General Music Chat

My band was practicing the other night and we got into a musician discussion. Im 47 and have played off and on since I was 12, as have the guys that I play with. We started for some reason talking about musicians we know that have been playing just as long as us and havent ever seemed to "get there".

What we came up with was confidence. These people have a low self esteem of thier playing and cant seem to get over this. I mean if yove been playing rock n roll fairly steady for 20-30 yrs you should develop a certain level of confidence in your own abilitys which lets you interact with other like minded musicians.

Our singer said about me that he had known me since junior high and that even thou way back I had terrible tone and basically sucked at my instrument that I always had a certain confidence in what I was doing. I didnt let anyones negative criticisms distract me from playing or getting better. Thru the years I have listened to what people said I was doind wrong whether I admitted it to them or not. In fact I see players all the time that on a technical level can put me under the table, but i do know what works for me and continue in that direction when ever I play. We ran thru songs the other night for the first time in monthes for a show in a couple of weeks, and I took a few notes of songs that I needed to work on. Kev said what are you doing, I said I dont think i did those as well as I should before I put myself in front of an audience, but I will have it covered in two weeks so if we want to do those songs I can carry my load. He said thats what Ive always liked about you, you dont make excuses when something is not going your way. You buckle down figure it out and just do it. And if Im not confident a bout a song when the time comes in front of people I wont say "I dont Like That Song", I will say lets not play it cause I havent done my homework. Maybe next time.

I just thought this might be a good subject matter for a thread about music and the pschology of playing music. The floors open what do other think about this subject and where do you get inspiration and confidence from?

Confidence comes out in your performance and your sound. That's what people come to see when they go to a show. Oh yeah, the chicks dig it too(how shallow of me, ha!) But yeah, confidence puts you out in front and makes you entertaining.

K it does but my question is more where does this come from.

Like I said I know folks that have played music for years and yet still dont have it. I dotn understand that cause when it comes to rock music, its really not rocket science! I mean most songs are simple, maybe a weird part here or there, but for most standard radio rock I think I can hammer a song out in a matter of minutes.

You are correct it does come across to audience, and I know for afact that most women want a guy thats confident in whatever he is doing. LOL

It is a factor... but there is also a memory issue with some folks. to perform live you have to be able to remember Lots of songs... know different parts even.

I know a lot of folks with some skill at music, but can't remember but a dozen or so songs without sheets.

Then there is the drive issue... its a Pain in the hindquarters to keep a band focused and headed in the right direction. Most people I know don't have the patience to set the clock on their VCR.

I am confident in what I do. That doesn't mean that I'm satisfied with it. So not liking what I do much of the time isn't as much a lack of confidence as it is the search for perfection. That may appear as not being confident.
I find a good many more musicians are overconfident when in fact they shouldn't be. At times I question if their ears are functioning properly.

Tough just a beginner I have confidence in what I do because I prepare for each show differently. I know what is expected of me and I come ready to produce that result.

sans has it down pat.

Perfect planning prevents piss poor performance.

The lack of confidence was the factor that led to my quitting the playing, writing, & singing I was so good at, for 8 long years, when I should have been honing my skills, writing, & performing the most. If I'd have jumped in with both feet, I coulda been a contender.

Having wasted those years, I'm now just a pretty damned good local act, & that's about all I expect to be. (Confidence factor, again?)

There is a lil something in the back of my mind that wants more, though, & I hate that nagging voice! It shames me.

Good post...great subject.

Confidence is the only way I could pull off fill in gigs for 3 years in the 80's. confidence is the only way I've managed to pull off songs I've never tried onstage many times. Confidence is why I Can pick up ANY guitar and make it sound at least decent, and make most of them sound good. And I do mean ANY guitar...even the little el cheapo plastic kid's guitar in wally world. Did that on a dare one day, when I finished I looked around and a half dozen people were watching, they wanted me to play another song...on a plastic toy guitar. I told the guy I could do it, he picked one up and said prove it...So I was on the spot, but I was willing to bet I could pull it off.

Where does it come from? The same place the talent comes from, some nameless place inside where you simply KNOW you can do it. I don't think about it, I don't plan it, I don't and can't practice it. I simply KNOW I can and it happens.

I'm no longer playing music with Randy but we played songs we had never even thought about trying at least a dozen times on stage, always pulled it off well. we both simply knew we could do it. There were professional differences so we called it quits last week, but it was great while it lasted, and we did things nobody else around here can or will try to do. Like playing songs with only two people you've never even thought about trying...think we can play this? sure let's go...that's all it took.

New Year's Eve we hired a guitar player to help out who had no confidence in his ability. He's a really good player, but puts himself down all the time. He would never make it with me, simply because I wouldn't put up with is self depreciating attitude.

Confidence...I don't care what guitar I pick up, I can play it and make it sound good. I've played guitars with strings so rusty I was afraid they would cut my fingers, and made them sound good. That was what got me snagged into playing a toy guitar. The friend told me he couldn't believe i had made this guitar at a party sound good, the strings were solid rust and 1/4 inch off the neck...so I told him I could make any guitar sound good. He said Oh yeah? picked up the toy and said make this one sound good...so I did...confidence.

JW, you may remember this, you told me your acoustic had never sounded as good as it did when I played it. Confidence...I just picked it up and knew it would sound good...that's all there is to it. so the guitar had no choice...

I don't know how to explain it in words, but I Know I can do it, it's just there.

Confidence is something psychological for sure. It has to do with ego. Fear of success can get in the way of confidence. Paralysis by analysis can get in the way of confidence. Trying to be too perfect all the time can get in the way of confidence. This is a complicated subject. I know people who can play circles around me who have never been in a gigging band. They either are trying to be too perfect or they are afraid to succeed. We all have to remember that most of our audience members aren't as knowledgable as we are. Your attitude on stage has almost as much to do with success as your technical ability. If you're up on stage having a great time regardless of your mistakes the audience most likely will have a great time. You've got to get to the point where you perform a song at least adequately and then lay it on people. Smile and have a good time. See if the people like it. If they do then go with that. You can always pick a song apart to death later. Don't be too critical of yourself. The more you play in front of an audience the better your songs will sound. You can't spend an eternity trying for perfection in your basement. It's NOT going to happen. Play in front of people and ENJOY what you're doing. If you look worried on stage your audience won't get into what you're doing, no matter how well you play. If you're somebody who IGNORES your audience (I've played with people like that, what a bummer) and are into yourself, then you should quit and apply to be a Walmart greeter. MUSIC IS ABOUT SHARING WITH OTHERS. Don't be so hypercritical of yourself that you can never enjoy this business. If your bandmates think that your band sounds good then get in front of an audience. They'll tell you whether you're good or not...and if you're good then simply be confident in yourself...

Good adds guys.

Yea Bill you made my ole Washburn Acoustic sound great, on the flip side I could have had too big an ego to admit it. Someone said on here that some people have too much confidence. I guess thats true if you talk the talk you have to be able to walk the walk. I came up in the metal area of music in my area in the late 70s early 80s and everyone had too much confidence. But there was this one guy that played guitar beyond anyone else, he just had the feel, He was confident but humble about it. He said just practice what you want to get across and never get in front of someone unprepared, dont try something youve never done in front of people, learn it backwards and forwards. This guy was like Bill he wasnt cocky about it, in fact he was willing to share and help anyone who asked. Bill if I remember when you were at my house, you never said I can kick your ass on guitar you just sat down and played from the heart and shared with me what you could do. I thought that was a very cool approach.

Bob, whenever Ive played with folks thru the years, I always like to get them in front of an audience quickly just to see how they are with the pressure on. Like you said I can go into guitar center and there are 10 kids in there that just bury me with the licks theyve copyed, but put them in the real world of having to improvise on the spot and they lose it.

From a guitar standpoint Ive learned not to overplay songs. Sometimes its what you dont play that makes the difference. I had this guy show up at one of my acoustic gigs last fall and asked to sit in and do some blues. He came up and did a brilliant job on some acoustic slide blues. If he had just sat down at that point I would have thought he was a master of the instrument, but he insisted on sitting in longer and showed that he was a one trick pony. Then started telling me how bad I was. So there is such thing as too much confidence.

If any of you get the chance to sit in with a group, make sure the song you pick is somethign that you know backwards and forewards or at least are ablt to follow and improvise over. Once that song is over tell the band thanks and tell the audience thanks, and sit down dont wear out your welcome.

Have a Great Day

Although I'm not a big fan of jam sessions or open mikes they are a good place to see how you are progressing on your instrument. It's hard to find out how good you are by yourself...

Bob after years of folks saying come on over and lets jam, and then doodling forever in different keys to a I-IV-V blues progression I tend to pass unless I know the people really well.

I helped some last fall with an open mic deal and they can be a trainwreck. I hate setting my amp and guitar up there and some guy just diming everything and retuning my guitar. Then there again playing forever in one key. But if you get some inventive players it can be fun so you just never know. I dont think I would want to host one on a regular basis. Unless the club provided all the pa and instruments. Well even then I wouldnt want to do it. I think I would rather just go do Karaoake!

Some ppl can be absolutely perfect in thier craft, & still not have that confidence factor, JW.

Some personalities just can't seem to develop it, while others, as we've all seen, have way too much, considering thier skills.