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OHIO-HAOLE
Akahai
USA
86 Posts |
 Posted - 06/20/2004 : 08:38:15 AM
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  O.K. I know I'm not a shy kind of guy, If anything wild and crazy might fit me better , but this is weird....Everytime I sit down and play a piece of Slack Key for someone...anyone...family , friends...whatever, I start to get tight in the shoulders and tense all over, plus my hands actually shake! This makes playing through a song more difficult and twice the concentration! Like I have said before,when alone in practice I'm relaxed , and it flows smoothly. I don't get it, In the past I acted in community theatre and never got stagefright! What gives? Does this happen to any of you folks and if so what do you do for it? As sick has it is I hope I'm not the only one that tenses up!
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2004 : 09:47:21 AM
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Trust me. You are not the only one. Happens to me all the time.
It's has to be a mental thing, linked to the body's physical response. Even though one would expect your community theater experience to help, who knows what button in your brain is pressed when you're playing guitar in front of people? Apparently, there is a difference in your mind.
The best cure, I think, is to play in front of people more often. And as Sarah has pointed out to me and used herself, think of sharing your guitar playing with other versus "performing". That seems to help your mind's perceptions a bit and hopefully reduce the percieved pressure. |
Andy |
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Konabob
`Olu`olu
USA
928 Posts |
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2004 : 9:38:49 PM
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There's a general understanding at Southern California Slack Key Society meetings that you play at least 5 times better when you're alone at home than you do when you're playing at the meeting.
Andy's right though...you definitely become more comfortable the more you play. |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2004 : 10:57:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by cpatch
Andy's right though...you definitely become more comfortable the more you play.
I should clarify that my statement is based on theory not practice. I rarely play outside my living room. |
Andy |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2004 : 01:00:45 AM
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The first time I played in front of Keola Beamer -- a piece that I know perfectly well -- my right hand started to shake so badly that I couldn't even pluck notes.
I got over it by playing in public in "anonymous" places -- parks and the rocks out by the Pacific. After doing that enough times to feel comfortable -- and by then I had about a dozen songs -- I went to some nursing homes and volunteered to be entertainment. First time I was very nervous, too -- but when I started to talk, things calmed down (I'm a trained public speaker, so that part was "home free" for me.) Played a couple of those homes -- made a huge difference in getting comfortable playing in public.
I think what really turned the corner for me was one time when I was playing a song, forgot what came next, and just vamped for a while on the open/closed positions -- then I remembered the song, worked back to it -- and it was not a disaster. After that things made a huge shift.
Also, for your info -- if these ideas aren't enough for you -- there's a lot written about performance anxiety, and I can recommend some stuff. If you're really in a bind, a session with a hypnotherapist can be very useful -- but I wouldn't recommend it as a first resort.
For my $$$, can't beat parks and old people's homes. |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2004 : 8:36:33 PM
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during one of keola's classes at this year's AMC, rich (therapist from reno, married to val, surfs at san clemente - i never really got down folk's last names  ) taught us the 4-7-8 breathing trick for calming down. it works quite well! choose a comfortable tempo (say, 90 or 110 beats/minute). breath in through the nose for the first four beats; hold your breath for seven beats, and then breathe out through your mouth for eight beats. after doing this this a few times, you'll be less nervous.
aloha, keith
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lat21north
Aloha
USA
40 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2004 : 9:31:07 PM
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If practice and desensitization do not work, you can sometimes get over that hurdle by using beta blockers for a short time. Talk to your doctor--propranolol, atenolol, etc.
Bill
Healdsburg |
E holo mua
Bill |
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chip
Aloha
Canada
38 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2005 : 7:10:57 PM
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| I also struggle to play,with anybody around,over the last few months 6 of us get together once a month,we each have to recite a poem[no reading]& play a small piece of music, piano or guitar or what ever, we praise each other no end, have lots of laughts. this is helping me no end. to take away the jitters Chip |
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Auntie Nancy
`Olu`olu
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2005 : 07:11:59 AM
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I shook like crazy in class last weekend. How do you get over that? I tried just shaking my hand out from the wrist... and then if I held on tight, it couldn't shake. Can't wait 'til camp...
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nancy cook |
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2005 : 08:05:15 AM
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Yes, it does happen to us all. Playing a LOT in the presence of others helps. I try to just play for myself and if others listen and enjoy, it's fine. Although, I did play really lousy for Hal Kinnaman last week.  |
Dusty |
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Puna
Lokahi
USA
227 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2005 : 09:16:30 AM
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At the recent HMI, I was fine until Dennis Kamakahi pointed at me and said 'ok, play something so I can see where you're at'
Whooo-ee, can't hear slack key with all that blood rushing in your ears!
On a similar note, he was talking about other kumu that he'd like to have at the next HMI, and how a great learning experience is to sit in a circle, start a song, and have everyone take a solo. My nightmare went like this:
Dennis starts a song and plays a great solo. Cyril Pahinui is next, takes what Dennis did and builds on it, and then passes it to Ledward. He does all of his incredible magic, makes the guitar smoke and then...
they point to me and say 'ok, take it!' |
Puna |
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slkho
`Olu`olu
740 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2005 : 10:47:21 AM
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Puna,
I had the same experience at the SoCal HMI w/ uncle Dennis. For our recital he asked everyone play a song, (i decided to combine 4 songs into 2) These songs I know how to play in my sleep. Soon as I started to play, I went "all mental kine" crashed & burned like a bad Pan Am flight. Can't explain it, it just happened.
Although my ego was bruised, I decided to use it as a motivator, and not be too discouraged...not an easy thing for me to do by the way. It eventually does get easier with more exposure to people or crowds.
pau,
-slkho |
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Stringbreaker
Akahai
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2005 : 12:49:06 PM
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My first public performance on my original songs, I froze solid for about 15 seconds before playing a note, then I managed to get it going. It was well received, but I found afterwards I was so tense I could barely unlock my arms and legs to get off the stage. I also had drenched myself with sweat from nerves. That wouldn't be so surprising but this was a Colorado winter and it was like 28 degrees outside the club. The songs were well received, and after a few more open mikes I was able to actually speak to the audience and my playing got more fluid. Now things are much better, but if I think anybody real is in the audience, I can still feel that cold breeze on the back of the neck.
My first lesson with Mark Hanson was similar: I played him a song I had played a hundred times before, but I was so nervous about who he was I fluffed passages I usually play as smooth as melted butter. He was gracious and even said nice things about the piece, but his first advice to me was to relax my arms and shoulders "I was obviously too tense". Funny thing, that.
I think the real reason I get nervous is that it means so much to me that what I do is regarded well that all of the fear and desire gets balled up in my body. When I am less nervous, I'm not holding the tension and it goes smoothly. Then I think "well, if it meant less to me I could do it better, but how?" How do you care less about something that really means something to you? It still means the same to me at home in front of my wife and children, but I can relax there. Maybe it's because if I fluff or break a string I can laugh and make a joke and fix the problem and it is still OK. They aren't judging me based only on that moment.
Stringbreaker |
Crazy Man Tuning |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2005 : 4:36:29 PM
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The shakes have me by the whatchamacallits, too. Only time it did not happen was in Kapa'a two years ago. I introduced myself to the musician at Hula Girl restaurant, Titus Kinimaka,and asked if he played any slack key. Yes, he said, eyes lighting up (as is always the case). After the first break he came and sat with us and found out i played a little, too. Near the end of the next set he motioned for me to come up to the mike. I did, and he thrust the guitar in my hands and said over the mike, Karl from alaska is going to play us a song!!!!!
Well, all the "cures" you guys mentioned above would not have worked, for there was no time to implement them. But, guess what; i also had no time to get nervous, either, and I banged out what was then and may still be the most perfect rendition of Ke Aloha that I have ever managed. Right in front of my kids! Man, was I (and they) amazed. Well, the crowd liked it and Titus asked for more, so I played one more (Manu Kai, Beamer) and enough time had now elapsed, and the realization of where I was and what i was doing came right back, and the shakes came on bad. Didn;t muff it too badly, though.
I was dreading my lesson with John Keawe for months before meeting him this christmas. I went to two of his performances and spoke with him and Hope, got to realize he is just one nice,unassuming man who happens to play really well, and when the lesson came next day, I was not nervous there, either. Played rather well with and for him actually.
I went to a CD coming out party for a local singer. SHe is a very good jazz singer, but had never recorded anything before,had done lots of shows in large casts, but never any solo work in front of a crowd. She walked the crowd for an hour before the performance, meeting as many of us as possible, talking, relaxing, not thinking about her performance. She told me later she was on pins and needles until she began interacting with the crowd, so maybe that is part of it, too. Just becoming a part of the crowd, getting relaxed, knowing the audience a little. Sort of what Raymond said about his public speaking making it easier to make him and "them" more comfortable.
I recently joined a group of mostly beginner bluegrass musicians getting together once weekly. They play simple tunes, real slow. So i bring the guitar along, tuned to TP, slide around on some of the tunes, play hawaiian vamps on others, fill in here and there, they ask for aslack key solo at least twice nightly, and I am slowly getting more relaxed. Again, familiarity with the audience helps. So, either knowing them beforehand, or starting a good banter with a new crowd, may be a part of the answer
Good luck |
Karl
Frozen North |
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slkho
`Olu`olu
740 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2005 : 10:59:18 AM
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Uncle Titus, you know him? If its the same Uncle Titus, he plays at Dukes in Huntington Beach, CA. Big guy, real dark skin, has to sit in chair, stool, or wheelchair, great singer & guitar player.
Good advice on the jitters. Should I take off my mittens?
-slkho |
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