Open mics - experiences and lessons learned

michelew
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Tue Sep 27, 2016 3:08 am

Hi y'all,

Craig asked whether I also performed at the open mic that Vanessa, Dennis and I attended in Seattle. I had originally posted these lessons learned in that thread; Vanessa's 2016 IGC report. But, I realized that I was being a bit of a pirate so I transferred them here instead; here are my takehome Learnings from the Seattle Open Mic.


I'd be interested in the things you all have experienced and learned during your open mic adventures.



Craig wrote:
Vanessa,

Thank you for sharing those videos with us. It's great for us that didn't attend camp to get to see you perform. Your enthusiasm and the amount of fun you are having really shows through! Very cool!

Craig

P.S. Did Michele, Suzi, and/or Dennis do the open mic?
Craig,

Dennis and I both got up too. Dennis's set was before Ness. Mine ... was directly after ...

Can you imagine having to follow Ness at an open mic? :)


Well the Seattle open mic was the first time I'd gotten up on stage during my US trip. OMG I was SO nervous. My 'performances' are best considered "opportunities for growth and learning". :)

Lesson 1 - mic management; Vanessa, Dennis and I started Den's set by doing Seven Bridges Road. Ness played guitar and we all sang. It sounded great in Den's lounge room. The three part harmony sounded great. Ness and Den sounded great on stage. I couldn't hear myself and therefore I wasn't sure I was singing the right thing. Who knew you had to sing INTO the mic?!

Lesson 2 - make sure you're hands aren't too tired before you get up; Well I was holding the phone up to film both of Ness's performances. You might notice that at times Ness's isn't in the shot. Sorry Ness. Well that's because I was holding the phone up and my arms were getting tired. When it was my turn to perform I suddenly realized that my right hand wasn't working. I was so nervous and my hands were so tired from holding up the phone that I had trouble actually making my fingers play the picking pattern.

Lesson 3 - Warm up your voice; I was so nervous being up on stage and realizing that I'd been an idiot and wrecked my hand that by voice was really sharp for at least the first half of the song. I also hadn't warmed up my voice so hadn't remembered how to relax it and I was screechy. Little Song has never sounded so much like a cat being strangled. It wasn't pretty. I'm doing you all a favour by not showing it.

Lesson 4 - check your capo is on properly before you start playing; believe it or not, I actually stayed up on stage to do another song. Ness joined me and brought a guitar in dropped D tuning with her. I slapped my capo on but didn't check it. It wasn't until I was well into playing that I suddenly realized why I couldn't hear the top string. I'd put the capo on in a way that was pushing the top string out rather than holding it down. That was pretty distracting.

Lesson 5 - trust your intuition and stick to your guns; I knew that following Ness in the performance order was a terrible idea. I'd said that when Dennis told me the order. I should have gotten them to change it. The best part of my performance was my first introduction where I told the audience that I knew it was a bad idea to follow Ness. :)

Lesson 6 - oh there's a sound check!; I didn't realize that we had to do a sound check and so once I had done my 'fabulous' intro and I was ready to play Farida leans down and says "don't start yet, we need I do the sound check". Damn! Nervous again. And ... we'll you can hear Farida playing the mandolin beautifully on the video - but you can't really hear my guitar.

Lesson 7 if you're going to borrow someone else's guitar make sure the strap is adjusted for you; yep! When I borrowed Den's guitar for my second song... the strap for too long for me and it changed my playing position; just another things to distract me. Idiot! :D.

Lesson 8 - keep it simple; Dennis and Vanessa both told me that fingerpicking songs probably weren't the best choices given how nervous I was just playing in front of them. They were right of course.

Lesson 9 - remember to introduce and thank the people playing with you; I didn't, not while I was on stage anyway.

I think the second song went better; Naked As We Came. I felt that my voice was better; I'd relaxed a little. But in truth I don't remember much, except the relief of getting off the stage. We don't have video that I'm aware of. So it was probably fabulous right?! I do remember that Ness was up there with me, which helped me relax. Thanks Ness you're a sweetie.

So - if you're planning to get up on stage - number one recommendation - don't follow Ness unless you're a confident player. Or get her up there with you. :) :D It was still fabulous to get up and challenge myself. I really did have fun; terrifying fun. And it was incredible playing with Ness and Den and seeing them both perform. I won't ever forget that night. :)

Ness - I'll be a happy puppy if I can perform half as well as you one day.


So - what have you all learned from doing open mics?


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auntlynnie
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Tue Sep 27, 2016 6:14 am

Michele,
Thanks for posting this. Your observations are very helpful.

I've only done one Open Mic - here's what I have to add:

If you are doing a song that you hope people will sing along with, have just one friend taking video and get the rest to sing along. People who are shooting video do not tend sing along and honestly, you only need one video of your performance. Maybe not even one.


Lynn


michelew
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Tue Sep 27, 2016 10:52 pm

Good suggestion Lynn. Thanks I need to get a repertoire of "sing with me" songs together.

Hey to everyone else reading this thread, if you'd just like to talk about your experiences getting up and performing, then go for it. You don't need to talk about the things you learned per se. It's all interesting.

Thanks.

Michele


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daryl
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Wed Sep 28, 2016 6:41 am

I used to play in a high school band for school dances (when I *thought* I was a good player). Now, 40+ years later (where I am a better player than I was), there is NO WAY I could get up in front of a crowd again. Weird.


wrsomers
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Wed Sep 28, 2016 7:13 am

daryl wrote:
I used to play in a high school band for school dances (when I *thought* I was a good player). Now, 40+ years later (where I am a better player than I was), there is NO WAY I could get up in front of a crowd again. Weird.
I hear you Daryl. Age does funny things to our nerves and to how carefree we once were. I think that as we grow older, we have a memory bank which includes good and bad experiences and, it gets larger over time. It seems to be human nature to place more weight on the bad things than the good. In my opinion, in certain circumstances, fear of failure increases with age. I have had the same musical performance experience as you. When we're young we have an "I don't care" attitude. I guess over time and through experience, we learn to be scared about some things. Although I didn't look nervous to my audience of late, I can assure you my hands were almost useless. So I think we all need to forget the bad stuff and remember the good.

"The inability to forget is far more devastating than the inability to remember." Mark Twain.

Just my two cents worth :)

Bill


dennisg
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Wed Sep 28, 2016 12:48 pm

Shel,

First and foremost, let me say how flattered and honored I was to host you and Vanessa in Seattle. Being able to spend an extended period of time with you guys, going to Starbucks, chatting, grabbing guitars and singing, all of it ... just so much fun. Thanks for making me a priority on your trip. That meant so much to me.

Most of what you're talking about can be filed in one of two categories: confidence and experience. With confidence, you'll trust your voice and sing out loud, manage your nerves, and not care whose performance you follow on stage. With experience, you'll warm up your voice, adjust the strap ahead of time, make sure the capo's on right, and not play a song you're not prepared to do in front of a roomful of people staring at you.

It pains me to admit this, but there was a time when I used to secretly hope that I followed someone on stage who was really awful. That way, I reasoned, I'd look competent by comparison. One night, I had to follow someone who was great. I got up on stage and said how unnerving it is to follow someone like that. Anyway, after my set, a guy walked up to me and said, "If you don't want to follow someone who's great, then volunteer to go first." So that's what I do. I can't always go first, because I have no control over the order. But I no longer care who I follow. They do their thing. I do my thing. I pick songs I think audiences will really like, songs I can play convincingly well, and that's all I can do.

Having said all that, a lot of times experience gives you confidence. I mean, you can't have first-time jitters when it's no longer your first time on stage. So if you want to get over stage fright, get up on stage on a regular basis. There's just no substitute for that.

I know the Seattle audience really enjoyed you (I've talked to a few of them since you left) and appreciated your performance, and it was a dream come true for me to see you up there. So there's that.


jimcjimc
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Wed Sep 28, 2016 1:21 pm

Hi Shel,

1) On a personal note, I just popped in my thumb drive from PSGW 2014 and re-listened to you doing "Little Song" by Sara Jarosz. It was great to listen to it again and hear the roar and applause from the audience at the end!!

2) I have the exact opposite opinion from Daryl and Bill, I didn't start playing guitar until a few years ago. I have always been a bit shy, introverted, not one to go out on the dance floor or try to sing with my mouth open. But, now that I am older (63 at the moment), and I am trying to learn to play guitar, play the uke, and sing - I really don't give a damn what others think and am willing to do things or put myself out there in ways that I might not have done when younger.

3) To your original question, I still haven't done any local open mikes and my 3-4 times in front of a mike are at student concerts at IGC or PSGW in front of a very supportive audience.

But what works for me is:

- pick a simple song that I have practiced hundreds of times and know the chords and lyrics really well
- (if nervous) have someone else on stage with you, so you don't feel like you are up there all alone
- get comfortable with the mic and don't let your mouth move away from it to look at the chart or the fretboard, etc
- if you make a mistake, just keep going as if it didn't happen
- I usually have a little comedy schtick and try to get the audience laughing to get over their nervousness...


michelew
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Wed Sep 28, 2016 10:31 pm

Guy thanks for all of your observations and suggestions; they're all
insightful and valuable.

Daryl - I hear you. It really is pretty ironic that you wouldn't get up now given how fantastic your skills are. You're already sharing your skills with the world, which is great for us. If you don't want to get up at an open mic so be it. It's all good.

Bill - interesting observation. Makes a lot of sense and it helps somehow. Thanks.

Dennis - you've got lots of good advice in there like always. I was being a little tongue in cheek or just plain cheeky about my recommendation that people try to not follow Vanessa when getting up on stage. :D You're absolutely right, don't worry about how good the person is that when before you just get up and do your thing. I was able to get up on that little stage because of the love and support that you, Ness, Jamie and Farida gave me both before the night and during it. It was great to do. I learned heaps. And it helped to take the edge off my performance nerves for when I got up at the IGC. Thanks sweet man. Spending time with you again was wonderful. I miss you as you know. :kiss: :kiss:

Jim - hey class buddy! I like your attitude. And your suggestions are spot on. Thanks for being so sweet.


TGNesh
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Fri Sep 30, 2016 3:56 am

What a great thread Shel, enjoyed reading all of yours and the others experiences!

I couldn't really add anything. I mean, you're talking about experiences and lessons learned at this CA/Seattle-trip right? I've learned all my lessons prior to that, so I'll save you the novel. 35+ years of performing is a long time. ;)

The only thing that occurred to me, agáin that is, is how much can go wrong during performances. :S It's amazing :ohmy: .... I've gotten to a point in my life that I would think that nothing would surprise me anymore. I've seen a LOT that could go wrong or that does go wrong. And often, each time a little differently.

In general, you gotta be SO alert to ALL the details which are involved. (you have already pointed out quite a few of those) That's impossible of course, because you can't do your performance and, for example, take care of the sound/lighting. Actually the latter has been the most frustrating to me, throughout my performing life. You can be prepared for anything, but if the sound s$%^ks......then... :angry: And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, once you're up on stage. The control is in someone elses hands. It has happened to me a few too many times. :S The only thing you can do is try to not let if effect you.

One thing I have learned this time, agáin....(I know I have before, but it didn't occur to me for that particular performance): 'Dont' perform when you're beyond exhausted'....I can barely even remember in which key I am playing when I do so anyway, I'm not exaggerating...Note to self: Dont' get that exhausted, or just don't perform when I am.

Yes, I've also experienced again when everything goes well, that I literally shout :laugh: out of pure joy! (proof for that is at the end of I Saw Her Standing There with Dave :woohoo:, much much fun!!)

Ness B)


michelew
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Fri Sep 30, 2016 6:30 am

Actually you literally JUMPED for joy. :) pure enjoyment to watch too. :)


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