Square Wheels Posted August 17, 2019 Share #1 Posted August 17, 2019 Tomorrow I will play two songs with the band. She Talks to Angels and The Rain Song. The band does not know The Rain Song, so it will be just me on guitar, no other instruments - that's terrifying. It's far from easy. My step brother will sing. When Zeppelin does it, it's clear they recorded it with two guitars, plus an orchestra. I will make mistakes, I will do my best to recover. I want to do this, but in some ways I don't. It's one for the few times I'll get to play in front of people. Also, I "practice" about 10 minutes a month. I took about 20 years off from playing. If I had done this in my early 20's I would have been fine. My step brother is trying to talk me into TNT also, it's really easy, but I'm not sure I want to. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted August 17, 2019 Share #2 Posted August 17, 2019 It has been a life long necessity for me to be ok with making a fool of myself. Duh. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted August 17, 2019 Share #3 Posted August 17, 2019 Good luck! A large percentage of the mistakes you make, you'll be the only one to notice. Enjoy it and dont worry about it. All of my best stories end up with ".... and they were looking at me like I was an idiot." Learn to embrace your inner fool! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parr8hed Posted August 17, 2019 Share #4 Posted August 17, 2019 Buy lots of beer for people. The more they drink, the less they will notice That A that should have been an E. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share #5 Posted August 17, 2019 2 minutes ago, Parr8hed said: Buy lots of beer for people. The more they drink, the less they will notice That A that should have been an E. It's supposed to be E? Crap, I give up now. This isn't in any type of tuning, that's part of the reason why the band won't learn it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parr8hed Posted August 17, 2019 Share #6 Posted August 17, 2019 1 minute ago, Square Wheels said: It's supposed to be E? Crap, I give up now. This isn't in any type of tuning, that's part of the reason why the band won't learn it. Are you playing Talks to Angels in Open E? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur ★ Posted August 17, 2019 Share #7 Posted August 17, 2019 Play "The Weight". I am pretty sure The Band knows it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share #8 Posted August 17, 2019 4 minutes ago, Parr8hed said: Are you playing Talks to Angels in Open E? yes, which might prove to be a challenge, my step brother is covering for me if I get lost of bail out, and he plays it in standard tuning. I'm screwed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parr8hed Posted August 17, 2019 Share #9 Posted August 17, 2019 I always find myself getting confused on the open tuning when I played it, but it sounds better. That damn E chord! relax. You're gonna do fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted August 17, 2019 Share #10 Posted August 17, 2019 2 hours ago, Square Wheels said: Are you OK with making a fool of yourself? ...as a kid, I took 8 years of accordion lessons. So I'm pretty much past all that now. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted August 17, 2019 Share #11 Posted August 17, 2019 9 minutes ago, Page Turner said: ...as a kid, I took 8 years of accordion lessons. So I'm pretty much past all that now. And they still allowed you to become a hippie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrAzY Posted August 17, 2019 Share #12 Posted August 17, 2019 Been doing the fool part all my life.. think I'm gonna stop now? The answer you said should be "Nope" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted August 17, 2019 Share #13 Posted August 17, 2019 2 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: And they still allowed you to become a hippie? ...there were no standards when I joined. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share #14 Posted August 17, 2019 1 hour ago, Parr8hed said: I always find myself getting confused on the open tuning when I played it, but it sounds better. That damn E chord! relax. You're gonna do fine. Having it in open E actually makes it really easy to play. You play the open E, then add on a 2 finger "E" to it, then you bar over the top 4 at 7, then drop to 5... She talks to angels should be OK, I'll flug the intro and other picking parts just because they are kinda fast. It's The Rain Song, I'm not ready. My step brother will be here early, we'll go through it together before I do it live. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post UglyBob Posted August 17, 2019 Popular Post Share #15 Posted August 17, 2019 Am I okay with making a fool of myself? Of course I am. I'm an old fat guy who rides in spandex, juggles, and writes stories. And I hang out here, so... 4 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted August 17, 2019 Share #16 Posted August 17, 2019 47 minutes ago, Page Turner said: ...as a kid, I took 8 years of accordion lessons. So I'm pretty much past all that now. It worked for Weird Al Yankovic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted August 17, 2019 Share #17 Posted August 17, 2019 Obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airehead Posted August 17, 2019 Share #18 Posted August 17, 2019 Every time I pick up the fiddle in front of people I make mistakes. I hate that but the joy of playing with a group is better. People don’t notice too much and it is cool to be out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted August 17, 2019 Share #19 Posted August 17, 2019 1 hour ago, UglyBob said: I'm an old fat guy who rides in spandex, juggles, and writes stories. ....I can juggle too. But I can't do it while simultaneously playing the accordion. I bet if I could do that , people would watch. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UglyBob Posted August 17, 2019 Share #20 Posted August 17, 2019 1 minute ago, Page Turner said: ....I can juggle too. But I can't do it while simultaneously playing the accordion. I bet if I could do that , people would watch. Cool! When I was performing, my specialty was knives and bowling balls. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zealot Posted August 17, 2019 Share #21 Posted August 17, 2019 Honestly, no. I hate making a fool of myself publicly. But that has never stopped me from doing so... ? But I’ve played in public, sang in public, given public speeches and messed up on all of them. But no one ever came to me and said, “you looked a fool.” Most people congratulated me. SW, it takes a bit of courage to risk performing in front of others. And that’s what people will admire. ? Go have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted August 17, 2019 Share #22 Posted August 17, 2019 ...they call this "performance anxiety". Almost everyone gets it in some degree. When I was doing theater in college most of the people I acted with also experienced it. Some people get it worse than others, and it does seem that rehearsing a lot helps to deal with some of it. But there's no feeling quite like blowing a line or a riff in front of large crowd of people. Sometimes it helps to drink just a little bit to take the edge off. Generally, I have found that pot just makes your chances of screwing the pooch worse. Xanax is the drug of choice for any anxiety related thing. Half or a quarter tab of Xanax and even if you screw up, it won't seem important. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share #23 Posted August 17, 2019 I will not take my muscle relaxers tonight or tomorrow. While they will help calm me, they will also deaden my reflexes and make me play worse. If I wake in the morning and it's ruining my whole day, I won't play at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoseySusan Posted August 17, 2019 Share #24 Posted August 17, 2019 Channel some soul and it’s all good. mr. and I went to a Brewhouse on the other side of town to have a couple of pints and wait for #2 son, who was at a movie with his speech therapy group. There was a live band, and all of the musicians looked like guys who have day jobs and just enjoy playing live on a Friday night. It was fun. They missed a few notes and sang “Jambalaya, On the Bayou”with as much exuberance as a funeral march, but the rhythm was on and the crowd was into it, and we all had a great time., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted August 17, 2019 Share #25 Posted August 17, 2019 I don't know about 'OK with' but I'm sure 'good at' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeman564™ Posted August 17, 2019 Share #26 Posted August 17, 2019 yes, and have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 18, 2019 Author Share #27 Posted August 18, 2019 I'm OK with it. What I am struggling with a little more may be, "hey, look at me, I can pretend to play guitar...". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted August 18, 2019 Share #28 Posted August 18, 2019 Sometimes I can be very self conscious, ant other times I don't care at all. But most of the time, when I worry about how I look, i realize nobody is really looking anyway. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parr8hed Posted August 19, 2019 Share #29 Posted August 19, 2019 So how was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Square Wheels Posted August 19, 2019 Author Popular Post Share #30 Posted August 19, 2019 1 minute ago, Parr8hed said: So how was it? Not sure yet, I hear there are videos. We'll see. I may post them. I did all three songs, my step brother covered for me, a lot. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted August 19, 2019 Share #31 Posted August 19, 2019 So again I'm confused. Is this thread about playing music or making a fool of yourself. 'cause one I know nothing about and the other I'm really, good at. The only notes I know are Post-it notes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 19, 2019 Author Share #32 Posted August 19, 2019 Just now, Kzoo said: So again I'm confused. Is this thread about playing music or making a fool of yourself. 'cause one I know nothing about and the other I'm really, good at. The only notes I know are Post-it notes. Combined, making a fool of myself while playing music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tizeye Posted August 19, 2019 Share #33 Posted August 19, 2019 Self depreciating humor getting a laugh is far better than insulting others - even if they deserve it - for a laugh. Just go in for the solo and set the expectation low. Tell them you have been playing guitar for a long time. Two weeks is a long time isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airehead Posted August 19, 2019 Share #34 Posted August 19, 2019 @Square Wheels, musicians always cover for each other-- it is part of the gig. Don't watch the video because you will only see the worst parts. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted August 19, 2019 Share #35 Posted August 19, 2019 If I wasn't willing to be a fool, I wouldn't do most of the fun stuff! You would be AMAZED at the mistakes you can make playing music that the audience doesn't hear - as long as you are having fun with it. My soloing skills are quite limited. Trying to get solos "right" was killing songs. when I finally learned to just let the fingers do their thing, suddenly the life came back. I play a ton of notes that don't belong, the crowd loves it. Be a fool. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted August 19, 2019 Share #36 Posted August 19, 2019 4 hours ago, 12string said: I play a ton of notes that don't belong, the crowd loves it. Be a fool. I would rather see a musician who makes the song his own than play it note for note. One day I was playing a song when someone asked me if I was trying to sound like Stevie Ray Von and I said no. And when SRV recorded it he did play like Larry Davis. Make it your own. I just like to be entertained Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted August 19, 2019 Share #37 Posted August 19, 2019 B.B.King has a great quote about not trying to play like someone else, you aren't someone else. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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