Do you ever get mental block when playing live? How do you deal with it

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, bobbytodd said:

when brain fart strikes my go to move is volume down and pretend the lead has failed or bass has packed in and join in once I know where I am in the song. when asked dodgy lead/volume pot

I like that one 

 

[missis sumner]

Yes.

What were you saying, again?

[Norris]

Over the years mine have fallen into 3 categories. 

1. Mind wondering during a song, either enjoying it too much or bored, and all of a sudden you know a different section is coming up. "Have we done the guitar solo yet?" "Is this the repeated verse?" etc.

2. Just forgetting how the song goes.  Faff around playing something, to fish around for some vague recollection of how the bass went that other couple of hundreds of times you've played it before 

3. "What am I doing?" "Oh I'm playing bass" "Do I know how to do that?" "Well the fingers are still doing something fairly musical, I must do" "Ok, so what song are we playing?"

Thankfully that last one happens quite rarely, but the fingers are usually solidly on autopilot and in no danger from the random mental ramblings. It can be quite disconcerting though 

[fretmeister]

Emergency bass solo.

 

[KingPrawn]

I get over excited and overload my nut sometimes. I tend to palm mute all the strings and just add a percussion thud until I can drop back in. I used to panic and chase the bars. I’ve learnt not to just smile and keep gesturing. 

[ubit]

I work offshore and on the current installation I was walking past the Rec room the other day when I heard someone noodling on a bass. I investigated and found one of the supervisors playing a cheap Yamaha bass through a Fender Rumble. He explained that the welfare dept. Had paid for some cheap gear to muck about on. He said he was actually a guitarist but was trying out the bass as it had just arrived. I said I play the bass and he said, great, we can have a jam some evening. 

I went along a few nights later when I spotted him in there. He offered me the bass and plugged me into the amp. Everything left me!  I was all fingers and thumbs. Everything I tried ended up being a mess. I couldn’t understand it. I’d played all of this stuff until I knew it back to front. I can only think that playing an instrument that I’m not used to and also being aware that people are going to be judging you must affect my nerves. Im fine playing rehearsed songs in a bar with the band. For some reason music shops and any other situations where you feel pressurised into  delivering a solo performance and I just turn into a vacuum. Things I could play at home with flair, turn into a mess of fluffed notes and forgotten passages. 

It annoys me so much because you can feel them thinking, he talked a good gig but really he’s crap. 

Edited February 23, 2019 by ubit

[Skinnyman]

On 09/02/2019 at 21:42, Norris said:

Over the years mine have fallen into 3 categories. 

1. Mind wondering during a song, either enjoying it too much or bored, and all of a sudden you know a different section is coming up. "Have we done the guitar solo yet?" "Is this the repeated verse?" etc.

2. Just forgetting how the song goes.  Faff around playing something, to fish around for some vague recollection of how the bass went that other couple of hundreds of times you've played it before 

3. "What am I doing?" "Oh I'm playing bass" "Do I know how to do that?" "Well the fingers are still doing something fairly musical, I must do" "Ok, so what song are we playing?"

Thankfully that last one happens quite rarely, but the fingers are usually solidly on autopilot and in no danger from the random mental ramblings. It can be quite disconcerting though 

That pretty much sums it up for me. I deal with the second category by having a cheat sheet in from to me - basically the set list but with a note appended by each song. It might be the key, the opening riff or a note to remember the stop after the second chorus or suchlike. I've never actually needed to use it at a gig to get me out of trouble but i figure that just having it has stopped me getting into trouble in the first place, if you know what i mean.

My coping strategy for the first category is to carry on playing but take the volume down until I'm back on solid ground.... it happens annoyingly often - mainly because i start wondering how long to the next break because I'm getting desperate to go and pee

[White Cloud]

Classic example of the 'Fight, Flight, Freeze' stress response.

The best way to deal with it is to become 'competent' and be assured in your competence ... which is not the same as being 'confident'. 

Confidence is free - anybody can help themselves to as much confidence as they like - but given that most people (especially the testosterone fuelled younger male of the species) secretly overrate their own abilities it is often not based upon anything tangible.

Get better and build a quiet sense of assurance upon a solid foundation of competence. It never fails.

[ubit]

39 minutes ago, White Cloud said:

 

Get better and build a quiet sense of assurance upon a solid foundation of competence. It never fails.

I’ve been playing for longer than I like to admit. I am no virtuoso but I think I am a decent player. I know my way round the fingerboard and when in a band situation can play AND sing to a reasonably high level. I still seem to fall to pieces when I’m flying solo with potential critics listening. This is a mental thing and certainly not down to the fact I’m not good enough 

[White Cloud]

33 minutes ago, ubit said:

I’ve been playing for longer than I like to admit. I am no virtuoso but I think I am a decent player. I know my way round the fingerboard and when in a band situation can play AND sing to a reasonably high level. I still seem to fall to pieces when I’m flying solo with potential critics listening. This is a mental thing and certainly not down to the fact I’m not good enough 

Thats right!

You have convinced me that you are good enough, you now need to believe it yourself!

The stress response kicks in with "potential critics listening"... it is a natural neurological process. When faced with this circumstance fall back onto your competence, feel the fear and just do it anyway.

I am a therapist and I remember discussing this with the late great Allan Holdsworth (who struggled with stage fright throughout his career.) Before gigs he would literally shake with fear... a tipple or two helped him get up there and do it - not that I'm suggesting you hit the sauce or anything! 

I wish you well. Never forget how good you are and just trust in your ability to do what you know you can do regardless.

[ubit]

I’m afraid a tipple or two isn’t an option when working offshore and usually when I visit a music shop. Funnily enough, the one place it is available is also the place that I don’t need it. The pub. 🤔

[ubit]

I think also , when I play a strange instrument, I take a while to get used to the string spacing and action. More so with acoustic guitars. I find them to be vastly different to each other. I’m so used to my Taylor, that it takes me ages to get proficient on other acoustics. It’s a strange affliction because I have 15 basses of different shapes and sizes at home and I play them all at some point when mucking around. 

[Staggering on]

1 hour ago, ubit said:

I’ve been playing for longer than I like to admit. I am no virtuoso but I think I am a decent player. I know my way round the fingerboard and when in a band situation can play AND sing to a reasonably high level. I still seem to fall to pieces when I’m flying solo with potential critics listening. This is a mental thing and certainly not down to the fact I’m not good enough 

This is me too, even after 56 years of gigging. If other musicians are in the audience I have to work hard to forget about them and just play. Once I just relax a bit and stop worrying(it takes a considerable conscious effort for me to do this) everything goes fine because I actually can play the music. It's all a mental thing.😕

Edited February 23, 2019 by Staggering on

[White Cloud]

1 minute ago, ubit said:

I think also , when I play a strange instrument, I take a while to get used to the string spacing and action. More so with acoustic guitars. I find them to be vastly different to each other. I’m so used to my Taylor, that it takes me ages to get proficient on other acoustics. It’s a strange affliction because I have 15 basses of different shapes and sizes at home and I play them all at some point when mucking around. 

It's simple really... just be as good as you are.

In that context you just can't fail 

[ubit]

I

15 minutes ago, White Cloud said:

It's simple really... just be as good as you are.

In that context you just can't fail 

Mate, I appreciate what you are saying and I certainly do not want to be cheeky or insulting, but if you are a therapist and your advice is just be as good as you are, I reckon I could do this job! 😂

[White Cloud]

33 minutes ago, ubit said:

I

Mate, I appreciate what you are saying and I certainly do not want to be cheeky or insulting, but if you are a therapist and your advice is just be as good as you are, I reckon I could do this job! 😂

Of course you could do it... but only if you can follow the advice that you sought😀

Think about it! 

[tom1946]

I too am 72 and an accidental bass player in our church band. Our old bassman had moved away and as both my wife and I played 12 string guitars it fell to one of us to take the bass. Well my wife could barely lift one off its stand so I had to quickly learn some notes to accompany keyboard and guitar. I've had no lessons so it's all guesswork. This was about 5 years ago and I've got better by adding runs and other stuff.

We do that many different songs every week (usually about 10 a week) that I struggle to learn even ones that we did 4 weeks ago, I can't remember them and have to practice hard  most weeks to keep up.

I can't read music so I just have the words typed out in 14 point 'cos I'm going blind as well  and add the basic notes for the song and improvise. We have an ex rock bassist in our congregation who says it all sounds great but he could be just being kind.

It definately gets worse the older you get and my memory can let me down even when I have my notes, if I take my eye off the ball on a song with a lot of notes and get lost, I stop playing and fiddle with the volume control and cast glances at my Trace amp.....

Fun innit?

[ubit]

As I’m also the lead singer, if I lose the place , generally the song falls to bits. When we were a duo, using a programmed drum machine, we had to stop. Usually would hit them with something we knew well , then after a confab. Maybe during the break, we would attempt it again later. When we went back to a live band with a drummist, generally you could save the song as long as you could give signs to each other. I used to say, if I sing a chorus by mistake, just follow me because it’s easier to follow me doing singing and bass, rather than me trying to change mid lyric. Another option would be to stop the song and blame tuning issues. 🙄

Edited February 24, 2019 by ubit

[Stub Mandrel]

On 07/02/2019 at 12:44, 4000 said:

One of the singers in the band used to actually announce over the mic when someone had made a mistake mid-song. Unfortunately he's one of those people who opens his mouth as soon as a thought enters his head, so it never occurred how unprofessional he was being. After it had happened one too many times I've gave him a bollocking and he's not done it since.

That's almost the worst possible thing you can do. The worst is when the singer apologises in advance for a song 😞

The bands that do best are the ones with a singer who keeps telling the crowd how much they (the crowd) are enjoying themselves.

[Norris]

6 hours ago, ubit said:

When we went back to a live band with a drummist, generally you could save the song as long as you could give signs to each other

That's the advantage of having band mates to support you. On the odd occasion our guitarist may come out of a solo half way through a phrase, or even half way through a bar. You just have to adjust as best you can to avoid a car crash. He sometimes forgets the words to a song and makes some up (often about his washing machine!) until we hit the chorus. After so long playing together it just needs a look and a grin,  rather than pointing it out to the audience. Most don't notice, the ones that do just become part of the "joke". There's certainly no recriminations afterwards - it could be you that makes the next mistake!

[jonunders]

I usually get a brain fart before starting a song. Once the band start I usually remember......usually

[ubit]

I used to hate when my mate, the guitarist, would glare at me or mouth “ that’s wrong” it used to annoy me because no one would have noticed until he did that. Plus, he was terrible for hitting bum notes himself or playing a Les Dawson solo! 

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, ubit said:

I used to hate when my mate, the guitarist, would glare at me or mouth “ that’s wrong” it used to annoy me because no one would have noticed until he did that. Plus, he was terrible for hitting bum notes himself or playing a Les Dawson solo! 

Jimmy Hendrix never played the same riff twice, so why do I have to play a song the same way every time? 🤣

[bazzbass]

bad news fellas, it doesn't get any better the other side of 50 either

[ubit]

We used to play in two different tunings. It was because we had an accordion player who used to jam with us for traditional songs. Trouble is, he started playing along with our contemporary material. Anyway, he had to play in standard or he would be playing on his black keys. We like to play in E flat to ease the singing. We started playing at an A.A. dance where everyone is obviously sober as hell. The rest of the band was in standard and I was in E flat. I am also the singer, so I couldn't change guitars midsong. I had to try to play the song one fret out AND sing. Talk about mental block!