Question to Chris

[Carline]

Are you nervous before you enter the stage?
And if, how do you handle that?

I have a BIG problem, I`m always so nervous before and when I`m on stage...
I`m a lead singer, been in the band for 3 years now, and I`m still as nervous as I was when I first time stood on stage and saw all the people..
Eventho we have a lot of gigs it doesn`t help..
Always the last hour I`m not so nervous, that`s when all the people are pretty damn drunk and can`t stand on their feet...

I`m hoping you or anyone else can give me some advise?

Cause it`s driving me crazy, beeing so nervous.. I love singing and sharing music with others....

 

[Kohlrabihaus]

hey, i think its important to be nervous to a certain degree. try to relax. one important thing that my vocal coach is teaching me (i love singing and want to do it right, that´s why i take lessons- but first of all i´m a guitarist) is do some breathing exercices, which help to relax and free my mind.
when i had my first gig some years ago, in my old band, i just did play guitar, i was very nervous, too. but in my new bands i´ll do some vocals, and in one of ´em maybe lead vocals. i don´t know if there´s a difference being nervous and play guitar/ being nervous and sing. hm...maybe; but don´t you think it´s great you have this "first time"- feeling, still...try to see it that way: if there´s something, that gets boring, what will push you doing it over and over again??? it´s great to play for people and if you enjoy it, you can project your joy on them- that may help to overcome this problem.
prepare well and you have nothing to fear!!!
i hope these scattered thought will help you in some way!!!!

but i´d love to hear what Chris has to say about this...

 

[Chris_Broderick]

Are you nervous before you enter the stage?
And if, how do you handle that?

I have a BIG problem, I`m always so nervous before and when I`m on stage...
I`m a lead singer, been in the band for 3 years now, and I`m still as nervous as I was when I first time stood on stage and saw all the people..
Eventho we have a lot of gigs it doesn`t help..
Always the last hour I`m not so nervous, that`s when all the people are pretty damn drunk and can`t stand on their feet...

I`m hoping you or anyone else can give me some advise?

Cause it`s driving me crazy, beeing so nervous.. I love singing and sharing music with others....

Hey Carline,
I used to get very nervous before a show, to the point of fainting, but it has gotten better. It sucks that nervousness effects people in very different amounts, so one persons solution my not be yours. There have been a lot of studies about performance Nerves, and I suggest you read as much as possible. There are also classes you can take to help deal with them such as "Alexander technique" which deals with posture and breathing during performance. What helped me was forcing myself to perform starting with low level performances (family and friends) treating it as a real performance, accepting that I am going to make mistakes, and using your knowledge of what your playing to help. For example I could run through a passage mindlessly (physical memory) but it helps to realize the notes, keys, arps, rhythm, etc. I am playing at a given time so I can concentrate on that.
I want you to realize that you are not alone; some people will never perform because they get so terrified and others never even realize that the problem exists. Understand that you are creating the fear (no one else) from the desire to do a perfect performance (those don't happen), and that through understanding, preparation, and execution you will succeed. One more thing, try doing a performance were your measurement of success is not how good you sounded but how well you were able to think about what your playing, not how nervous you were.
keep me posted on how things go, Chris.

 

[Carline]

Thanks Kohlrabihaus and Chris..
I can mention that it`s my uncles band, I`ve taken his daughters place cause she wasn`t good enough.. He`s a really cool uncle, and a great guitarist, he has been a great and popular musician for a decade.. Hmm.. I`m not sure how long, I think about 45 years.. Anyway.. He has a bit high expectations of me.. So when we have a gig he want me to give 150% or more each time..
That probably freak me out, the pressure to be best..

But one thing, he never have a badword to say, and people do like our music, and they like me and my voice.. So I don`t actually have the reason to be nervous but still I am..
I have never gone to vocal coach, but I think I probably should do that.. Not just to learn the breathing technics but also to learn to use my voice the right way..
I`ll do that when I can afford it..

In the mean time I will take your advises and see how that works out..
Next gig is 2weeks ahead and then we have gigs almost every weekend until august.. It`s gonna be fun..

 

[Chris_Broderick]

Thanks Kohlrabihaus and Chris..
I can mention that it`s my uncles band, I`ve taken his daughters place cause she wasn`t good enough.. He`s a really cool uncle, and a great guitarist, he has been a great and popular musician for a decade.. Hmm.. I`m not sure how long, I think about 45 years.. Anyway.. He has a bit high expectations of me.. So when we have a gig he want me to give 150% or more each time..
That probably freak me out, the pressure to be best..

But one thing, he never have a badword to say, and people do like our music, and they like me and my voice.. So I don`t actually have the reason to be nervous but still I am..
I have never gone to vocal coach, but I think I probably should do that.. Not just to learn the breathing technics but also to learn to use my voice the right way..
I`ll do that when I can afford it..

In the mean time I will take your advises and see how that works out..
Next gig is 2weeks ahead and then we have gigs almost every weekend until august.. It`s gonna be fun..

It will be fun, good luck. Chris.

 

[Harry(not the Tyrant)]

Hi Chris,
how do you avoid a hurting shoulder because of guitar playing?My shoulder always start to hurt after awhile of playing guitar.Is it because i am an old man? Or the wrong bearing?Do you make any exercises to avoid that?

 

[Chris_Broderick]

Hi Chris,
how do you avoid a hurting shoulder because of guitar playing?My shoulder always start to hurt after awhile of playing guitar.Is it because i am an old man? Or the wrong bearing?Do you make any exercises to avoid that?

Hey Harry(not the Tyrant),
I've never had that problem, but when I buy a guitar, weight is always a factor in it's purchase. What I would do is buy a really wide strap to dispurse the weight more evenly, If that doesn't work buy a parker fly (3lbs I think).
I wish I could be more help, Chris.

 

[Harry(not the Tyrant)]

Thanx for the quick respond!
I will try it with a new strap.Cheaper than buying a new guitar.
3 lbs?Damn,have to convert that into kilogramms...

 

[Harry(not the Tyrant)]

Checked the Parker guitars homepage because i haven't heard about those guitars before.Hm,strange design,i must say.Not my kind of stuff.Especialy this very small headstock...

http://www.parkerguitars.com/code/models/models_fly_deluxe_popup.asp

 

[Carline]

Yesterday was really great..
I was nerveous as usual, I did my usual rutine before the gig, but I changed one thing, instead of going out for a smoke I sat down and just concentrated on breathing.. Oh don`t start, about the smoking, I`m trying to quit but it`s not easy when it`s almost the only thing that gives me some minutes alone. Anyway, it helped a little bit. I walked on stage without that shaking in my knees. But as soon as the music started I almost fainted.
Luckily I wasn`t gonna sing the first song, only the backing vocal. So I closed my eyes, concentrated on breathing, focusing on what I was gonna do.
This helped, it was - how should I put it- a magical night.
I had the crowd with me, and I actually dared to have eyecontact.

When I drove home after the gig I was so shaken, not like nerveous shaken, but like adrenalin shaken. A really great feeling.

Thanks again Chris and Kohlrabihaus.

 

[Chris_Broderick]

Yesterday was really great..
I was nerveous as usual, I did my usual rutine before the gig, but I changed one thing, instead of going out for a smoke I sat down and just concentrated on breathing.. Oh don`t start, about the smoking, I`m trying to quit but it`s not easy when it`s almost the only thing that gives me some minutes alone. Anyway, it helped a little bit. I walked on stage without that shaking in my knees. But as soon as the music started I almost fainted.
Luckily I wasn`t gonna sing the first song, only the backing vocal. So I closed my eyes, concentrated on breathing, focusing on what I was gonna do.
This helped, it was - how should I put it- a magical night.
I had the crowd with me, and I actually dared to have eyecontact.

When I drove home after the gig I was so shaken, not like nerveous shaken, but like adrenalin shaken. A really great feeling.

Thanks again Chris and Kohlrabihaus.

Hey Carline,
Nice, I'm glad it went well. It should only get more fun!!!
Take care, Chris.

 

[Kohlrabihaus]

great then- we had some singer auditions with one of my bands. due to the fact, that we didn´t know what the guys were able to, we were a bit nervous, playing our songs to them. after some singers, the singer of wolfen, a german pro metalband, came to a rehearsel. because he´s dj in one of my fav metal clubs in cologne, i told him we are searching a vocalist. and since we played a gig together in cologne he wanted to know how we progressed over the 2 years.
we all knew that he´s a pro musician, so we were very nervous doing the 1st song. but then we noticed that he liked it: we rocked
then after he sang/improvised on serveral songs (which was impressing) he said:
well i have a band, but at the moment i´m looking for something new- let´s trie it!
we are between 20 and 24 years, so it´s great he´s our singer.
we´ll be doing a gig in may, i hope i won´t be too nervous, because we have not played live for a half year!!!
...i truly hope it will rock!!!

to chris: you said, that you will try new speakers for your amp. i bought the new engl 4x12 speaker, the big version (i play the powerball). man it rocks so hard, you won´t believe it. i tried different speakers, which were skipped while i was playing: engl standart 4x12, engl 2x12 a boogie 4x12 and the biiiiig engl.
the boogie was great and smoked the standart, but the sound of the 2x12 was so much better than this two, but then the big 4x12- wooooooooooah the mesa boogie sounded like a bad joke!!! have you tried it, already? if not, ya know what to do!

 

[Chris_Broderick]

great then- we had some singer auditions with one of my bands. due to the fact, that we didn´t know what the guys were able to, we were a bit nervous, playing our songs to them. after some singers, the singer of wolfen, a german pro metalband, came to a rehearsel. because he´s dj in one of my fav metal clubs in cologne, i told him we are searching a vocalist. and since we played a gig together in cologne he wanted to know how we progressed over the 2 years.
we all knew that he´s a pro musician, so we were very nervous doing the 1st song. but then we noticed that he liked it: we rocked
then after he sang/improvised on serveral songs (which was impressing) he said:
well i have a band, but at the moment i´m looking for something new- let´s trie it!
we are between 20 and 24 years, so it´s great he´s our singer.
we´ll be doing a gig in may, i hope i won´t be too nervous, because we have not played live for a half year!!!
...i truly hope it will rock!!!

to chris: you said, that you will try new speakers for your amp. i bought the new engl 4x12 speaker, the big version (i play the powerball). man it rocks so hard, you won´t believe it. i tried different speakers, which were skipped while i was playing: engl standart 4x12, engl 2x12 a boogie 4x12 and the biiiiig engl.
the boogie was great and smoked the standart, but the sound of the 2x12 was so much better than this two, but then the big 4x12- wooooooooooah the mesa boogie sounded like a bad joke!!! have you tried it, already? if not, ya know what to do!

Hey Kohlrabihaus,
I havn't tried those cabs yet. It's very hard to get them in the states, but I will try to find some to listen to. Let me know what speakers are in it so I can at least get an approximation.
Thanks Chris.

 

[Aias]

Yesterday was really great..
I was nerveous as usual, I did my usual rutine before the gig, but I changed one thing, instead of going out for a smoke I sat down and just concentrated on breathing.. Oh don`t start, about the smoking, I`m trying to quit but it`s not easy when it`s almost the only thing that gives me some minutes alone. Anyway, it helped a little bit. I walked on stage without that shaking in my knees. But as soon as the music started I almost fainted.
Luckily I wasn`t gonna sing the first song, only the backing vocal. So I closed my eyes, concentrated on breathing, focusing on what I was gonna do.
This helped, it was - how should I put it- a magical night.
I had the crowd with me, and I actually dared to have eyecontact.

When I drove home after the gig I was so shaken, not like nerveous shaken, but like adrenalin shaken. A really great feeling.

Thanks again Chris and Kohlrabihaus.

Carline, there is a thing that might help a bit. There was a study done a while back with manic depressed people. Instead of giving them meds, they were told to look up at the ceiling and smile. They did this for about 20 minutes. The result, many of them preferred to stay off the meds and did this exercise instead. All you have to do is sit upright, look up and smile. Sometimes the easiest things are the most helpful. So, if you feel nervous, look up and smile. It may help.

Now here is one to make you feel really stupid. Stand up with your shoulders back and chest out. The imagine you have a cape flowing behind you like a super hero. Strut around and feel it billowing behind you. Incredibly stupid, very effective.

Hope this helps, or at least made you think!

 

[Carline]

Carline, there is a thing that might help a bit. There was a study done a while back with manic depressed people. Instead of giving them meds, they were told to look up at the ceiling and smile. They did this for about 20 minutes. The result, many of them preferred to stay off the meds and did this exercise instead. All you have to do is sit upright, look up and smile. Sometimes the easiest things are the most helpful. So, if you feel nervous, look up and smile. It may help.

Now here is one to make you feel really stupid. Stand up with your shoulders back and chest out. The imagine you have a cape flowing behind you like a super hero. Strut around and feel it billowing behind you. Incredibly stupid, very effective.

Hope this helps, or at least made you think!

Thanx for your advise. The last one I probably would do if I hadn`t so big boobs, tho the manly crowd would like that.. Haha..

 

[Kohlrabihaus]

@Chris:
i will tell u the details when i get them. i must confess i did not care what´s in, only what came out, then
anyway, these new speakers are not listet on the engl homepage... but you should check back from time to time...

 

[Carline]

Damnit.. I`m so f..... nerveous now..
On friday we have a new gig. Today we have been working on some new stuff. Some cool stuff, easy to learn and fun to work with. But we have a problem, our guitarist(my uncle) have problems with his hands. I`m not sure what it`s called in english but he is a reuvmatiker. He have had a lot of operations and so on and started to get a bit better, but now his arms looks like balloons, and his fingers lock themselves, so he have a bit problems with playing. Then we stand there without a sologuitarist.
He`s going to the hospital tomorrow, hopefully they have a wondermedicin there.. That`s unlikely but yet we hope..
If not I probably have to play, and I haven`t had the time to practice for several month, of course I play with my daughter but nothing serious.

Chris or anyone else - do you have some advise? I need to learn the songs in two days.. I have counted them tonight and there are 67 songs I have to know on guitar.. Ok. I don`t think it`s gonna be a big problem, cause I know the songs/solos in my head, but I`m kinda stressed up right know..

 

[metalgtr84]

67 songs!?! Are you in a punk band? Good lord...

 

[Carline]

67 songs!?! Are you in a punk band? Good lord...

That`s not many, we have many more songs but we picked out the most popular. We probably won`t play all of them, but we need some to choose between.
Haha.. No I`m not in a punk band..

 

[metalgtr84]

Note to self: Don't play in Norway unless you know 4 hours worth of material.