Tuesday 8 July 2008

Stage Fright

The first time I played guitar in public I was 15. A drummer that I had met once turned up saying his band had to play 3 songs at his church concert that afternoon, and their bass player had bailed on them. I went along, learned the songs and played that afternoon. As the curtains parted I was so nervous I thought I was going to wet myself, but all went well.

Fast forward nearly 30 years.

So there I was, sitting on the grass, guitar in hand, mini amp at hand, camcorder resting on a low wall. I knew the tune inside out. I knew the notes. It is not a dificult tune to play. Could I play the notes in any sort of order that Deanna Durban would have recognised?

No.

Every time I got close to finishing without messing up "From the mountains, to the prairies" I thought of one of my readers sitting and watching me play, and my fingers had a major spazz attack.

I felt like I was 15 again.

Without the urge to pee myself - one blessing I guess!

Maybe tomorrow, huh?

8 comments:

terri said...

I completely get it! I've tried to record myself just talking a couple of times since I did it that one time, and I get totally tongue tied!

Just know that if you ever get over that stage fright, your fans will be thrilled!

Ali said...

Ooh, guitar playing video? Awesome! I can't wait to see it!

Don't be afraid RC...mwahahahaha!

mr zig said...

ah common - you can do it :) heheh - all it takes is one more try!

Rock Chef said...

Maybe if I have a beer first...

Teresa said...

Atleast you tried!! I'm proud and honored that you did attempt it...and I completely understand. I'm glad you didn't wet yourself for us...LOL!!

I'm trying to think of what I can tempt you with to get you to do this...any suggestions? I could say nice things about you in every single post for an entire week...would that work? LOL!!

Alyssa said...

I can't wait to hear you!!!

Um Naief said...

i get fright just w/ the thought of having to do something that someone else might judge... i love photography, but when someone asked me to take photos that would appear on something that were doing that would be sold... it made me sick. is that the same i wonder?

my husband plays, but not w/ a band. i'm not sure if he gets nervous or not...

stage fright can really cripple you...

but... if you do it, i'd love to watch it. :)

tz said...

I'm not inclined musically, but I used to write poetry and when I was much much younger I attempted a poetry reading...I could barely whisper the words and even though I got applause, and people seemed to like my poem...i burst into tears...horrible---

never ever again---and oh my gosh a recording...that would be forever...

of course that's hardly encouraging..

the thing is you've been playing for awhile, you have talent, you love it...maybe you can pretend everyone who is watching you is in their underwear (oh wait, knickers)

whatever you decide...I don't think there's anyone out there who will judge you in any other way then a positive one :)