What I said in the title of this topic is true. When you want to be a live performer, be it, either a acoustic solo artist or playing in a band, you need to have your “confidence”. When I perform live, I have 100% confidence in my performing. I’m never scared or nervous. You have to see it to believe it.
When I go see a live local show supporting other acts around the area, I am noticing other musicians don’t have that full “confidence” yet. How can I tell? Here are some bad signs that they look like they don’t have it yet: 1) They look bored to death playing on stage 2) Their hands shake while performing 3) Their faces are red, sweating a lot 4) Mumbling while speaking in between songs 5) They can get very shy 6) Their performance is not as good as you think it would be. I can come up with a lot of bad signs.
If you want to impress an audience, and draw a large crowd, you have to have that “confidence”. Give it your 100% every time you perform. If you have that stage fright, a little bit, then you’re singing and playing might be a little off, and not as tight or emotional. That’s when you start to lose an audience, they could get bored and walk away from your set. You want to keep your audience listening throughout your set. You have to win the crowd over.
When you have that confidence, your playing will be a lot better and it could catch the audience’s attention more. When I first started playing live, I had stage fright back then. I used to get scared and nervous myself when I first started playing open mics a long time ago. I taught myself on how to over come the “stage fright”. It takes a while to over come the stage fright but it will get to you. It just takes practice and learning.
What are ways to over come “stage fright”? Perform your set at home and pretend your playing in front an actual audience. If you love music so much, you need to show to the audience. Make some cool facial expressions while performing or do some cool guitar moves. Bang your head up and down, move around while playing. When you perform in front of a real audience, act like nobody is there. Do some before show rituals to help calm yourself down before the performance like do some exercises, deep breathing or listen to your Ipod, that also helps get your confidence in. My before show rituals, I like to get away from everyone, spend time alone, studying lyrics to memorize them for the show.
If you want to perform live as a musician, and if you have stage fright, then why bother doing it? You have no right to be a live performer if you’re not going to be brave about it. I’ll be video taping my performance at the “Alcove Marina” gig coming in June 4th, and I’ll show you how confident I can be. You need to give it your best if you want to be a successful performer.
Kev
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