Top Ten Tips For Playing Guitar In Front Of An Audience

If you are a performer, standing in front of a large and live audience can be a scary experience. When it’s just a few friends or family, playing the guitar in front of people may seem easy. But when it’s a crowded room full of strangers waiting to be entertained it’s a different story.

In this article we will show you some of the tips and techniques to make sure that you perform at the very best of your ability every time you go on stage. These tips have been taken from the experts – those who get up and perform with stability and amazing talent every week. It doesn’t matter if you are completely new to performing on stage or you are a seasoned performer, there are a number of things you can do to make the very best of your performance.

1)    Ignore the self-doubt. Have the courage to share your talent with others. Almost every single musician in the world will hear a little voice somewhere in the back of his mind just before he goes on stage that will say something along the lines of “what are you doing? You can’t do this!” Remember that you have worked hard to practice your guitar, and that you know exactly what you are going to play.

2)      Know your repertoire. Choose songs that you know and play well. Get a repertoire of around ten or twelve songs that you really enjoy playing, and then memorize them.

3)    Mix it up a bit. You know what you are capable of, and try and push yourself a little bit. By challenging yourself you will develop you stage skills quicker and more effectively. Of the ten or twelve songs that you have chosen, make sure that they will please the audience. By this I mean make sure there is a good mix of rhythms and tempos – an audience is more likely to want to listen to a variation of music than a number of songs based around the same chord. Also, the songs that you choose should vary in difficulty as well. This doesn’t mean that if it’s your first time on stage you should play Flight of The Wounded Bumblebee at full pace.

4)    Distract yourself. There is one famous case of an outdoor concert going out live where the band on stage had to put up with the next band warming up directly behind them – these sorts of things will happen when you perform. When you play in front of an audience, there will be distractions. So be ready – when you practice at home, put the TV on, or the radio. By doing this you will be training yourself to play with any distractions a room full of people will throw at you!

5)    Play easy to start. When you have your mix of songs that vary in rhythm and tempo, make sure you play them in the order that puts the easiest to play first. This way, when it comes to the more difficult songs, your fingers will be nicely warmed up. Many seasoned performers like to begin with a strong upbeat song with a medium tempo – this will get the audience on your side as well as warming you up for the more technically difficult songs later.

6)    Sleep!  Sleep is well-known for naturally lowering your anxiety levels. Not only that, it will increase your concentration and help to eliminate mistakes. As much as possible, ensure you get a proper night’s sleep before any important gig.

7)    No Alcohol! Alcohol and caffeine are the destructors of many a good concert. Alcohol works by slowing down your reaction time, and your awareness of what is going on around you. Therefore, you might think you are playing superbly, when really the audience switched off quite some time ago. Caffeine does the opposite – it heightens your awareness which leads you to become even more anxious and make more mistakes.

8)    Be prepared. The last thing you want to be doing is having an argument about where the venue is an hour before you are due to go on stage. Make sure you have all your clothes, equipment and directions ready the night before. This will seriously cut down on any extra anxiety before the gig.

9)    Be equipped. If you leave nothing to chance, then you diminish the possibility of anything going wrong that can’t be fixed. Stock your gig bag with extra strings and plectrums in your gig bag, as well as extra batteries and leads

10)    Relax and enjoy it. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen?? Playing in front of an audience is a massive part of the creative process – the more you practice it the better at it you will get!