Nerves and sticky fingers

[Guest MoJo]

I've noticed recently at gigs that, if I'm a bit nervous, half way through the first songs, it feels as though my finger tips and palms have been coated with rubber. The increased difficulty playing only adds to the nerves, making things worse. Fast Fret helps. Does anyone else suffer? What are your tips to combat this debilitating situation?

[Len_derby]

Funny, I was dealing with this yesterday in a hot and humid pub.
Apart from always trying to make sure my hands are clean and dry before I go on (not always possible, I know), I wear a towelling wrist band on each hand and give my fingers a wipe between songs.

[Coilte]

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1472399744' post='3120825']
Funny, I was dealing with this yesterday in a hot and humid pub.
Apart from always trying to make sure my hands are clean and dry before I go on (not always possible, I know), I wear a towelling wrist band on each hand and give my fingers a wipe between songs.
[/quote]

+1 to all the above. Also, try to combat the nervousness itself by concentrating on breathing deeply when playing. Granted, it's easier said than done. Often times, we are concentrating on playing so much, that we "forget" to breathe. Five or ten minutes before you are due to start, take yourself off to a quiet corner (again..easier said than done in some venues) and spend a few minutes slowly breathing deeply.

[Number6]

I always take a small hand towel to gigs to dry my hands and neck if needbe.

[scalpy]

A warm up helps for me, or at the very least 5 minutes of calm before stage time. Much easier said than done at most gigs but if you plan for it it does become more frequent.

[ambient]

Make sure that you thoroughly prepare for the gig, it helps your confidence if you know your parts properly.

Bananas act as a natural beta blocker and can help to combat nervousness, as can meditation techniques. Don't drink alcohol, but keep hydrated drinking water, pomegranate juice is helpful too.

[zbd1960]

Not my favourite, but +1 to the banana idea. A friend of mine is a young professional cellist and they get taught about this use of bananas (!) at conservatoire

[Lozz196]

Yep, wash hands immediately before going on stage, towelling wristbands, and a towel on top of the amp ready to wipe my sweaty brow all help. Must admit though, I don`t get nervous at gigs, not being big-headed by saying that btw, I think it`s more to lack of imagination than anything. Or maybe it`s down to the fact that I`ve got things covered that can go wrong such as the above, so don`t have the need to feel nervous.

[Guest MoJo]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm not normally one to suffer with nerves, but this came to light at a charity all-dayer and there were a lot of musicians from the other bands in the audience.

Edited August 28, 2016 by MoJo

[seashell]

Never heard of the banana idea before. Interesting -I might try that! Like a few others here, I wear towelling wristbands when it's hot and humid. I think they look quite cool too (black, obvs).

But the thing that happens to me when I get nervous is that my little finger goes all stiff and starts pointing up in the air. Sometimes it's all I can do to get it to bend back down to the fretboard.

This didn't happen on my last couple of gigs though, so maybe I'm getting a bit more confident! :-)

[ambient]

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1472418416' post='3121029']
Never heard of the banana idea before. Interesting -I might try that! Like a few others here, I wear towelling wristbands when it's hot and humid. I think they look quite cool too (black, obvs).

But the thing that happens to me when I get nervous is that my little finger goes all stiff and starts pointing up in the air. Sometimes it's all I can do to get it to bend back down to the fretboard.

This didn't happen on my last couple of gigs though, so maybe I'm getting a bit more confident! :-)
[/quote]

Bananas, Pomegranate, there's quite a list of foods.

[url="http://www.tandurust.com/alternativetherapies/natural-beta-blockers-foods.html"]http://www.tandurust.com/alternativetherapies/natural-beta-blockers-foods.html[/url]

[steve-bbb]

avoid greasy nibbles and knick-knacks before the gig too - i once had some pork scratchings or something and just licked my fingers clean and wiped them down my jeans then spent the whole gig with my fingertips feeling like they were sticking to the strings

[RickyV]

I always have a small towel as well in this weather plus a wrist band on my right wrist. Definitely going to try the banana's next weekend tho!

[Japhet]

Put some flatwounds on your bass.

[Len_derby]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1472461703' post='3121192']
avoid greasy nibbles and knick-knacks before the gig too - i once had some pork scratchings or something and just licked my fingers clean and wiped them down my jeans then spent the whole gig with my fingertips feeling like they were sticking to the strings
[/quote]

I played a pub last year where I tucked in to the free samosas offered at the break. They turned out to be very expensive as I forgot to wash my hands and then covered a nice new set of strings with stinky grease!

[Number6]

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1472468548' post='3121278']


I played a pub last year where I tucked in to the free samosas offered at the break. They turned out to be very expensive as I forgot to wash my hands and then covered a nice new set of strings with stinky grease!
[/quote]

Most of my basses have been covered in beer and kebab grease at some point.....i see it as a form of bass initiation

[scalpy]

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1472469473' post='3121290']


Most of my basses have been covered in beer and kebab grease at some point.....i see it as a form of bass initiation
[/quote]

The funk is in the gunk!

[Jazzjames]

Everything mentioned above will help, but a lot of these (great) suggestions deal with the symptoms not the cause.

I find if I am well prepared for the gig- I'm in good physical shape practice-wise, and I know the music well, then I'm unlikely to experience nerves.

Having done these things I know I am as prepared as I can be for whatever happens on stage, and I'm better equipped to deal with something unexpected than if I'm buried in a chart or struggling to keep up with the changes.

One final word, if it does all go wrong, noone dies. It's (only) music and the best musicians also make mistakes!

[Roger2611]

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1472462519' post='3121199']
Put some flatwounds on your bass.
[/quote]

I found the opposite, backs of lacquered necks often feel sticky at this time of year, don't quote me on it but I think the scientific explanation is that moisture builds up between palm and neck, on a polished smooth neck there is nowhere for the moisture to go so it builds up and creates that sticky feeling, a plain wood neck negates that, I found when I played with flat wounds any rapid slides up and down the neck caused a heat build up in the tip of my fingers.....that coupled with a sticky neck didn't make for confident playing.

I have a cheap practice Precision with an un-lacquered neck, in really hot weather I will take that along as an option in case my main bass is feeling a bit sticky, I tend not to gig with flatwounds at all, I think if I ever find myself gigging with a fretless on a regular basis I would be tempted to have an ebony board fitted and use round wounds on the bass.

[alyctes]

Camomile tea is good for nerves. Stick a couple of teabags in your kitbag

[lowland]

I did an open air festival on Sunday in humid weather, and found this tricky - I wasn't especially nervous, but had to curtail some of the twiddlier bits as my fretboard fingers were sticking to a degree I've rarely had before. Some good suggestions here, also could evaporating hand gel as used in hospitals be a useful quick way of keeping hands clean and dry?

Re. wood vs. varnish: my Ibanez 1805 has an unlaquered neck, all good there, but definitely a problem at sweatier gigs with a laquered Ray I had a few decades back.

[charic]

Pint glasses can leave you a bit stickyfingered too

[jazzyvee]

I notice that when doing outdoor gigs even in warm weather the strings feel more gripping so less easy to slide around. I asked Jimmy Johnson about it on another forum and he suggested rubbing your fingertips on the side of your nose as there is always some greasy stuff there which can lubricate your fingers so that's what I do these days but my nose is not really greasy. I've also read that Jaco sometimes had a greasy chicken bone in a pocket to lubricate his finger tips. I have also seen James Earl put his plucking fingers in his mouth before executing a breakneck speed chick corea run on his bass at a concert.