Stage fright?

[Jonska]

I started playing accordion two years ago. Recently I started doing gigs with my band and solo too. I have a small list of songs I play and I practise them a lot. I noticed that I can play the song pretty well when playing alone in my home but when I'm at the front of any audience my play does not go so well. I can play the songs from the beginning to the end but I do some mistakes and small tumbling on the way. I tried to play songs alone kazillion time but still it is more difficult on the front of audience.

The funny thing is that I do not feel frightened at all. Because of my work I'm used to be at the front of very different kinds of audiences (but not with accordion). Still for some reason my playing suffers from people :roll:

Does anyone else have any similiar kind of experiences about stage fright? Do you have any advices or tricks how to avoid stage fright?

 

[Glenn]

Hi Jonska,

I have the very same situation as you do. I rarely play to a large audience but even when playing to family I get the same reaction from my brain, namely it goes "OK" but I know I can play better.
I think is is something to do with you not having the same relaxed concentration you do at "home alone". On a stage, or even when playing to your auntie, some of your brain is not concentration on what you are doing.
I sometimes think it is my "look ahead" buffer that is suffering. You are so intent on making the notes that you are now sounding great that the necessary forward planning for moving onto the next notes is negatively influenced.

By the way, my experience is that when you ask people how it sounded that say "great". In a group listening environment I think the performer has a lot of leeway without the audience being aware of what is going on in the performer's head.
Of course, if you are super critical you will never be satisfied, but the audience often are.
Anyway, 2 years of playing is nothing. Well done for being brave enough to venture out in public.....

 

[Jonska]

By the way, my experience is that when you ask people how it sounded that say great. In a group listening environment I think the performer has a lot of leeway without the audience being aware of what is going on in the performers head.
Of course, if you are super critical you will never be satisfied, but the audience often are.
Anyway, 2 years of playing is nothing. Well done for being brave enough to venture out in public.....

Actually this same happened to me two weeks ago. It felt like my gig went bad but the feedback from the audience was good A long-time friend of mine was listening too and said that You really look like you panicked all the time but the sound was damn good! :lol:

 

[Guernseyman]

The more you do it the easier it becomes. It is a confidence issue but the fact that you are playing after only two years is amazing. Don't be too hard on yourself and don't worry what other people think. I had to play in front of Alan young the other day as he was in the accordion shop when I went to pick up my serenellini. But what does it matter? W are all still learning!

 

[Daveg4otu]

What Guernseyman says is true (The more you do it the easier it becomes). I spent years playing guitar as part of a backing group for various amateur productions....then one day I had to get up on the stage and play as well as sing a song . It was comedy and I found that , once I had started and got the first laugh, everything fell into place.

 

[george garside]

Jonska, It is not unreasonable that after only 2 years playing you might make a mistake or two as the same can happen after 50 years playing

A few thoughts on what to do when mistakes occur

- whatever you do don't stop or slow down as its unlikely that the audience will have noticed ( unless they are box players and/or know the tune extremely well)

- practice making a few deliberate mistakes and instantly correcting them by very rapidly changing to the right note or whatever

- practice a bit of ''smoke and mirrors'' stuff to take the audiences mind of the mistake eg stik in a big hord on the bass or a quick twiddle between the wrong note and the right note as if its part of your arrangement of the tune etc etc etc

- if your 'mistake ' is big and in the first 8 bars stop - say in a jocular manor '' I cocked that up beautifully so I'll start again'' and do just that. The audience will smile with you!

- there is a saying that if you make a mistake twice it becomes a new arrangement!

george

 

[Puxto]

Same here with most of the above, been playing at some Jam nights recently, and as long as the focus isn't on me its fine but the minute im put on the spot in front of everyone my playing falls to pieces! Did a short "set" a couple of weeks ago and was fluffing tunes I've played a million times at home.. Later on when everyone else was packing up gear and drinking and not paying so much attention, I could play just fine.
I tend to have a drink to calm the nerves but that is a very delicate balance, just a little too much and the fingers turn to jelly...
Again though, as I'm playing in a relaxed pub atmosphere the accordion seems to go down a treat, and people really appreciative it however bad I think it is..
That said, I don't want to get by on the novelty factor of the instrument itself, I'd like to actually be impressive on it too! I'm assuming if I just keep doing it I'll hopefully get more comfortable over time. The moments when I have loosened up and gone with the flow, I've had a really amazing time. Knocking out a few non accordion covers with a normal band can be really fun, and easy, with much less pressure. I've probably had more fun jamming to "Rocky Raccoon" by The Beatles and "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors for example, than I have trying to play my stuff, With everyone hitting the odd bum note and no one caring.. fun stuff like that really helps me with getting used to performing and not being too fussy and caring too much..and enjoying it

 

[Glenn]

Maybe that's the secret Puxto.
If you are having fun then it all appears so easy.
Maybe some of us are taking it too seriously and the effect is immediately seen in the fingers.

By the way, drinking and playing ???? Must be a no-no. Do we all agree on this?
I can guarantee a pint of beer spilt into your accordion does nothing for its acoustic qualities

 

[Puxto]

Maybe thats the secret Puxto.
If you are having fun then it all appears so easy.
Maybe some of us are taking it too seriously and the effect is immediately seen in the fingers.

By the way, drinking and playing ???? Must be a no-no. Do we all agree on this?
I can guarantee a pint of beer spilt into your accordion does nothing for its acoustic qualities

I fully agree with both of the above. Indeed I only allow a little drink, and only because its that sort of environment and atmosphere..a very casual pub affair with friends and far from a serious performance But it definatly should be a No No

And yes, beers anywhere near my accordion do make me very nervous, Im extremely carefull about that! {} :ch

 

[goldtopia]

I don't get stage fright but awareness of others listening tends to put me off

 

[Tom]

Good points here as usual. Tonight I'm sitting in with my friend's band (on mandolin) and coincidently my parents will be there, the first time they will have seen my play live, living 1000 miles away. I will still be nervous but another tip I have used is to play a real basic version of the tune, or backup or whatever you are doing. Again, the audience won't know and will notice whether you smile more than whether you played it right. Good luck with your gigs.

 

[Puxto]

And like you say Glenn about taking it too seriously, and the fingers, during that "set" I wanted so much to play perfectly I could actually feel my fingers were really nervous and tense and jumpy, and like I say later on when people weren't paying attention, I actually played through the lot again really nicely..
I was very aware that I'd cared too much about it the first time and that I somehow need to learn to switch that off.
Have been pondering some busking of late to give me more experience in "switching off"

And Jonska that is brave at two years in :tup: I've been playing about 5 or 6 years and only just recently feel ready, but in some ways feel I should've taken the plunge earlier as its been most benificial. The first time I played in public was awfull, everyone liked it but I knew it was soo bad, the worst bellows technique. But I was instantly so painfully aware of everything I was doing wrong that I (I like to think anyway!) improved a lot straight after that, I could suddenly hear it properly.. if that makes sense

 

[dunlustin]

Don't think there are any cast iron answers.
For what it's worth, I've found it got worse as I got older.
It might help to:
practise keeping going when you make a mistake
accept you will lose about 30% of your ability in front of an audience
so
you need to be really sure you know the tune inside out
and
as recording has a similar effect, that can help as part of practice.
Finally as others have said, most listeners hear the overall effect - look as if it's OK and most people will believe you.

 

[donn]

Maybe thats the secret Puxto.
By the way, drinking and playing ???? Must be a no-no. Do we all agree on this?

Not really! I mean, I cant literally drink and play at the same time on accordion (though Ive done it while playing electric bass), but I routinely enjoy a beer or other alcoholic drink before and during musical performance, and of course so do many of the people I play with. (And I am religious about making sure I am well caffeinated, but thats more of an individual peculiarity.)

Now for sure, theres a great risk with alcohol (and other intoxicants), that the performer may suffer more from its effects than he or she is aware - we all tend to think were more brilliant than we are! And while it obviously has some potential to help with anxiety, one would like to think that in the long term it would be better to resolve severe anxiety problems by getting to their source, rather than masking them with alcohol. I think for these reasons its a good idea to perform dry at least once in a while, and pay attention to how well youre playing, for an occasional reality check. And of course too much alcohol is too much. I think serving sizes are often a little too generous for many people. I mean, if youre not a large person or have a low tolerance for alcohol, a pint of beer might somewhat past whats good for public performance.

For whatever reason, Ive never been greatly troubled by stage fright, so I can only guess at what might help, but when I do have a bit of jitters going on, I reckon thats a good thing -- its energy that I can use. No one needs a super chill musician. But theres still a lot that can go wrong - its a long haul, it takes a long time to master a complex instrument like the accordion, and Im still at the point where its distracting and troublesome, so some anxiety is regrettably justified!

 

[Puxto]

accept you will lose about 30% of your ability in front of an audience

Thats a really good way of putting it! As a mental tool, Im gonna keep that in mind next time I need to let go instead of trying so hard and making it worse, :tup:

 

[Puxto]

Ha, and on the booze subject. Yeah I think the first time, I needed it to be fair :lol: but after a couple of mornings waking up with a hangover and drunken accordioning shame, a strange and unique feeling.. "That was really good" they say, but oh you know different.. I'm being alot more strict now, about a half seems ok but yeah I think the more I play my aim is to get more naturally comfortable with playing so I can abstain untill later in the evening

I also try to maintain at least about a meter radius between my accordion and beverages at all times, cos the thought of someone getting nudged with a pint for example anywhere near it is frankly horrific! So don't worry everyone I'm very protective of my babies!! {} I've managed to get a good safe corner nowadays too :b

 

[Puxto]

Its no wonder a lot of us have these problems really given the nature of the instrument, being still fairly unconventional (to alot of people anyway) all eyes are usually on you as it were, there's instantly a bit of pressure to impress when you pull out grand looking box compared to an acoustic guitar.. you know it'll get peoples attention, which is not always what you might want when trying to just blend in, I never could manage blending in, its no wonder I ended up playing such a contraption ha :lol:

edit- not meaning to say we have it harder than any other musicians really, everyone gets nervous but, I do feel like something of a sideshow attraction sometimes, which doesnt help, but fortunately for me that also means people are quite easily impressed by it :lol:

 

[Jim the box]

I'm interested as to how a person can drink and play with both hands full of accordion, maybe using a straw??

I have however seen someone put a serviette on top of his PA and then proceed to eat his sandwiches off it :lol:

 

[george garside]

Maybe that's the secret Puxto.
By the way, drinking and playing ???? Must be a no-no. Do we all agree on this?

Try selling this idea to your average Morris musician who may well also be a member of Camra (campaign for real ale). His or her whistle will inevitably require wetting during a dance tour that could for example involve a performance at 5 or 6 pubs! :ch :ch :ch !

I do agree however that alchoholic whistle wetting should be kept to a minimum for a stage performanace or if playing for a full evening dance as part of a paid band.

george

 

[JIM D.]

There is a Russian accordionist that does this quite well -- --