Stage nerves... how do you deal with it?

[terzinator]

I have no problem singing in front of a crowd, but there are certainly times when I can't calm my hands down enough to execute a proper solo or break on the mando.

We all play fine when we're alone, but what techniques do you all have to get to a calm place when you're on stage?

A few beers help, yeah. (Seriously, they do... but it's not the answer I'm looking for!) And after a few songs, I settle down... it's the faster tunes that are the kicker. Goes with the work I'm trying to do with my right hand/wrist and loosen it up. But man, it's hard to do when the adrenaline and cortisol are flowing.

[Schlegel]

One rocker I know recommended wearing sunglasses.

[blauserk]

Put the easy songs first in the set to give yourself an opportunity to settle down.

[mandolirius]

I have no problem singing in front of a crowd, but there are certainly times when I can't calm my hands down enough to execute a proper solo or break on the mando.

We all play fine when we're alone, but what techniques do you all have to get to a calm place when you're on stage?

A few beers help, yeah. (Seriously, they do... but it's not the answer I'm looking for!) And after a few songs, I settle down... it's the faster tunes that are the kicker. Goes with the work I'm trying to do with my right hand/wrist and loosen it up. But man, it's hard to do when the adrenaline and cortisol are flowing.

If it's a general type of nervousness, I'd answer one way but if it's really just the fast tunes my anwer would be to slow right down - super slow - concentrating on playing them with as much fluidity and smoothness as you can. Focus on the flow from one note to the next.

My opinion is that you can't really play fast by practicing playing fast. Maybe it sounds counter-intuitive or just plain nuts but I really believe that. By trying to play faster than you're comfortable playing a tune you wind up with a lot of flailing and stumbly bits that come simply from trying to maintain the pace. In effect, you're practicing your mistakes.

[Beanzy]

Depends how you perceive the people you're playing for.
By which I mean maybe think more of what you think of them, rather than what they think of you. Do you get a buzz from people when you play for them?

Also think how they all want you to succeed before you ever play, they want to have a good time, they've even paid for it to work out. If you get the peeps on your side early then you can get away with some awful high-energy cock-ups. So you don't need to worry about any fluffs, that's for consideration during practice time not playing time. So look like it's a blast, in fact convince yourself you're already flying before you even get on stage, then you will be beyond nerves before you even play a note. It won't stop you feeling nervous energy and anticipation, but they'll be a bonus not a handicap.

[capokid]

I cry, then I drink, then I cry..

[Fretbear]

You need to be able to still play alright even when your hands won't stop shaking uncontrollably.
It makes playing when they aren't that much easier...

[banjoboy]

I've been performing in bluegrass bands for over the past thirty years, and I still get stage fright. A mandolin playing medical doctor friend of mine prescribed me a low dose
beta blocker. The medication works like a charm. I used to freak out, worrying about certain breaks and whether or not I'd get through them without any difficulty. If I blew a break early in the gig, it would affect the rest of the gig. After I started taking beta blockers, I found that I wasn't as nevous and performing has become more enjoyable. I'm not necessarily recommending better living through drugs, but beta blockers work for me.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The only way to deal with it is to accept it as a fact of performing & get on with it. I used to shake like a tree in a high wind when i first began playing with a band - but usually only for the first 3 or 4 tunes,then i'd settle down.We used to play 2 x 20 minute or 30 minute spots,but by the time of our second spot,i could have played in front of the world !. You seem to be exactly the same.I think that accepting the fact can actually help,sometimes you get frightened of being frightened - don't ! - one helping of fright is enough for anybody. One thing not to do,is to become dependent on 'substances' to help you along,that's the road down (IMHO). More than one Bluegrass artist has succumbed to 'substance' dependence. Realistically,you're just the same as 90 % of us when playing in front of an audience,so don't think it's 'just you' - IT AIN'T !!!,
Ivan

[neil argonaut]

It can be a vicious circle, where you mess up a bit and that makes you more nervous, which makes you mess up more, so I find it helps to try (hard as it may be) not to be too concerned about making mistakes, just try and laugh them off and you'll probably recover without most folk noticing.

[Bertram Henze]

There are a number of remedies that all work together, which I am using. Some of these have been mentioned above:

You need to be able to still play alright even when your hands won't stop shaking uncontrollably.
It makes playing when they aren't that much easier...

Nothing like an emergency exit and/or a parachute - knowing there is some way to play through a song without a trainwreck even while your hands are dancing to a different tune takes away half of the panic. Practise emergency versions of those songs you have problems with, and practise them with thick leather goves on.

I've been performing in bluegrass bands for over the past thirty years, and I still get stage fright. A mandolin playing medical doctor friend of mine prescribed me a low dose
beta blocker. The medication works like a charm.

This is the one thing I don't recommend at all. It may work at first, then you need some more to make it work and so on. Needing medication is a signal that something is wrong. You have got to deactivate the source of the problem, not switch off the warning lights.

It can be a vicious circle, where you mess up a bit and that makes you more nervous, which makes you mess up more...

There is one of the main keys to what is going wrong.
1. you notice the different situation (i.e. lots of people watching you instead of yourself woodshedding). Playing a song means to become the song and forget everything around you. Practise with closed eyes and try to play with closed eyes on stage as well if that is helping concentration.
2. you start thinking about what those people think about your playing. Thinking while playing is a no-no. Thinking is a distraction of what your body learnt to do to play the song. Thinking about how to calm your hands down while your hands are shaking is like converting Fahrenheit to Celsius while your house is burning down: it keeps you from just doing what you were trained to do without thinking. Practise cerebral emptiness while playing (step A: no words, silence in your head. step B: no pictures, darkness in your head). I have found this to be the second best help: no thoughts.

If "no thoughts" is the second best remedy, what is the best? Not trying to get calm at all. Accept the gig to be an exceptional situation you cannot get out of and learn to enjoy it. Adrenaline is your friend, ride it, don't fight it. The shaking hands are a combined result of your body mustering all nervous power to deal with the situation and some rational part of your brain not wanting the situation - a blockade. Your body reaction is the evolutionary older one, can't switch that off, but accepting the situation is a choice you can make.

[neil argonaut]

Another thing that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't for me: What Bertram said about not thinking is good, but can be tough; sometimes, instead of trying to think of nothing and ending up thinking about what i'm doing, if you put your concentration elsewhere, like listen to what the fiddle/banjo/etc player is playing, or concentrate on hearing the chords or the rhythm and not on the solo your playing, then your fingers automatically do what they need to do, and this has the added advantage of making you aware of the music around you at the same time.

[MikeEdgerton]

It's been so many years since I've been nervous on stage that I sometimes forget what it was like. My turning point came years ago when I just simply decided that if I made a mistake I made a mistake and oh well. You have to get to the point where you just let the mistakes run off and you play through them. Most say not to acknowlege them. At times I'll make a joke out of them but most of the time you just keep on playing.

[Steve Ostrander]

Experience helps. I used to get nervous when I first started out, but after 30+ years it's much easier. I still get excited, maybe anxious is a btter word: anxious to go up there and have fun!. A little bit of anxiousness helps you play better, IMO. Gives you a little bit of an edge. Anybody who isn't excited to get up there shouldn't be doing it, again IMO.

[Randi Gormley]

If you can't close your eyes, you might consider looking at one of the other band members to distract you from the audience. I used to watch my husband's hands on the guitar when we would practice, so when my brain went into panic mode, looking at his hands brought me back to practice mode and it helped a bit. fwiw

[terzinator]

Thanks for the responses; very helpful!

Part of it is that I'm still just starting out on this little Mandolin thing. (Ok, been playing it for two years now, but still feel like a novice.) So, there's this real desire to sound better than I am up there! I can play pretty well on my own, but when that first blush of adrenaline hits, I seem to forget the practiced paths, and I go into panic mode and my brain starts to fire like the fourth of july and I might as well be up there with an accordion.

We played what should have been a pretty easy, low-key thing last night... really a holiday party at a coffeehouse with lots of other folks I know from the jamming world, and everyone got up and played a couple of tunes. Most folks were playing fairly singer-songwritery things, but we were going to get up and do a few bluegrassier tunes.

First tune was Catfish John, which we've played a hundred times. I sing it, and was fine, but instead of doing a break in my normal spot, starting off with some tremolo like Grisman does in the Old & In The Way version, and then some first-position open stuff, I had to go mucking around up right away on frets 9-12 and it was like, "Oh crap, what the heck am I doing up here?!!!" I can normally run through a few scales and stuff up there when practicing at home, but it was like, totally uncharted waters. And the vicious circle continued. Played Dry My Tears next, and I have a predetermined bit on that one, and I could barely find the notes. We must have sounded OK as a group (they said, "play one more!") and we played a much slower tune, "The Apples Are Just Turning Ripe," and that went MUUUCH better.

I think starting out with slower tunes at first is a great idea, or at least have a really well-defined/rehearsed break for a faster one that I know I can do. I'm not trying to break a speed record (which I won't), and I'm not trying to dazzle with virtuosity (which I can't), so just make music, right?

On the Beta-Blocker thing: I have no real issue with using some medication (heck, a beer is medication, right?) for some anxiety issues. The problem I see with is that if it works, and if I start to rely on it, there's a presumption that I CAN'T perform unless I have my medication, and then the cycle gets worse and we haven't solved the problem.

Most places we play serve drinks, so I'll usually have an ale or whatever, but this place only serves coffee. I guess I just need to carry a flask around all the time.

Kidding.

[Jim Broyles]

Lot of good stuff here. I'll just add - know your material down cold. Have enough confidence that you know the songs before you take the stage that on stage it just flows. I only get nervous now when I only half know something. As to making mistakes- I'm with Mike Edgerton - oh well.

[Polecat]

If you're not nervous, you may play perfectly, but the audience probably won't react particularly (and, in my book, that's what it's about, making other people experience something emotionally, otherwise I could stay at home and play for my own listening pleasure). A technically perfect performance lacking in emotional energy may be very impressive on a mechanical level, but I'd rather go to see a group who place more emphasis on the "why" than the "what" they're playing (hope that makes sense).
I get very wound up before gigs, but as I've said, I try to regard that fact in a positive light. What helps for me is, after setting up and sound-checking, I leave the venue and don't come back till 5 minutes before we're due to play - I'll go to a different bar, or just walk around. In a folk-club or jam-session setting, if I notice that the atmosphere is more of a "who can outplay who" rather than what Duke Ellington described as a "mutual exchange of compliments", I won't come back a second time. In my opinion, music is not (or should not be) a competitive sport.

[kkmm]

I remembered the first time I play guitar on stage, my fingers got stiffened, I can't hold the chord nor pick the strings at all.
My friends in the band simply covered for me and said that I will do fine the next time. Indeed, I made it on subsequent times.
For some reasons, the first time on stage always seems to be like that (stage fright !!!).

[Bertram Henze]

If you're not nervous, you may play perfectly, but the audience probably won't react particularly...

That sounds funny but it's true. Whenever I had the worst fits of shaking hand syndrome (my weak point is finger picking accompaniment) people were most delighted, telling me how artistically intricate my picking was and making me ashamed like I had cheated them. OTOH, often when everything runs smooth and undisturbed, the audience is rather indifferent as well because they rightfully feel locked out. Pleasing yourself and pleasing the audience seem to exclude each other unless you accept their presence and include them into your experience.

In my opinion, music is not (or should not be) a competitive sport.

I am with you there, but tell that to the CCE!

[JeffD]

stage fright and excitement are opposite sides of the same feeling. In the first case you envision and expect to screw up, in the second case you envision and expect a standing "O".

So envision the positive and get excited.

[Tom C]

I hate getting that jello feeling in the hands or sometimes the legs. But you cannot tighten up. It makes it worse and I have to think of this often. Playing in front of people really teaches you that you don't know the tune as well as you thought

[JeffD]

I just saw this from the juggling website. (Sort of the Juggling Cafe.)

http://www.jugglingdb.com/compendium...agefright.html

[SincereCorgi]

I've been performing in bluegrass bands for over the past thirty years, and I still get stage fright. A mandolin playing medical doctor friend of mine prescribed me a low dose
beta blocker. The medication works like a charm. I used to freak out, worrying about certain breaks and whether or not I'd get through them without any difficulty. If I blew a break early in the gig, it would affect the rest of the gig. After I started taking beta blockers, I found that I wasn't as nevous and performing has become more enjoyable. I'm not necessarily recommending better living through drugs, but beta blockers work for me.

I'm glad somebody else said this before I did! Some people will always accuse you of being a 'druggy', but beta blockers are extremely good for this. My friend's mom's a psychiatric nurse, and she's the one who suggested them. She said that it's not that we're psychologically 'scared' onstage or worried about our abilities, it's just that our bodies are generating adrenaline in an exciting situation and some people's bodies are faster than others at absorbing it- if you're 'fast' at absorbing it, you'll have a tendency to shake a little more in your fine motor areas. Beta blockers slow it down, and suddenly you're still happy and excited and a little nervous, but your hands aren't fighting you.

[ilovemyF9]

I find one person in the audience and I only play to them. I know it may sound odd, but it works for me. I am playing to 1 person & that's cool but hundreds-aaawwwhhhggg!!!!