Mark_S
Silver Member
I know there have been threads on this before.. but..
My live playing is killing me; I just can't switch off and play like I can in the practise room or even when rehearsing. My mind is going all the time and I can't even pinpoint what it is thinking about, other than telling myself to stop thinking!
Fortunately, nobody in the band or in the audience notices.. but I sure notice.
Things like : -
1) Sometimes my left fingers become hyper aware of the stick and I feel like I'm going to drop it. It also affects my ghost notes.
2) I go to do a fill, just a basic fill, and I feel like I have to force every stroke out (I don't mean play forcefully). I sometimes feel pinned to the snare too, like moving to the toms is difficult..?!
Basically, the feeling of "flow" isn't there, which probably sums up the whole problem.
What gets me is: this is simple cover band stuff. I'm also pretty sure I did not suffer this problem 15 years ago, though some of that was probably youthful exuberance (I hit the big 40 this year).
What's odd is that it varies gig to gig. It helps when I can hear the band really well; I seem to become less self concious, like I'm a little more hidden behind the guitars. The last time I used in-ears I think I played a fair bit better, but it could also have just been a good day.
I think the main problem is my concious mind becomes way too involved. I really don't think it is ego either. I'm just sitting there trying to play well for the band and the audience, and enjoy it.
My ear doesn't suffer.. if I hear the band mucking up, I can usually adjust and get them back on track.
Has anyone else suffered from this? Anyone overcome it?
The only way I can think to overcome it is to gig as much as possible until I get over it. Honestly at the end of some gigs I want to give up. And then I get compliments on my playing and I end up confused as hell.
Example: played Radiohead Creep live last night. I messed up the big fill at 2.42 (the run.. run.. run bit). And I usually love playing that song! I was frozen to the snare and I'm not even sure the timing was right.
Oddly I felt a little liberated after the mess up, but still not right.
My live playing is killing me; I just can't switch off and play like I can in the practise room or even when rehearsing. My mind is going all the time and I can't even pinpoint what it is thinking about, other than telling myself to stop thinking!
Fortunately, nobody in the band or in the audience notices.. but I sure notice.
Things like : -
1) Sometimes my left fingers become hyper aware of the stick and I feel like I'm going to drop it. It also affects my ghost notes.
2) I go to do a fill, just a basic fill, and I feel like I have to force every stroke out (I don't mean play forcefully). I sometimes feel pinned to the snare too, like moving to the toms is difficult..?!
Basically, the feeling of "flow" isn't there, which probably sums up the whole problem.
What gets me is: this is simple cover band stuff. I'm also pretty sure I did not suffer this problem 15 years ago, though some of that was probably youthful exuberance (I hit the big 40 this year).
What's odd is that it varies gig to gig. It helps when I can hear the band really well; I seem to become less self concious, like I'm a little more hidden behind the guitars. The last time I used in-ears I think I played a fair bit better, but it could also have just been a good day.
I think the main problem is my concious mind becomes way too involved. I really don't think it is ego either. I'm just sitting there trying to play well for the band and the audience, and enjoy it.
My ear doesn't suffer.. if I hear the band mucking up, I can usually adjust and get them back on track.
Has anyone else suffered from this? Anyone overcome it?
The only way I can think to overcome it is to gig as much as possible until I get over it. Honestly at the end of some gigs I want to give up. And then I get compliments on my playing and I end up confused as hell.
Example: played Radiohead Creep live last night. I messed up the big fill at 2.42 (the run.. run.. run bit). And I usually love playing that song! I was frozen to the snare and I'm not even sure the timing was right.
Oddly I felt a little liberated after the mess up, but still not right.