stage fright

[billkilpatrick]

i have a couple of solo numbers with our group, one of which ("under der linden") i have to sing without chorus, except for a "la-la-la" refrain at the end. there are times when i feel absolutely bullet proof and knock it off with out any fuss what so ever and there are other times when i just die.

it's terrible; i turn white, my mind goes blank, i feel nauseous and i sometimes end up singing in the most god-awful castrati-like screech you ever heard. painful to experience, let alone recall...days...months afterward.

any suggestions?

i've found that holding an instrument helps as it acts as a sort of defensive barrier to hide behind ("don't pay any attention me, i'm just the charango player") but for songs sung in latin and this one in particular, sung in old german, i need all the focus my feebled mind can muster - even with the words in front of me.

i'm just afraid that i'll be called on to do my number one time, step out there in front the group, face the piazza and puke.

concerned - bill

[Bruce Evans]

i'm just afraid that i'll be called on to do my number one time, step out there in front the group, face the piazza and puke. #
Do it. Go ahead and puke. Get it over with.

Seriously, I think if you are going to be a performer, you need an experience where you fall flat on your face. And if you keep at it long enough, it will come. Afterwards you'll find out that you are still alive, and people might be amused, but they'll be sympathetic. If they want perfect repeatability, they can put on a CD.

I've got a couple uncomfortable performances in my past. That which doesn't kill me, only serves to make me stronger.

[JimD]

Quote (billkilpatrick @ Aug. 17 2004, 06:23)
i'm just afraid that i'll be called on to do my number one time, step out there in front the group, face the piazza and puke.

...and you'll be in good company, There was some well known opera singer (I don't recall which one), who is reputed to have once said, "I can't go on stage yet, I have not yet vomited."

OK, now we can all get that image out of our heads.

But, speaking of images in our heads:
Some people find success thinking of the entire audience as being naked or in their underwear while they (the performer) are the only one fully dressed.

You need to keep your imagination in good balance there, I suppose. Just enough to imagine them that way -- not enough to get you distracted...

A solution that has helped me on the (thankfully) rare occasions that I am nervous is meditation. It isn't that difficult but you do have to practice it to get good at it (kind of like music...) and it does take a bit of time. Works well, though.

[John Flynn]

I think if you are going to be a performer, you need an experience where you fall flat on your face.
Wow, if that's true, I must be "Mr. Show Business!" Thanks, you made my day!

[Bob A]

After forty or fifty years on the planet, life it's ownself ought to have presented one with enough truly horrifying experiences to let some things seem truly inconsequential. An easy statement to make, perhaps, but true nonetheless. Of little help when looking over the Edge into the rising gorge.

I've come to grips with the phenomenon by deliberately making a fool of myself on occasion. It may not help my playing, but it does bulid a layer of callus on the public persona.

Anyway, the audience is for the most part pulling for you. The few who wish you to crash and burn are the ones to aim for, when nothing else works.

[Dennis Schubert]

In my earlier days, I would have to wear a hat that covered my eyes -- with the brim pulled 'way down in the front ala Charlie Daniels -- so that I wasn't really me, and besides that, you couldn't see me -- and that helped a lot.

Some degree of stagefright is normal, and even healthy. If you don't have a bit of nervous reaction before a performance, better beware!

[Don Grieser]

I saw a Yoga International magazine in the health food store that had an article on stage fright. You can find the article online at http://www.yimag.org You'll have to scroll down to find it. I've found the breathing exercises helpful.

[davestem]

I feel for you. I remember the time my old band opened for Mel Tillis. We were all unbelievably nervous (except for the bass player, who only had to play bass). I horribly mangled the intro lick to Angel Band. I lost my place in a break or two. It sucked.

Afterwards, it seemed like hundreds of people stopped me to tell me how great we sounded. I wasn't convinced that we actually played great, but it did help me realize that the audience really pulls for you, and they want to see you succeed. Since then, it's been a lot easier to relax on stage. It also helps that I've played and sang in front of a lot more crowds since then.

[sailaway]

Are you warming up before you try to sing ? like,20 minutes of scales, arpeggios, maybe some yoga ? (especially if it's cold or you're outdoors )it is possible that what is happening to your voice is that the range of the song you are singing involves a few notes where your natural voice moves from 'chest voice' to head voice -- which sounds strange to you unless the transition is smooth. tape recording your self singing to warm up thru your entire range, and finding where your voice will change, then practicing that transition may help. Of course there's always room for the GREAT BIG PUBLIC MISTAKE like starting the song in the wrong key or octave completely, then running out of notes and having to glissando down into the correct octave.. Yikes, been there, done that, throw some blules notes in and life goes merrily on....:angry: http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif