Things you learn after quite a few years .. add yours

HAL9000

It’s ok to repeat phrases.

It’s ok to leave spaces.

It's better to play a few notes well, than to play lots of notes badly.

Supportact

Playing live is different to playing at home. But also playing in the studio is different to both. You need to be able to adjust. 

Breathing really affects how our minds and bodies work. If you can control your breathing you can control things like nerves or adrenaline. 

You can't ever complete becoming a musician so you might as well work with what you've got now rather than wait to be good enough.

Listening is the most important thing for making music. 

Barney

Practice on one string all the way up the...then practice on 2 strings ...work on intervals and phrasing .....do the same on all string sets and positions and using different scales 

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Stage fright is for pussies. You are not going to die and ninety percent of the people watching only wish they could do something like you are doing. So just go for it.

topdog91

Ugh.

Tannin

Supportact said:

You can't ever complete becoming a musician so you might as well work with what you've got now rather than wait to be good enough.

^ This. (And do as I say, not as I do.)

BillDL

If I pick up an electric guitar to play and realise that I don't have a pick to hand, I no longer feel compelled to go and find one as I can play, albeit slightly differently, without one now.  It only took me about 35 years to finally realise this even though my default with an acoustic is with my fingers.

Teyeplayer

Less is more, the only folks who care about the number of notes you can play per-second are that knob from the blues jam who needs to learn to turn his amp down and the spotty kid at the back who can’t even play. The rest are here to hear the song, so serve the song not your ego.

Lower output pickups are warmer and more articulate than a high output pickup and are preferable in 99% of cases.

Know how to jump and mix between using a pick and fingerpicking, it’s got more dynamics than a board full of fancy fx.

blobb

Drinking before a gig is NOT a good idea.

Danny1969

blobb said:

Drinking before a gig is NOT a good idea.

I think that's an age / experience thing. I rarely do a gig completely sober, if you are used to drinking and playing it's not an issue and a few beers makes a more pleasant experience. 

If you aren't used to drinking and playing though then yes it's not a good idea, although a pint might help someone of they are really nervous. The trick is not to over do it.

stickyfiddle

Danny1969 said:

blobb said:

Drinking before a gig is NOT a good idea.

I think that's an age / experience thing. I rarely do a gig completely sober, if you are used to drinking and playing it's not an issue and a few beers makes a more pleasant experience. 

If you aren't used to drinking and playing though then yes it's not a good idea, although a pint might help someone of they are really nervous. The trick is not to over do it.

I'm with Danny. It's about knowing what works for you and what doesn't. Getting bladdered (or even tipsy tbh) is obviously a bad move, but like any good pub pool player knows you probably perform better after 1 drink and not a drop more. 

Supportact

stickyfiddle said:

Danny1969 said:

blobb said:

Drinking before a gig is NOT a good idea.

I think that's an age / experience thing. I rarely do a gig completely sober, if you are used to drinking and playing it's not an issue and a few beers makes a more pleasant experience. 

If you aren't used to drinking and playing though then yes it's not a good idea, although a pint might help someone of they are really nervous. The trick is not to over do it.

I'm with Danny. It's about knowing what works for you and what doesn't. Getting bladdered (or even tipsy tbh) is obviously a bad move, but like any good pub pool player knows you probably perform better after 1 drink and not a drop more. 

Yeah, know your doses!

That said I was in a band once where we had to impose a pre gig 2 pint limit as at least one of us tended to lose all motor skills after that point. In general though people just have to know their level. 

blobb

I haven't played a full gig for a while now, I also haven't drunk alcohol for a while either. I suspect if the two were to be combined, it would be catastrophic!

Danny1969

When I was doing the Kate Bush tribute band I had no more than 2 beers or so before the gig and only one in the interval break. That music just demanded a lot of concentration as it was a lot of borrowed chords, key changes, extra bars here and there and other things that could throw you. 
I'm pretty sure I have played Brightside, SOF, Dekota, Valerie etc more times than the bands who wrote the songs so it really isn't something that demands a great deal of sobriety really. 

BillDL

I would be hard-pushed to play through 2 songs without needing a piss desperately after only one pint of beer these days.

distressed

I think body adjusts after some time. My drummer is sort of functioning alcoholic, like 10 beers a day. But he takes a piss no more often than us.

Lewy

Teyeplayer said:

Less is more, the only folks who care about the number of notes you can play per-second are that knob from the blues jam who needs to learn to turn his amp down and the spotty kid at the back who can’t even play. The rest are here to hear the song, so serve the song not your ego.

Counter point: used judicially, some flash can really enhance the audience's perception of what they are receiving as a piece of entertainment. People respond to ability too. If you decide that the ability to play fast is just for people who overdo it, you're placing an artificial constraint on yourself. Also, the discipline and practice it takes to be able to do it will benefit every other part of your playing.

darthed1981

You will actually be much more successful with women if you are trying to sleep with them, than if you are after a relationship... and actually more likely to end up in a relationship as a result.

Oh... you mean GUITAR things...?

Teyeplayer

Lewy said:

Teyeplayer said:

Less is more, the only folks who care about the number of notes you can play per-second are that knob from the blues jam who needs to learn to turn his amp down and the spotty kid at the back who can’t even play. The rest are here to hear the song, so serve the song not your ego.

Counter point: used judicially, some flash can really enhance the audience's perception of what they are receiving as a piece of entertainment. People respond to ability too. If you decide that the ability to play fast is just for people who overdo it, you're placing an artificial constraint on yourself. Also, the discipline and practice it takes to be able to do it will benefit every other part of your playing.

I agree with ‘used judiciously’ which is why I think you’ve missed the nuance of ‘serve the song’. If it requires something flashy then it’s absolutely beneficial to be there and a little flair in small doses, can win a crowd over. But when it’s all over the song and purely about ‘look at me’, then an interesting audience response was the one given by a non-musician friend whilst watching a local player recently: ‘he is actually just masturbating’.

BahHumbug

If you’re intending to make music with others…………

1.  The ability to communicate properly about the music will save a lot of time and will win you a load more kudos from other musicians than your blues wailing.

2.  It’s not all about you.  Leave space for the other instruments.  Listen and learn to spot where two instruments are fighting for the same frequency band, turning both into mush.  Then do something about it that doesn’t involve turning up the volume.