FGH-0009: How can you deal with feeling nervous when playing solo fingerstyle guitar onstage?
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Release Date: 09/11/2018
FGH 0026: Interview with Peppino D'Agostino - Transcendant Guitarist and Composer
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Summary, Episode 26: A native of Italy, D’Agostino has made his considerable international mark as a musical artist on the guitar since he arrived in America 37 years ago. In 2017 Guitar Player listed him as one of the 50 transcendent superheroes of the acoustic guitar. The CD, “Every Step of The Way,” was awarded by Acoustic Guitar’s People’s Choice Awards with a Bronze medal for Best Acoustic Album of All Time. His signature Seagull acoustic guitar has been voted among the ten best signature guitars by Guitar Player magazine. To date, Peppino has recorded 19 CD’s,...
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FGH-0025: Interview with Jon Gomm - Singer Songwriter and Fingerstyle Innovator
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Summary Episode 25: Jon Gomm is a singer songwriter considered to be one of the world’s true virtuoso guitarists possessing a unique style most elite musicians consider revolutionary. Jon was born and continues to live in the North of England. His songs are driven by his use of one acoustic guitar to create drum sounds, basslines and twisting melodies all at the same time with no external effects. The emphasis remains on his soulful vocals and songwriting with his original material influenced by everything from Robert Johnson to Radiohead. His live shows combine deeply personal performances...
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FGH-0024: Interview with First Rate German Acoustic Guitarist Thomas Fellow
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Thomas Fellow is a musician with an almost inexhaustible supply of innovative energy. He is a first rate acoustic guitarist,
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FGH-0023: Interview with Muriel Anderson - Multi-Dimensional Fingerstyle Champion
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Muriel Anderson is one of the more multi-dimensional guitarists on the
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FGH-0022: Interview with Billy McLaughlin - His Historic Comeback
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
For twenty years, Billy McLaughlin astounded audiences around the world with his complex and rhythmic music.
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FGH-0021: Interview with English Fingerstyle Guitarist Richard Smith
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Richard started playing the guitar at age 5 and has never looked back. Focusing early on with the fingerstyle guitar of Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed, he began transcribing classical music, Jazz, the gypsy style of Django Reinhardt, bluegrass, ragtime and the blues to Sousa marches.
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FGH-0020: Interview with Don Alder - Fingerstyle Champion, Composer and Vocalist
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Don Alder plays acoustic fingerstyle guitar with a passion that has quickly earned him a reputation as Vancouver’s “best kept little secret”. Don is a world-class fingerstyle guitarist with a “wow factor” that has let to multiple endorsement deals with major manufacturers and a collaboration with Greenfield guitars to produce a signature acoustic guitar- the “Don Alder G4” model.
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FGH-0019: Interview with Don Ross - 2 time National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion & Composer
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
In 1988, Don became the first Canadian to win the U.S. National Fingerpick Guitar Championship. He won again in 1996, still the only two-time winner of the competition.
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FGH-0018: Interview with Jazz and Country Master Guitarist Jim Nichols
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Jim Nichols has an unusual approach to the guitar - he uses a thumb pick and fingers to play everything from Chet Atkins style to modern jazz.
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FGH-0017: Interview with Australian Guitar Virtuoso Michael Fix
The Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty
Over the past 25 years, Michael Fix has released fifteen albums, together with several DVD’s, songbooks, singles and EPs, tours internationally each year, and has established himself as one of Australia’s finest guitarists and composers, writing evocative music for television, film and documentaries.
info_outlineIn this listener Q & A episode, my guitar student Frank asks about how to stay calm and overcome nervousness and panic while performing solo guitar on stage.
I share my 15 best tips for staying calm, focused and relaxed.
1 – 7: “Practical” points. These points address preparation as opposed to dealing with the actual feeling of panic in the moment.
8 – 15: “Mental Game” points. These address how to deal with the moments onstage when the critical, negative voice enters, your heart starts beating and maybe even hands shake.
Plus 2 in the moment additional tips actually make it 17 tips. 🙂
Enjoy!
Show Notes:
0:57 The question about nerves and perfoemance – in Franks own words.
3:29: Being happy and at peace with your tone.
5:26: Having your rhythm and groove feel good – before you start playing.
7:04: Learning the Sound of your pickup.
8:14: Be sure you are in “stage 4 learning”…your body knows the piece of music.
11:30: Importance of slow practice. I still practice my concert tunes slowly…
11:57: Learning the difference between practice environment & stage environment.
13:37: When you know what people hear, you can forgive yourself…what do they hear? Flow, groove & melody.
18:27: Nervousness is a displaced reptile brain reaction, as if you are going to die.
19:30: Using meditation to overcome the inner critic & beating yourself up.
21:34: Know and feel that the audience is there to suport you.
23:18: “Meta” things like groove and tone are more important than small mistakes.
24:16: Know your music theory…playing just fingerings will make you nervous.
25:43: Breathe on stage! Does wonders for the physiology.
26:16: Play light, if your touch is getting heavy.
20:20: Get backstage and warm up before you go on.
28:40: Keep smiling do not visibly dissaprove of yourself & a personal story…
31:02: Your opening song on stage should be “bulletproof”, something you can play with zero thinking.
About the Podcast
Ask me a question for the podcast Q & A episodes HERE - adamrafferty.com/ask
Learn my solo arrangements and get private video guitar coaching & feedback from me studywithadam.com
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Find the podcast online at http://www.adamrafferty.com/podcast and also at http://fingerstyleguitarhangout.com/