I have ben gigging with a band for years and usually improvise most solos but this time i though id spend time on composing some solos. I'm in a 4 piece which consist of Drums, Bass, Vocals, Guitar (me) and we play with tracks occasionally.
Basically in the practice room i wrote/composed a few solos and different parts is certain places to make it sound more interesting. As its a 4 piece when it comes to solo i wanted to get into chord tones so the audience could get a sense of the chords changing without a rhythm guitarist. I had written solos for Saw Her Standing there - The beatles, Lady Marmalade, Little Less conversation, Play that funky music (over one chord vamp - (used different ideas to spice things up), parts for a few numbers like I wish and
Basically despite nailing the solos and parts, came to gig time and it didn't go to plan. After one blow i lost confidence and when i new part was going to come in i had the second voice in my head saying i was going to muck it again and i did! Balls.
Does anyone else suffer for this or have any advice?
Is it lack of practice? Negative voices? I practice sitting down so worth practice standing up?
I know i always tense up with my right hand so need to learn to relax, plus my ear need more improvement as when i go for things it doesn't come out how imagine too.
I have been playing for 20 years and its really gutting feeling like this. Especially you here all the pros play technical complex material and never bum a note.
Frustrating. Equipment going up on eBay haha
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I'd practice the heck out of them, and then inevitably stuff it up when it mattered. Perfect at home, perfect in rehearsal, perfect immediately after the event, total car crash for the 10 seconds it mattered.
Eventually got over it (in that context) by doing more practice, and doing things like practicing the parts extra quick, or with my eyes closed/in the dark etc. And also, the biggie, just keeping on doing it (didn't really have much choice) and eventually getting to the point where I realised it didn't matter. The only person judging me was me, and the only person who didn't believe in me was me. And out of probably 200-300 people probably only 6 would know I'd done it wrong, and 4 of those were in the band with me and my friends.
So in that context it rarely happens now; it does sometimes, and when it does I just shrug and move on. Or, if I'm also singing and it's an intro, just stop and start the whole thing off again, with a quip.
Of course, put me in a new context (Fretboard Jam, shop trying out gear, playing in front of people I don't know who are musicians) I'll instantly lose all self-belief, forget everything I know and become all thumbs. Because at the end of the day it's really about the brainbox and being relaxed in yourself and just not caring, not about the technical stuff. You need to do all the caring at the practice stage, and then turn it off at the performance bit - as in, caring about being judged/looking silly etc.
Deep breaths, calming breathing, internal mantras - all the stuff that calms you down and settles the adrenaline is good, and worth doing for 5-10 minutes before you start, I reckon.
Incidentally, what's your eBay account name? Asking for a friend
I wasn’t enjoying it at all.
Then I had a couple of epiphany’s
- it’s supposed to be FUN!!
-I’m not Clapton/Moore etc and no one is expecting me to be
-I’m not gonna get rich and famous at this
- people are out for a good time - if you can get them singing and dancing along they won’t notice that your solo is wrong or that chords supposed to be a F#9b7
-nobody’s died
So I quit that band and all the stress involved and got with more like-minded guys and just relaxed my attitude to it all and sort of “act” the part while I’m performing- smiling, engaging with the (usually small) crowd and just enjoying it.
Still getting the cock-ups but less and less!
Sorry about the long post but I hope some of it helps.
I find that I have to stop myself thinking about what I'm about to play if my mind starts focussing on what it's about to do - like I know I will make mistakes if I don't chill out and go onto autopilot a bit more. So I think I almost do mindfulness type techniques whilst I'm playing for those gigs, at least on the more tricky songs for me.
i doubt I’m anywhere near grade 6 level particularly on theory side but I gigged in an original band for maybe 4 years, no idea how many gigs 50 + including some very low key festivals. Also played acoustic with another guitarist and singer for a bride walking down the aisle.
If I can do all that as a basically shit player with little self confidence anyone can.
I guess playing original music helps as nobody can say you’re doing it wrong.
I’d say if you want to get out playing - give it a go. You’d probably surprise yourself.
OP - definitely practice standing up if that’s how the gigs are played, also getting used to clicking pedals in and out can take a bit of precise timing as well - is that the throwing you off your stride playing?
Also you’re undoubtably being hard on yourself if you can get someone to video and review it I bet it doesn’t look/sound half as bad as you think at the time.
But there is another approach - which might work well for some folks - and it comes from public speaking. If you write a speech out word for word, and try to deliver it like that, it'll probably end in disaster, or at least not be very good. In brief, every word becomes a potential mistake - you've turned yourself into an actor delivering a performance, when you really didn't need to. Instead of approaching it as a performance, consider it a conversation - know the material well enough to be able to talk about it, then do just that - have a conversation with the audience, based on a few keywords. And when you're having a conversation, it's OK to change direction in mid sentence, or say the occasional ummm or errrr. Nothing's gone wrong.
This translates into solos by having a sense of their construction, but playing them in slightly different ways when you practice, so you're no longer trying to nail something note by note, but instead moving through some notes and phrases in a (hopefully) fluid way. Often, the need to play something note for note is similar to having the speech written as a script - it seems the safe option, as you 'know what you're doing', but it actually makes it harder.
May not be the right approach for everyone, but it's a way to get rid of the idea of having to be 'note perfect', and allowing every note to be a potential f*ck up!
Jumping on pedals is all about practice. One thing I will say is make sure they’re secure on your floor or board, as the damn things slipping away from you is the last thing you need. I practice clicking my drive (Boss SD-1) in and out for lead phrases and rhythm parts in the same song, not just the solo but incidental licks too.
We start out in our band with the same blues dirge we’ve been using since God was a boy, with good reason. We can all a) play it in our sleep, and b) play it the same every time to get the levels just right.
I try and learn solos (either my own composition or the original) just like the OP, but I’ve found what works for me is introducing a couple of licks at a time. Slowly slowly and all that.
@JerkMoans - I’ll bet you’d be fine in a band. Find some folk you like, get to know each other by making a balls-out racket in a rehearsal room, and you’ll want to get out and play. I know I make it sound easy, but it’s worth considering. If you’ve got sufficient musicianship to get to grade 6, I don’t think you’ve got much to worry about on that score.
Anyway, sorry for the waffle - there might be summat useful in there, if not I’ve practiced typing on my tablet at least
Playing live is all about confidence, you need to have a measure of it naturally to even want to do it, seems you have that! You can build more as a band by rehearsing the way you are going to play live.
Start by practise the set standing up in a rehearsal studio before you do it live - use the exact kit (pedals, guitars, amp etc.) and physical band layout you are going to use live (if you have time scope the venue before you play there) - even if this means the band practising staring at a blank wall.
Things to look out for:
At the venue - tune and leave the guitars out, and warm up - I cannot emphasis that enough – no one goes from a cold start to playing fast lead work, get your fingers good and warm before you go on - 10-15 minutes or so - check your tuning and get out there.
If you find out the gate the first song is a nerve-racking experience (I know I do) then pick something that you can do in your sleep as @randella says above. I find once I’m past the first song, as long as I’ve not made a mess of that, the rest of the gig will be plain sailing!
Remember if it worked in practice it will work on stage once you get by your initial nerves
1) No.
2) Just. Occasionally it goes tits, but it’s how you rescue these things. If you’ve left your drive channel on, don’t switch it back in the middle of a bar. Play out the measure and style it on a count of four. No-one in the crowd will notice, cast-iron guarantee.
3) No chance. Not just visual either, but shouts. Again, the crowd never, ever notices this.
4) Yes. Crucial. We have a break too which can work wonders if you’ve played a shocker in the first set.
After all the years gigging I can't say I've ever played a "perfect" show, there have been some very good ones I won't lie, but there hasn't been one where there's not been a rig issue, some kind of mess up by one of the members, an injury, etc etc. The unexpected happens and you can't control that, but what you can control is how you prepare and also react to any of it.
There'd be songs I'd use to play where I always messed up the same section but I learnt to just deal with it, practice more and make sure I attended to it. Be it a tricky rhythm or a quick phrase etc. A lot of was repetition and making sure it was all in time, etc. But there's no substitute for getting out and playing in front of people.
And I also agree once you're a few songs into the set you will start to settle and relax and start to enjoy the music!
There’s a certain level of practice needed to embed something into conscious memory. For a solo to flow it needs to be embedded into unconscious memory. It’s the difference between passing your driving test, where you concentrate on every aspect of what’s going on, and an experienced driver who will avoid an accident before the conscious brain has a chance to respond.
Practice at home helps you remember the note sequence. You then need to practice all the other aspects, including standing up and pedal tapping, and playing at volume. I always rehearse with my full kit to minimise the number of differences between rehearsal and gig. Most of our material I couldn’t play sitting down.
The other thing to say about solos is that attitude is often more important than the actual notes. A lot of artists don’t play it the same way every night. I remember learning Smooth, and watching videos to see how Santana did it live. It’s different every time. The lead in is roughly the same. There’s a moment where he goes up an octave. There’s the tremolo pick up the chromatic notes to end on. If you get those three hooks right then the rest sounds and feels better played off the cuff.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
You're the only guitarist so that helps - if you go off the beaten track you can throw in a couple of bars of something or other to help you get back to where you want to be. You do need to train the rhythm section to listen for cues and not to stick to strict bar counts.
Also try and have what I call 'get out of jail free' bits that you can throw into a solo when it goes wrong. They're just generic licks in the right key that you can throw in automatically while you catch your breath. You should practice these as well as working out alternative ways to play the solo that you can use if you need to. Loads of repetition will build confidence.
Don't forget that most mistakes sound FAR worse to you and most people won't even notice. I bet you're a cracking guitarist and you just need a confidence boost - good luck!
1. I Memorize the solo tune so well I can hum it aloud from any place in the solo
2. I Practice playing it standing up swaying around like on stage so I can't get it wrong
3. I spend time visualising performing it on stage, what buttons i need to press beforehand, where's my volume pot set at, what am I doing where am I standing etc
4. I Record myself playing it and listen back loads to critique my technique and visualise myself playing it again
By the time I've done all that I can't really cock it up live as I'm so well prepared. Works a treat for me.