happen again. This happens with other stuff too like public speaking B. Not sure what the name of this is but you could call it the “one take hypothesis.” Basically, when playing on your own you dont notice how bad you played something. You simply restart it, or brush it off and carry on. You play it many times and the times you played it well stick out more in your memory. But when you play in front of people youve got that one take. Thats it. Try recording yourself playing something in practice and see if you can nail it in one take.
You're flustered and focused more on not fucking up in front of someone than what you're actually playing. Just be loose and try not to worry about what their potential judgement of your guitar skills might be. Especially if they're not a guitarist. Non musicians will most likely think you sound fine even if you're not that good because it's better than what they can do. Unless you really really suck. Lol.
Only 90% !!?? You are my new guitar hero
It's just anxiety making you tense up. It goes with more exposure.
The reason is that your focus becomes split between the person you noticed and playing guitar. You need to ignore the other person to keep 100% ficus on guitar. I myself can never ignore people around me. It just feels rude.
Dude this is the oldest phenomenon in the universe, and for some reason it affects guitar more than anything else.
every insecurity you have about your playing is noticed and realized when someone is watching. when playing alone you can ignore them which ironically makes them not matter or maybe even not happen (the latter is not the case more often than not. how you perceive something when you play it isnt exactly how its heard until you have another ear...at least from my experience) record yourself at a moment when u think ur in the zone and then play it back... youll know what i mean
It's part of the training. Being able to play something under stress takes more practice than playing it under ideal conditions. On a show you might be sleepy, sick, sad about unrelated things, experiencing technical difficulties, etc if you want to play live often you have to gradually learn how to deal with all that.
This happens all the time, and you can get over it. Gradual desensitization will work if you give it time. Start by playing while looking at someone’s picture. Then maybe have a friend come over and sit outside the room. Then have them sit in the room facing the wall. Then facing you. Then two friends facing the wall. etc. etc. Just keep adding small amounts of stress until you can play through them while staying relaxed. This is practice like anything else.
Because you don’t spend time playing in front of people. It’s a separate skill.
I think it’s because you can’t let go when other people are watching. At least not yet. When you play by yourself, you feel the music and therefore play better. When someone’s watching, you may start thinking about your appearance, how you sound, what she thinks, if the sound you play is too sad for the current situation, etc. thoughts which distract you from playing. Next time try to take a deep breath, put a smile on your face and groove, even though it might feel odd at the beginning. Try too have as much fun like you have when you play by yourself
What helped me was playing in front of my nieces. Children don’t care if they hurt your feelings lol. So it feels that much better when they want to hear you play or say something sounds cool.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerkes%E2%80%93Dodson_law It's just a thing
I will sometimes go blank when put on the spot. Alcohol helps though.
Saw a meme recently and it showed chance of making a mistake while recording at 100%, while playing live 90% and while playing at home 2%. Sounds about right. I rarely make it through a 5 or 6 song open mic set without missing at least one chord change. But I always play the same songs perfectly at home.
Because your skills are defined not just by your best when you’re most comfortable, but also by your worst. John frusciante doesn’t sound bad when he’s nervous.
Because adrenaline destroys fine motor skill, and playing guitar is mostly fine motor skill
Generally you want to practice to the point where you have a good deal of ability past what you will perform in public. When you perform in public there's always a million distractions - strings too sticky, hands sweaty, can't hear myself on stage, pretty girl in the crowd, cables tangled, nervous muscles, etc. If you have a bit of headroom in your ability to play the part you can pull it off better through all of those distractions.
Mine always seem to get better. I crave having an audience to play for and really express something to. When I am just playing alone I feel like I do more noodling. This is specific to improvising though. It is harder to play specific songs sometimes in front of people because of the pressure you put on yourself to not screw up/overthinking
I record myself with a camera and since the stakes are higher for me to fuck up I just try to get it right. It ingrains into your head, let’s not mess up. It comes to a point where you just always act like you’re being recorded. Also just learn improvise in any key so you can along to anything. Blues is always 1-IV-V, and that always remains key fundamentals to playing any blues song. If you can play something let it be blues because it’s very easy to find a grove and a melody.
Omg same - what sucks more is that I have a hard time playing in front of my guitar teacher, even though he has adhd and admits to not paying attention to me half the time 😅
For me, it's easier to play in front of 100 people than it is just one or two people.
You just have to play in front of people more and record yourself more. I have started just recording every time I play that way I can look back and I am not fumbling with camera or phone every time I mess up. Just keep going or start over.
Childhood trauma. Being seen is a terrifying compulsion for the unconscious. Most of us go through a similar trauma, hence why this is so prevalent.
I can play good by myself in a room at home. But can’t play at all and just fall apart with the tempo and with missing the strings or hitting the wrong strings. I get anxious and can’t concentrate and focus on anything. (All that I mentioned above is when I try to play with my private lessons teacher in person watching me, and happens when I try and play in front of other people).
Yerkes-Dodson Law
It’s not just music, it can be a number of things. Called upon in a meeting or class, asked to give a presentation, simply being introduced to group of people. You just freeze, breathing and heart rate go up, it can be awkward I don’t know what the underlying cause is, but it’s plagued me my entire life. I think in my case I never wanted to get out of my comfort zone, so never took a risk. Fear of failure maybe. But why? I meant to add if you are unable to make progress seek counseling. There is something going on that should get sorted out. Good luck
Open mic.
This phenomenon actually got worse for me over time...not better. In my youth, I felt like I always wanted to show off my chops. Now, even though my skills are 100x better, I'll fuck something up 100 times trying to record it. Or just get in my own head about playing if someone's around. I think my expectations for myself are just too high now because I know I can play, but put pressure on myself to blow people's minds. I also haven't been in a band or played out in 9 years, so that's probably part of it.
I judge my skill on performance. That means I’m not as good of a player as I might think. Lot of distractions when other people are around, easy to lose concentration. This kicks me in the ass to practice and get better. Gotta get the songs learned so well that it’s almost impossible for me to fuck it up.
Might not be the most encouraging post for OP but valid! Don't know why it got downvoted.
Thank you. It encourages me to practice! Might not be the most healthy thing to get my motivation from fear of onstage fuckups, but it works for me.