Performing fingerstyle guitar on stage can be nerve-racking.
Something you have played perfectly at home suddenly “falls apart” when you try to get on stage and do it in front of people.
For my first few years touring, my hands would shake on stage too, so don’t worry – it’s normal.
I’m going to show you how to solve this problem.
Recently, I got an email from Sam, a guitarist and blog subscriber:
I play pretty good when alone. Once in front of others I fall apart. That keeps me from doing what I’d love to do and that is play for people. So that tells me I haven’t graduated to level 4.
Any advice on how to break through to the next level?
He was referring to my “4 levels of learning” video and figures he’s trapped at level 3,
not getting to level 4.
Here are the 4 levels of learning:
- “Unconscious Incompetence” – you don’t know what you don’t know.
- “Conscious Incompetence” – you become aware of what you don’t know
- “Conscious Competence” – you can play the piece in your practice room very well but you need to consciously guide it.
- “Unconscious Competence” – the piece plays itself, you no longer need to control it. Your hands know where to go, all by themselves.
When you perform, you get a whole NEW set of distractions like…
- The monitor / live sound isn’t right
- Your fingers feel sticky
- You are suddenly anxious about the trouble spots
- You don’t feel as warmed up as you’d like
- Your brain is experiencing new anxieties, making it hard to concentrate calmly
Which is why you need your “subconcious” mind to play the piece for you š
The way to achieve this is through REPETITION. As you repeat playing a piece, it drives it down into your subconcious mind – so you no loner have to “think” in order to play it.
Here’s How & Why Repetition In Your Practice Works:
When you practice, you are actually re-wiring your brain.
There was a study done with piano players as test subjects. Half of them were told to practice a set routine for 2 hours, and the rest were told to “improvise” for 2 hours.
After several practice sessions over a few weeks, they then took brain scans to monitor the brain activity and growth of the 2 groups of piano players.
Guess what? The players who did the more disciplined, repetitive practice showed brand new “connections” and rewired their brains.
The ones who simply noodled, explored and “made things up” with no routine did not show any growth or development.
How Can You Use this Info?
Even if you think you know a piece, practice it again and again. That’s the only way you will successfully rewire your brain.
That’s why I still practice my entire concert set even though I have played the pieces on stage for 7 years.
When I am jetlagged, hungry have a funky PA system, and thinking about my mom back home – the music STILL has to happen, i.e. it has to “play itself.”
That goal of “fingerstyle guitar autopilot” is secured through repetition in my practice routine.
My advice? Repeat, repeat, repeat even if you think you don’t need it.
And yes, I still practice “Billie Jean”, “Superstition” and all my “hits”, all the time.
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Excellent article and advice Adam. I really appreciate that you share these tips with fellow players.
Thanks Stan!
Adam — as part of the large community of fingerstyle players out there who are trying to make that leap to the next level, thank you once again for the great advice. The ominous, negative voice-inside-the-head often keeps me from making that leap between the 3rd and 4th levels, which you’ve also talked about in previous posts. Keep up the inspiring work and words — hope to see you in the SF bay area someday soon! – ThinkingDog
DOG thank you! How’s about some new vids on SWA???? I’m waiting.
I could not agree more than this.
I would like to grade the learning phase into the following ladder:
1. the song is memorized (i.e. you do not need the music sheet in front of you)
2. you can play the song alone, in your room, and (apparently!) it sounds good
3. you can play the song in front of few relatives or friends and (apparently!) it sounds good
4. you can play the song live, during a show and (apparently!) it sounds good
5. the song is played by your heart and it sounds good!
Reaching each step of the ladder is a matter of playing the song over and over, and also improve the weak points of the performance, which usually are some difficult part of the song, or a bad dynamic, a non-steady rhythm, etc. etc.
Roberto, thank you!
Unconscious Competenceā¦like a magnet; your fingers are drawn, they seem to know their way about.
Adam, You have great talent and the strong teaching
capability …only a few great ski racers, Wimbledon tennis champions etc. can do both….you are in that
league my friend…
DK
YEEEEES.
Hi Adam –
I get to level 4 on about 10 tunes and level 3 on about 30. My problem (if it is one) is that I love to “learn.” I’ll hear a new tune, love the groove and melody and want to be able to express those sounds. Then, when I’m 3/4 of the way to mastering the tune, I’ll hear a new one and just have to learn that one! So I’m always working on one or two and neglect the ones I have learned. I’m a living room picker and don’t play out so it’s not really a performance problem. I suspect that others share this “learning” habit.
The brain scan study info is useful though – in reminding us to focus and concentrate during our learning/practice times – and that we won’t make much progress by noodling or half-heartedly playing what our fingers already know.
Thanks for your blog… always appreciated
I find that when practicing, it’s good to have a routine.
My typical practice routine is as follows:
– Warm up ~ 5 – 15 mins
– Scales ~ 10 mins
– Etudes / Technical Pieces ~ 20 mins
– Prepared Pieces / Gig Set List ~ As long as needed, depends on how much work my set list needs
– Improv ~ 20 mins
– New Pieces / Sight Reading / Fun Stuff ~ Until I’m tired of playing (usually doesn’t take too long at this point, I’m fairly worn out from all the playing I just did!)
Having that routine ensures that I cover all the areas I need to when I practice, and I still get to play around with new stuff too. I’m not saying you need to spend as much time on each of those things as I do. The point here is that it’s possible to set aside time for everything!
Hope that helps!
Sounds like a good routine. Also consider that when learning something new, you may need to go WAY out of balance and practice the new thing for 100% of your session. Just food for thought – different types of practice…Thansk for posting! – AR
Adam. Thank you for your music and your insights.
Several years ago I saw Pat Kirtley (one of the most meticulously clean players I have heard) at a clinic at a local music store. During a Q&A time someone asked Pat if he ever suffered from performance anxiety. He admitted that he used to have problems with this but had found the solution. He said that he never performs a piece until he has practiced that piece at least a year. After that period of time the music plays itself unaffected by distractions of the performance venue or from within.
Pat is awesome, I love him & his music and yep, he’s right. Eventually you get a feel for what you can & can’t do easily and it may not take a year.
That said, tunes I have played for 2-3 years still feel “new” on stage. š
This is a real good article! thank you for this advice!
Thanks Steven!
Thanks Adam excellent article and thank you Sam for bringing up the subject
Great article! it hits on my exact problem as well! I guess there are no silver bullets, just practice!
Thanks Adam, I play fingerstyle guitar quite well but I am learning piano and I am struggling to be honest. I never thought of using Maslow’s Pyramid! Thanks for the suggestion as always.
GAry
Gary, thanks for your comment and sorry for the late response! – AR
mmhh, I am not convinced about this piece of advice, at least I am not convinced that it works for everybody…there is a lot more than practicing behind a good performance in public, it is a state of mind to reach as well. Also it is the way one practices that it is far more important, there are plateaus in practicing that have to be overcome with a change of attitude towards the piece and the listening in general. Obviously this is my humble opinion… a very good book comes in my mind about this subject “The inner game of music”
An advice I was once given by Steve Kaufman, master flatpicker and teacher: Whatever duration you have for your practising, divide it in a first half repeating and a second half learning new things. I try to keep that up no matter whether I have ten minutes or two hours to practise; has worked fine for me.
Thanks for your blogā¦ always helpful
Excellent idea! Thanks for commenting Volker!
Great article very helpful
While the first three songs this happens to me, too. Then somebody told me to start with song number4!
;-)))
Dear Adam,
I was a conservatorium student and had a compulsory schedule of performance. I suffered terribly from the shakes the moment I went on stage, even though seconds before I’d be fine. The new material kept coming so I had limited time to get to “stage 4”. Eventually I asked my doctor to help because the shakes became so physical I had a real problem and I felt depressed because I couldn’t deliver what I knew I could do. He was very kind and was able to help, I am now a high school music teacher and with time to practice I can perform in public and for my friends and family with a set repertoire that I love to play. Your advice is good and truthful, which of course, you know. Just wanted to give another perspective. Love your stuff and I am getting to grips with it now.
Hi Adam,
my method dates back to a time when I had to cope with a really unorganized and clumsy bandmember, who produced a lot of those “oops”-incidents. To get used to these “shit happens”-moments on stage I started to practice songs with loads of distraction, like listening to another song over headphones, detuning at least two strings (or using the wrong open tuning) or watching a real interesting movie which I haven’t seen yet or even combinations of the above. When the groove was still there in the recording of this mess I made, the song was hardened for stage.
greetings bb
Excellent article Adam. Helped a lot.
Thank you for your precious advice.
In fact, I could even watch my hand’s shaking while playing in front of others.
for example, below is my playing.
When I was alone, my playing was not bad, but…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GWUMfHSNaxI
Your comment will definitely help me improve my playing ^^
Hi Adam, even with repetition, I have found that a mistake can occur even something I am totally familiar with, have played for years in an area in the piece that I have never ever had an issue with and frequently play with my eyes closed. Happened to me recently at a session in a pub. The playing circumstances weren’t ideal: noise form the bar behind me, cramped, low and uncomfortable stool. My mind blanked. Then I found I had forgotten to put my glasses on and suddenly I was playing a 12 string instead of a 6 string! (Mind you, I got my first support gig out of it. My other two numbers were fine and I’m so chuffed š )
I would love to know what causes these mind-warps so I can prevent them. Lack of concentration because I’m on auto-pilot??
Cheers, Colin
Colin, the same happens to me. New creative mistakes in unexpected places. I chalk it up to dehydration or blood sugar dipping. Concentration physically becomes difficult. I always now make sure I get the blood sugar up a little before hitting the stage. š Thanks for the comment! – AR
Thanks Adam,
I’ll bear that in mind, it’s a good point, however I think it was a cumulation of things that were’t quite right, so I’ll make sure as much as possible is to my liking and I’m completely comfortable before playing next time. The gig is on Wednesday 2nd Nov., at Winchester Folk Club supporting Jennifer Crook so wish me luck.
Cheers, Colin
Great advice as always thank you Adam. My right hand (finger picking) seems to freeze more than the left. The anxiety makes me panic & I lose concentration & my left hand can no longer go to the positions automatically as this is how I play. It’s all in the sub conscious mind. I cannot start a piece (I can play 20 now), in the middle as I don’t know where to go next with the left hand as I have lost the flow. So consciously I actually cannot play any of my pieces I have played a thousand times. It’s all automatic. I’ve decided I must actually get better at playing them all, & then I believe I will conquer the anxiety which affects the sub conscious moves of the left hand.
When I first learned to finger-pick – strict alternating bass or “Travis picking”, as opposed to Fingerstyle – I followed expert recommendations and drove that relentless alternating bass into my subconscious. For a few weeks, I played just the bass line of any or all songs and in every key pretty much all day, every day, until I could keep it going while holding a conversation with someone. I became somewhat alienated from my family, but it was easier while talking on the phone. Once I managed that, I moved on to playing it through a TV show. I started with “fluffy” type shows that I could ignore and worked up to shows with lots of information or plots (British mysteries for example). Anyhow, there came a point when my thumb worked entirely on its own, and then learning any song became a matter of learning the melody, which was usually trivial for folk and country songs. Things are obviously more difficult for the kinds of pieces that Adam plays, but I still find that I can separate the learning into bass and melody. I still learn the bass first, and can commit that to automatic mode, even though it is following more complex patterns. Whether it’s alternating bass, walking bass, or even counter-melodies, I can still learn it separately, and add a melody in a different part of my brain.
It’s become a part of me, whether learning a new piece, or just listening to music, I pick out the different parts and listen to them separately. Give it a try.