Hey!
, I have this major problem at the moment, I am probably going to play live for the first time (17th may), the reason why I say probably is because I am not sure if i'll be able to, and maybe my guitar teacher has to stand-in for me, the reason I am posting here is because I'd like as much input and different advices as possible, to prepare my self for this. But for all this to make sense, I have to tell you a short version of my life, and hopefully you'll get a better understanding.
When I was 10 years old, my dad died, and that led me into an depression, I started to hear voices, seeing visions, getting suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. Now time moves on, I've gotten rid of the depression, hearing voices, seeing vision and the suicidal thoughts, but I still have my anxiety, I am now 17 years old today and I turn 18 the 20th may, and of course I think we're all nervous first time we have to go on stage, but my problem is a bit different, back when I was younger around the 12-13 years old, I was even too scared to go out of my own house, and I was too scared to go to school, I've never in my entire life, stood up in front people and spoke (e.g. giving a presentation in-front of the class), after getting out of school I went to a production school (where I still am), I am at the musicians workshop (of course
), having a really great time there, but I still had to spend 6 months before I started to eat at the school, and trust me! 8 hours a day without any food is hard, I am still too scared to take the bus everyday so my parents have to drive me, which stops when I am 18.
But I've made a lot of progress from going from not being able to go out of my house, to actually playing in a band, the music we play is Red Hot Chili Peppers, quite fun, and I know that none of you have any idea how good or bad I am at playing the guitar since I've never uploaded a single video of my playing (because of my anxiety), but a little about my guitar playing is that I've played for 11 months, I started a longer time ago, but I played for 1-2 weeks and stopped, and then after like 8 months I got back to the guitar played for a week and stopped, then finally I got to the guitar again and then just kept on playing
, now when I've just played a song or just been jamming, and people ask me for how long time I've played and I say 11 months, they seem really surprised, when I had been playing for 6 months the drum teacher thought I had been playing for 2-3 years, and EVERYONE at my school says I am really good. But basicly I can play the songs we have to play in my sleep, I can improvise, and even make it sound really great (according to the teachers), and the teachers at this school are REALLY REALLY good, also everyone says that I underestimate my self, I am apparently the only one at my school that thinks I am bad, hmpfh...
But I have a backup guitarist (the teacher) if I just can't make my self play that day, and if I go on stage and if anything happens to my guitar, my teachers 78' or 80 something Fender strat is ready for me, basicly anything that I want I can get, and my teacher will be my personal tech that day
... But I've actually been so stressed about this situation that I started to get suicidal thoughts again, which I got rid of 4 years ago, so that sucks..
Ehm, I could tell you about the place where we're going to play, its a school, not sure what you call it in english (maybe boarding school), basicly a school where people can take the 9th/10th grade and they live there, theres going to be playing a good amount of bands, and there is going to be a good amount of people probably 100-200+, all depends on the weather, its something where people just come and go and sit down and listen to music and have a drink, etc. My band only has to play 20 minutes (luckily), the songs we're playing is Dani Califonia, Can't Stop, Otherside & Look Around (by Red Hot Chili Peppers
), we're going to be the second band from our school to play (thats how I prefered it), what I am most nervous of is playing solos, and playing stuff where I am alone, basicly when my playing is the thing people will focus on, I am also terrified to make a noteable mistake, luckily I know how to improvise, so if I loose track of where I am, I can always jam my way back in, like a pro.....
, i think they call it professional mistakes
. Now gear wise I'll use my own guitar, own pedals, own amp, so no problems there..
So I think I've told enough, about my "short" story, I hope that you have an idea about me and an better understanding why this is a huge problem for me, now what I hope you can help me out with, is that maybe you have some ideas, what I could do when I play a solo or when I play something all by myself (I do that in the start of Can't Stop and right after the drum build up), and also how was your first experience when you played for the first time, how good were you, what were peoples reaction, how nervous were you, did you do anything special when you had to play a solo, etc.
And of course there are a lot more things I could tell you about me, but I think this covers the basics.
But if you'd like for me to upload an video of my playing of the 4 songs I could probably get that done, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask
Btw the more details you can use, the better
, thanks in advance!
Best regards, Tobias
You are at GuitarMasterClass.net
Don't miss today's
free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with
free content!
Qenzoz Playing Live For The First Time May 1 2012, 08:03 PM
