TOPIC: ONCE AGAIN...I DO IT BACKWARDS!

Last Wednesday's Bluegrass Class had the "performances" as it was the last night of the session. As a few people were absent I volunteered to be the mandolin for a couple of other groups...and I learned that I do things the reverse from most everyone else....I wasn't too nervous for the first group's performance...for the 2nd group's I started to notice the camera...and by the time it was my turn with "my group" (term group used loosely here) I was a nervous wreck....I'm sure you could hear the percussion...(my heart beating) in the background....What gives???? How do I get over this???? Everyone else seems to relax as they get "into" their playing...I tend to do the reverse!

to tell you thr truth, i haven't spent enough time playing with any group to get really comfortable. I think that takes A LOT of time playing with the same people so you can get a feel about what's going to happen..and what you might want to happen. Can I rely on a steady strong backup .. dynamics, too soft, too loud? what's going to happen when i mess up? will the tune continue? I think all that stuff comes in to feeling comfortable playing with a group.

Pretend like you're famous! You can be famous coolB) , famous layed back;) , famous funny:lol: , or just plain famous happy:) . That may help quell the ibbi-gibbis of camera/ stage fright:blink: . I've never been up to my standards with my play'n but I like to take the "hey ya'll, watch this:woohoo: !" approach when I am playing. It may backfire but the important thing is that you're lowering your wall. My play'n embarrasses me:blush: more than not but I really enjoy the feeling of "getting it right" . Not knowing your other band members or, feeling like you have to worry about another or, maybe insecure about oneself is understandable but, at the expense of sounding heavy, it can place doubt in front of you so, be famous and fuhgedaboudit... roll the camerAS, TAKE one:side: !!

Actually, Tigerpaws, I thought you did a great job on all your performances. But I think I know what you mean. I only did one song, but I got a lot more nervous as my performance went on and I found my fingers getting shakier and shakier as it went on. I did make it through and I think I did a pretty good job. That's the main thing.

Tigerpaws, I never would have known that you were the least bit nervous. George is right -- just fake it and act like a big shot. No one will be the wiser.

Think about when you played as a youngster. Were you nervous playing in front of others? If not, can you remember what your attitude was at that time? Also, we all at fretmentor more or less know how each other plays, so we have nothing to lose by trying. Lastly, this is a class - we are learners - I try to get the most out of the chance to play in this group, and playing to a standard we set for ourselves takes a lot of concentration. No room or time to get nervous.