Jitters

I am going to be playing with the pep band at my school at a basketball game tomorrow night and I am starting to feel the jitters. I played once before but there weren't many people there. My friend on the other guita chickened out and quit playing in the middle of every song, so I wound up doing the songs myself. There are a few instruments in the band (saxophone, clarinet, etc.). The school superintendent is a huge rock fan and said he enjoyed my performance (he wore an ac/dc t-shirt to school). The sonngs are fairly easy but I am playing them by ear. Smoke on the Water, Louie Louie, Great Balls of Fire, Na Na Na Na Hey Hey and a few more. I guess I am starting to get a little nervous, which I hardley ever do. I played trumpet for years in Pep Band. Any tips on playing, or keeping my cool? :cool:

Here we go, advise is cheap, But I spent a lot of money or this advice.. In my younger years I used to do a lot of public speaking, and I have taken quite a few courses on it. First it is ok to be jittery, it's actually good, it helps you to get prepared, I bet you are practising llike crazy... Second don't be to tough on your self, if you make a mistake just keep going, less than 5 % of you audaince is going to know any thing about music, never mind the guitar. ( You are the expert). When you look at the audiance, look at them as if they owe you money.. That puts them on a different level in your brain.. Lastly have fun... This will be a great time for you to remeber no matter what happens....

Good luck....

What he ^^^ said!

I've been playing since '68 and it's still the same. Turn that nervous energy into an intense performance. If you have a good time playing, anyone who hears you will have a good time listening.

Ya man, use every cheer and scream to pump you up and you make the best f****n rock music you've made in your life...trust me ;) .

ya man when u get out there act like ur in ur garage or room just chillin and playin for the hell of it u will get into ur groove then once in that point. that will all be having a good time and u will see that and they will get into it and so will u and they will be blown away at ur preformance.


rock on man

Thats all awesome advice. I am so p.o'd because they canceled our performance so the stinkin cheerleaders can perform. Nobody cares for the chunky cheerleaders at my school anyways, they are the skank squad. I was so pumped for this, I was practicing like crazy. My guitar instructor stayed after school with me and a couple of my friends and we jammed for a few hours at school. I have to wait for this thursday, and I am playing at the homecoming game that is always a HUGE turnout. I was getting majorly pumped just jamming today, and played the best I ever have (in my opinion). Oh well, I have more time for good advice now. :) Thanks guys.

Rock on dude, let us know how it goes!

Thanks, tomorrow is the big night for real this time. Now I can get nervous all over again. :( I will definitely let everyone know how it goes.

This is gonna be long! Well for anyone who is interested, I played tonight at the big game. There were a lot more people there than I thought. We played three different times. We sounded awesome, my best performance was my first, people were actually interested in pep band for the first time. My "friend" who choked at the last game, flaked out this time and didn't even show up, and wouldn't tell me where he was going, leaving all the guitar to me. Which I wound up being thankful for since I played very well tonight, and I could claim all the glory :cool: We all had a blast even though it wasn't perfect, we all got into the music. My other ,good, friend plays bass and he was doing funky dances and that got people pumped. At the end however, they wanted us to play Smoke on the Water again. My guitar instructor, also the band teacher, told me to really turn it up and play loud this time. So I did, too loud. I was back in a corner and I guess i was too close to my amp and made an awful blaring noise. I managed to pull myself together after that though and we played the rest well. Over all we had a blast which is all that matters right!? Plus the ladies thought I was cool too ;)

Originally Posted by: Danny C.... Plus the ladies thought I was cool too ;)

Oh, yaaassss! The Lord loves gropies, er, groupies! :D

Originally Posted by: LordathestringsOh, yaaassss! The Lord loves gropies, er, groupies! :D

Hey I know what to get LATS for xmas next year, actually you got a b-day coming up? :p