Going Public

[Izzy]

I brought up a question in the, quickest way to become a better player," thread and I'd like to hear more responces on the subject.

 

Surfpup already said public playing is his least favorite aspect thought he is perfectly comfortable playing before any size crowd while Tman likes to be onstage.

 

Do guitar players generally want to play in public?

 

I did play at a party once for some classmates while a friend and I sang (very easy simple song mind you) and it was fun, but I'm not really doing it to play live BUT the way I see it, you're not really competent at guitar unless you can play even just a small set well (I don't care if its three chord songs). I'm not saying play it in public, mind you...but knowing you're being watched may add to your technique and make you less....sloppy?

[quapman]

Do I want to play in public? No not really.

 

Would I? Of course.

 

I have a couple of jamming buddies who have no desire to get out there. I have others who are already committed to a band.

If I had the chance to do a one nighter for fun I would. But I would never want to start gigging. Way too old for that.

 

But I will be playing guitar accompanying a bunch of kids on stage at my kids piano recital for a hundred or so people in a couple weeks,,, does that count? lol..

[AXE®]

No question-Public.

 

The fire that runs through you when you step out or the lights come up in uncomparable to me.

 

Yeah. Hell Yeah!

[zigzag]

Playing out is fun, especially if you like what you're playing. I've played out probably fifty times, but never to more than a hundred or so, and usually to around 25 or less. Never personally made a dime from it. I have a great appreciation and admiration for anyone who sings and plays solo.

[Greybeard]

Izzy, I started out by taking lessons at the local music store for about six years and that was a good start of a musical education. However, after I started playing with other people, not gigging mind you, my musical knowledge and style accelerated a lot faster. It was just a couple of other high school guys who had different backgrounds and experiences in the way they learned and what they learned that really helped us all get a fast jump in what we could do.

 

We learned a lot more about the timing and rhythm of music as well as the group dynamic of making the music as a group instead of sitting in a room working it all out by yourself. We developed our sessions into sets and started a high school rock group and played a lot at high school dances and other teen gatherings in our area. I was learning so much by doing that that I gave up the lessons and have played by ear and whatever I could pick up from others ever since.

 

I think getting to play with others is a great first step in developing what it takes to play gigs if thats what you want to do. We also learned a lot about singing with a group while playing. There is a big difference between playing in a small room with a group where you can all hear each other well to going on a stage where you are spread out and the acoustics of the room make it hard to hear everything that is going on. But that's a whole different story.

 

Hope some of this helps.

[rct]

16 Celestions pushing yer pants one way, couple thousand pairs of lungs pushing them the other way. Can't beat it with a stick.

 

rct

 

**EDIT**

I feel obligated to point out that was, for me, some time ago. The days of big places long gone, much smaller places in the 90's on up to 2003 or so, when I retired from bars and bands and all that. But boy, I wouldn't trade those experiences and that time for anything.

[kidblast]

The fire that runs through you when you step out or the lights come up in uncomparable to me.

 

 

^ This....

 

Played some very cool huge gigs, (10k 15k crowds) the experience was something you can't forget. When you feel the place shaking with the thunder your band is making, it is an awesome sensation. nothing like it.

 

 

it's not all bread and roses, sometimes it seems that is a lot more work/effort than what you ever get $back$, but the simple truth is, for every one AWESOME gig you do, it seems you do 10 that are not so awesome, but it's like golf, it's that one or two awesome shots you make in a round that keep you coming back for more.

 

if you love doin it, then you do it and you don't complain.

[AXE®]

16 Celestions pushing yer pants one way, couple thousand pairs of lungs pushing them the other way. Can't beat it with a stick.

 

rct

 

Yeah! Hell Yeah!

[jdgm]

What they say is all true.

I've done it 37 yrs and still do; nobody's mentioned nerves yet, you get over it quickly - mental strategies etc.

These days it is for the pleasure of the music, and....

 

Yeah? Hell YEAH!!

 

That is so true...I used to earn reasonable money as a hired gun in various anonymous cover and other bands around SE England. There weren't any groupies and I never got a roadie!

 

You got to do it Iz. You need a BAND!!! Must have a BAND!!!

[Valeriy]

If a band successful, easily everything turns out on rehearsals then you can quickly get used to the live performance since it will start everything turning out easily on stage too, maybe not immediately, but quickly. I sometimes tell to my friends that if this band concerning its musicians is fortunate the band can became already in a month professional, popular etc.

[Izzy]

 

You got to do it Iz. You need a BAND!!! Must have a BAND!!!

 

Lol, that's not why I was posting this :P

 

I am meeting with a guy I sort of know tomorrow. He plays drums (etc..) and maybe, if it works out, we can jam a bit and I can atleast get a feel for what its like to play guitar with a drummer. It is making me very axious. *breathes into paper bag

 

Singing in public? Meh, I get nervous but that melts once I sing out the first notes.

Guitar in public? Its gonna take loads of practice for me to even play decent in private, let alone with crowd induced butterflies. :unsure:

[Twang Gang]

For me it was always about playing to a crowd - playing at home or in the basement with a few friends is just practice and if you make a mistake you can stop and start over. But like Axe and Kidblast said when you get out there under the lights and feel a big crowd responding to what you are doing - there is nothing else like it. And you are forced to just go for it and let it all out that's when being a "guitar player" or a "singer" looses some of their importance and you become a "performer".

[MissouriPicker]

I think playing in public is great. I truly enjoy it. I've never had the guitar chops that some folks like to show-off. I'm just not a great guitar player, but I've never been afraid to get in front of a bunch of people and make an *** out of myself. I'm more a storyteller than a singer and I combine the two. I like the way it seems to work and I've been having "the time of my life" for years. Get out and play somewhere.

[cookieman15061]

Yeah playing out is what it's all about. Even the nights we sucked were great. Of course thats looking back through fog of time but even the small gigs are still a thrill. I play in the house band for an annual Jazz and RnB show. Gives me a chance to play with some of the hottest young players around but I must be doing something right because they call me every year to participate. Here we are after last years gig.

 

 

Playing out with other musicians is the quickest way to improve. The lessons learned in front of an audience can never be learned in your bedroom.

That's not to say that lessons learned in your bedroom won't attract an audience..........

 

ahh never mind.(chuckle)

[surfpup]

Playing out with other musicians is the quickest way to improve. The lessons learned in front of an audience can never be learned in your bedroom.

 

This is a very good point. And I didn't think that through in the other thread. While playing live shows isn't the thing I love best about guitar playing, it may be the most beneficial learning experience - and the biggest kick in the pants. It will tighten your a$$ up quick!

[surfpup]

I did play at a party once for some classmates....

 

That's actually more nerve wracking than a big room I'd say. You're invested more in them than a wall of faces you don't know.

[rct]

Even the nights we sucked were great.

 

Pretty much the story of my entire gigging life, thanks for writing that. I'd use it for the title of my biography if'n I was you.

 

rct

[rocketman]

Wow, let's see here I started gigging when I was 13. I did all kind of gigs from Greek festivals (first gig) to weddings to musicals to studio stuff to filling at at various jazz clubs to bars to church organist (which is the only thing I do now), etc.

 

It gave me a lot of confidence for sure. Some of it was not fun (the rock gigs at bars got tiring after a while) but most of it was great.

 

Anyways, to answer your question. DO IT! What do you have to lose, seriously? You can only gain from it. You really have to have the "I don't give a sh!t attitude about it." The worse thing to do is to start thinking about it. Just go for it. You'll have a great time.

 

I still mess up, but I don't care. One time our choir director told the choir to sing a piece but I heard him wrong. So I was playing one piece while the choir was attempting to sing another. I just looked at him and put my hands up and smiled. He was upset but hey that's life. I told him that he needed to speak up. Now he makes signs. We both learned.

[flyingarmadillo]

I played (acoustic) at my wedding reception - before that it had been about 40 years since I played in front of a group of people. A little nerve wracking at first considering the audience, but not bad once I got going.

[milod]

Izzy...

 

I think we're talking about a cupla things here.

 

Yes, playing with others definitely brings a discipline to your playing at almost any skill level. When you have your guitar chops to the point you can play basic vocal backup without thinking, that's a good thing.

 

It's also that "metronome" we've talked about.

 

Playing out?

 

Well, I've done one sort of performing in public since I was 3; playing music one way or another since I was 5. Sometimes it's been marvelous fun, sometimes work, on occasion a bit of terror but... all do indeed bring a bit of an adrenalin rush and a slow come-down when you shower after a rock or "loud country" gig and can't hear the water running...

 

But that background, I think, makes it impossible for me to answer your question about whether it's natural for a picker to want to play "out." It seems that it kinda happens whether planned or not, at least for me.

 

I do think, though, that there's a difference between an ensemble of 2 or more folks and a solo gig.

 

The solo gig you simply try to keep at a level of technical difficulty that you can handle if everything goes wrong like breaking a string in the middle of a song (I've usually kept going regardless and figured how to correct the tuning so it doesn't break up a performance) or something else untoward.

 

The ensemble gig is something else. I think it's like sports in that if the folks involved are "together," it's something that makes the performance more than its parts. If they're not, then the most talented folks around just can't make stuff work. That's true whether you really like each other or not.

 

I've played a few relatively big gigs and one live TV gig and ... I've gotta admit that my preference is for the more intimate small saloon or coffeehouse type of thing where there's more audience interaction than being on a stage 10 feet above everybody. I like the relaxed BS between songs whether a solo or band gig kinda like having a bit of good tobacco to smoke with a good brandy or Scotch and rich black coffee of an evening.

 

<grin> Each of us will have a somewhat different response.

 

Funny... This morning I got a news release that Paul Revere and the Raiders will be playing near here this summer. In my better college band we played a lotta their stuff and while beating up this little keyboard I proceeded to play "Just Like Me" at max level after the other folks went home. Somehow it brought back running my turntable through the Deluxe Reverb at max level in those days... and thinking of those stage lights and band interaction...

 

Hmmmmm.

 

m

[dbreslauer]

My last public performance was in the early 90's, after which we all pretty much graduated college, moved on with our lives, (in my case enlisted in the US Navy), etc. As a teen and into my early 20's, I was gigging/jamming 3-4 days a week, drums in one band, guitar in others, whatever I could do. I would not trade that time in my life or the experience for anything.

 

This June I'm playing in my very first guitar recital: I can't wait to perform again, even if only for family and friends in a public library.

 

I say play out all you can: you'll get better, make friends, have fun... memories that will stay with you.

[jaxson50]

Start out going to jam sessions, or clubs that have open mic nights, hang around get comfortable with the folks, buy them drinks, don't drink to many yourself, always start by playing a song they know, even better if you get them singing with you! What's the biggest mistake we all make? We get nervous and rush things, we speed the song up. Enjoy it.

[Kaiser Bill]

Playing out in public is my favorite. Then comes session work. Least favorite would be weddings and working for rich people in general. Sitting at home alone and "noodling" is alright.

[cookieman15061]

Pretty much the story of my entire gigging life, thanks for writing that. I'd use it for the title of my biography if'n I was you.

 

rct

 

 

It's true right. Playing live taught me so much disipline. The give and take that you can only experience playing with other musicians.

 

Every night wasn't perfect but when it all came together and the audience was having a blast, it was a high that was hard to beat.

[charlie brown]

I play out, every chance I get. Mostly small bars, and clubs, these days...but, there are

some larger outdoor gigs, now and then. I'm no "Eric Clapton," for sure...but, I still enjoy

the "rush" of playing for people, be it 2 or 2000, when they're diggin' it. There is never

any gaurantee, but you just keep doing it, for Yourself, and if in a band, your bandmates.

And, you give it your best shot, regardless. Otherwise, there's no point...IMHO. I do think

it's critical, to play with the best players you can. And, be willing to help other's, as well.

"What goes around, comes around," and all that.

 

If you're really "successful" (and, I don't mean this in the financial sense), the audience

becomes a willing and eager participant, in your musical journey, if only for the few hours,

you're together. They feed you, at least as much (if not more so), as you do them.

When you're all really "together," it's absolute Magic, truly. And, it

can be quite emotional, for everyone.

 

Oh, an a little bit of "nerves" is a good thing...keeps you honest.

 

CB