For example, during practicing, you can move alot and interact nicely with the crowd making it a memorable and interesting performance . But then when you get on stage , suddenly your stiff/standing in one spot and forgot everything you rehearsed making your performance mundane and forgettable. What are the ways to overcome this?

well it's pretty common.most people have this called a "stage fright".but the thing is,don't worry of what people think how you play.let the music move you.just concentrate on the music

let the music move you. the crowd came to watch u perform so have fun doing it

woah.. thats exactly what my friend told me.. however when practice i really do move alot and have alot of fun.. but then suddenly infront of the audience.. all the choreography and movements I practiced just vanished.. haiz..

hmm.. that may be a problem for me.. If i concentrate too much , i can play the song perfectly as practiced . however people will complain that i am to stiff and boring to watch.. but then when i try to move 1. i will tend to make mistakes 2. infront of a crowd my movements will seem unnatural and forced..

I have pretty bad stage fright too. I manage it by imagining / simulating the stage situation in my mind when I practice. I only do this after I've got the techniques down.

So stuff I think about when I do my simulated performance:
1. The walk-in, and imagine being a nervous wreck.
2. Not thinking about the music. Which simulates a blank out.
3. After starting to play, start looking around the stage and the audience.
4. Think of all the self-conscious thoughts I would have. And sometimes randomly imagine someone shouting or suddenly an plane crashing in (the latter was described by my guitar lecturer: "If a plane crash into the hall will you still be able to keep playing???" ...haha...)

If you can keep playing and not stop, then you'll realize that you're more free to groove to the music. That's when you can start practicing the moves you like to show in front of the mirror while you do your simulation.

p.s. Not everyone is a nervous wreck like me, judging from your descriptions you have far more concentration then I have. So you may want to go light on the simulation part.

lol interesting .. i may try that out , thanks

Check out this dude called MC ride on youtube.


Perform like he does. Just go into the zone and go bonkers. You're not playing at a church are you?

no in a band lol

There are bands in church too

But ok, you're not in a band. Then all you have to do is start strong. Provide that initial burst and your crowd will respond with and even bigger burst. And from there on you basically feed off each others' energies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlF9wKiKLtU

Well, its probably not the type of music you play, but shit man, look at that energy

lol , not bad

practice in front of the mirror alot

ya thats what i did alot before, but then on stage in front of many people, it gets completely different and u forget everything u did infront of the mirror

I think everyone experiences stage fright to a certain degree. Some less, some more - but everybody did at one point or another. What I can assure you will help, is to get your performance material down to perfection. Even Oli Herbert from All That Remains used to practice his songs all the way from insanely low BPMs up to over 20% higher than what it's supposed to be played at - for hours on end!

Once you're completely comfortable with what you're playing, and muscle memory kicks in, it gets easier - trust me. You'll feel more free to do a lot more on stage, like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

if you've already got that down and it's still happening, sometimes only time and experience helps. The more used you get to performing live, the more comfortable you'll be.

Just a question though, what instrument are you playing? Or are you a vocalist?

i see , thanks, i play a few kinds of instruments, but mostly perform with the guitar

a tip got from adam sandler movie big daddy - wear a sunglass

Have the same problem here sometimes. Here is how I solved mine.
1. Close your eyes & Dance when you're playing.
2. Practice all your songs are half speed and double speed using a metronome. Helps you keep cool if the song suddenly changes speed for one reason or another (singer don't always sing at the same tempo).
3. Play with more people, jam sessions are a good place to meet & play with other musicians. Most of the veteran musicians are very accommodating. & give a lot of good advice if you'd just talk to them.

how? do more live performance. experience will teach you well

just close your eyes... and shake your booty

isaacmiranda7 & Dbassnut pretty much nailed it.

That stiffness is to a certain extent physical, but mostly its psychological.

The physical bit is easy, u practice and get the muscle memory down - it will come to a point u can function on autopilot. Practice slow, medium, fast, upside down, on one
foot, forwards, backwards, whatever it takes.

The psychological bit is a lil tricky. It all boils down to ur comfort level with your audience. U will notice that when u play alone, or with close friends, ur not stiff at all. Ur used to them. While u play, u would talk to them, joke with them, laugh with them when u mess up, tendang them when they perli u, shit like that. Ur familiar with these ppl because they r ur friends. Ur not too worried about messing up in front of them, and that I think is really what it is. Ur sure enough of ur performance (the "physical" bit) and comfortable enough with the audience that u dont
care if u mess up.

This takes getting used to. Like the previous post said, go jam with other ppl, get used to being around others while u play, get used to interacting with others while u play. Go see other live performers play. Observe. See how they interact, see how other performers behave, what they do, what they say, how they do it. See how they engage the crowd.

Once u've absorbed all this, all that's left is to go up the stage and do it. Start small, play smaller venues first if that's what u think ur comfy with. Then slowly work ur way up.

One last thing, everytime before u go up that stage, keep this in ur head:

- I'm going to have fun.

- I'm going up that stage to enjoy myself.

- Everybody else is just coming along for the ride.

And when ppl see how at ease u r, it will rub off on them too, and pretty soon u will find urself playing to a roomful of friends. Good luck

p/s: there's something to be said about liquid courage in these situations, but being focused and alert is important. Besides, there's plenty of time to muck about after the performance.

This post has been edited by pleasuresaurus: Jan 5 2016, 05:40 PM

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This post has been edited by spiderman17: Apr 16 2018, 12:11 PM

From my experience whenever Im on stage I pretend to forget all the people watching as if Im playing during jamming/rehearsing. This will make you become less stiff during on stage especially during solos

Yeah!

from what i'v seen, dun bother how u look when soloing. focus on ur play.

the solo is cool enough.

wear very dark sunglasses, or better yet...some monster facemask

how to stop being stiff? stop popping them viagras. haha

This post has been edited by ariffdude: May 9 2016, 09:42 AM