As a musician who does solo acoustic
performances, I have noticed that I may not always be the center of
attention. Let's face it; some places hire a solo acoustic performer
just to be "background music." Some owners/proprietors think that
their customers are just there to enjoy their dinner and that the
entertainment should be there just as a component of the overall
"atmosphere." As somewhat of a person capable of being reasoned
with, I can appreciate that fact.
However, there are times when a performer would like to receive some
feedback, just to know if people are really listening. When you play
those places where the music is used for atmosphere, you sometimes
feel as if you are more or less serving the same functionality as
the wallpaper. In fact, you sometimes feel as if you might as well
have worn a shirt that matched the wallpaper for the ultimate
blending in effect.
I personally had difficulty dealing with this. In fact, it is more
distracting to me than if there are people paying a great deal of
attention to my performance. Thoughts start to enter into my mind
like: "What am I doing here?" and "What am I doing this for? These
people couldn't care any less." It sometimes gets to the point where
I almost forget the song's lyrics or the chords.
Prior to going solo, I used to play out as half of a musical duo
with a keyboardist/singer. It wasn't much different from when I went
solo other than the fact that the money was split down the middle.
Sometimes, though, we would do things to test if the audience was
paying attention. We had certain songs where we would change the
lyrics and sometimes they were quite funny. So we would throw a
funny line in just to see if someone would notice. When they
didn't', we would look at each other and smile. So we sort of made a
game of it.
That was one of the things we did to deal with the problem.
Sometimes, though, we would go to take a break between our sets and
someone would question us about the lyrics. It seems we were busted
and didn't realize it. So in fact, someone was at least paying
attention.
Now, as a solo act, you can do the same sort of thing, even if it's
not as fun as sharing in the joke with a band mate. Although, when
the members of the audience do catch you, they often smile and you
actually manage to keep their attention afterwards. You also feel
better knowing that they are listening and you feel more comfortable
while you're performing.
There were even times when I was performing and didn't use that
little trick, where I was still able to find out that people were
listening when I thought they weren't. I would finish my set, take
my break and go to the bar to get a drink. Sometimes someone would
approach me and tell me that they liked the song by so and so and
thought that I did it well. They mentioned the song and, in some
cases, would mention the differences in the arrangement I had made
to the song.
So here I would be thinking that nobody was listening or paying any
attention but, in fact, they really were. They say that the greatest
fear most people have is the fear of public speaking. I would assume
that public performance may be a great fear as well. As a public
performer, feeling as if nobody is listening may be discouraging to
you. The point of this article is for people to remember that even
if they think others are not listening, they may want to look at
things from a new perspective. That is: Sometimes they really are
listening. Just keep that in mind and do not despair.
About the Author:
Bob Craypoe is a musician, writer cartoonist, 3D artist, webmaster and
entrepreneur who resides in Northern New Jersey. He is the creator
of Guitar4Blind.com (a site that teaches the visually impaired how
to play guitar), Punksters.net (punk rock comic strip) and other
websites. His instrumental CD
To Infinity
is currently available on Amazon.com and his music site is
www.craypoe.com/bob All of his websites may be accessed from
www.craypoe.com. |
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