The Steel Guitar Forum

I've been playing for over 30 yrs. & most of the time have no fear. Sometimes for no reason something comes over me that freeze's me up. I mean the right leg starts shaking & my hands go into a wild shaking. The more I try to control it, the worst it gets. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem, & if so, what you do to control it. Makes me wonder how the big boys handle some of the big shows.If you are relaxed you can really play good, but if not WOW!!!!! It's really bad. Maybe everyone has some help in this area. Thanks

Myron..i suffer from stage fright..not exactly what you have....but i have fought this demon for 40 years..no matter how prepared i am, or who i'm playing with..i also cannot, get up in public and speak either...i didn't raise my hand in school..even though i was prepared with my lessons, and knew the correct answer...take a look at my E~mail address! it says it all...when you find the answer..please let me know will ya...sorry..no answer for you, i hope maybe forum brother Stephen will weigh in here with some advice for you...good luck my friend....

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Whitney Single 12 8FL & 5 KN,keyless, dual changers Extended C6th, Webb Amp, Line6 PodXT, Goodrich Curly Chalker Volume Pedal, Match Bro, BJS Bar..I was keyless....when keyless wasn't cool....


<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by George Redmon on 24 June 2005 at 08:22 PM.]</p></FONT>

I have a funny story relative to this. Many years ago (just a kid), I auditioned for Al Brumley (Tom's brother) in Branson. I was so nervous... my foot shook like a leaf and Al asked me if I was using a wah-wah pedal. Talk about nerves.....I didn't settle down for nearly an hour, but thank God, that was the last time it ever happened. We've laughed for years about it. I didn't think it was very funny back then though.

The best advice I was given was to remember that (unless you're playing at a steel guitar convention) it is very unlikely that anyone in the audience are a player, knows what you should be doing, only what you are doing, and that they will probably appreciate that.

It is only in the last few years that I stopped shaking when another local player (who I knew well) came into the club where I was playing.

Keep with it - you'll get there.

Try this little exercise, then keep at it until you actually believe it.
Q- Why are you frightened of being in front of other people?
A-Because you think that they might think badly of you.
Q- When someone speaks or plays when you are in the audience, do you even think about them at all?
A- No, you've got your own life to lead.
So, you don't ever need to think about what people are thinking- because the one thing you know they are not doing is thinking about you.
Anyway, anyone who respects you will respect you even you do mess up.
Anyone who does not-well, who cares what they think anyway?

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Cheers!
Dave

<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Dave Boothroyd on 25 June 2005 at 01:23 AM.]</p></FONT><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Dave Boothroyd on 25 June 2005 at 01:24 AM.]</p></FONT>

Well,,

Tonight a well respected steel player I'd been hearing about for several yrs. walked into the club out of the clear blue ski, [Mike Young] After being introduced to him just minutes before time to start, well you guessed it, I was a nervous wreck, LOL... Took half of the first set to remember where the neck and strings were on my steel...

Larry

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Emmons S/D-10, 3/4, Sessions 400 Ltd. Home Grown E/F Rack
"ROCKIN COUNTRY"

"To scared to pick". Remember, it's not so much as what you pick as it is how you pick. Just play and it'll be alright. If there happens to be another steel player in the crowd then make a point to talk with him/her and be yourself. For me personally, if I happen to go in somewhere and there's a steel player playing, I tend to listen how he plays, not what he plays. It's that technique I look for. And finally, everybody has something nobody else has. There's a real good chance you'll play a lick or a run that nobody has. For me, the steel guitar is something I use to bring people together, kind of like a painter paints, a carpenter builds, a bricklayer lays brick. A steel player plays beautiful music that a lot of people like. Therefore, it opens doors to meet new people who in turn have something in common with the player. THEY LOVE STEEL GUITAR MUSIC.

Theres a good article in" Vintage Guitar Mag"about fear while playing an instrument.Real interesting I thought, it said that we are not born with these kind of disabilities.But are influenced or even taught by adults, to be afraid of things , as young children. Read it if you have a copy of the mag. Bob

And remember, from the audience they can't see the nerves.
That old thing about imagining the audience in their underwear? I just wish that they were actually naked. I think it would really shift the focus.

Myron, You are one of the most AWESOME musicians I have ever heard. You are so precise, accurate and play great tasy licks.
I get nervous when I am unsure of the material I will have to perform. It is easy if you know that you have a good grip on the songs before the show starts.
I just want you to know,my friend, that you have no reason to think that the audience won't like your playing. I wish I could do half of what you can do on your worst day.
I should add that I used to get nervous when I was a drinker. My body was calling for some help from the bottle. I quit that over 20 years ago and learned that alcohol creates a "catch 22" situation.
Don't overlook the body chemistry. Eat a good meal an hour or so before the show, to get the blood sugar to the correct level. <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by John Daugherty on 25 June 2005 at 06:01 AM.]</p></FONT>

Thanks for all the good advice,and thanks for the really kind words John.I wanted to bring this topic out, cause I have not seen one on the forum before. For me, I play several other instruments,the funny thing is none of the others ever bother me. I think the reason is I care the most about steel & want it to be the best,& that the more I work on that, that's when it gets to me.I once was playing in Vagas with the Judy Lynn Show & had been playing about a week at the Nugget with no problems, then one night while on stage playing a pretty fast little tune, my little mind said WOW!!! your playing at the Nugget in Vagas, well you know the rest of the story. I got back under control, but when that kind of thing happens I get really mad at myself. Which by the way seems to work the best for me, is to get about half mad at myself.Any way thanks for all you stories and advice.

Stage fright is so unpredictable!

We are so conditioned to being on stage that we are usually too nonchalant, and a little anxiety could be beneficial.

....but,then out of nowhere, sometimes with no apparent reason....a near paralyzing bout of stagefright strikes!

Trembling fingers try to control the bar, picks find the wrong strings, we can't remember the chord progression on the song we're playing, and we perceive that everyone in the area is aware of our discomfort!

Go figure.....


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<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 28 June 2005 at 07:17 AM.]</p></FONT>

I've head it said that you wouldn't worry as much what people thought of you if you realized how seldom they did. That's a little bit sarcastic, but there's truth in it.

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<font size=1>Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | MSA U12 | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?</font>

I just love reading these posts. I am finding out that I am, well I started to say normal, well anyway, that I am just like you other guys in the boat! Good to know we're not alone! Rich

Myron, that sounds like a magnesium deficiency. I have the same problem, so I always keep some epsom salts with me. Epsom salts is cheap, but you have to mix it with lemonade to overpower the taste, and then you have to stay near a restroom. It's more convenient to take calcium/magnesium pills, but they're slower acting and I have to take about ten pills at a time to get any effect. Don't worry about overdosing, they're not going to hurt you.

Myron, I know how you feel. I get the same way almost everytime I play at church. It's crazy, because I know those folks love me and don't care if I play perfect or not.
But I feel my problem is because I'm just not confident with my playing. I'm far from being professional quality. However, on the other hand, I play bass fiddle in a Bluegrass Gospel group and I never get nervous with it. I feel totally confident (well almost) playing bass and it doesn't bother me who's listening. Not that I'm an outstanding bassist. I just know what I'm doing on it and that makes the difference for me. Hopefully one day I'll feel just as sure about the steel! But in the meantime, I'll keep shaking. Good luck to you, James

I have stage fright now and then. It's never really pleasant but trust me, the opposite is much worse. When you come to a gig, you're about to count the first song off, you look at your watch and you think "Well, at least in four hours it's over and I can go home!". Guess what, the audience will notice that attitude much more than if you're nervous. And actually the only thing they really pick up from you if they see that you are nervous is that you care about how they feel. Makes them feel good.

Bottom line: Do not fight your stage fright. Enjoy the extra adrenalin it gives you, it'll make you focus better.

I mena, I know how bad it can feel. I've been so nervous for gigs, when I still was in high school I called insick three days before this one gig. I was in a samba orchestra, everything was fine until they sai those of us who played the small drums had to stand in front and dance! I dance like a tree swaying in the storm. I thought I was gonna die. But you never do, do you? It turned out to be a great night in so many ways and the adrenalin I got from the stage fright made me very attentive. Didn't miss anything. I made quite a few mistakes but at least I was aware of them

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If you can't hear the others you're too loud, if you can't hear yourself you've gone deaf

Like I've said a hundred times.

I run out of adrenaline from time to time,

But I've still got plenty of gall.



EJL

I guess that's right, it takes gall to play in front of people and take money for it.

It seems from reading posts that most of us have more talent than we think we do.

I just wish the audience would be naked.

I could write a book on quaking hands. I remember the great pianist, Roger Williams who has played for Presidents and people all over the world and his stage fright. I have a video shot of him on the old Merv Griffen show and his hands were shaking unbelievably. He also talked about it in the interview segment. Pianos can be hammered with shaking hands but the steel has to be accurately plucked.
I remember Hank Jr. on TV back in the 80s and his steeler that night shook so badly on his solo that you could only hear about every 3 or 4 notes he was trying to play. Needless to say, you heard mostly the band carrying the tune with an occassional note from the steel. My heart sympathyzed for the poor man as I've been there many times

<SMALL>Sometimes for no reason something comes over me that freeze's me up. I mean the right leg starts shaking & my hands go into a wild shaking.</SMALL>

Only on my first live performance. The first tune was the trickiest for me and resulted in a total train wreck. But I just kept on pickin' and things smoothed out. But, man!, that first tune was no fun at all. The audience didn't seem to notice (after all it's "that whiney thing" anyway, right?) -dh

Imagining the crowd naked reminds me of a Simpson's episode when Homer's nervous and imagines the crowd in their underwear, then suddenly HE'S in his underwear and gives a girlish shriek.

Myron:
I have been so tense and scared that my fingers have literally gotten tangled up in the strings when I tried to play. I could thread a sewing machine with it running. After the first song though I seem to settle down.
I have found that the bigger the crowd the less nervous I am.

Most of the time for me it's just a heightened sense of excitment or kind of a hyped up feeling that I can use playing. A couple of times though I've had to hide me hands behind the steel because I couldn't stop the shaking to get my picks on. After we started playing that all went away though. To my knowledge I haven't played much in front of other steel players. I don't wanna know!

<SMALL>....but,then out of nowhere, sometimes with no apparent reason....a near paralyzing bout of stagefright strikes!</SMALL>

with me is the same thing,But with me is my neck more than anything.I start geting some kind of cramps (something to do with nerves I guess) in my neck wich makes me very unconfortable.That is a rare ocasion but I hate when it happends.Most of the time I don`t really care what anyone thinks and have fun playing my guitar.When I mess up I either pretend nothing hapend and keep on playing or if I really mess up I just make a big smile and continue playing.It`s supossed to be fun so I try to keep it that way.

Db



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