the focus on you. how do you handle the pressure?

[Andy Henriksen]

Norbert, you didn't say how long you have been playing.

Typically this may be related to thinking we are prepared but in reality we are not quite there yet. If we are just practicing the same licks or phrases 100% of the time without really understanding how the dots are connected , then yeh we can make a huge boo boo in a hurry and loose our confidence right away. One note comes out wrong and the whole thing goes down the drain. We have probably all been there, I know I have.

The solve to this syndrome is knowing how our phrases are constructed and where they come from on the fret board. SEAT TIME. If we miss a STOCK note or two, who cares. We replace them with a couple of others ! But we can only do this with an understanding of the fret board and how those phrases come to be. We play"around" the stock phrase that we initially intended to play.

Being well rehearsed is a very big part of this but equally important is knowing how phrases are constructed so if indeed we miss a note here and there, we just add a few and make a slight change to the phrase. Most times nobody even knows but you !

It all just comes with time.

It took me a long time realize the importance of this. The underlying chord progression should be as ingrained as the specific leads, melody lines, etc., so that if you totally space out, you have a safe place (or several on PSG) to return to until you get reoriented.

The added bonus is that when you start to equate lead lines to the chords, you can start to repurpose some of those licks more in a looser improv setting.

[John De Maille]

When I first started to play, many, many years ago, I wasn't worried about making mistakes at all. The band I was in was just happy to have a steel and enjoyed the sounds I made. As time went on and I got better, it all got better overall. Everything always jelled together just fine. In my career I've played all kinds of places with huge and small crowds, who, didn't really know if I blew a phrase or executed a really difficult piece. I never got stagefright or was nervous about anything. However, steel shows and conventions used to shake me up a lot. It was tough playing in front of my fellow steel players, always. I never wanted to mess up and wanted to play in top form. In fact, one time when I was setting my steel up, I installed the pedal rack upside down and THAT was a bad omen to me. I corrected it, but, still had that apprehension because of the initial screwup. I played alright, but, I stayed safe and played my usual standard licks. Kind of like vanilla ice cream. No pizazz!!! You'd think that after all the places I'd played and the people I'd played for, that, nothing would bother me, but, playing for other steel players used to shake me up. I always stressed on being perfect and innovating. Trying to impress I guess. Being asked to play for a steel show means something. It shows that people are interested in what you do and how you play. So, I always tried to upstage myself and sometimes it worked and sometimes it fell flat.
Nowadays I just approach it as a big party. I've come to the conclusion, that, the audience at the show is there to be entertained and appreciate whatever or however you play. If you blow a phrase or miss a spot, they don't care really. They're enjoying you for being you. That's all!
We are our worst enemies when it comes to criticism and dissection of what we do. If we can overcome our own deficiencies, then, we'll actually be better at what we do. I have finally learned that and no longer get any jitters or nervousness. It took a long time, but, I think , that, I've finally conquered that roadblock.

[Norbert Dengler]

great thoughts and experiences here... lots of them I experienced exactly the same way... good to have a place to share stuff like this... thanks a lot!

[John Billings]

Don't worry about it. Just play.

[Joseph Napolitano]

I LOVE to practice , a lot. But in the last year or so, if I practice a good amount earlier in the day on a gig night, my right hand often fatigues pretty easily during the gig, making it harder for me to execute things that I know I typically can do without difficulty. Lately on a gig day, I have to limit practice to things that aren't that physically taxing, like intonation and ear training . Maybe my carpal tunnel syndrome is getting worse, and/or I'm just getting old.

[Bob Russell]

Try an simulate the gig environment at home with backing tracks. And/or play the lick/tune over and over. Eventually the mind says, "Ok, I get it. These notes I'm learning have nothing to do with this here place I'm learning them in."

There's an old saying that goes: "The amateur practices until he gets it right. The professional practices until he can't get it wrong."

There's also the story attributed to Pavarotti who was giving a master class and the student who was about to sing a beloved aria said to him, "Oh maestro, I love this aria so much. I must have sung it fifty times."

To which the maestro allegedly responded: "Fifty times? FIFTY times? You need to sing this FIVE HUNDRED TIMES!"

(YMMV.)

What Jim said. If you know damn well you can do it, there's no pressure.

[Roger Rettig]

I have to identify with John De Maille's post.

I, too, did that once. The first time I was setting up to play in the Empire Theatre, San Antonio! Bad enough for an Englishman trying to play steel in America but Texas???

I was setting up my Emmons and 'casually' chatting to the promoter and trying to appear calm and urbane. He wasn't a player himself but politely inquired why the logo on the pedal-bar seemed the wrong way up. Any false air of competence I was trying to exude evaporated on the spot.

I still wonder how I got through two weeks of it.

I recall hearing how a relatively inexperienced player, preparing to play at the ISGC, voiced his discomfort at seeing Emmons, Lloyd, and other notables scattered about the room. "How can I play in front of them???" "Don't worry..." said an old campaigner - "you don't think they're going to be listening to you, do you?"

[Jim Cohen]

I recall hearing how a relatively inexperienced player, preparing to play at the ISGC, voiced his discomfort at seeing Emmons, Lloyd, and other notables scattered about the room. "How can I play in front of them???" "Don't worry..." said an old campaigner - "you don't think they're going to be listening to you, do you?"

Well, that's probably better than having E tell you after your set, "Hey man, I really like what you were trying to play..."

[Dan Robinson]

Don't worry about it. Just play.

I'm comfortable with this. I practice hard, but I'm easy going. I like getting paid, but never did it to feed my family. It's just a "nice little hobby."

Mistakes? Lots of them, I'm mediocre at best. I hate a train wreck, but the little blunders make for the best laughs over a 2am breakfast. No one else noticed, except another steel player, who already gets it.

It's about the song, not me. I cringe only when things are flowing and the band wants a surprise steel solo. Funny how I can always see it coming, but am never prepared. Just play some melody (maybe), and smile. It's probably the only time I look up from the fret board.

Never a worry when backing up a sweet gal or an energetic fella who gets 'em dancing.

[Roger Rettig]

Well, clearly, it's always about serving the song or should be, at least. But what we're discussing here has no basis in logic. It's almost inexplicable, in fact.

Quite apart from the incident I describe above (wrongly attaching the pedal bar; a momentary glitch with no consequences) there's 'red light syndrome'. This isn't confined to the studio from whence the phrase has sprung but can occur at those moments when, in my case anyway, everything depends upon me nailing a tempo and executing an intro, let's say, with authority and panache.

Mostly I'm fine but I've had phrases that get inside my head. On a recent show-run ('Mamma Mia') there was a simple two bar phrase on acoustic guitar where I was exposed. It was easy. I was getting it at every pass without a thought then, one night, I was daydreaming while reading and playing and I flubbed it. It became an inside joke in the orchestra-pit for the last week of the show and, after the accidental train-wreck, I got the phrase wrong more often than I got it right. My right hand would almost freeze and fail to function.

It's that crucial four inches between the ears, folks!

[Barry Blackwood]

I agree with John Billings. "Don't worry about it - just play." It took me a long time to adopt that philosophy. If you try to play above your current ability you will get in trouble so just stick to what you know.

[Fred Treece]

Simulating a gig environment was mentioned earlier. I don’t think the person meant to light up a cigar and spill some Lysol and beer on the floor...

Practicing with backing tracks is good, but to really simulate an “on the gig” situation, there is a twist - you only play through the backing track once. There’s no going back and fixing something you didn’t quite get. The song is over, and boom you’re on to the next one and you have to kick it off with that snazzy intro you worked out.

If you do that with 5 or 6 tunes per practice session, you will know what you can realistically pull off at the gig.

[Tim Whitlock]

I LOVE to practice , a lot. But in the last year or so, if I practice a good amount earlier in the day on a gig night, my right hand often fatigues pretty easily during the gig, making it harder for me to execute things that I know I typically can do without difficulty. Lately on a gig day, I have to limit practice to things that aren't that physically taxing, like intonation and ear training . Maybe my carpal tunnel syndrome is getting worse, and/or I'm just getting old.

It is physical for me as well. I've played hundreds of gigs so I have not the slightest bit of stage fright. I do find that recently the physical effort involved in loading in and setting up leaves my right hand shaky for at least an hour. I simply can't play well until it regains it's strength. I'm 62 and in relatively good health. Maybe it's the first sign of decline or some other emerging health issue?

[Don R Brown]

The Winnie Winston book has an amusing page by Tom Bradshaw, an article which first appeared in Guitar Player magazine. It reads in part "...They imagine their own mistakes are heard by everyone in the crowd which they imagine as full of other steel players who are anything but impressed by their playing".

Yup...I can relate!

[Ray Minich]

Just say you are practicing your Victor Borge routine...