Hey guys,
So I’m in the middle of forming a band with a couple of students in my university. I love music, and I love playing music. But I don’t really like being the centre of attention on the stage. It’s hard because I’m a guitarist, and I have quite a few solos. I don’t know, I just don’t like moving around and jumping and stuff like that. I sit down when I play.
Can anyone relate?
I can totally relate. My best advice (and what gets me through): be a drummer.
You know, I actually seriously considered being a drummer. There was a time a couple of months ago where I wasn’t content with the guitar. But I’m over that now, haha.
I don’t think I look like a very friendly person. Like, I don’t smile much, and on stage, I’m honestly boring to look at. But I can assure you, I am a VERY friendly person, and when I do talk, I like to say good things.
I once contemplated becoming the singer of our new band. I can sing, and I enjoy singing to myself. But I realized that I would have to stand up, and be pretty much the centre of attention. I’d much rather be at the sidelines.
See the boy with the stage fright. . .
The song is autobiographical, so you’re not alone.
Hey Going,
You don’t have to be “cool” (if that’s your concern) while on stage. If you’re not familiar with Tony Iommi, the guitarist for Black Sabbath and Heaven and Hell, check him out on Youtube - an outstanding guitarist whose stage presence is so strong through its understatement. Check out Heaven and Hell’s performance of “Time Machine” at the link below. Tony is not particularly animated but he carries it off well - no cool guitar posing for him. Also in the reunited Alice in Chains the only reason Jerry Cantrell has a big stage presence is that he is also a background vocalist as well as their guitarist. I hope this is useful.
John Entwhistle.
This kind of reminds me of (what I’ve heard of) Trent Reznor. I don’t think he exactly *hates *the spotlight, but he’s a shy person and would rather the music take center stage than himself. IMO just do your thing. If you’re passionate and competent, your music will speak for itself.
Do what Pink Floyd did - honking great light shows so the fans concentrate on the music and the lights and not on the members of the band
When the butterflies in your stomach die… send out death announcements. --Yoko Ono
Streisand developed a case of stage fright after forgetting the words to a song during her 1967 performance in Central Park. After the incident she disappeared from the spotlight for almost three decades.
I’m scared of audiences. “One show in Amsterdam I was so nervous I escaped out the fire exit. I’ve thrown up a couple of times. Once in Brussels I projectile vomited on someone. I just gotta bear it. But I don’t like touring. I have anxiety attacks a lot.” - Adele
“I’m an anxiety prone person and I’m prone to attacks. I can wig out. I can wig out in a department store or in a social situation, at a dinner party, or in a restaurant. The stage isn’t only place I can do it, but that has some adverse conditions, you can’t get off. I’ve only done about 75 concerts.” - Carly Simon
Andrea Bocelli told Connie Chung in an interview that he’s constantly afflicted by a stage fright that lasts almost his entire performance. No beta blockers for Bocelli: “I think I don’t want to use drugs or medicine, so nothing,” he said. “The only way is to go on stage and to hope.”
The renowned classical pianist Glenn Gould retired from playing in front of a live audience at age 32 because of his discomfort with public recitals, retreating into the world of studio recording and radio performance. “I detest audiences. I think they are a force of evil,” he once said.
In 1968, the Rod Stewart-fronted Jeff Beck Group made its U.S. debut at New York’s Fillmore East theater. Stewart was so nervous that he sang the entire first song from behind a stack of speakers.
If you love playing music, I don’t think you should let the issues you highlighted deter you. Because in the end, while the approbation of the audience is a wonderful thing, you’re doing this for YOU because you love the emotional experience of playing.
Sitting in a chair…well, maybe a little odd, but on the other hand, it’s also different from most bands, so that may not be a bad thing. Not pulling faces or doing rock star moves when playing? It’s possible to do these things in a way that seems genuinely motivated by the music you’re playing, but it can also be done in a way that it looks incredibly phony. I would say do exactly what you’re feeling, nothing more, nothing less.
Center of attention? This is just me, but the best bands in my book are the ones where everyone is contributing to the whole, rather than trying to stand out as individuals. If your lead guitar playing is good and meshes well with the music your band is making, you’re doing everything you need to do.
Go for it, and don’t worry what the audience thinks.
Then just sit/stand there and play the music and let someone else hop around. If Eric Clapton can do it, then so can you.
Yea, being a drummer is good for me as well. I have enough cymbals and percussion kit in front of me that I am well hidden behind my Neil Peart-like wall. 
Switch to bass. No one pays attention to the bass player. Unless it’s Geddy Lee.
Not a musician, but I get it.
Some people don’t like the spot light. It has nothing to do with talent or ability, they just don’t like it or respond well to it.
Your music is Your game; play Your game (and not anybody else’s) and you’ll always be at your best.
After he established his reputation, Glenn Gould never played in public again, just made recordings. And they were heavily edited with takes and retakes and then spliced.
Well, in his case, also being the lead singer makes it difficult for fans to not pay attention to him, even if he wasn’t the monster player he is.
That said, I don’t think he likes being the center of attention. He released a solo album during the band’s hiatus, but he explained that his original intent was to write some songs and give them to some up-and-coming artist (his record company convinced him to release them himself). “The last thing I wanted was to draw more attention to myself.”
I’m a musician, though I’m not in a band and generally don’t perform before more than a handful of people. Still, I don’t see any reason why you should feel the need to stand and be active if you don’t want to. In my view, you need to experience and perform the music in the way you need to. If you prefer to sit and play, then do just that.
And as an avid concert goer, I don’t go to see a musician jump around on stage, I come to enjoy the music and share in the energy of the band and the crowd. Even as a metal/rock fan, a genre known as well as any for stage antics, some of my favorite musicians do little or nothing on stage. One of my favorite guitarists, probably one of the best in the world in any genre, was originally incredibly shy, though I’ve clearly seen him come out of his shell to a large extent in the years I’ve been a fan of his. He’d generally just stand off to one side, and just play.
Moreso, one of my favorite vocalists does basically nothing when he sings other than stand there and maybe make a few gestures, even often having his hair covering most of his face. Often, he was so shy he couldn’t even bare to meet up with the fans afterward, and when he does, he’s often looking at the ground or the like, even in interviews.
I’ve even seen some great shows where no one in the band really did anything other than just stand there and play, and it was great because the authenticity and passion of the music was there and probably would have been compromised if they did more.
So, I say just be yourself. If you feel compelled by your performance to move around, do it. If you prefer to sit still, do it. If your music is good, no one will really care.
The most obvious solution is to not play live.
Some of my favourite bands have never, ever played a live show - hell, some even keep the names and identities of their members a pretty closely guarded secret.
Works just fine. Something for you, maybe…?
I saw a King Crimson concert about a decade back, and Robert Fripp just sat the whole way through the concert with his guitar, so it’s not unheard of.
It perfectly normal to have butterflies or some level of anxiety when playing in front of a crowd. When I played in a band, I was just the keyboardist (with the very occasional rhythm guitar role for a song or two), and nobody really pays attention to the keyboards, but the first few shows with a new band were damned nerve-wracking for me, so much so that I don’t really know how I managed to get through them, but muscle memory or something took over. The cool thing is you may find that nervousness elevates your playing level and you’ll find music coming out of your instrument you didn’t think you were capable of producing (in a good way.) Of course, there are some shows where you’ll just play like shit (or to a level below your expectations, I should say), but those moments of bliss where you’re lost in a solo and you think “how the hell did I do that, and where did that come from?” will hopefully make up for it.
Of course, everyone is different, so your experience may vary. But a bit of anxiety is a good thing, in my opinion, when it comes to public performance.
Absolutely. He just stood there and played brilliantly.