Controlling Stage Frightened Pounding Heart While Singing

[leigh]

2) Sing karaoke! It will help you develop your singing without the distraction of guitar playing, and it helped me with my stage fright in a big way.

+1

Karaoke helped me out a ton in getting comfortable with performance. It's a good way to experiment with audience interaction, and if the direction you take with a song isn't working, well, you're only up there for that one song (at a time). Plus, the audience is generally more attentive and supportive than at a typical rock show... at least, in this jaded music scene. Plus plus, not only are you not playing an instrument at the same time, you're also singing other people's material. For singer/songwriter types, you get to sing without the baggage of singing YOUR precious compositions.

Leigh

[nerdtronica]

Embarrass yourself before you get on stage.

When I was a kid I fell off my skateboard, and I was crying and whining.
My uncle gave me a punch in the arm, and said, "see, now it doesn't hurt so bad." It made me laugh and the pain would dissolve.

Another new thing I learned about taming stage fright, is to start your set with a tune-up song. Total improv. That way you can't make any mistakes, because the song isn't written yet. When you are cooled down, lead into the set.

cheers

[markitzero]

Weed. And confidence. Stage fright doesn't affect people who know they can lay it the fuck down. It helps if you're in the type of band that's very spontaneous and improvisational, because that forces you to lose yourself in the music and just rock.

And it definitely helps not to care and just have a good time. No one wants to watch a band full of nervous dweebs. Work yourself up and have a blast.

I used to have ridiculous stage fright. Lots of classical guitar recitals blown because of it. Then I learned that fun is the key. And all was good.

[Smitty]

No one wants to watch a band full of nervous dweebs.

Maybe that's our problem...

[yardleyone]

a lot of the musical school students i knew in college would take beta blockers before performances to quell the shakes. never tried them myself , but they had some endorsements.

[wicker]

I've had stage fright for years.

One thing that's helped -- During the first few songs, I used to make myself more and more nervous by looking at the people in the front few rows. Too many sets of eyes looking at me. So I now during that first song, I'll pick a spot in the very back of the room to concentrate on (usually it's dark, so maybe it's a faint light or an exit sign above the back door) and I just sing to that spot. Really helps me to focus on the song, remember all the lyrics, not miss a chord change. And by focusing on that spot, I am able to ignore the fact that there are lots of people staring at me.

Still nervous as hell, but at least I've come up with a way of dealing with it. Maybe try something like that.

[Jay Reynolds]

a lot of the musical school students i knew in college would take beta blockers before performances to quell the shakes. never tried them myself , but they had some endorsements.

WTF? Speaking as a guy with a degree from a conservatory and two years at a music high-school, I have never heard of anything like this.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

i've heard heroin works well.

for awhile.

[terryb]

Practice like you play and make sure you've practiced enough with the band to be very confident to the point of it almost being a natural and unconcious thing. I don't ever get stage fright and I treat every time I get onstage the same. Here's another football saying, "act like you've been there before". Just remember that you own the stage and the tunes coming from it during your slot time.

[DrummerMan]

I used to make myself more and more nervous by looking at the people in the front few rows. Too many sets of eyes looking at me.

This is interesting. I don't sing lead at gigs (well, I did a few times many years ago, but I'm trying to forget about it) but I lead an instrumental band and I try to talk to the audience between tunes, especially since I've got my back pretty much to the audience while playing/conducting. I kind of instinctually look at the very back at the room when I talk. I think it not only helps with the shakey-shakes, but it also includes and draws in more of the audience, which might, in turn, mean less people talking and more people paying attention, which would then, hopefully, make you feel more confident that people give a shit about what you're doing. Just thinking aloud here.

Practice like you play and make sure you've practiced enough with the band to be very confident to the point of it almost being a natural and unconcious thing. I don't ever get stage fright and I treat every time I get onstage the same. Here's another football saying, "act like you've been there before". Just remember that you own the stage and the tunes coming from it during your slot time.

This can be a double edged sword. If you're the type of person who gets nervous, then you're probably the type of person who's spending too much time thinking about whether you're prepared enough or whether or not people are into you. Going along with this philosophy might put someone on stage wondering if he/she has, in fact, practiced like they play or practiced enough to feel confident. Then, if you still feel nervous, you might start assuming that you haven't actually practiced enough, otherwise you wouldn't be nervous, right? Then comes the self doubt, followed shortly by self loathing (or vice versa). It's a cyclical slippery slope from there on in... for some of us.

I've known lots of people who are really confident and strong in rehearsal and completely lose it during shows, too. I think it's great that you don't ever get stage fright, but I think for those of us that do, these suggestions are exactly the type of thing that we are having trouble putting into effect in the first place.

And I'm not trying to put your suggestions down. This is just my humble opinion, as a guy who's spent alot of time thinking about the nature of insecurity. I think each person probably will have specific things that you learn over the course of your life to cope with whatever hurdles come up.

[0-it-hz]

The only advice I have:

Play ten zillion gigs.

[yardleyone]

yardleyone wrote:
a lot of the musical school students i knew in college would take beta blockers before performances to quell the shakes. never tried them myself , but they had some endorsements.

WTF? Speaking as a guy with a degree from a conservatory and two years at a music high-school, I have never heard of anything like this.

here's a little more on it. i've never tried them myself: http://www.ethanwiner.com/BetaBlox.html

[JGriffin]

I've had stage fright for years.

One thing that's helped -- During the first few songs, I used to make myself more and more nervous by looking at the people in the front few rows. Too many sets of eyes looking at me. So I now during that first song, I'll pick a spot in the very back of the room to concentrate on (usually it's dark, so maybe it's a faint light or an exit sign above the back door) and I just sing to that spot. Really helps me to focus on the song, remember all the lyrics, not miss a chord change. And by focusing on that spot, I am able to ignore the fact that there are lots of people staring at me.

Still nervous as hell, but at least I've come up with a way of dealing with it. Maybe try something like that.

The other upside to this is that it doesn't look like you're staring at your feet. "look at the back of the room" is an old actor trick actually, it makes everyone in the audience think you're looking at the folks right behind them.

[RefD]

I've had stage fright for years.

One thing that's helped -- During the first few songs, I used to make myself more and more nervous by looking at the people in the front few rows. Too many sets of eyes looking at me. So I now during that first song, I'll pick a spot in the very back of the room to concentrate on (usually it's dark, so maybe it's a faint light or an exit sign above the back door) and I just sing to that spot. Really helps me to focus on the song, remember all the lyrics, not miss a chord change. And by focusing on that spot, I am able to ignore the fact that there are lots of people staring at me.

Still nervous as hell, but at least I've come up with a way of dealing with it. Maybe try something like that.

The other upside to this is that it doesn't look like you're staring at your feet. "look at the back of the room" is an old actor trick actually, it makes everyone in the audience think you're looking at the folks right behind them.

doesn't work too well if there's no stage (many acoustic gigs around my area) and less than 10 people in the audience, tho!

[JGriffin]

I've had stage fright for years.

One thing that's helped -- During the first few songs, I used to make myself more and more nervous by looking at the people in the front few rows. Too many sets of eyes looking at me. So I now during that first song, I'll pick a spot in the very back of the room to concentrate on (usually it's dark, so maybe it's a faint light or an exit sign above the back door) and I just sing to that spot. Really helps me to focus on the song, remember all the lyrics, not miss a chord change. And by focusing on that spot, I am able to ignore the fact that there are lots of people staring at me.

Still nervous as hell, but at least I've come up with a way of dealing with it. Maybe try something like that.

The other upside to this is that it doesn't look like you're staring at your feet. "look at the back of the room" is an old actor trick actually, it makes everyone in the audience think you're looking at the folks right behind them.

doesn't work too well if there's no stage (many acoustic gigs around my area) and less than 10 people in the audience, tho!

No, I've done it in those circumstances too.