Well, I finally did it and achieved my goal of playing out at an open mic night last night. My daughter and son-in-law were playing and, knowing my goal to perform at an open mic by the end of March, invited me along. It wasn’t my best performance but I guess it wasn’t terrible.
My nerves got the best of me and I forgot the lyrics on two different songs. Thanks to advice of the amazing community members in this forum I played through it both times as I mentally reset where I was in the songs and continued on. I felt a little better when the guy who followed me, who plays out at a market for three hours every weekend, had to stop on one of his songs as he announced he botched the lyrics and was doing a do over.
Anyway, it’s another long video so if you feel like suffering through it, grab a cup of coffee, sit out on the deck or your recliner and try not to cringe.
Joe @frito
Very well done, I was very impressed for a first OM especially without a chord sheet in front of you.
Don’t fret about mistakes it is all part of the learning experience.
Michael
Thanks Michael. I have been practicing the set for the past month and a half and purposely wanted to challenge myself to play without a chord sheet. Don’t know if that was the best idea, but hey live and learn.
Nice job there. I haven’t had chance to watch it all but the few minutes I did have were really good. I’m a long way away from being open mic ready as I can’t sing and play at all!
I’d second what you said about playing through mistakes. I heard this advice early on in my journey and it was perhaps the single best advice I ever got and definitely counter to what my instinct would have been. Now when I practice I play through all my mistakes and look to get back in time asap. If I feel I’m repeating mistakes then I’ll practice that phrase or verse in isolation
Congratulations on this achievement!
Goal achieved + kept on playing through mishaps + played without chord sheet
a part of “Performing live” is something you can get used to but as you noticed with the other, you’ll never get to the status where nothing can go wrong.
Stopping and restarting is kind of a buzzkill.
Keep on going, keep the story going.
Kudos on performing without chord sheet.
That’s a BIG win in my book!
It is a major step towards freedom on stage.
It mighttake a bit more effort to prepare but it enables more “you being you” on stage, using your senses and brainpower for other things, minding your singing, your posture, your presence and movements, … it opens up the window to take action within songs later on, when you can decide on the fly which decoration or lead lead idea you throw in where.
For me playing from a chord sheet is like reading a speech. it shows how much is in the content and how much is in the delivery. The latter is often underestimated.
Bravo, Joe, that was great. I listened all the way through, watched a bit (I confess). Great repertoire of songs and liked the vibes of the original, super energy.
Only tip I can offer for future is to try and position the mic such that it would be most natural for yu to be singing into it. A couple of times the vocal level dropped a bit as your head moved to a more natural position while you were playing. A minor point as I could still hear the singing.
Once again, congrats. Awesome achievement to play such a set live!!
Thanks @LievenDV Lieven. That is a very good analogy. Over the years I found my best speeches are those where I have only a post it note with some bullet points vs. a fully composed speech that I read.
Thanks @mattswain Matthew. You don’t have to sing. You can do instrumental songs or recruit someone to sing with you if you don’t feel comfortable. My wife and I went to the Hendrix Experience earlier this week. Kenny Wayne Shepherd was the main act. He doesn’t sing one note but boy can he wail on a guitar.
Thanks @twistor59 Phil. Believe it or not, I was hoping they allowed longer sets. When I told my daughter and son-in-law my planned set list they cautioned me I may only be able to play between one and three songs. When I got there and told me they had half hour blocks I was pretty excited. I have been practicing that full set for the past month and a half to the point it has been all consuming of my practicing.
Thanks @DavidP David. I do need to get used to a mic. My amp doesn’t have a mic input so I haven’t been able to practice singing through a mic. The rare time I have given speeches through a mic, hearing myself over the PA has always felt strange. I have a naturally booming speaking voice and forego the mic as much as possible. My singing voice not so much. Definitely something to work on.
Well done on your performance, certainly a lot better than my first open mic. :-D.
Learning to play from memory isn’t as hard as many think it is. Chord sheets are a crutch and you can lose your place in them just as you can forget lyrics from memory. When I was learning I was glued to my chord sheets and in awe of those who played from memory. Got challenged by someone to learn at least 3 of my songs from memory and once I memorized the first I realized the biggest challenge was the mindset that it was too hard.
Congratulations on an awesome open mic, they do get easier the more you do them.
Thanks Tony. I’m with you on the chord sheets. My eyes don’t talk to mind quickly enough and thus doesn’t get down to my hands quickly enough. Others than the panic causing my mind to freeze, I find it almost easier to play and be myself without a chord sheet.
Going back to @DavidP comment about the mic, I would probably prefer a lapel mic or one that loops around the ear so I’m not tethered to a mic stand.
That can cause problems in an open mic situation. Changing gear adds to potential problems. Better, in my.view, to work with what is already there and already setup.
Agreed. I’m not going to invest in one. It was more a “wishful thinking” statement. I tend to move around a bit as I play and sing which was difficult for me singing into a stationary mic. My 12 string added an extra level of complexity since it doesn’t have electronics. I had to position myself so the sound hole was at the guitar mic level and sing into the other mic. The easy answer would have been to simply play my six string for all the songs but I like the way the twelve sounds on those first three songs. And I tend to do things the hard way.
One of these days I’m going to take my 12 string to a luthier to set it up better and discuss adding electronics of some kind.
The biggest thing that helped me get over my open mic nerves was getting a good quality setup at home so I could rehearse very similar to what I would have at the open mics. Previous I had an amp that sounded so bad I just didn’t use it. My first open mic after getting good gear was orders of magnitude easier for me.
I’ve had the LR baggs Anthem fitted to my main performance guitars and am quiet happy with it. Previously only of them had the K&K static pickup and I regularly had feedback issues at open mics.
I applaud you on your 12 string ability. It’s like a foreign instrument to me
Thanks. The 12 string was my only guitar from 1983 until 2017 when I bought a Gretsch hollow body. It is the guitar I first learned on way back when before I took a 30 year hiatus sans the once or twice a year strum.
Thanks James. I love your resounding “YET”. Stick with it and I’m sure you will receiving many rounds of applause. FWIW, I am on the 40 year plan. I first started playing in 1983 and fell off the wagon for many years. Better late than never.
I found the same singing. It does depend to a degree on who is on the sounddesk. I once or twice experienced it where the level was just right. At least it sounded just right for me as the performer. Hopefully the audience heard it as well. But sound is interesting. I was hearing looking at the speakers and the audience hear with the speakers behind them (we didn’t have monitors at the Open Mic night.
My aspiration was to be invited onto the Big Stage (as they called it) for one of the other events in the month where I would have had the opportunity to perform a set much like you did in terms of duration. Then my fingers packed up, I gave up playing for a while because I couldn’t and now am struggling. So who knows if I ever get back to live performing.
But once again must tip my hat and applaud your performance!
