Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
|
|
Performing in Front of an Audience
|
You are logged in as Guest
|
Users viewing this topic: none
|
|
Login | |
|
Ramin
Posts: 103
Joined: Mar. 15 2005
From: Toronto, Canada
|
Performing in Front of an Audience
|
|
|
Hi everybody, After a year and a half of studying Flamenco guitar, during which I have resisted playing even in front of friends & family, I think it is time for me to start playing in public. My first public appearance was last Sunday when I played Paco Pena's Tarantas (from his book Toques Flamencos, just so you know I'm a beginner). Needless to say it was a near-disaster performance with the nerves being in full control! Im just glad I did perform and managed to finish the piece. Now that I have decided to get more serious with Flamenco, I need your advice as how I can best prepare myself to play in front of people. I have read a lot of books on mental focus, relaxation, NLP, etc. And, I know that I have to go through many disasterous performances to become comfortable playing in front of public. But I still want to benefit from your valuable knowledge & experiences in this matter, as many of you play guitar for a living, or have already past the hurdle I'm now facing. I would greatly appreciate if I could have your thoughts, no matter how trivial they may seem on the surface, on this subject. I would like to thank those who respond, even if they haven't yet loaded their profile photos , in advance! Ramin
_____________________________
What we are today comes from out thoughts of yesterday and our present thoughts build our life tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind. -Buddha
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Dec. 6 2005 19:44:51
|
|
Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
|
RE: Performing in Front of an Audience (in reply to Ramin)
|
|
|
I have gone from total stage fright to having it pretty well under control. My worst moment was a college classical guitar recital when I forgot the 2nd note of Bach's Cello Prelude #1. I remembered the first, but I crashed and burned on the second note! That's a short piece. Nowadays, I play in front of people several times a week, and it rarely bothers me even if they sit right in front of me and stare at my hands. What is the difference? Experience. Start in a group. Like Henrik said, you can hide in a group. But step out...play a solo...move a little so people watch you even if you're just strumming a simple rumba. Play one solo piece...even if its only a minute long. If you're this much of a beginner that Tarantas is WAY too hard for you, sorry to say. Well, at least I think it would make it easier on you if you chose something shorter and less complicated. Scale it back and only play something in front of people if you can play it with your eyes closed and upside down. Play it for your best friend/girlfriend/mother until you have no fright. Then to your next best friend, relatives, keep getting a larger circle. Each step is tough, but once you master it, you have learned and grown. My last recital was last year and I performed well. I didn't mess up, had a good time, and remembered the whole thing.
_____________________________
Connect with me on Facebook, all the cool kids are doing it. https://www.facebook.com/migueldemariaZ Arizona Wedding Music Guitar
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Dec. 6 2005 22:26:23
|
|
Jon Boyes
Posts: 1377
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
|
RE: Performing in Front of an Audience (in reply to ToddK)
|
|
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: ToddK The key is humility. To lose all ego, and not be afraid to screw up. Once that fear of judgement goes away, you come back into that thought pattern of, im playing my piece, and im having fun, cause it sounds so good, to ME. Thats a great tip. I said this a while back on the foro and someone said "what do you mean lose your ego - people like PDL, Segovia etc all have big egos..." missing the point. I guess its a language thing, but I know exactly what Todd means. Lots of other good tips here too - Henriks/Carlos stuff about practicing performing is very useful. I used to work through pieces imagining the neighbours were all listening closely at the wall. Why? Because it gets you used to the feeling of being watched (or listened too). That stuff about playing and not stopping is on the money too. Its a bad habit to stop and try and rectify mistakes in the middle of a piece when you practice, all you are doing is conditioning yourself to accept "THIS IS THE BIT WHERE I **** UP" As Mike says, use every opportunity to perform in front of people. Keep a guitar in your living room, pick it up and play when someone visits. Keep it casual, not like a big performance or anything, but like "can I just play you something I am working on". The more it becomes natural to play in front of people, the less the nerves become an issue. Several years on as a soloist I still get nerves/adrenalin, but know it is of no consequence as it wil not affect my playing. In fact, if I am tired a shot of adrenalin will help keep me on my toes. One thing I would add that hasn't been mentioned is the preparation of solo pieces. All very well going through the mechanics of it, but there is so much more you can do to solidify it. Can you sing/hum the melody from start to finish? Could you close your eyes and vuisualise your fingers playing through it all? These kind of memorisation/concentration techniques mean you are not just relying on muscle memory to get through the piece. Classical virtuoso David Russel (IMO, probably the finest now that Bream has retired) has a whole bag of tricks like this he uses. PS. Busk! This is a great way to get performing experience, no one will complain if you screw up and getting money thrown in your case will do your confidence the world of good.
_____________________________
Spanish Guitarist in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Dec. 7 2005 9:03:32
|
|
Mark2
Posts: 1872
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
|
RE: Performing in Front of an Audience (in reply to Ramin)
|
|
|
Volunteer to do concerts at retirement homes, go to open mikes, do background music jobs, take every opportunity to perform. Experience is what will improve your performance. And most importantly, learn the music so well you could play it in your sleep. My first flamenco guitar teacher, who gave solo concerts and accompanied great dancers, said learn the music 200%, because you will lose some when you are in front of an audience. If you start at 100%, he said, and lose 25 percent in nerves, you will be performing at only 75% which will not cut it. Sounds simplistic, but it works.
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Dec. 7 2005 16:45:40
|
|
Paleto
Posts: 243
Joined: Jul. 29 2003
From: San Diego, CA
|
RE: Performing in Front of an Audience (in reply to Ramin)
|
|
|
Ramin, Find a place to play where people are just walking by, maybe a university or a park or some kind of public place. This will get you used to playing in front of people, but without them or you comitting to a formal setting. When you do this, train yourself to keep focused on the coming parts of whatever you're playing, but don't get hung up on mistakes or worrying about anything. I have a spot at a university where the acoustics are nice and 10 or 15 people walk by an hour. Playing there helps me get used to having an audience, not to mention the occasional professor who's working on a Saturday or Sunday. Students usually really like to walk by, sometimes one will stop and sit and read or watch. This is a really good way to get used to playing in front of people. A great book to read is The Natural Classical Guitar, by Lee Ryan. The principles are easily applied to flamenco. Try it. Good luck, Anthony
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Dec. 10 2005 5:10:49
|
|
New Messages |
No New Messages |
Hot Topic w/ New Messages |
Hot Topic w/o New Messages |
Locked w/ New Messages |
Locked w/o New Messages |
|
Post New Thread
Reply to Message
Post New Poll
Submit Vote
Delete My Own Post
Delete My Own Thread
Rate Posts
|
|
|
Forum Software powered by ASP Playground Advanced Edition 2.0.5
Copyright © 2000 - 2003 ASPPlayground.NET |
0.0625 secs.
|