As my father said before our first gig (I was 16), “if you nail the intro and the ending, audiences will forgive you everything in between”. Mind you, he also taught me “if you make a mistake, keep going and smile harder. If you make a big mistake, glare at the piano player!”
The intro and ending thing is so true. My partner and I busk on Fridays, strolling through our audiences. You learn to make your mistakes part of the act. We use the mentality of "amateurs make mistakes, professionals improvise."
One of my neighbors in college was a trained concert pianist - who never played in public! She was amazing! (I heard her through her closed door when I went out to check my mailbox.) She never said she was nervous or scared to play in public. She simply loved playing for herself. Some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard.
I resonate so hard with that, ive played guitar for most of my life, but i hate playing for people, and have always been pushed into trying to make it into something, but i just love shutting myself away and jamming.
My Friend is a trained public speaker for large crowds - who has never spoken in public. Oh and my other friend is a stand up comic. Never told a joke in front of another human. Ive heard him laughing his ass of and from what i can hear its pretty funny! Concert pianist? Concert? How does one become trained for something that involves a large audience when they have never played for one? Id say she has a dream of being a concert pianist cuz you cant simply say you are a movie star but just do it at home for yourself.
Something I heard a long time ago that I think still rings true (especially as it relates to those just trying to get one perfect take for their channel): "An amateur practices until the get it right. A professional practices until they can't get it wrong." Professional musicians who put in the time and practice earn their right to stadium shows, record contracts and, if they want it, fame. It's not about just being 'talented'... you need to earn it which includes musical and mental preparation to be able to perform under pressure.
Certainly, have to come to rehearsal with homework done, instead to come to rehearsal to do the homework. Even worst, soundcheck is never suposed to rehearsal in.😉
@@angeldelalamo Man, I wish that was true. I know plenty of top level cats who are all like "we'll run it at sound check," which just means I have to know the tune in and out beforehand. But sometimes, it's the only way.
I would say rather than practicing until you can't get it wrong, you should be practicing to adapt and correct fluidly for the inevitable. Wrong notes are going to happen, but if you lack the flexibility to adequately recover, things are going to go poorly.
@@bassplayinfool Agree, off course it depends on wich band or what kind or style to play... Paco de Lucía said "it's no rehearsal cuestion, talent you've or not" Thank you all for your attention.
When I started playing clubs in the early 70’s, we had to play 6 nights a week 5 sets a night. You can’t help but get used to playing live. In fact it became somewhat addictive to the point where I never really felt like I was playing at my best unless I was in front of a crowd.
Exactly my family had nightclubs & bartending watching my brother play every weekend with so many different bands by the end of the 80s all the bands looked forward to playing with my brother , this is where he earned his chops...his name was Sam he passed in 1998 I miss him so so much that it's hard to write this ...play it again Sammy I'll see you soon my Brother ✌🏽❤🎸
I went from playing once or twice a month to playing 3 nights a week. You definitely get used to it but I was fortunate enough to never suffer stage fright. I feel like I was meant to be there. It is 1000% addictive. After moving out to the country, there's not a lot of talent around so I don't get to perform much. i get my fix when I go back to the city and sit in at one of my friends gigs.
@@neckbone3943 I've gone up a few times I play shitty blues guitar & it was so hard to keep up I didn't have time to be nervous LOL , started playing again this yr hope to get up with my brothers friend's soon their old in their 70s I'm old I'll catch up in 3 yrs, my granddaughter saw me playing recently in my room and said she wanted to learn she just turned 12 and I bought her a Squier Telecaster I already had a little practice amp so I figure we will learn together because I still have a lot to learn but I'm retired so "time is on my side" keep rocking my friend ✌🏽❤
Thanks for your insights, Mary. My own story: I was a psychology professor for 26 years. Taught classes from 1 to 250 people...no problem with stage fright at all. When I turned 40, I decided to get a music performance degree (I eventually got it at 50). Given my experience "performing" in front of classes, I thought there'd be no problem with music performance stage fright. Boy, was I wrong! I had to struggle through it for the first 2 or 3 years before I felt comfortable performing music in front of crowds. My takeaway: stage fright is a complex phenomenon and different in every context. I'm happy to say it's (mostly) behind me, thanks to some wise words from my wife: "remember, the audience WANTS you to succeed."
Hi, Jim! Just remember that stage fright, though real, is mostly about your expectations for yourself, a way of forcing yourself towards excellence. Embrace it as the perfectionism it is, and push on through. And good for you going back to school! I couldn't imagine that now that's I'm past a half century.... (Your wife is right, by the way, for the vast majority of most audiences ... )
Thanks for posting that, quite encouraging. I've played music on stage hundreds of times in audiences from a half a dozen friends to 10s of thousands. Maybe some early problems but non I recall. Since early child hood I've been involved in dance performances (none since the early 1990s) and stage acts from multi-hour musicals down to 2 minute 2 person skits. Many times as an actor, singer, dancer or musician I've addressed the audience directly, performed a solo etc. But the thought of speaking publicly? Or even answering a question loudly? That terrifies me. I'll say the most stupid lines from the worst-written play, dance like an idiot or perform a terribly written piece of music without hesitation or embarrassment. But if I even think of speaking as a remote possibility I can go into a full-on panic attack. I'm part of a church music group at present, and have been for a while. I know most of the congregation and many of them are my closest friends. A few weeks back an old neighbour from another town visited for the service, and do you think I could relax while playing?
I play live gigs with my rockband since 2019 (~8-10 gigs per year) and I still get very nervous before going on stage. But I guess the root of my problem is my anxiety beyond performances. Mental health is very important for musician.
I got over stage fright in my 50s, after lots of introspection about WHY I'm performing. I used to do it to impress people; it took a long time to truly replace that in my mind with my real motivation. I learned to play to take the audience somewhere; to lead them through an emotional trip. To show them the meaning of the music. You are in a sense a servant to the music, not an egotist USING the music to aggrandize yourself. Then you realize, it truly doesn't matter if things are perfect. That doesn't mean mistakes can't matter, but you're not likely to make the kind that do. When you realize that, you're not afraid.
@@jrm70210 actually, that doesn't sound weird at all. I remember a time before I had stage fright. So it's not necessarily natural to have it. Then some idiot mentioned it to me and I asked what it meant. When he explained it to me, I immediately developed it.
I like what Bob Dylan said, it’s all about the song. What I’ve come to see as a songwriter who plays live, is that music is communication. What I see is that playing for others is conversation. That has helped me with anxiety when getting out there to play live.
I'm relatively shy with a touch of social anxiety but there is no better venue than a live performance. If one can battle through the fears it is quite rewarding. The connection with live people in front of you is real. It also forces you to be a better musician/singer knowing there is 1 take.
Michael I'm 61 y.o. Played with some tremendously tight bands mid 80's until today under a stage name. I had a rule that I followed after experience and maturity set in. I used to get buzzed before, during and after playing live. UNTIL A GREAT WOMAN SHOWED ME WHAT I LOOKED AND SOUNDED LIKE. From that point and beyond I didn't party until after my obligations to our fans and my band mates.
I know some really loud, outgoing and extroverted people that would be sick and terrified at the idea of playing an instrument in front of people. Quiet, introverted, lil’l me loves doing it, in fact I learned that I’m a bit of a show off in those situations. Weird?
When I was in bands in the 70s, there was an incredible amount of pressure to play every song perfect every time. It took the joy out of playing and lead to very angry practice sessions and dismal performances when something went wrong. Then I learned the secret: everybody is going to make a mistake, it is up to the rest of the band to cover for the mistake. It's okay and expect it. We've started a song at a show that went so horribly wrong, we stopped apologized and told the audience we're skipping that song. Brushed it off, laughed and moved on. We had fun - that is the important part.
Yeah but you probably could actually make few bucks from a gig without the bar owner deciding your fate based on how many of your friends you can bring, not how good your band is.
This, so much. Covering up mistakes or blending them into your playing is an underrated and integral step into mastering your instrument. When I started playing gigs, I managed to push through the stagefright aspect, but I was robbed of a lot of enjoyment when I finished sets and people came up to me to congratulate me. I brushed it aside and said "Nah it was bad, I made a couple mistakes". They would always disagree and I soon realised most people aren't hyperfocussed on perfect notes. After that I just gave it my best and when I made mistakes, I'd laugh about it or pull a silly face. 😁
@@piposanchez On a related subject, jazz is often presented as some sort of peak experience that most people can only aspire to. It’s actually a great way to learn how to think on your feet, and was central to my ability to survive as a hired gun on the wedding and theatre circuits back in the day.
@@stiffrichard2816 Money corrupts. I prefer not earning money off of my hobbies, cause that just strays too far from the fun of it and makes it too serious.
This video randomly popped up on my feed, never heard of you before. As a professional musician this is SUCH a good video, very important for anyone interested in performing (online or live) to learn what performing is about and how huge the difference is between the two. Thanks!
i do vocals in a band, it's ok. but playing instrument live sounds scary, since i can't play if not 100% sober. some bandmates are really tense every time they play live, looks super stressful
I like bigger crowds not sure why im shy but it’s inate I guess and practice like it’s oxygen and literally life depending upon it is how it happened for me. So play and I do well always, so this is hard for me to understand because if you truly start young and repeat over and over again and learn something slightly different now and than is good for song writing! Sorry can’t relate. Practice is mother of all success!
I saw Mary playing in Manchester on her last tour & can give everybody a cast iron guarantee that she absolutely CAN play live. It was great in every way & I didn't hear any mistakes! Audiences want to know who's in charge at a gig, confidence is an essential part of a live performance (just ask Jagger) & Mary has truckloads of it.
I have gotten the impression Mary did a lot of street and bar gigs in her early years. That's probably a good way to grow the skills for entertaining an live audience. Someone like young Allie Sherlock seems amazingly confident in front of a crowd of any size, but she also started busking at the age of 11.
Thank you for making this video. I am one of those musicians who never got over stage fright. I gave up wanting to be in the limelight when I was 18. Stage fright just paralyzed me to the extent where I literally could not perform. I then lost my hearing (I now have implants) and gave up music altogether for about 15 years. But when music is in your soul, you can't give it up. It really is like giving up a part of you. So, now, with my "disabilities", I am writing music again and using my videography talents to put them out there. To say I am a fake is not fair. It doesn't matter how I get to the end result. I create music. That is it! Call me what you will, I will still continue to make music....
I stopped playing live a few years ago - never had stage fright - but a terrible year trying to replace a great band member who had become ill just put me off bands - I never knew there were so many big headed egotists around - or at least they all found us !!!! - I hadn't played at all for a couple of years but started this week as it happens just for my own pleasure - as you say you just can't give it up - No way are you Fake - The Beatles stopped performing live and went on to produce arguably some of their best music - keep on keeping on - Steve.
I struggled with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Not on stage but just about everywhere else. Then medications and I couldn't function. I quit meds and clawed my way back. Being on stage was a safe place for me somehow.
This is why I'm glad I've been in bands since age 14 and have played hundreds of gigs before I ever even started my channel. Now it feels like a luxury to be able to have multiple takes when making a video although I always strive for a single take if possible.
I love this video. I have a degree in piano performance, and I make my living playing live music with the local college, accompanying classical recitals, and playing jazz with various bands. I record music almost every week throughout the course of my normal work, and I must say that it is much harder to do than most people realize. I would much rather play a set live from memory than record it, because the permanence of recordings is exhausting to deal with. Recordings and videos are their own artform, and we should treat them as such!
Yes! If I'm performing and mess up, I have to roll with it and keep going, but if I'm doing a recording, I'll play the same song god knows how many times before I get what I need (and if I didn't cobble together different takes, I'd be playing it even more).
As a drummer who has played many hundreds of shows in both original and cover bands on the local and regional levels over a 30 year period I've found that confidence in your playing all but eliminates stage fright. Whenever I go onstage I know that I've rehearsed all the songs to perfection so there's nothing to worry about. If I do make mistakes, and I do sometimes in the moment, I know that I can usually cover them up and likely no one in the audience will notice so it's not a big deal. Stage fright is just the fear that you're going to screw up in front of an audience and everyone is going to think you suck which never actually happens. But if you take the stage and have the confidence that you're as rehearsed as you need to be and in your head you're thinking everyone is actually going to be impressed with your playing, you tend to play with more feeling and energy and your own head doesn't trip you up. Another thing I do sometimes is I just pretend it's another rehearsal, not an actual show. That takes some pressure off too. It's all about getting out of your own head and just shine like you know you're capable of doing.
@@nashmiddleton1763 dude, that's not really true. Maybe in an orchestra or something but in a 3 or 4 piece band that's not at all the case especially if you're really laying it down. I just played a gig on Saturday night for the first time with a new band I just joined and afterwards people came up to me with praises on my performance both playing and singing a 3rd of the songs. They were paying just as much attention to me as the other 3 guys. And I play a small kit so there's not a lot to hide behind. I have fronted a band before and it's not really any different for me at the front.
@@michaeldeloach838 reality is most people are not going to notice if you hit a tom when you meant to hit a snare, or whatever. You simply literally cannot hit a bum note as a drummer. It's just not the same as being the lead singer, or playing solo piano. To pretend otherwise is farcical.
@@MrMikomi notes, chords, and keys aren't the issue for drummers. But bad timing, screwing up fills, coming out of fills at the wrong place, losing your place in the song, not nailing stops and changes, not getting intros or endings right, and a hundred other things are what can stand out to even non-musicians. And if you're one of the lead singers, like me, playing drums at the same time it opens up a whole other realm of possible screw ups.
I have the opposite problem: I love playing live and can easily deal with the odd mistake, but I struggle to play against a click track when recording something at home. And it's not really about keeping time. I just find myself more prone to making mistakes when recording at home. I think I feed off the energy of live performance.
Had a fiddle player like that - his live playing was on a whole other level. So I took my Portastudio to gigs and then back in the studio transferred the 4-track recordings to reel-to-reel to re-record the rest of us. It took some effort to improve the sound quality (the internal pickup was painfully harsh) but the better performance was worth it.
For what it's worth, I get this too sometimes. I can play and improvise well enough, just playing along. However, as soon I as I hit that record-button, it's like my brain says: "OK, this is it" and my playing suddenly goes down the drain. For me, the trick is to simply hit record and play the bit over and over again in as many takes as it needs. Soon enough, you'll relax and do a good take that you can keep for the recording.
im also struggle the same as you. I always play live and resort to improvisation when the solo comes. When recording, i am struggling becoming honest to what should i play in the record..it is very limiting for me i think
As a guy who almost gave up on being a “paid” musician, I want to thank you for re-inspiring me and opening up possibilities around alternative modes of expression and monetization of same. Well done!!
sophe lloyd is doing quite well and she was pretty bad before, aside from her rest of your timeline is horrific, maybe that ukrain guy that improvises on the guitar is also good enough but majority are simply not
I played live a few times and the anxiety/fear of making mistakes as well as pre-show jitters just sealed the "I'm happy just being a composer" fate for me.
These are great insights, Mary! I have played guitar since high school and now, at the age of 70, I STILL have a really hard time playing in front of anyone. I know I’m “OK” but in my mind, I just suck. But I still love playing and singing for myself, and I guess that’s all that’s really important. Thanks for verifying my feelings as “normal”!
This seems like a refreshing, candid, and brutally honest commentary. It gets two thumbs up IMO. Anyone who has ever done some recording knows that the camera 'eye', or 'hot' mic can send even some of the most seasoned musicians/vocalists off to multi-take territory. That said, it's definitely a different animal. Critics will always fill a space with vitriol. Some regularly working musicians would love to have the online presence you've worked so hard to cultivate. Cheers to you for having the guts to tell it like it truly is... Brava! You are one of the handful of subscribed channels on my "go to" list for a good reason. Your style, grace, and sheer talent is well worth any support. Keep up the awesome work! ~ Your real fans love you!
Mary, this is a brilliant video. Thanks for putting "the nail on the head", I've never heard "stage fright" described in such a kind and focused way, I've been playing live for over 40 years and still afraid of making mistakes and forgetting lyrics on stage:)
In my last band, we'd always set-up a stand with song sheets for each set. When I played a song live but unprepared, I screwed up lyrics a few times; I sort of fade into an instrumental interlude, the pick up the verse next time around. Better than nothing...
One German singer (on stage with guitar and his voice) once included his admission in a song that prior to stepping out unto the stage, he would rather die, and then in front of the microphone, instrument in hand, *he knew this is the best place for him to be on earth, in front of people who like his music. (I'm not one musician) . His Name *Reinhard Mey* , if any German may find this comment.
I'm a RUclips performer who got most of her experience playing live. I prefer live because the energy of an audience is motivating. I make mistakes in live performances as well as videos but I don't care. I'm a person, not a machine, and overall, audiences still get a great performance or lesson.
In my experience, and I hope this doesn’t sound pretentious, a lot depends on your relationship to the music itself. I started playing acoustic at 15 or so, and quickly picked up an obsession with Delta blues, and soon was playing the local bars for money all the way through school. I then decided to conquer new worlds and studied classical at a local university - but every time I tried to play it live I got flop sweat, and I couldn’t figure out why, until I realized that with classical,I was outside looking in, but with my trusty Martin in open G the reverse was the case. Moral: don’t play what you know. Play what you feel.
Yes very true I was playing cover music in various bands for years and then when I was playing original music with the band that's on my channel there, I was much more comfortable playing my own basslines!
Similar experience however, in my opinion, classical does not forgive. If you mess up slightly in blues or jazz, as long as it is not too bad it won't be noticeable. Mess up slightly the tempo on a Bach counterpoint, or some notes on Mozart, or similar, and you will notice up immediately. Just my opinion.
One of the best lines I have ever heard was from a woodworking instructor William Ng who said “I’m more nervous than Mike Tyson in a spelling bee!” HYSTERICAL!!! Stage fright, performance anxiety is a real challenge to overcome. Thanks Mary. Love your channel!
Between the covid and being 77 I get out to live entertainment much more infrequently than I used to. So I enjoy music mostly on RUclips and truly appreciate all RUclips musicians. You guys sustain me 🙂👍👏
Sir, while I don´t deny covid may be dangerous at your age (as any other disease to be fair), please know 99% of it is cruel fear mongering propaganda. Hope you live as careless and free as possible, best wishes
@@jaconova Actually the Covid comment was more about the lack of concert music during the pandemic even though we did manage to see Molly Tuttle live. I just came to appreciate RUclips music videos a lot more. Thanks for the best wishes and we do have some live music on our docket.
Mary, as someone who played the trumpet in school (and foolishly set it aside after the birth of my daughter), I would never dream of calling a musician on RUclips a fraud. It doesn't matter if they've never played a life gig before or coming off of 50 years of touring on the road. All that matters is if you're making music or not. The only ones I'd call frauds are those who hide behind the tech to make it look like they're making music when all they do is showcase other's music and work as if it were their own. I guess it's the same difference between vocalists who chose to play tunes from their records and lip synch in a live concert versus ... well ... Milli Vanilli. (None of what they represented as "their work" was their work. And this was twenty or so odd years before RUclips.) I do not see any difference between a musician who choses to showcase their talents in a digital forum (like RUclips) versus playing live on a stage, in a stadium, inside some pub or coffee house, or even on the street in a parade (as I have done in all of those settings). And I've seen weirder venues to show off arts than that of RUclips or the up and coming and coming virtual spaces, like Fortnight. As far as those "takes" you did to get it right, you know what I'd call that? Practice! Same as any musician that's had to play publicly has had to practice and rehearse. In that respect, you are no different from me and any other amateurs and professionals in our respective areas. (Well, you play a hell of a lot better on your chosen instruments than I do on mine.) Practice is like honing a knife. It gives us a chance to scrap away bits of metal until it's razor sharp. I don't know if you're coming to the States. But if you do, please keep Phoenix, Arizona in mind. Just schedule your visit outside of the months of June through September. It's our hot season, and I don't want you to melt away.
This is one of the most candid videos that I've seen on RUclips ever, and I can relate to it. A few years ago I started doing live videos every Thursday night on Facebook in an effort to force myself to improve my playing. The concept was to become accountable every Thursday to try and learn new music. I am a mediocre guitar player at its very best, and time constraints prevent me from diligently practicing like I should, and the pressure of performing live weekely on social media was supported to help this. Ultimately, the result was this: while I HAVE improved, I'm still mediocre. But what I DID learn was how to improvise and to roll with the punches, so to speak. About a year and a half ago I finally pulled of a major bucket list time: I played my first real gig. Since then my daughter and I have played a lot of live shows in the area. And I have being filmed live on social media to thank. I guess the point of my diatribe is to encourage people to use the tools at their disposal (such as RUclips videos) to help hone their craft. It's pretty awesome. I hope you venture into the Northeast Mississippi area in your travels. I'd lice to see you live, and you'll find me to be a pretty encouraging (and forgiving) audience. Happy trails!
I feel the opposite. I feel so comfortable live, it forces me to immerse myself into the music and my thoughts flow into the piece. When recording i find myself falling into paralysis by analysis and when its multiple takes i feel the feeling may be lost
Same! Some of my best playing comes out when there's no warning or no structure to things! I'm convinced my brain functions at a higher level that way.
Same here!!! Totally comfortable on stage with a crowd, crap my pants in a studio.....Most likely because I was being paid to play live, studio I was paying to play... studio costs are scary! Lmfao
Yeah same thing with recording in the studio. The pressure to get it right sometimes makes me lose that original authenticity that comes from the soul. It’s hard to find a balancing point.
This is interesting and entertaining to hear the perspective from the opposite side of the fence. My studio material is mediocre at best, but I've played literally hundreds of shows. When I'm on stage, the communication between myself and my audience is what really turns me on, and I get in the zone. I've been told dozens of times that a person had no idea what I was about until they had seen me play live, and that, in the best possible way, they simply weren't prepared for the experience.
I've seen a few live performances in 1970 and 1971. They were Quicksilver Messenger Service, Poco, Procol Harum, It's a Beautiful Day and Jethro Tull. There is nothing like it. If they made a mistake, I never knew it. It was the energy and just watching a great band play live. I figure these musicians are so good that when the lead gets off track, the band can pick up quickly and no one knows a boo boo happened. Even now, when I see a group like AC/DC, and the lead goes off on his own, the band keeps playing, keep the beat until they somehow get the signal to back fully into the song. These guys are pros.
I've always been a live musician, I love feeding off the energy of the crowd. When the pandemic hit, I made my YT channel as an avenue to still create music. Anyone who thinks that YT musicians are not as "legit" as live musicians is flat out stupid. Oftentimes I found it even harder to record videos because of how much effort it took to be "perfect". In a live performance, I could make tons of mistakes and the audience would still be having fun with me. In a YT video, you make even a single mistake and people will eat you alive in the comments. Personally I love doing both, and they both have their own set of challenges. It all comes down to talent and dedication. Who cares if it took multiple takes. Who cares if you play in front of just a handful of people, or 10,000? We make music because we love it. That's all that matters.
nice, i agree with you, bit more under the HD 1080p microscope on the RUclipss aye, yeah for me, make the stuff that makes me happy and I feel is worthy of sharing, the rest takes care of itself.
there's something uniquely different about the live feel. Every moment is fleeting and a mistake is past just as quick as it happens. Mistakes aren't as much seen as mistakes but nuances. A small mistake is easy to forget about as soon as the next few notes play. On the other hand, the entire flow of the performance relies on you and your team, and regardless of how practiced you all are, how little the risk of it, there's always a chance for something to happen that will derail everything. Live performance is all about actively being in the center of attention and keeping the flow going, so that no mistakes have time to cement themselves. In recordings, every playback is the exact same. Every small nuance will be in the exact same place and every mistake will always be there, exactly the same. The apparent ease of "fixing" things, just do another take that hopefully will be better also doesn't help. It makes it very easy to get lost in trying to get a perfect take or constantly making adjustments that end with wasting a lot of time for little gain. A listener may not notice your little fumble on their first listen. But what about their second? Or third? or sixtieth? They can repeat the recording as many times as they would like, and with ever repeat, the small mistake that would be a fleeting moment, immediately forgotten if it was life on stage gets repeated over and over again. And as the artist, you are keenly aware of every detail. You consciously put in all the effort to put them all there. But above all, you are also aware not only about everything in the music, but also everything that didn't go exactly as you imagined. Live on stage only has the now, and everything that happens will be replaced by a new now, nothing is repeatable. On recordings, every minute detail is here forever, just waiting to get noticed eventually. Technically, studio recordings should be easier, there's lots more options and tools available to the artist. But in turn, the standards and expectations are also much higher. As much as live can't live up to the polish of recordings, recordings can't live up to the in the moment experience of live. ...I think got a bit lost in thought
@@StaticR I don't think you got lost in thought, you just pointed out that performing live and making youtube videos are different things. I think this videos polarising viewpoints are likely pushed to engage people into reacting to this idea. I like the notion of things being in the moment myself, not perfect, which is how I will communicate that to people when i share demos or ideas online in video format, mistakes at the time become finished possible ideas, but then I will put work into things that have a finished or consolidated ideas that I feel in myself are worthy musically and in production, but I am happy to share the process of that also. Music in its nature is a conversation you have through the medium of sound. Not everyone cares if your doing technically amazing musical things or production, all people really care about it is it A: good and B: do I like it, if that's done in the moment or in detail over time, doesn't really matter in the end. There is no right way, just the way that works I feel.
@@StaticR lol no worries man, I completely get what you're saying. Personally, I think recording is easier because I consider myself disciplined when it comes to riffs, I don't really ad lib when I record so it's always something I've practiced. But when I play live, with the energy of the crowd feeding me, I always try to ad lib new riffs just because it's so fun, hence I make more mistakes. But to me live playing will always be a better experience, there's just nothing like it
As a musician who has played live, this is a great video: many musicians today cannot even play their own instruments without computers, DAWs, etc. to help them out. I still make and record music, and I still play every note myself without 'enhancements'. To those who wonder what the best way is to be a musician, it's simple: practice. Great job.
What a refreshing and honest video! I love how you honor and respect all of the different kinds of artists. Each are valid and valuable in their own way. And your work on RUclips is superb. Thanks for everything you are doing, Mary!
If you've been playing for years and never played on stage, you're missing the most thrilling part of being a musician. Sharing our music with an audience is why we do this. Just do it folks!
I have followed you a while here and think you’re amazing. I have absolutely no allusions to an idea that anything happens on RUclips in one try. I also have had a small bit of experience on stage and understand the feeling. You are really special Mary
The only really TRUTHFUL comparison between making music on RUclips versus in live performance is that they are …. DIFFERENT. Not that one is “better”, more musically “authentic”, more “real”, or always “easier” (or harder). Recorded versus live involves such different challenges, I think the differences actually outnumber the similarities. Even the obvious similarity of the actual playing/singing performance has different thresholds of importance. Recordings “need” to have as perfect a performance as possible because they exist for posterity, while a less-than-perfect live performance can provoke the same level of audience joy. The live audience is forgiving of the performance quality because the excitement of “being there” more than makes up for any imperfection (in the playing, in the mix, etc.).
Tim Pierce touched upon this subject. I agree Ray Lowe. Interestingly there are musicians who “specialize” in recording in a studio. “Pressure” ? You are expected/hired to come up with improvised music that will be recorded for all time. Yes an engineer or mixer can “fix” a mistake but…. Then there are road musicians who take the music recorded by studio musicians and play it live night after night. Some like Steve Lukather excel at both functions. There is pressure in both areas. I think Mary is referencing YT players who are not operating at the level Mr Pierce talks about.
@@JohnLnyc I think 50 years from now, people will look at the amount of albums Luke played on, and then look at the amount of time he was on tour with Toto, and think he was a pair of identical twins. Just an incredible musician, with a truly stellar career. ✌️
A pro musician who plays live as a living will be able to record without much issue. The opposite is not true. Many great session musicians learned their chops on the stage and more importantly they learned how to position themselves against the beat/groove and in the mix. There are different challenges with recording, yes but if you can play well consistently live then you are objectively better than someone who can play well in some takes when recording. This comment is not about Mary who we all know has played live for years and kicks ass. It is definitely true of myself who can play some things well after multiple tries but finds that difficult live (I don't play live much/really at all). Edit: Also, people like Tim Pierce etc. shown here are obviously excellent musicians. I'm not suggesting otherwise just that one of the above tends to imply the other (pro live => ability to record) whereas the converse is true less of the time. I think those shown in the video are also modest about their live skills as hinted at the end of the video.
I think the hardest thing(s) to master for a great live-performing musician transitioning to DIY RUclips are the non-playing skills. These “essentials” include mastering camera technology, lighting, multi-track syncing and video editing, and multi-track audio mixing and mastering.
@@spiderbabybill I think you may be missing something. Session players are required to either play music as written or to create musical parts. Or both. You do not often see these players on tour. They spend most of their time in studios. Touring musicians on the other hand recreate music that has been created (usually by session players) and thrive on the road. Are they interchangeable. Some are some aren’t. Rarely are session players out on the road or touring players in studios. Part of it is choice. Both roles can be grinds. Some would rather be near home others love the excitement of playing live on the road. I would say each requires special talents. Making mistakes is not really tolerated in either role. Yes, mistakes happen but no producer in the studio is going to tolerate much more than a “flub or two” and no headliner is going to tolerate even less than that in concert.
Lotta good stuff here, Mary, well explained. Two things come to mind: 1) Miles Davis quote that there are no wrong notes, it all depends on what you play next that determines whether a note worked or not; 2) the Grateful Dead, were a phenomenal band that could, at times, be a hit or miss experience - ie the notes played next weren’t helping the previous ones played. But their playing was a constant flow of creativity, and they could just as easily come up with absolute brilliance moments after sounding quite flawed. Living down on the Delaware shore, lots of cool venues in Lewes and Dewey.
i hadn't watched any of your videos in a while and won't be able to join you in bristol but will always be your fan whether you sell out wembley stadium more often than adele or not.
No it's not! It's all in how you deal with it. It's a learning process. After a few gigs any nervousness should go away once you start to play. Get into that groove and take the audience for a ride... they'll love you for it. 😉
There are many different levels of talent, I would ask the guy that taught me the most on guitar how much he had to practice, he said he never had to practice, I thought he was kidding. About the third time I asked he got a little testy " I never had to practice, the first song I picked out was the Claw by Jerry Reed,,, took a couple of hours". Mike Headrick,, plays anything with strings but loves peddle steel
For me it has been easier. Whatever screwups happen, will stay there and be forgotten. What you do on a recording or a video that you didn’t notice at that time will linger on and haunt you forever. Also people understand that problems occur in live performances and that’s a part of it being live. It’s more important that you can just somehow keep the show going on. Sometimes some showstoppers come along but the more experience you have, you might be able to deal with them while performing, like Tool’s Maynard James Keenan grabbing a troublemaker who got to the stage and still sing the song simultaneously. Sometimes there will be problems ruining the entire song since they didn’t figure what the problem was early enough like Van Halen’s Jump in Greensboro 2007 because of the guitar being in the wrong key. Or sometimes it’s fixed just before the song has ended like Jarre’s Oxygene 2 in Paris, having the Memorymoog fail just after the firts part. No matter if they screw up live, they will still have audience in their shows and they will have fans. I have had really bad problems through my performances where it has seemed impossible to fix it while performing but somehow have done it. And quite often the audience hasn’t even noticed something was wrong until seeing that the performer is pulling some cables off and plugging them again. As the video said, stage performance also takes improvisation to know what to do when things don’t go well. And with ecperience enough, people might not be even able to tell.
I wish everyone performing live could experience the joy I feel each and every time I have the privilege to play in front of people. Mistakes are inevitable and shows we're all human. It's also a great way to be put back in the present and in the moment since virtually all mistakes occur when we're not in that place
The joy of real improv, regardless of genre, is that a competent musician can make a mistake and turn it into beauty. (While an incompetent musician can take a beautiful phrase and turn it into a missed take.)
I'm so glad I responded. If not for the inate wisdom inherent in what the gentleman's father told him, then for the wisdom in yours. Mistakes are a walkway to greatness. Even if it is or especially if it is when we are using them as a guide to personal transformation. I know that if I am present and aware, I am not putting the responsibility of my words or actions on my brothers and sisters.
Very well said! Sharing what's inside of you through the guitar is something hard to put into words, but it can be life changing. The guitar is an amazing conduit, almost like a weapon at times, at other times an instrument of healing.
This video and the resulting comments really took me back... I had kind of forgotten part of my guitar learning experience waay back in the late 70's, not long after Eddie released Eruption, which was 78 if memory serves. I was with that friend we all have, that started learning guitar at the same time I did but seemed to pick everything up super fast, learned cool new tricks seemingly out of thin air, and who could listen to a song and immediately play it. We loved and hated the guy, but mostly loved. Usually. We had been learning eruption, and with his help I had gotten it down pretty righteously. We had a gig coming up and I was nervous as hell. I was rambling on about it, probably driving him nuts. Finally he said "so what's the worst that can happen?" I said "I make a horrible , obvious mistake and ruin the song". He said we all make mistakes all the time. Even Eddie did. You just keep going and incorporate the mistakes into the song. I told him he was nuts, Eddie didn't make mistakes! He laughed and asked if I had eruption memorized. I said you know I do. So he popped a cassette into our player and fast forwarded it until he was satisfied, then he cranked it up. It was a live version of eruption. It started off perfectly, but about 30 seconds in Eddie took a side road... It sounded intentional but I had heard the flub that had sent him down this road... Eddie had made a mistake! My buddy had 2 more live versions... And one of them was so off the rails Eddie HAD to be hammered. But he never lost the rhythm and he made whatever it was he played fit. It was an art form in itself, really. I actually couldn't tell whether he had goofed or just decided to improvise. Which is the whole point really. This is all obvious to most of us now. But in that time and place it was a revelation, to me. I learned that even the "gods" screwed up... And I learned the key to hiding my flubs. I think that's the day my stage fright began to die. Funny, the little things that make huge impressions on our lives.
Hi Mary, I started my career at 17 in 1986 performing live, and I agree completely that filming yrself is a great way to work on your stage presence. Your performance videos are always consistently great. Finally, musicians who have enough time to openly criticize others over random levels of virtuosity do so because they have *nothing else to offer*. F the haters. All the best.
As a RUclips musician myself, I can say that hearing my own mistakes when playing & singing live on streams and concerts terrifies me, but no feeling can compare with the "hurricane of emotions", when you reveal your inner world in real time to your audience. If you are a musician and you haven't tried it yet, just go for it and you will never regret.
Playing live is actually a collaborative experience between the performer and the energy of the audience. Together you are creating a special moment that will never exist again.
I absolutely loved this video! It made me laugh at the beginning because I've seen enough of your videos to know that you can definitely perform live, and if you have nerves, it doesn't show. I am a 58-year-old musician and songwriter that didn't get to the point of being able to play and sing my songs until my early 30s. When I got to that point, I usually only ever played live, as recording yourself was not worth the effort in those days, unless you had a full band that was willing to pitch in together to make a demo tape. I usually just went to some public place that was not too noisy and started playing my guitar until a few curious people stopped to listen. Then I usually ended up giving them a bit of a show, but it was unofficial and free, so nobody cared if I messed up something. Usually, if I mess up in public, I'll just ignore it and keep going and usually nobody notices but me. Finally, a few years ago, I started making RUclips videos of myself playing piano and singing as a way to leave something for my kids, but that led to me beginning the process of building a recording studio, which is getting close to the point of making much better videos of all the new music I have written. So, I will finally be adding new content to my channel for the first time in a couple years! For me, watching your videos, and those of Tim, Adam, Paul Davids, and Rick Beato, and really all of the RUclips creators, have really inspired and educated me to be able to reach much higher than I was planning to do when I started a RUclips channel. Thanks for that and keep up the great work!
I feel lucky to have played and recorded in every situation one can imagine . I love playing live . When I was hired to record on prerecorded music . The computer was not inspiring . Infact , the computer is nonproductive to creating something ... Art and music is a human thing . A computer can't record the heart .
One of the best live acts I’d seen was this past April in New York City when I saw Sparks. Ron and Russell Mael, both in their 70’s, played unbelievably tight and Russell moved across the stage at the Town Hall in an amazingly adept and entertaining way. Ron and the band were super and nearly perfect in their musicianship. These guys-Ron and Russell-and their band are incredible live players.
My band recently released our first album. We made the idiotic decision to record each song as one continuous take with all parts recorded simultaneously to a single track. It turned out pretty good, but unfortunately, while audiences usually forgive little mistakes (and sound issues) in a _live_ context, listeners tend to be far less forgiving with _recorded_ media, even when it's recorded _live._ As such, a 13-track album, lasting just under one hour, required literally _hundreds_ of total takes because...as is the case with most RUclips musicians...we definitely _can_ pull of solid _live_ performances, but recordings that last _forever_ (not to mention listeners and viewers) tend to be less forgiving about art's most _human_ component, imperfection.
Just watched a video about Black Sabbath first album. Done straight off - it was their live show. Beatles, Please, Please Me similar. Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica similar.
@@cuebj I will freely admit that my band is not on the same level as any of those you have named. Having said that, while I'm quite happy with our first album, I think it probably would have gone better if we simply recorded an actual performance...in front of an audience...rather than simply recording "live" in the studio. The sterility of the environment affected our energy and focus such that it took many attempts in the _studio_ to pull off what we consistently pull of in front of an audience. You know?
I think all of the RUclips musicians are excellent. I love watching all the covers. Your video of Sultans was brilliant! My wife talked me into performing live with her a year ago and it’s been quite an adventure. We perform for senior centers, fairs, and a few farmers markets and festivals. It’s nerve racking whether you perform for 3 people or 100. We are by no means professionals. But it has been a fun hobby for my wife and I to do together. Keep up the great work!!
I am always nervous before live shows, but that is perfectly normal. I was watching a group last weekend, and got called up and asked to join them for a couple of tunes. I had my acoustic guitar with me because I thought I'd "fill in the gaps" between their sets. Anyways, the first song went smoothly enough, but I had never played the second song before. They told me the chords, and we got right to it. After the second chorus, the singer gave me that "nod." You know... the "hey, go ahead and take a solo, guitar guy" nod. I didn't do too great, and didn't even manage to stay "in the pocket." But when the solo was over, I smiled and shrugged and everyone clapped. Eh, what else can you do? It was still fun!
I'm actually MORE stressed recording something on video at home then doing a Live performance. It's a different kind of stressed, but I strongly prefer the butterflies in the stomach shortly before going on stage than the anxiety of people being able to judge every pixel or frequency on video.
Agreed! There's no freedom when recording. But playing live, it feels like freedom. I play to enjoy, not play to make a chore. Also I don't care if I make mistakes. It's all about fun and experience. But I don't play live anymore, since I am not more in a band or lets say jam buddies.
Wow. It helps so much! When you are an intermediate guitarist and trying to improve than seeing those perfect videos, nailing those hard song and you think... why do I bother. It really shows that they are struggling and putting just as much effort into as I'm trying and helps me to not give up. This is a bit more positive side of social media when people come out not just to impress us for views but to inspire us for the better. Thank you!
Charlie Robbins.. a good example of that.. he may be well equipt in his abilities to play live.. the amount of cuts.. camera angle changes ect. At the end of the day.. it's a video. A performance.. just as an album from any band has multiple takes of parts where they fuck up 😂.. Checkout Estepario siberiano.. this dude is a machine 👍
Good point! I feel nervous about posting live footage of me playing because of those videos of pretty girls singing like angels in their bedrooms. But maybe my videos can inspire people to play in bands at dive bars again. Hmmm
Barabas Remember most people only display their best video's, the edited ones. Most professionals don't sing every single note perfectly on any night, because we're human. I think live concerts are better then studio CDs ,live stuff is more human because of imperfections. Keep playing ,keep studying, and be original. Be blessed
@@anatommyandcharvananirvana3348 Believe in yourself. Imho it's being original that counts the most. Remember Yoko Ono has fan's. Some people don't like her but some do. Keep pushing. Peace
I love most forms of live music, from festivals to small rooms. But, there is an intimacy watching well played and well edited online music that is very difficult to capture in a live venue.
That's odd, i 've seen many videos of Adam Neely playing live, and he always seems so chill. I've been playing live for about 13 years now mostly at small venues and clubs, i don't get nervous at all in these situations, but on the rare occasions where i play to a big crowd (10k+ ppl) i get a good type of anxiety, like i just wanna get in the stage and rock their socks off! these situations are kinda stressfull, i get anxious from waking up till after the gig is done, but afterwards i feel like i'm in heaven! so i'm kinda addicted to that rush, the bigger the crowd the better i play! So yeah, maybe some ppl aren't fit to play big concerts to big crowds, is that a bad thing? absolutely not, but i think for some ppl this anxiety is something that can be overcomed.
Mary - Fantastic! That was the best description of the differences between current musician methodologies I've heard yet. And you are RIGHT ON POINT! I have been playing percussion for years and I always have some "stage fright", right up until the first song is done. After that, it's all "Bloody Wonderful" as you Brits would say! Thank you for all your work on behalf of all of us!
As an accordionist I never got over my fear of playing live. I learned to tolerate it by doing competition in front of judges who were professional musicians. I just focused on a spot on the wall and played my piece perfectly, as I was taught, then left the stage and waited for the results.
All my support Mary! I like to play for myself and that's it. My friends keep trying to talk me in to playing a local coffee shop. Maybe I'll do that(maybe not lol). I think a lot of the people who are judgmental on these videos can't even play so don't worry about them.
Thanks for talking about this. I did hundreds of small concerts before Covid. During lockdown I became a RUclipsr and saw some amazing growth on my channel. Recently, I started doing some live concerts again. They've all been small but it's been cool because some people have been showing up that found me on RUclips. It is hard though because I've recorded about 200 songs on my channel but I can probably only play about 20 of those live. That makes handling requests hard. Do you have thoughts on how to deal with this?
I have thoughts on how to deal with that. Just tell 'em that you are prepared to play about 20 songs ( and by mere misfortune of timing, their request not being on today's/tonight's list), and please keep coming back ("I so look forward to seeing you here!!") - because it's very likely that you will cycle in the song that they have requested, etc... Hmm... I think that would be a good reply? 🙂 I am THE WORST request musician, BTW.
Not a musician but a music lover for sure and especially a sucker for live music. I think just being honest would come a long way. Dude if u have ~200 songs how tf can anybody reasonably expect u to remember all of them, not to mention be able to play them by heart! I like to think that if I'd request a song and the artist tells me "sorry dude i haven't practiced it and don't feel prepared to play it live" I wouldn't think any less of them and actually be thankful for their honesty. Much more it humanizes u. I think in any profession, u "play" what u prep. Everything takes preparation and practice, and in any profession, u can't possibly know all the "pieces" by heart. Idk just my opinion
@@kais.597 Yeah, that's cool. I appreciate your perspective. It seems like some of my favorite musicians (like Tommy Emmanuel) can just play anything that someone requests. I guess I am not to that point yet and I probably need to spend more time practicing my songs and less time recording new ones. The RUclips algorithm is always pushing me to record more music so it's hard to be both a RUclipsr and do live shows.
i probably would just be honest or if you have very persistent audience, say you do not remember and just offer something else instead, maybe an improvisation if you like hat kind of thing... TBH, with a fundus of over 200 songs, you should be forgiven to not have everything ready out of the box. Not even big professional bands probably can do that.
I give huge credit to singers and musicians who play live in concert doing so many shows on tour. Especially the ones who make it look so effortlessly.
Thank you for this. I haven't sung live since I was 15 years old, haven't played an instrument live since I was 26, due to crippling stage fright. I appreciate you taking the time to break down and classify differing performance styles.
It's been a long time since I've played live. One thing I learned during my time in my last band is how important it is to completely mesh with the other members. We made mistakes all the time live. But we were able to cover each others mistakes. Can't tell you how many time our drummer caught something and made minor changes to his fills or changed his cymbal parts to cover those minor mistakes.
Mary - it was nearly impossible for me NOT to click the "subscribe" button after hearing you speak so eloquently regarding music, RUclips, and live gigs! This was fantastic! You did a phenomenal job spelling it all out for those not in the know! LOVE IT!
The only time I played live was at my school concert 30+ years ago, and I've only become more fearful as I've got older. I've great admiration for anyone who can get up on stage and perform.
I stumbled upon this video and really appreciated the honesty. I LOVE playing live!!! It gets me going and I can't wait to hit the stage. My largest gig was only a few thousand and I played it the same as when we played bar crowds of 30 or 40. And in saying that, we all have our part to play whether it is live or in home, it doesn't matter. Just play and enjoy the amazing gift that God has given you.
I remember back in 1978 I was blown away by Mark's Sultans of Swing. I'd never heard anything like it. While I'm a classic metal head guitarist primarily, Mark has always been my ultimate guitar god, ahead of even Angus and Eddie (RIP ED). I picked apart every video I could find until I finally learned how to play Sultans, and it was a chore- you couldn't go buy a tab book with the song neatly laid out, at least not yet. Once I had the song down well enough to play live, and the other singer in our little band had the vocals down, (I was the other vocalist but Sultans was nowhere near my wheelhouse) we covered the song frequently for about six months, then we kind of packed it away and forgot about it... Because of me. I had been playing for about 9 years at that point, and sultans still just KILLED my hands. My knuckles would swell up like I'd punched a brick wall. Mark is a freak, a wonderful freak but a freak nonetheless lol. He can do things with a guitar that would make Jimi blush.
Thank you for this, Mary! It's inspiring. Playing live has always been a bugbear for me, but I try to remember that the audience *wants* me to do well, and I try to tap into that hopeful energy when I play. Of course, usually I'm distracted by my sweaty palms and the squeaking of my picking fingers on the strings due to 40 years of poor technique, and then I forget to tap my foot to help keep the rhythm, so I wind up rushing. More than once, I've apologized to an open mic audience for playing "Dust in the Hurricane" instead of "Dust in the Wind." 🤦♂
Boy I am with you there! I don't remember having too much problem performing live with my garage band back in the '60's. I stopped playing for years then started again and found I fell apart playing solo for friends and family until I asked them to just go about their activities and ignore me. That has worked really well and now I am getting much better with their attention on my playing. At 75 years old, I am now having as much fun as I did when I was a teen.
I am both a RUclipsr and performer like any other musician today, recording helps the performing as you know potentially what to head for, even if they’re totally different things. Doing multiple takes allows you to let yourself loose a bit while on stage as it’s all rehearsed in advance. I’ve turned to recording more now to deal with problems in the world and that music is a tool that releases positivity while providing inspiration to others, but also that inspiration is fed more directly when poi play live.
Love this, also 14 takes is nothing, especially when playing with someone else. A lot of the time live and recorded music are different beasts, it can often be physically impossible to play a recorded piece live, a musician that just makes finished pieces will be often in the mindset of optimising the piece to sound good as a recorded piece, not having to consider if its possible to be played live (many times it isn't- impossible chord changes etc). So even if you are solely a RUclips musician, whether or not you are making a video of yourself performing or just putting out an audio requires a totally different approach.
That's true, I've gone through over 100 takes trying to get a guitar solo right, and I'm still unhappy with it but at one point you have to stop and wonder if you're trying to push things too far, at the end of the day, depending on the music you do, a bit of sloppiness add to the natural element of music, which is quite absent on modern music that's focused on polishing performances and even editing them with time alignment and auto-tune and stuff to make them sound perfect. I've always felt that's one of the reasons why a lot of people feel more drawn to older music, it wasn't afraid to letting a hiccup or two to end up on the record, there's nothing wrong with that.
Live performances rely upon and make use of the improvisational "Persian Flaws" that occur in front of an audience. In many cases, they are what make a live performance unique and special in the minds of the audience. In many cases, and in my experiences from being on stage, they often create little surprises that thrill the audience, if you can carry them off well.
I've always felt the studio product is an entirely different thing than the live product. In the studio setting, it's whatever it takes to capture the vision. As Bono once said "it's a bit like a movie production, so many people involved". Live the band is left to adapt what was manufactured in the studio and come up with a reasonable recreation of it that can be performed. This goes back to the Beatles later albums, but carried on from late 1960s to present day. This is part of why I prefer very stripped down arrangements (studio and live) to bridge the gap... Only other thing I will say, if you listen to a guitarist like Molly Tuttle or Billy Strings. There really is no gap between live performance and studio. To think someone who requires 10 takes to get a song right then can't perform that live is on even ground as a musician with someone like Molly or Billy really does a disservice to them and their incredible musicianship. Does it matter in terms of being able to build a fan base in 2022? Probably not. Maybe that is the only metric that's going to be important to a lot of aspiring performers.... Then you're at a family/friends gathering and everyone knows you're a successful musician RUclipsr. You're asked to play one of your songs and you say "oh I don't play live". Yes, of course they are likely going to loose a bit of respect and some will see you as a fraud.... From a perspective, they'll be right.... But think of all the performers who don't write their own material... going back to Elvis. From a perspective that's a fraud too. Entertainment is about smoke and mirrors, but in the end just finding a way to make an audience feel something and connect with what you do, that's what it takes to a success.
I have the opposite issue. I freeze up in the studio because i try to be too perfect.......Taylor Hawkins called it "red light fever". Playing live is absolutely zero problem for me, and where i thrive.
I think though that if you are purely a live musician these days, that getting an audience to remember you is quasi impossible. If success is based on audience creation and retention, then you must almost exclusively expect any successful artist, mainstream or RUclips, to be able to keep track of an audience. It means the quality you need for success isn't playing live, it is retaining an audience. But... playing live is usually correlated to your actual skill, as to play a great performance, you need to be in touch with your song and yourself, which IS playing live. And so we may find ourselves in a time where many people get good at retaining an audience, but less good at expressing themselves faithfully, human-ly, skillfully. Which to me is the whole attraction of an artist. Its what makes them transcend being simple performers. It's why they have weird haircuts, why they have odd opinions, trouble making friends, and why their songs are so poignant. They have lived the struggle, LIVEd the music. So to be a truly awesome, and **reknown** artist, a balance must be struck, I believe, between retaining an audience, and being an actual exceptional human being, living your performance, yourself, in the moment. Which is hard.
as a team player and concert performer, I can say that RUclips has helped me a lot to look at myself from the side. In particular, I learned how to record in one take. It was after several video playthrough that I started to record songs in one take during regular studio sessions.
Mary, your advice to us " frightened" musicians is timely and inspirational. With cannabis legal and accepted now days, a couple hits before a preformance seems to help me personally. After my third tune solo, I may open up and be ready for another set of tunes. The audience really doesn't care if there are a few mistakes during a live gig in front of a mike. A video is a different thing and must take a lot of confidence and work. Cheers, my friend. Bob in Montana.
Awesome video Mary! A most excellent, sincere response to those in the comments who'd ever dare challenge your authenticity. Once again, you've nailed it! PLEASE, COME TO SAN FRANCISCO to play a live gig! 😎🤘🎸❤️
Mary, love your content and the humble way you deliver each and every theme. Playing live has always been scary for me, but I have to keep telling myself, the audience wants to hear what you are playing. And as for the comment below, nail the intro and ending, and just enjoy everything in between. I wish I could attend one of your shows. You are an amazing talent/musician and mentor. Thank-You ! God Bless !
Thank you for this. I have to record my playing for exams and spend an entire weekend making recordings. This makes me feel good to know that I am not alone.
This is awesome! Thanks Mary! As a drummer of 35 years playing live and in the studio I can relate. The adrenaline rush live is unexplainable. But at same time the studio can be the same because you don’t want to be the weak link and not get the vibe. My 2 cents is be yourself and always play live to keep you sharp and always be rehearsed not matter who you are playing with and pretend someone is watching. BTW love Tim Pierce!
I have the most admiration for the musicians that do "one take" videos. I don't need to see 5 cameras shots because the music is still what i'm there for. You can notice when others do 1000 takes and although it sounds good you can't help but wonder about the live performance. The one from beggining to end without cuts.
Well said Mary. I'm a live musician with 30 tears of gigs and for the life of me I couldn't do what you do in a month of Sundays, but I'd love to be able to. I love your videos. Any chance you'd play in Ireland some time?
Congrats Mary, this is a respectful and spot on statement on the all so many ways we can work as a musician... Tim's post are funny in a profound way (kind'a hilarious)... and you Mary are awesome... anyway... keep on bestowing the world with your high energy output and your loving and entertaining stories... thank you!
@@ScreamingStevenHoward it all depends on your psyche - In younger days I was a live drummer and I had nightmares about failing on stage... the perfection trap... today I focus on my guitars and keys as a composer and producer and I feel relieved from that pressure... I heard that hypnoses can help (like with flight angst)... but I am looking forward to go back on stage next year... with a different attitude - I will try to focus on connecting with the audience and simply enjoy being there... on stage ... for fun and quality time...
Thank you for making this video, it helped me release a lot of anxiety. I've played live most of my musician career, although it's just a hobbie for me, but lately I've been trying to record a song, pushed to make it "in one take". I've been feeling I'm not talented for music because I'm not able to do that, I get much more nervous when recording that playing live.
Whenever you go to a concert to see your favorite band you immediately notice the song sounds different from the recorded version. In the studio you have many takes trying to make it perfect. Live is always different but it’s not supposed to be perfect ever
just played a great winery gig. So fun, mistakes are part of it. The crowd raved at our setlist, enthusiasm, and at times, great playing. But there were lots of mistakes, like switching lyrics around, bass player jamming the chorus in the wrong key, and sweating in the heat so bad i could not open my eyes at times, and so what! It was awesome.
If you have ever seen Rush live, it's amazing how they nail every song, every note, every time. That's why I love that band. Of course they were together for decades.
My records are far from perfect, despite I use to arrange, compose many things and record them. Usually I practice something new for 30 min, then it takes me 1-4 takes. When you do less takes it has something more expressive but imperfect, for example the first time you have an idea an record it, you will never repeat it with the same intention... intention is perfect at first, but technique is imperfect, with practice technique becomes perfect but is harder to keep the intention... just my experience.
I am a paid musician . I make lots of mistakes playing live, but I learned how to re arrange the music so that it always fits. I usually get some nerves at the beginning but what works for me is to just play to my instrument and ignore the crowd.
I love both playing live (simple songs) and challenging myself in my room (impossible songs) But I'll be honest, doing 100 takes to get a solo is waaay less fun than playing live, even if it's simple. If you are a part of one group but not the other I would recommend trying both!!
Once I hit "record" button, I lose up to half of my usual playing skill. Especially at the beginning of each take, so if possible I prefer to start with some noodling and later cut it in the edit. But when I play to some audience, I just stick to what I really know well and rehearsed several dozens if not hundreds of times. Rehearsing really helps.
Great video! People watch "reality shows" and don't even realize that sometimes there are multiple takes. Anyone with an eye and who knows editing/camera can see it. Then there's the actors receiving Oscars for a performance which might have taken ten takes and editing of bits and pieces because the actor could not remember their lines. But people still say "what a great actor". It doesn't and shouldn't negate their talent in any way; and not all actors can do broadway. So what! It's already something to be able to perform and put yourself out there. And when filming you still have quite a huge audience and feel pressure. The problem is that musicians have always been expected to perform live and don't get the luxury of editing and retakes as much as actors. Enya has never toured and only performed live a few times over the years and it doesn't take away from her incredible talent. My two cents.
I LOVE this! This video is excellent at explaining why RUclips editing isn't such a problem. People who say edited RUclips videos are "fake" may as well not bother watching any movies or listen to any studio recordings of music. How many takes do they think is required before a final album or movie is released? If there wasn't any editing, every movie would suck (except for the bloopers of course...lol). I fail to understand why a video on RUclips is subject to such ridiculous scrutiny regarding editing when just about everything you see in the movies, television, etc. is already edited. In fact, a lot of RUclipsrs will include gaffs and bloopers just to prove they AREN'T perfect the first time. Also, properly edited content that includes only the best takes, makes the live performances that much better. It sets the bar pretty high for the performer to measure up to, so it adds stress for them, but when the live performance closely matches the recording, it's that much better (how many times have people gone to a concert that "sucks" because the studio recording was so heavily edited it's near impossible to duplicate live). My words to the armchair critics -- "Think you can do it better? You try it". Once the reality sets in of how difficult it really is, they will (hopefully) recede into the woodwork, never to be seen again :). Oh...and I'd like to see what they say to your face when they can't hide behind the keyboard. Those who use internet anonymity are the REAL frauds -- they wouldn't say half of what they post if they were out in the real world.
Your videos are always interesting and informative and your style so relaxed that I’ve never even consider that you might have done multiple takes of specific sections for clarity or to accent a particular point. I enjoy your honesty and succinctness. Long may you run ! ! !
![Diggy Graves - Red Vineyard [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8Ro085T0mnQ/mqdefault.jpg)
As my father said before our first gig (I was 16), “if you nail the intro and the ending, audiences will forgive you everything in between”. Mind you, he also taught me “if you make a mistake, keep going and smile harder. If you make a big mistake, glare at the piano player!”
If you make a big mistake, do it again and it's a theme now, and not a mistake anymore.
@@baileywatts1304 -jazz players
The intro and ending thing is so true. My partner and I busk on Fridays, strolling through our audiences. You learn to make your mistakes part of the act. We use the mentality of "amateurs make mistakes, professionals improvise."
“if you nail the intro and the ending, audiences will forgive you everything in between” Amen
😂
“To play a wrong note is insignificant, to play without passion is inexcusable”
-Beethoven
Beethoven must've hung with Miles.
First time i heard das Beethoven Englisch konnte...
Exactly !
I'm gonna play that wrong note very passionately!
youtube commenters...take note
One of my neighbors in college was a trained concert pianist - who never played in public! She was amazing! (I heard her through her closed door when I went out to check my mailbox.) She never said she was nervous or scared to play in public. She simply loved playing for herself. Some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard.
I resonate so hard with that, ive played guitar for most of my life, but i hate playing for people, and have always been pushed into trying to make it into something, but i just love shutting myself away and jamming.
That's a shame not sharing beautiful music and creating happiness in someone's life.
I seem to need to share music and measure audience response the adjust my delivery.
@@keithf7351 That music she played created happiness in her life. That is plenty enough.
My Friend is a trained public speaker for large crowds - who has never spoken in public. Oh and my other friend is a stand up comic. Never told a joke in front of another human. Ive heard him laughing his ass of and from what i can hear its pretty funny! Concert pianist? Concert? How does one become trained for something that involves a large audience when they have never played for one? Id say she has a dream of being a concert pianist cuz you cant simply say you are a movie star but just do it at home for yourself.
Something I heard a long time ago that I think still rings true (especially as it relates to those just trying to get one perfect take for their channel): "An amateur practices until the get it right. A professional practices until they can't get it wrong." Professional musicians who put in the time and practice earn their right to stadium shows, record contracts and, if they want it, fame. It's not about just being 'talented'... you need to earn it which includes musical and mental preparation to be able to perform under pressure.
Certainly, have to come to rehearsal with homework done, instead to come to rehearsal to do the homework. Even worst, soundcheck is never suposed to rehearsal in.😉
That isn't exactly true
@@angeldelalamo Man, I wish that was true. I know plenty of top level cats who are all like "we'll run it at sound check," which just means I have to know the tune in and out beforehand. But sometimes, it's the only way.
I would say rather than practicing until you can't get it wrong, you should be practicing to adapt and correct fluidly for the inevitable. Wrong notes are going to happen, but if you lack the flexibility to adequately recover, things are going to go poorly.
@@bassplayinfool Agree, off course it depends on wich band or what kind or style to play...
Paco de Lucía said "it's no rehearsal cuestion, talent you've or not"
Thank you all for your attention.
When I started playing clubs in the early 70’s, we had to play 6 nights a week 5 sets a night. You can’t help but get used to playing live. In fact it became somewhat addictive to the point where I never really felt like I was playing at my best unless I was in front of a crowd.
Exactly my family had nightclubs & bartending watching my brother play every weekend with so many different bands by the end of the 80s all the bands looked forward to playing with my brother , this is where he earned his chops...his name was Sam he passed in 1998 I miss him so so much that it's hard to write this ...play it again Sammy I'll see you soon my Brother ✌🏽❤🎸
I went from playing once or twice a month to playing 3 nights a week. You definitely get used to it but I was fortunate enough to never suffer stage fright. I feel like I was meant to be there. It is 1000% addictive. After moving out to the country, there's not a lot of talent around so I don't get to perform much. i get my fix when I go back to the city and sit in at one of my friends gigs.
@@neckbone3943 I've gone up a few times I play shitty blues guitar & it was so hard to keep up I didn't have time to be nervous LOL , started playing again this yr hope to get up with my brothers friend's soon their old in their 70s I'm old I'll catch up in 3 yrs, my granddaughter saw me playing recently in my room and said she wanted to learn she just turned 12 and I bought her a Squier Telecaster I already had a little practice amp so I figure we will learn together because I still have a lot to learn but I'm retired so "time is on my side" keep rocking my friend ✌🏽❤
@@JB-tr6nu that's awesome!! My daughter is 12. We are doing the same thing with piano. It's amazing how quickly she's learning. Music is life!!!
Me too.
Thanks for your insights, Mary. My own story: I was a psychology professor for 26 years. Taught classes from 1 to 250 people...no problem with stage fright at all. When I turned 40, I decided to get a music performance degree (I eventually got it at 50). Given my experience "performing" in front of classes, I thought there'd be no problem with music performance stage fright. Boy, was I wrong! I had to struggle through it for the first 2 or 3 years before I felt comfortable performing music in front of crowds. My takeaway: stage fright is a complex phenomenon and different in every context. I'm happy to say it's (mostly) behind me, thanks to some wise words from my wife: "remember, the audience WANTS you to succeed."
Hi, Jim! Just remember that stage fright, though real, is mostly about your expectations for yourself, a way of forcing yourself towards excellence. Embrace it as the perfectionism it is, and push on through. And good for you going back to school! I couldn't imagine that now that's I'm past a half century....
(Your wife is right, by the way, for the vast majority of most audiences ... )
Those are beautiful words of encouragement from your wife. Love it!
That last sentence is probably the most overlooked and yet important take away for every musician!
Thanks for posting that, quite encouraging.
I've played music on stage hundreds of times in audiences from a half a dozen friends to 10s of thousands. Maybe some early problems but non I recall.
Since early child hood I've been involved in dance performances (none since the early 1990s) and stage acts from multi-hour musicals down to 2 minute 2 person skits. Many times as an actor, singer, dancer or musician I've addressed the audience directly, performed a solo etc.
But the thought of speaking publicly? Or even answering a question loudly? That terrifies me. I'll say the most stupid lines from the worst-written play, dance like an idiot or perform a terribly written piece of music without hesitation or embarrassment. But if I even think of speaking as a remote possibility I can go into a full-on panic attack.
I'm part of a church music group at present, and have been for a while. I know most of the congregation and many of them are my closest friends. A few weeks back an old neighbour from another town visited for the service, and do you think I could relax while playing?
I play live gigs with my rockband since 2019 (~8-10 gigs per year) and I still get very nervous before going on stage. But I guess the root of my problem is my anxiety beyond performances. Mental health is very important for musician.
I got over stage fright in my 50s, after lots of introspection about WHY I'm performing. I used to do it to impress people; it took a long time to truly replace that in my mind with my real motivation. I learned to play to take the audience somewhere; to lead them through an emotional trip. To show them the meaning of the music. You are in a sense a servant to the music, not an egotist USING the music to aggrandize yourself. Then you realize, it truly doesn't matter if things are perfect. That doesn't mean mistakes can't matter, but you're not likely to make the kind that do. When you realize that, you're not afraid.
This sounds weird but I havent had stage fright since I was 14. I've played in front of 20k people and was excited more than nervous.
@@jrm70210 actually, that doesn't sound weird at all. I remember a time before I had stage fright. So it's not necessarily natural to have it. Then some idiot mentioned it to me and I asked what it meant. When he explained it to me, I immediately developed it.
That must‘ve been hard to realise, accept and work on. But for the better! Thanks for sharing
I like what Bob Dylan said, it’s all about the song. What I’ve come to see as a songwriter who plays live, is that music is communication. What I see is that playing for others is conversation. That has helped me with anxiety when getting out there to play live.
100% dead on !!!!!
I'm relatively shy with a touch of social anxiety but there is no better venue than a live performance. If one can battle through the fears it is quite rewarding. The connection with live people in front of you is real. It also forces you to be a better musician/singer knowing there is 1 take.
Michael I'm 61 y.o. Played with some tremendously tight bands mid 80's until today under a stage name. I had a rule that I followed after experience and maturity set in. I used to get buzzed before, during and after playing live. UNTIL A GREAT WOMAN SHOWED ME WHAT I LOOKED AND SOUNDED LIKE. From that point and beyond I didn't party until after my obligations to our fans and my band mates.
I know some really loud, outgoing and extroverted people that would be sick and terrified at the idea of playing an instrument in front of people. Quiet, introverted, lil’l me loves doing it, in fact I learned that I’m a bit of a show off in those situations. Weird?
When I was in bands in the 70s, there was an incredible amount of pressure to play every song perfect every time. It took the joy out of playing and lead to very angry practice sessions and dismal performances when something went wrong. Then I learned the secret: everybody is going to make a mistake, it is up to the rest of the band to cover for the mistake. It's okay and expect it. We've started a song at a show that went so horribly wrong, we stopped apologized and told the audience we're skipping that song. Brushed it off, laughed and moved on. We had fun - that is the important part.
Yeah but you probably could actually make few bucks from a gig without the bar owner deciding your fate based on how many of your friends you can bring, not how good your band is.
This, so much. Covering up mistakes or blending them into your playing is an underrated and integral step into mastering your instrument.
When I started playing gigs, I managed to push through the stagefright aspect, but I was robbed of a lot of enjoyment when I finished sets and people came up to me to congratulate me. I brushed it aside and said "Nah it was bad, I made a couple mistakes". They would always disagree and I soon realised most people aren't hyperfocussed on perfect notes. After that I just gave it my best and when I made mistakes, I'd laugh about it or pull a silly face. 😁
Hallelujah! Totally agree
@@piposanchez On a related subject, jazz is often presented as some sort of peak experience that most people can only aspire to. It’s actually a great way to learn how to think on your feet, and was central to my ability to survive as a hired gun on the wedding and theatre circuits back in the day.
@@stiffrichard2816 Money corrupts.
I prefer not earning money off of my hobbies, cause that just strays too far from the fun of it and makes it too serious.
This video randomly popped up on my feed, never heard of you before. As a professional musician this is SUCH a good video, very important for anyone interested in performing (online or live) to learn what performing is about and how huge the difference is between the two. Thanks!
Well said! I'm not a musician. But I too saw this randomly in my feed, and learned so much.
i do vocals in a band, it's ok. but playing instrument live sounds scary, since i can't play if not 100% sober. some bandmates are really tense every time they play live, looks super stressful
Same here.
I like bigger crowds not sure why im shy but it’s inate I guess and practice like it’s oxygen and literally life depending upon it is how it happened for me. So play and I do well always, so this is hard for me to understand because if you truly start young and repeat over and over again and learn something slightly different now and than is good for song writing! Sorry can’t relate. Practice is mother of all success!
Same!
I saw Mary playing in Manchester on her last tour & can give everybody a cast iron guarantee that she absolutely CAN play live. It was great in every way & I didn't hear any mistakes! Audiences want to know who's in charge at a gig, confidence is an essential part of a live performance (just ask Jagger) & Mary has truckloads of it.
I have gotten the impression Mary did a lot of street and bar gigs in her early years. That's probably a good way to grow the skills for entertaining an live audience. Someone like young Allie Sherlock seems amazingly confident in front of a crowd of any size, but she also started busking at the age of 11.
I saw 21 popular rock bands in the seventies and half of them stuck. They through tomatoes at the Rolling Stones in upstate NY 1964, I think it was.
Thank you for making this video. I am one of those musicians who never got over stage fright. I gave up wanting to be in the limelight when I was 18. Stage fright just paralyzed me to the extent where I literally could not perform. I then lost my hearing (I now have implants) and gave up music altogether for about 15 years. But when music is in your soul, you can't give it up. It really is like giving up a part of you. So, now, with my "disabilities", I am writing music again and using my videography talents to put them out there. To say I am a fake is not fair. It doesn't matter how I get to the end result. I create music. That is it! Call me what you will, I will still continue to make music....
I relate and am in the same boat because of disabilities... I used to play live tours and do it well. Life has changed though.
I stopped playing live a few years ago - never had stage fright - but a terrible year trying to replace a great band member who had become ill just put me off bands - I never knew there were so many big headed egotists around - or at least they all found us !!!! - I hadn't played at all for a couple of years but started this week as it happens just for my own pleasure - as you say you just can't give it up - No way are you Fake - The Beatles stopped performing live and went on to produce arguably some of their best music - keep on keeping on - Steve.
I struggled with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Not on stage but just about everywhere else. Then medications and I couldn't function. I quit meds and clawed my way back. Being on stage was a safe place for me somehow.
This is why I'm glad I've been in bands since age 14 and have played hundreds of gigs before I ever even started my channel. Now it feels like a luxury to be able to have multiple takes when making a video although I always strive for a single take if possible.
Thank you for teaching me guitar lol
I enjoy watching your channel and feel like I always learn something.
Thank you!
I love this video. I have a degree in piano performance, and I make my living playing live music with the local college, accompanying classical recitals, and playing jazz with various bands. I record music almost every week throughout the course of my normal work, and I must say that it is much harder to do than most people realize. I would much rather play a set live from memory than record it, because the permanence of recordings is exhausting to deal with. Recordings and videos are their own artform, and we should treat them as such!
C Maxwell Music , I agree Studio Work , Or a studio Work Artist is not the same as a Live session At all.
Yes! If I'm performing and mess up, I have to roll with it and keep going, but if I'm doing a recording, I'll play the same song god knows how many times before I get what I need (and if I didn't cobble together different takes, I'd be playing it even more).
As a drummer who has played many hundreds of shows in both original and cover bands on the local and regional levels over a 30 year period I've found that confidence in your playing all but eliminates stage fright. Whenever I go onstage I know that I've rehearsed all the songs to perfection so there's nothing to worry about. If I do make mistakes, and I do sometimes in the moment, I know that I can usually cover them up and likely no one in the audience will notice so it's not a big deal. Stage fright is just the fear that you're going to screw up in front of an audience and everyone is going to think you suck which never actually happens. But if you take the stage and have the confidence that you're as rehearsed as you need to be and in your head you're thinking everyone is actually going to be impressed with your playing, you tend to play with more feeling and energy and your own head doesn't trip you up. Another thing I do sometimes is I just pretend it's another rehearsal, not an actual show. That takes some pressure off too. It's all about getting out of your own head and just shine like you know you're capable of doing.
Agreed!
Also helps when you’re the musician at the very back that no one can really see or care about as much.
@@nashmiddleton1763 dude, that's not really true. Maybe in an orchestra or something but in a 3 or 4 piece band that's not at all the case especially if you're really laying it down. I just played a gig on Saturday night for the first time with a new band I just joined and afterwards people came up to me with praises on my performance both playing and singing a 3rd of the songs. They were paying just as much attention to me as the other 3 guys. And I play a small kit so there's not a lot to hide behind. I have fronted a band before and it's not really any different for me at the front.
@@michaeldeloach838 reality is most people are not going to notice if you hit a tom when you meant to hit a snare, or whatever. You simply literally cannot hit a bum note as a drummer. It's just not the same as being the lead singer, or playing solo piano. To pretend otherwise is farcical.
@@MrMikomi notes, chords, and keys aren't the issue for drummers. But bad timing, screwing up fills, coming out of fills at the wrong place, losing your place in the song, not nailing stops and changes, not getting intros or endings right, and a hundred other things are what can stand out to even non-musicians. And if you're one of the lead singers, like me, playing drums at the same time it opens up a whole other realm of possible screw ups.
I absolutely love the feeling before playing live. And the feeling while playing live is unmatched.
I have the opposite problem: I love playing live and can easily deal with the odd mistake, but I struggle to play against a click track when recording something at home. And it's not really about keeping time. I just find myself more prone to making mistakes when recording at home. I think I feed off the energy of live performance.
Had a fiddle player like that - his live playing was on a whole other level. So I took my Portastudio to gigs and then back in the studio transferred the 4-track recordings to reel-to-reel to re-record the rest of us. It took some effort to improve the sound quality (the internal pickup was painfully harsh) but the better performance was worth it.
Same, I'm fine until I'm trying to lay down a perfect track lol
Same here, I didnt started to record until way down the road so is not natural for me. Live is much more freedom for me
For what it's worth, I get this too sometimes. I can play and improvise well enough, just playing along. However, as soon I as I hit that record-button, it's like my brain says: "OK, this is it" and my playing suddenly goes down the drain.
For me, the trick is to simply hit record and play the bit over and over again in as many takes as it needs. Soon enough, you'll relax and do a good take that you can keep for the recording.
im also struggle the same as you. I always play live and resort to improvisation when the solo comes. When recording, i am struggling becoming honest to what should i play in the record..it is very limiting for me i think
As a guy who almost gave up on being a “paid” musician, I want to thank you for re-inspiring me and opening up possibilities around alternative modes of expression and monetization of same. Well done!!
sophe lloyd is doing quite well and she was pretty bad before, aside from her rest of your timeline is horrific, maybe that ukrain guy that improvises on the guitar is also good enough but majority are simply not
I played live a few times and the anxiety/fear of making mistakes as well as pre-show jitters just sealed the "I'm happy just being a composer" fate for me.
Great Geebz... love your reacts :) I have been played live since 7 years old... so, for me it´s confortable :)
*anxiEty. There is only one "a."
@@CharlesSoulzOfficial Thanks, Charles. One day I'll get on stage with some comfort :)
@@QS-si3cq Ugg, I write good :)
@@QS-si3cq you see! Even typing this poor soul has flop sweat issues! I'm not at his level but if you read my post, I too have mental impediments.
These are great insights, Mary! I have played guitar since high school and now, at the age of 70, I STILL have a really hard time playing in front of anyone. I know I’m “OK” but in my mind, I just suck. But I still love playing and singing for myself, and I guess that’s all that’s really important. Thanks for verifying my feelings as “normal”!
I've always been very confident singing in front of other people, but my god do I freeze up if I have to play piano no matter how much I practice
@@Chloe-cv6wm wow way to invalidate the original commenter and insult Mary! you sound like a ball at parties 🙄
This seems like a refreshing, candid, and brutally honest commentary. It gets two thumbs up IMO. Anyone who has ever done some recording knows that the camera 'eye', or 'hot' mic can send even some of the most seasoned musicians/vocalists off to multi-take territory. That said, it's definitely a different animal. Critics will always fill a space with vitriol. Some regularly working musicians would love to have the online presence you've worked so hard to cultivate. Cheers to you for having the guts to tell it like it truly is... Brava!
You are one of the handful of subscribed channels on my "go to" list for a good reason. Your style, grace, and sheer talent is well worth any support. Keep up the awesome work! ~ Your real fans love you!
Mary, this is a brilliant video. Thanks for putting "the nail on the head", I've never heard "stage fright" described in such a kind and focused way, I've been playing live for over 40 years and still afraid of making mistakes and forgetting lyrics on stage:)
It was a bit easier before everybody got a film camera in their pocket
I just make up lyrics when I forget them. Sounds pretty crazy I guess. Leaves people scratching their heads lol.
@@davemesker9600 i do the same thing, making a remix is better than not singing at all lol
In my last band, we'd always set-up a stand with song sheets for each set. When I played a song live but unprepared, I screwed up lyrics a few times; I sort of fade into an instrumental interlude, the pick up the verse next time around. Better than nothing...
One German singer (on stage with guitar and his voice) once included his admission in a song that prior to stepping out unto the stage, he would rather die, and then in front of the microphone, instrument in hand, *he knew this is the best place for him to be on earth, in front of people who like his music. (I'm not one musician) . His Name *Reinhard Mey* , if any German may find this comment.
I'm a RUclips performer who got most of her experience playing live. I prefer live because the energy of an audience is motivating. I make mistakes in live performances as well as videos but I don't care. I'm a person, not a machine, and overall, audiences still get a great performance or lesson.
Thats more like it. Plying music for fun and the same time enjoying it.
Wow...This so transparent!!! Thank you.
In my experience, and I hope this doesn’t sound pretentious, a lot depends on your relationship to the music itself. I started playing acoustic at 15 or so, and quickly picked up an obsession with Delta blues, and soon was playing the local bars for money all the way through school. I then decided to conquer new worlds and studied classical at a local university - but every time I tried to play it live I got flop sweat, and I couldn’t figure out why, until I realized that with classical,I was outside looking in, but with my trusty Martin in open G the reverse was the case. Moral: don’t play what you know. Play what you feel.
thank you, brother
Interesting perspective, thanks.
Well said. I have had trouble playing acoustic with friends but no difficulty with several hours in my home learning and practicing on my own.
Yes very true I was playing cover music in various bands for years and then when I was playing original music with the band that's on my channel there, I was much more comfortable playing my own basslines!
Similar experience however, in my opinion, classical does not forgive. If you mess up slightly in blues or jazz, as long as it is not too bad it won't be noticeable. Mess up slightly the tempo on a Bach counterpoint, or some notes on Mozart, or similar, and you will notice up immediately. Just my opinion.
One of the best lines I have ever heard was from a woodworking instructor William Ng who said “I’m more nervous than Mike Tyson in a spelling bee!” HYSTERICAL!!! Stage fright, performance anxiety is a real challenge to overcome. Thanks Mary. Love your channel!
Between the covid and being 77 I get out to live entertainment much more infrequently than I used to. So I enjoy music mostly on RUclips and truly appreciate all RUclips musicians. You guys sustain me 🙂👍👏
Sir, while I don´t deny covid may be dangerous at your age (as any other disease to be fair), please know 99% of it is cruel fear mongering propaganda. Hope you live as careless and free as possible, best wishes
@@jaconova Actually the Covid comment was more about the lack of concert music during the pandemic even though we did manage to see Molly Tuttle live. I just came to appreciate RUclips music videos a lot more. Thanks for the best wishes and we do have some live music on our docket.
Mary, as someone who played the trumpet in school (and foolishly set it aside after the birth of my daughter), I would never dream of calling a musician on RUclips a fraud. It doesn't matter if they've never played a life gig before or coming off of 50 years of touring on the road. All that matters is if you're making music or not. The only ones I'd call frauds are those who hide behind the tech to make it look like they're making music when all they do is showcase other's music and work as if it were their own. I guess it's the same difference between vocalists who chose to play tunes from their records and lip synch in a live concert versus ... well ... Milli Vanilli. (None of what they represented as "their work" was their work. And this was twenty or so odd years before RUclips.) I do not see any difference between a musician who choses to showcase their talents in a digital forum (like RUclips) versus playing live on a stage, in a stadium, inside some pub or coffee house, or even on the street in a parade (as I have done in all of those settings). And I've seen weirder venues to show off arts than that of RUclips or the up and coming and coming virtual spaces, like Fortnight.
As far as those "takes" you did to get it right, you know what I'd call that? Practice! Same as any musician that's had to play publicly has had to practice and rehearse. In that respect, you are no different from me and any other amateurs and professionals in our respective areas. (Well, you play a hell of a lot better on your chosen instruments than I do on mine.) Practice is like honing a knife. It gives us a chance to scrap away bits of metal until it's razor sharp.
I don't know if you're coming to the States. But if you do, please keep Phoenix, Arizona in mind. Just schedule your visit outside of the months of June through September. It's our hot season, and I don't want you to melt away.
Hey Mary, as always refreshingly honest and authentic. Good luck in your upcoming gigs. If I was in the UK, I’d go and see you play live.
This is one of the most candid videos that I've seen on RUclips ever, and I can relate to it. A few years ago I started doing live videos every Thursday night on Facebook in an effort to force myself to improve my playing. The concept was to become accountable every Thursday to try and learn new music. I am a mediocre guitar player at its very best, and time constraints prevent me from diligently practicing like I should, and the pressure of performing live weekely on social media was supported to help this.
Ultimately, the result was this: while I HAVE improved, I'm still mediocre. But what I DID learn was how to improvise and to roll with the punches, so to speak. About a year and a half ago I finally pulled of a major bucket list time: I played my first real gig. Since then my daughter and I have played a lot of live shows in the area. And I have being filmed live on social media to thank. I guess the point of my diatribe is to encourage people to use the tools at their disposal (such as RUclips videos) to help hone their craft. It's pretty awesome.
I hope you venture into the Northeast Mississippi area in your travels. I'd lice to see you live, and you'll find me to be a pretty encouraging (and forgiving) audience. Happy trails!
I feel the opposite. I feel so comfortable live, it forces me to immerse myself into the music and my thoughts flow into the piece. When recording i find myself falling into paralysis by analysis and when its multiple takes i feel the feeling may be lost
Same! Some of my best playing comes out when there's no warning or no structure to things! I'm convinced my brain functions at a higher level that way.
Same here!!! Totally comfortable on stage with a crowd, crap my pants in a studio.....Most likely because I was being paid to play live, studio I was paying to play... studio costs are scary! Lmfao
@@Bonzo_B You don't have "stage fright" bro. You got a case of "pocket fright". :D
@@Bonzo_B true dat
Yeah same thing with recording in the studio. The pressure to get it right sometimes makes me lose that original authenticity that comes from the soul. It’s hard to find a balancing point.
This is interesting and entertaining to hear the perspective from the opposite side of the fence. My studio material is mediocre at best, but I've played literally hundreds of shows. When I'm on stage, the communication between myself and my audience is what really turns me on, and I get in the zone. I've been told dozens of times that a person had no idea what I was about until they had seen me play live, and that, in the best possible way, they simply weren't prepared for the experience.
I've seen a few live performances in 1970 and 1971. They were Quicksilver Messenger Service, Poco, Procol Harum, It's a Beautiful Day and Jethro Tull. There is nothing like it. If they made a mistake, I never knew it. It was the energy and just watching a great band play live. I figure these musicians are so good that when the lead gets off track, the band can pick up quickly and no one knows a boo boo happened. Even now, when I see a group like AC/DC, and the lead goes off on his own, the band keeps playing, keep the beat until they somehow get the signal to back fully into the song. These guys are pros.
I've always been a live musician, I love feeding off the energy of the crowd. When the pandemic hit, I made my YT channel as an avenue to still create music. Anyone who thinks that YT musicians are not as "legit" as live musicians is flat out stupid. Oftentimes I found it even harder to record videos because of how much effort it took to be "perfect". In a live performance, I could make tons of mistakes and the audience would still be having fun with me. In a YT video, you make even a single mistake and people will eat you alive in the comments. Personally I love doing both, and they both have their own set of challenges. It all comes down to talent and dedication. Who cares if it took multiple takes. Who cares if you play in front of just a handful of people, or 10,000? We make music because we love it. That's all that matters.
Musicians notice the live mistakes, the crowd is mostly tone deaf, non-musical drunks.
nice, i agree with you, bit more under the HD 1080p microscope on the RUclipss aye, yeah for me, make the stuff that makes me happy and I feel is worthy of sharing, the rest takes care of itself.
there's something uniquely different about the live feel. Every moment is fleeting and a mistake is past just as quick as it happens. Mistakes aren't as much seen as mistakes but nuances. A small mistake is easy to forget about as soon as the next few notes play. On the other hand, the entire flow of the performance relies on you and your team, and regardless of how practiced you all are, how little the risk of it, there's always a chance for something to happen that will derail everything. Live performance is all about actively being in the center of attention and keeping the flow going, so that no mistakes have time to cement themselves.
In recordings, every playback is the exact same. Every small nuance will be in the exact same place and every mistake will always be there, exactly the same.
The apparent ease of "fixing" things, just do another take that hopefully will be better also doesn't help. It makes it very easy to get lost in trying to get a perfect take or constantly making adjustments that end with wasting a lot of time for little gain. A listener may not notice your little fumble on their first listen. But what about their second? Or third? or sixtieth? They can repeat the recording as many times as they would like, and with ever repeat, the small mistake that would be a fleeting moment, immediately forgotten if it was life on stage gets repeated over and over again.
And as the artist, you are keenly aware of every detail. You consciously put in all the effort to put them all there. But above all, you are also aware not only about everything in the music, but also everything that didn't go exactly as you imagined.
Live on stage only has the now, and everything that happens will be replaced by a new now, nothing is repeatable.
On recordings, every minute detail is here forever, just waiting to get noticed eventually.
Technically, studio recordings should be easier, there's lots more options and tools available to the artist. But in turn, the standards and expectations are also much higher. As much as live can't live up to the polish of recordings, recordings can't live up to the in the moment experience of live.
...I think got a bit lost in thought
@@StaticR I don't think you got lost in thought, you just pointed out that performing live and making youtube videos are different things. I think this videos polarising viewpoints are likely pushed to engage people into reacting to this idea. I like the notion of things being in the moment myself, not perfect, which is how I will communicate that to people when i share demos or ideas online in video format, mistakes at the time become finished possible ideas, but then I will put work into things that have a finished or consolidated ideas that I feel in myself are worthy musically and in production, but I am happy to share the process of that also. Music in its nature is a conversation you have through the medium of sound. Not everyone cares if your doing technically amazing musical things or production, all people really care about it is it A: good and B: do I like it, if that's done in the moment or in detail over time, doesn't really matter in the end. There is no right way, just the way that works I feel.
@@StaticR lol no worries man, I completely get what you're saying. Personally, I think recording is easier because I consider myself disciplined when it comes to riffs, I don't really ad lib when I record so it's always something I've practiced. But when I play live, with the energy of the crowd feeding me, I always try to ad lib new riffs just because it's so fun, hence I make more mistakes. But to me live playing will always be a better experience, there's just nothing like it
As a musician who has played live, this is a great video: many musicians today cannot even play their own instruments without computers, DAWs, etc. to help them out. I still make and record music, and I still play every note myself without 'enhancements'. To those who wonder what the best way is to be a musician, it's simple: practice. Great job.
end result is what matters,.....
What a refreshing and honest video! I love how you honor and respect all of the different kinds of artists. Each are valid and valuable in their own way. And your work on RUclips is superb. Thanks for everything you are doing, Mary!
If you've been playing for years and never played on stage, you're missing the most thrilling part of being a musician. Sharing our music with an audience is why we do this. Just do it folks!
It's not why I do it tbh, I can't stand playing live.
I have followed you a while here and think you’re amazing. I have absolutely no allusions to an idea that anything happens on RUclips in one try. I also have had a small bit of experience on stage and understand the feeling. You are really special Mary
The only really TRUTHFUL comparison between making music on RUclips versus in live performance is that they are …. DIFFERENT. Not that one is “better”, more musically “authentic”, more “real”, or always “easier” (or harder). Recorded versus live involves such different challenges, I think the differences actually outnumber the similarities. Even the obvious similarity of the actual playing/singing performance has different thresholds of importance. Recordings “need” to have as perfect a performance as possible because they exist for posterity, while a less-than-perfect live performance can provoke the same level of audience joy. The live audience is forgiving of the performance quality because the excitement of “being there” more than makes up for any imperfection (in the playing, in the mix, etc.).
Tim Pierce touched upon this subject. I agree Ray Lowe. Interestingly there are musicians who “specialize” in recording in a studio. “Pressure” ? You are expected/hired to come up with improvised music that will be recorded for all time. Yes an engineer or mixer can “fix” a mistake but….
Then there are road musicians who take the music recorded by studio musicians and play it live night after night.
Some like Steve Lukather excel at both functions.
There is pressure in both areas.
I think Mary is referencing YT players who are not operating at the level Mr Pierce talks about.
@@JohnLnyc I think 50 years from now, people will look at the amount of albums Luke played on, and then look at the amount of time he was on tour with Toto, and think he was a pair of identical twins. Just an incredible musician, with a truly stellar career. ✌️
A pro musician who plays live as a living will be able to record without much issue. The opposite is not true. Many great session musicians learned their chops on the stage and more importantly they learned how to position themselves against the beat/groove and in the mix. There are different challenges with recording, yes but if you can play well consistently live then you are objectively better than someone who can play well in some takes when recording. This comment is not about Mary who we all know has played live for years and kicks ass. It is definitely true of myself who can play some things well after multiple tries but finds that difficult live (I don't play live much/really at all).
Edit: Also, people like Tim Pierce etc. shown here are obviously excellent musicians. I'm not suggesting otherwise just that one of the above tends to imply the other (pro live => ability to record) whereas the converse is true less of the time. I think those shown in the video are also modest about their live skills as hinted at the end of the video.
I think the hardest thing(s) to master for a great live-performing musician transitioning to DIY RUclips are the non-playing skills. These “essentials” include mastering camera technology, lighting, multi-track syncing and video editing, and multi-track audio mixing and mastering.
@@spiderbabybill I think you may be missing something. Session players are required to either play music as written or to create musical parts. Or both.
You do not often see these players on tour. They spend most of their time in studios.
Touring musicians on the other hand recreate music that has been created (usually by session players) and thrive on the road.
Are they interchangeable. Some are some aren’t. Rarely are session players out on the road or touring players in studios. Part of it is choice. Both roles can be grinds. Some would rather be near home others love the excitement of playing live on the road.
I would say each requires special talents.
Making mistakes is not really tolerated in either role. Yes, mistakes happen but no producer in the studio is going to tolerate much more than a “flub or two” and no headliner is going to tolerate even less than that in concert.
Lotta good stuff here, Mary, well explained. Two things come to mind: 1) Miles Davis quote that there are no wrong notes, it all depends on what you play next that determines whether a note worked or not; 2) the Grateful Dead, were a phenomenal band that could, at times, be a hit or miss experience - ie the notes played next weren’t helping the previous ones played. But their playing was a constant flow of creativity, and they could just as easily come up with absolute brilliance moments after sounding quite flawed.
Living down on the Delaware shore, lots of cool venues in Lewes and Dewey.
I love your audio quality, and your voice works quite well with the mic you're using.
I appreciate this so much! Playing live is harder than most people think. You have to live with those mistakes and carry on!
i hadn't watched any of your videos in a while and won't be able to join you in bristol but will always be your fan whether you sell out wembley stadium more often than adele or not.
Depends on the person. I get those Freddie Mercury vibes and just wanna play non-stop live.
No it's not! It's all in how you deal with it. It's a learning process. After a few gigs any nervousness should go away once you start to play. Get into that groove and take the audience for a ride... they'll love you for it. 😉
There are many different levels of talent, I would ask the guy that taught me the most on guitar how much he had to practice, he said he never had to practice, I thought he was kidding. About the third time I asked he got a little testy " I never had to practice, the first song I picked out was the Claw by Jerry Reed,,, took a couple of hours". Mike Headrick,, plays anything with strings but loves peddle steel
For me it has been easier. Whatever screwups happen, will stay there and be forgotten. What you do on a recording or a video that you didn’t notice at that time will linger on and haunt you forever. Also people understand that problems occur in live performances and that’s a part of it being live. It’s more important that you can just somehow keep the show going on. Sometimes some showstoppers come along but the more experience you have, you might be able to deal with them while performing, like Tool’s Maynard James Keenan grabbing a troublemaker who got to the stage and still sing the song simultaneously. Sometimes there will be problems ruining the entire song since they didn’t figure what the problem was early enough like Van Halen’s Jump in Greensboro 2007 because of the guitar being in the wrong key. Or sometimes it’s fixed just before the song has ended like Jarre’s Oxygene 2 in Paris, having the Memorymoog fail just after the firts part. No matter if they screw up live, they will still have audience in their shows and they will have fans.
I have had really bad problems through my performances where it has seemed impossible to fix it while performing but somehow have done it. And quite often the audience hasn’t even noticed something was wrong until seeing that the performer is pulling some cables off and plugging them again. As the video said, stage performance also takes improvisation to know what to do when things don’t go well. And with ecperience enough, people might not be even able to tell.
I wish everyone performing live could experience the joy I feel each and every time I have the privilege to play in front of people. Mistakes are inevitable and shows we're all human. It's also a great way to be put back in the present and in the moment since virtually all mistakes occur when we're not in that place
The joy of real improv, regardless of genre, is that a competent musician can make a mistake and turn it into beauty. (While an incompetent musician can take a beautiful phrase and turn it into a missed take.)
I'm so glad I responded. If not for the inate wisdom inherent in what the gentleman's father told him, then for the wisdom in yours. Mistakes are a walkway to greatness. Even if it is or especially if it is when we are using them as a guide to personal transformation. I know that if I am present and aware, I am not putting the responsibility of my words or actions on my brothers and sisters.
Very well said! Sharing what's inside of you through the guitar is something hard to put into words, but it can be life changing. The guitar is an amazing conduit, almost like a weapon at times, at other times an instrument of healing.
well said, plus you get to purge whatever feelings you have stuck inside, some good some bad but all with emotion
This video and the resulting comments really took me back... I had kind of forgotten part of my guitar learning experience waay back in the late 70's, not long after Eddie released Eruption, which was 78 if memory serves.
I was with that friend we all have, that started learning guitar at the same time I did but seemed to pick everything up super fast, learned cool new tricks seemingly out of thin air, and who could listen to a song and immediately play it. We loved and hated the guy, but mostly loved. Usually.
We had been learning eruption, and with his help I had gotten it down pretty righteously.
We had a gig coming up and I was nervous as hell. I was rambling on about it, probably driving him nuts. Finally he said "so what's the worst that can happen?"
I said "I make a horrible , obvious mistake and ruin the song".
He said we all make mistakes all the time. Even Eddie did. You just keep going and incorporate the mistakes into the song.
I told him he was nuts, Eddie didn't make mistakes!
He laughed and asked if I had eruption memorized. I said you know I do. So he popped a cassette into our player and fast forwarded it until he was satisfied, then he cranked it up. It was a live version of eruption.
It started off perfectly, but about 30 seconds in Eddie took a side road... It sounded intentional but I had heard the flub that had sent him down this road... Eddie had made a mistake!
My buddy had 2 more live versions... And one of them was so off the rails Eddie HAD to be hammered. But he never lost the rhythm and he made whatever it was he played fit. It was an art form in itself, really. I actually couldn't tell whether he had goofed or just decided to improvise. Which is the whole point really.
This is all obvious to most of us now. But in that time and place it was a revelation, to me. I learned that even the "gods" screwed up... And I learned the key to hiding my flubs. I think that's the day my stage fright began to die. Funny, the little things that make huge impressions on our lives.
Hi Mary, I started my career at 17 in 1986 performing live, and I agree completely that filming yrself is a great way to work on your stage presence. Your performance videos are always consistently great. Finally, musicians who have enough time to openly criticize others over random levels of virtuosity do so because they have *nothing else to offer*. F the haters. All the best.
As a RUclips musician myself, I can say that hearing my own mistakes when playing & singing live on streams and concerts terrifies me, but no feeling can compare with the "hurricane of emotions", when you reveal your inner world in real time to your audience.
If you are a musician and you haven't tried it yet, just go for it and you will never regret.
@@kaaskaaskaaskaas Im not saying about playing live once. Everyone f*ck up on their first live. Starting the path of a live musician is what i mean.
@@kaaskaaskaaskaas if it was for everyone, we would have 7 billion musicians))
Playing live is actually a collaborative experience between the performer and the energy of the audience. Together you are creating a special moment that will never exist again.
I absolutely loved this video! It made me laugh at the beginning because I've seen enough of your videos to know that you can definitely perform live, and if you have nerves, it doesn't show.
I am a 58-year-old musician and songwriter that didn't get to the point of being able to play and sing my songs until my early 30s. When I got to that point, I usually only ever played live, as recording yourself was not worth the effort in those days, unless you had a full band that was willing to pitch in together to make a demo tape.
I usually just went to some public place that was not too noisy and started playing my guitar until a few curious people stopped to listen. Then I usually ended up giving them a bit of a show, but it was unofficial and free, so nobody cared if I messed up something. Usually, if I mess up in public, I'll just ignore it and keep going and usually nobody notices but me.
Finally, a few years ago, I started making RUclips videos of myself playing piano and singing as a way to leave something for my kids, but that led to me beginning the process of building a recording studio, which is getting close to the point of making much better videos of all the new music I have written. So, I will finally be adding new content to my channel for the first time in a couple years!
For me, watching your videos, and those of Tim, Adam, Paul Davids, and Rick Beato, and really all of the RUclips creators, have really inspired and educated me to be able to reach much higher than I was planning to do when I started a RUclips channel. Thanks for that and keep up the great work!
I feel lucky to have played and recorded in every situation one can imagine . I love playing live . When I was hired to record on prerecorded music . The computer was not inspiring . Infact , the computer is nonproductive to creating something ... Art and music is a human thing . A computer can't record the heart .
One of the best live acts I’d seen was this past April in New York City when I saw Sparks. Ron and Russell Mael, both in their 70’s, played unbelievably tight and Russell moved across the stage at the Town Hall in an amazingly adept and entertaining way. Ron and the band were super and nearly perfect in their musicianship. These guys-Ron and Russell-and their band are incredible live players.
'The Sparks Brothers' (2021) documentary - was excellent.
Keep having fun. Love your post, don’t quit.
My band recently released our first album. We made the idiotic decision to record each song as one continuous take with all parts recorded simultaneously to a single track. It turned out pretty good, but unfortunately, while audiences usually forgive little mistakes (and sound issues) in a _live_ context, listeners tend to be far less forgiving with _recorded_ media, even when it's recorded _live._ As such, a 13-track album, lasting just under one hour, required literally _hundreds_ of total takes because...as is the case with most RUclips musicians...we definitely _can_ pull of solid _live_ performances, but recordings that last _forever_ (not to mention listeners and viewers) tend to be less forgiving about art's most _human_ component, imperfection.
Just watched a video about Black Sabbath first album. Done straight off - it was their live show. Beatles, Please, Please Me similar. Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica similar.
@@cuebj I will freely admit that my band is not on the same level as any of those you have named. Having said that, while I'm quite happy with our first album, I think it probably would have gone better if we simply recorded an actual performance...in front of an audience...rather than simply recording "live" in the studio. The sterility of the environment affected our energy and focus such that it took many attempts in the _studio_ to pull off what we consistently pull of in front of an audience. You know?
I think all of the RUclips musicians are excellent. I love watching all the covers. Your video of Sultans was brilliant! My wife talked me into performing live with her a year ago and it’s been quite an adventure. We perform for senior centers, fairs, and a few farmers markets and festivals. It’s nerve racking whether you perform for 3 people or 100. We are by no means professionals. But it has been a fun hobby for my wife and I to do together. Keep up the great work!!
I always enjoy your storytelling. And of course your music :)
I am always nervous before live shows, but that is perfectly normal. I was watching a group last weekend, and got called up and asked to join them for a couple of tunes. I had my acoustic guitar with me because I thought I'd "fill in the gaps" between their sets. Anyways, the first song went smoothly enough, but I had never played the second song before. They told me the chords, and we got right to it. After the second chorus, the singer gave me that "nod." You know... the "hey, go ahead and take a solo, guitar guy" nod. I didn't do too great, and didn't even manage to stay "in the pocket." But when the solo was over, I smiled and shrugged and everyone clapped. Eh, what else can you do? It was still fun!
One of my favorite videos is of you and Leo doing the metal version of Sultans of swing. Great video and keep up the good work.
I'm actually MORE stressed recording something on video at home then doing a Live performance. It's a different kind of stressed, but I strongly prefer the butterflies in the stomach shortly before going on stage than the anxiety of people being able to judge every pixel or frequency on video.
Same, always the same!!
There's something about hitting that record button that makes nerves/mistakes/fluffs happen.....so annoying
Same here. I tend to make more mistakes when recording.
Agreed! There's no freedom when recording. But playing live, it feels like freedom. I play to enjoy, not play to make a chore. Also I don't care if I make mistakes. It's all about fun and experience. But I don't play live anymore, since I am not more in a band or lets say jam buddies.
Wow. It helps so much! When you are an intermediate guitarist and trying to improve than seeing those perfect videos, nailing those hard song and you think... why do I bother. It really shows that they are struggling and putting just as much effort into as I'm trying and helps me to not give up. This is a bit more positive side of social media when people come out not just to impress us for views but to inspire us for the better. Thank you!
Charlie Robbins.. a good example of that.. he may be well equipt in his abilities to play live.. the amount of cuts.. camera angle changes ect. At the end of the day.. it's a video. A performance.. just as an album from any band has multiple takes of parts where they fuck up 😂..
Checkout Estepario siberiano.. this dude is a machine 👍
Good point! I feel nervous about posting live footage of me playing because of those videos of pretty girls singing like angels in their bedrooms. But maybe my videos can inspire people to play in bands at dive bars again. Hmmm
Barabas
Remember most people only display their best video's, the edited ones.
Most professionals don't sing every single note perfectly on any night, because we're human.
I think live concerts are better then studio CDs ,live stuff is more human because of imperfections.
Keep playing ,keep studying, and be original.
Be blessed
@@anatommyandcharvananirvana3348
Believe in yourself.
Imho it's being original that counts the most.
Remember Yoko Ono has fan's.
Some people don't like her but some do.
Keep pushing.
Peace
Honesty and candor really appreciated that.
I love most forms of live music, from festivals to small rooms. But, there is an intimacy watching well played and well edited online music that is very difficult to capture in a live venue.
That's odd, i 've seen many videos of Adam Neely playing live, and he always seems so chill. I've been playing live for about 13 years now mostly at small venues and clubs, i don't get nervous at all in these situations, but on the rare occasions where i play to a big crowd (10k+ ppl) i get a good type of anxiety, like i just wanna get in the stage and rock their socks off! these situations are kinda stressfull, i get anxious from waking up till after the gig is done, but afterwards i feel like i'm in heaven! so i'm kinda addicted to that rush, the bigger the crowd the better i play! So yeah, maybe some ppl aren't fit to play big concerts to big crowds, is that a bad thing? absolutely not, but i think for some ppl this anxiety is something that can be overcomed.
Mary - Fantastic! That was the best description of the differences between current musician methodologies I've heard yet. And you are RIGHT ON POINT! I have been playing percussion for years and I always have some "stage fright", right up until the first song is done. After that, it's all "Bloody Wonderful" as you Brits would say! Thank you for all your work on behalf of all of us!
As an accordionist I never got over my fear of playing live. I learned to tolerate it by doing competition in front of judges who were professional musicians. I just focused on a spot on the wall and played my piece perfectly, as I was taught, then left the stage and waited for the results.
The accordion! I wish I would've had the gutz to learn that. That's a blast.
I've always loved your honesty, Mary. Fantastic video!
All my support Mary! I like to play for myself and that's it. My friends keep trying to talk me in to playing a local coffee shop. Maybe I'll do that(maybe not lol). I think a lot of the people who are judgmental on these videos can't even play so don't worry about them.
Thanks for talking about this. I did hundreds of small concerts before Covid. During lockdown I became a RUclipsr and saw some amazing growth on my channel. Recently, I started doing some live concerts again. They've all been small but it's been cool because some people have been showing up that found me on RUclips. It is hard though because I've recorded about 200 songs on my channel but I can probably only play about 20 of those live. That makes handling requests hard. Do you have thoughts on how to deal with this?
I have thoughts on how to deal with that.
Just tell 'em that you are prepared to play about 20 songs ( and by mere misfortune of timing, their request not being on today's/tonight's list), and please keep coming back ("I so look forward to seeing you here!!") - because it's very likely that you will cycle in the song that they have requested, etc...
Hmm... I think that would be a good reply?
🙂
I am THE WORST request musician, BTW.
Not a musician but a music lover for sure and especially a sucker for live music. I think just being honest would come a long way. Dude if u have ~200 songs how tf can anybody reasonably expect u to remember all of them, not to mention be able to play them by heart! I like to think that if I'd request a song and the artist tells me "sorry dude i haven't practiced it and don't feel prepared to play it live" I wouldn't think any less of them and actually be thankful for their honesty. Much more it humanizes u. I think in any profession, u "play" what u prep. Everything takes preparation and practice, and in any profession, u can't possibly know all the "pieces" by heart.
Idk just my opinion
@@kais.597 Yeah, that's cool. I appreciate your perspective. It seems like some of my favorite musicians (like Tommy Emmanuel) can just play anything that someone requests. I guess I am not to that point yet and I probably need to spend more time practicing my songs and less time recording new ones. The RUclips algorithm is always pushing me to record more music so it's hard to be both a RUclipsr and do live shows.
i probably would just be honest or if you have very persistent audience, say you do not remember and just offer something else instead, maybe an improvisation if you like hat kind of thing... TBH, with a fundus of over 200 songs, you should be forgiven to not have everything ready out of the box. Not even big professional bands probably can do that.
I give huge credit to singers and musicians who play live in concert doing so many shows on tour. Especially the ones who make it look so effortlessly.
Thank you for this. I haven't sung live since I was 15 years old, haven't played an instrument live since I was 26, due to crippling stage fright. I appreciate you taking the time to break down and classify differing performance styles.
It's been a long time since I've played live. One thing I learned during my time in my last band is how important it is to completely mesh with the other members. We made mistakes all the time live. But we were able to cover each others mistakes. Can't tell you how many time our drummer caught something and made minor changes to his fills or changed his cymbal parts to cover those minor mistakes.
100% true. Live sound is always brutal loud, confusing, with drunk audience, so nobody notice. Sorry my english
Mary - it was nearly impossible for me NOT to click the "subscribe" button after hearing you speak so eloquently regarding music, RUclips, and live gigs! This was fantastic! You did a phenomenal job spelling it all out for those not in the know! LOVE IT!
The only time I played live was at my school concert 30+ years ago, and I've only become more fearful as I've got older. I've great admiration for anyone who can get up on stage and perform.
I stumbled upon this video and really appreciated the honesty. I LOVE playing live!!! It gets me going and I can't wait to hit the stage. My largest gig was only a few thousand and I played it the same as when we played bar crowds of 30 or 40.
And in saying that, we all have our part to play whether it is live or in home, it doesn't matter. Just play and enjoy the amazing gift that God has given you.
Only “a couple thousand,” no big flex or anything! 😂
I remember back in 1978 I was blown away by Mark's Sultans of Swing. I'd never heard anything like it. While I'm a classic metal head guitarist primarily, Mark has always been my ultimate guitar god, ahead of even Angus and Eddie (RIP ED).
I picked apart every video I could find until I finally learned how to play Sultans, and it was a chore- you couldn't go buy a tab book with the song neatly laid out, at least not yet.
Once I had the song down well enough to play live, and the other singer in our little band had the vocals down, (I was the other vocalist but Sultans was nowhere near my wheelhouse) we covered the song frequently for about six months, then we kind of packed it away and forgot about it... Because of me. I had been playing for about 9 years at that point, and sultans still just KILLED my hands. My knuckles would swell up like I'd punched a brick wall. Mark is a freak, a wonderful freak but a freak nonetheless lol. He can do things with a guitar that would make Jimi blush.
Thank you for this, Mary! It's inspiring. Playing live has always been a bugbear for me, but I try to remember that the audience *wants* me to do well, and I try to tap into that hopeful energy when I play. Of course, usually I'm distracted by my sweaty palms and the squeaking of my picking fingers on the strings due to 40 years of poor technique, and then I forget to tap my foot to help keep the rhythm, so I wind up rushing. More than once, I've apologized to an open mic audience for playing "Dust in the Hurricane" instead of "Dust in the Wind." 🤦♂
Boy I am with you there! I don't remember having too much problem performing live with my garage band back in the '60's. I stopped playing for years then started again and found I fell apart playing solo for friends and family until I asked them to just go about their activities and ignore me. That has worked really well and now I am getting much better with their attention on my playing. At 75 years old, I am now having as much fun as I did when I was a teen.
I am both a RUclipsr and performer like any other musician today, recording helps the performing as you know potentially what to head for, even if they’re totally different things. Doing multiple takes allows you to let yourself loose a bit while on stage as it’s all rehearsed in advance. I’ve turned to recording more now to deal with problems in the world and that music is a tool that releases positivity while providing inspiration to others, but also that inspiration is fed more directly when poi play live.
Love this, also 14 takes is nothing, especially when playing with someone else. A lot of the time live and recorded music are different beasts, it can often be physically impossible to play a recorded piece live, a musician that just makes finished pieces will be often in the mindset of optimising the piece to sound good as a recorded piece, not having to consider if its possible to be played live (many times it isn't- impossible chord changes etc). So even if you are solely a RUclips musician, whether or not you are making a video of yourself performing or just putting out an audio requires a totally different approach.
That's true, I've gone through over 100 takes trying to get a guitar solo right, and I'm still unhappy with it but at one point you have to stop and wonder if you're trying to push things too far, at the end of the day, depending on the music you do, a bit of sloppiness add to the natural element of music, which is quite absent on modern music that's focused on polishing performances and even editing them with time alignment and auto-tune and stuff to make them sound perfect. I've always felt that's one of the reasons why a lot of people feel more drawn to older music, it wasn't afraid to letting a hiccup or two to end up on the record, there's nothing wrong with that.
Live performances rely upon and make use of the improvisational "Persian Flaws" that occur in front of an audience. In many cases, they are what make a live performance unique and special in the minds of the audience. In many cases, and in my experiences from being on stage, they often create little surprises that thrill the audience, if you can carry them off well.
I've always felt the studio product is an entirely different thing than the live product. In the studio setting, it's whatever it takes to capture the vision. As Bono once said "it's a bit like a movie production, so many people involved". Live the band is left to adapt what was manufactured in the studio and come up with a reasonable recreation of it that can be performed. This goes back to the Beatles later albums, but carried on from late 1960s to present day. This is part of why I prefer very stripped down arrangements (studio and live) to bridge the gap... Only other thing I will say, if you listen to a guitarist like Molly Tuttle or Billy Strings. There really is no gap between live performance and studio. To think someone who requires 10 takes to get a song right then can't perform that live is on even ground as a musician with someone like Molly or Billy really does a disservice to them and their incredible musicianship. Does it matter in terms of being able to build a fan base in 2022? Probably not. Maybe that is the only metric that's going to be important to a lot of aspiring performers.... Then you're at a family/friends gathering and everyone knows you're a successful musician RUclipsr. You're asked to play one of your songs and you say "oh I don't play live". Yes, of course they are likely going to loose a bit of respect and some will see you as a fraud.... From a perspective, they'll be right.... But think of all the performers who don't write their own material... going back to Elvis. From a perspective that's a fraud too. Entertainment is about smoke and mirrors, but in the end just finding a way to make an audience feel something and connect with what you do, that's what it takes to a success.
I have the opposite issue. I freeze up in the studio because i try to be too perfect.......Taylor Hawkins called it "red light fever".
Playing live is absolutely zero problem for me, and where i thrive.
I think though that if you are purely a live musician these days, that getting an audience to remember you is quasi impossible. If success is based on audience creation and retention, then you must almost exclusively expect any successful artist, mainstream or RUclips, to be able to keep track of an audience.
It means the quality you need for success isn't playing live, it is retaining an audience. But... playing live is usually correlated to your actual skill, as to play a great performance, you need to be in touch with your song and yourself, which IS playing live.
And so we may find ourselves in a time where many people get good at retaining an audience, but less good at expressing themselves faithfully, human-ly, skillfully. Which to me is the whole attraction of an artist. Its what makes them transcend being simple performers. It's why they have weird haircuts, why they have odd opinions, trouble making friends, and why their songs are so poignant. They have lived the struggle, LIVEd the music. So to be a truly awesome, and **reknown** artist, a balance must be struck, I believe, between retaining an audience, and being an actual exceptional human being, living your performance, yourself, in the moment. Which is hard.
as a team player and concert performer, I can say that RUclips has helped me a lot to look at myself from the side. In particular, I learned how to record in one take. It was after several video playthrough that I started to record songs in one take during regular studio sessions.
Mary, your advice to us " frightened" musicians is timely and inspirational. With cannabis legal and accepted now days, a couple hits before a preformance seems to help me personally. After my third tune solo, I may open up and be ready for another set of tunes. The audience really doesn't care if there are a few mistakes during a live gig in front of a mike. A video is a different thing and must take a lot of confidence and work. Cheers, my friend. Bob in Montana.
Awesome video Mary! A most excellent, sincere response to those in the comments who'd ever dare challenge your authenticity. Once again, you've nailed it! PLEASE, COME TO SAN FRANCISCO to play a live gig! 😎🤘🎸❤️
Excellent idea
Mary, love your content and the humble way you deliver each and every theme. Playing live has always been scary for me, but I have to keep telling myself, the audience wants to hear what you are playing. And as for the comment below, nail the intro and ending, and just enjoy everything in between. I wish I could attend one of your shows. You are an amazing talent/musician and mentor. Thank-You ! God Bless !
Thank you for this. I have to record my playing for exams and spend an entire weekend making recordings. This makes me feel good to know that I am not alone.
This is awesome! Thanks Mary! As a drummer of 35 years playing live and in the studio I can relate. The adrenaline rush live is unexplainable. But at same time the studio can be the same because you don’t want to be the weak link and not get the vibe. My 2 cents is be yourself and always play live to keep you sharp and always be rehearsed not matter who you are playing with and pretend someone is watching. BTW love Tim Pierce!
I have the most admiration for the musicians that do "one take" videos. I don't need to see 5 cameras shots because the music is still what i'm there for. You can notice when others do 1000 takes and although it sounds good you can't help but wonder about the live performance. The one from beggining to end without cuts.
Gotta love the Spiritbox one takes!
Well said Mary. I'm a live musician with 30 tears of gigs and for the life of me I couldn't do what you do in a month of Sundays, but I'd love to be able to. I love your videos. Any chance you'd play in Ireland some time?
I did the studio only music thing for decades; now I'm trying the audience thing. Just do it, and you'll become better in the studio. Helps a ton!
Congrats Mary, this is a respectful and spot on statement on the all so many ways we can work as a musician... Tim's post are funny in a profound way (kind'a hilarious)... and you Mary are awesome... anyway... keep on bestowing the world with your high energy output and your loving and entertaining stories... thank you!
I find it quite a bit easier to play live than in the studio. In the studio I'm more worried about a perfect take. I guess I'm back assward.
@@ScreamingStevenHoward it all depends on your psyche - In younger days I was a live drummer and I had nightmares about failing on stage... the perfection trap... today I focus on my guitars and keys as a composer and producer and I feel relieved from that pressure... I heard that hypnoses can help (like with flight angst)... but I am looking forward to go back on stage next year... with a different attitude - I will try to focus on connecting with the audience and simply enjoy being there... on stage ... for fun and quality time...
@@svengordonwilliams5152 great mentality to have now
@@svengordonwilliams5152 I wish well.
Thank you for making this video, it helped me release a lot of anxiety. I've played live most of my musician career, although it's just a hobbie for me, but lately I've been trying to record a song, pushed to make it "in one take". I've been feeling I'm not talented for music because I'm not able to do that, I get much more nervous when recording that playing live.
Whenever you go to a concert to see your favorite band you immediately notice the song sounds different from the recorded version. In the studio you have many takes trying to make it perfect. Live is always different but it’s not supposed to be perfect ever
just played a great winery gig. So fun, mistakes are part of it. The crowd raved at our setlist, enthusiasm, and at times, great playing. But there were lots of mistakes, like switching lyrics around, bass player jamming the chorus in the wrong key, and sweating in the heat so bad i could not open my eyes at times, and so what! It was awesome.
If you have ever seen Rush live, it's amazing how they nail every song, every note, every time. That's why I love that band. Of course they were together for decades.
Spot on assessement! great that you're touring, Love the buzz of live performing 😀
My records are far from perfect, despite I use to arrange, compose many things and record them. Usually I practice something new for 30 min, then it takes me 1-4 takes. When you do less takes it has something more expressive but imperfect, for example the first time you have an idea an record it, you will never repeat it with the same intention... intention is perfect at first, but technique is imperfect, with practice technique becomes perfect but is harder to keep the intention... just my experience.
I am a paid musician . I make lots of mistakes playing live, but I learned how to re arrange the music so that it always fits. I usually get some nerves at the beginning but what works for me is to just play to my instrument and ignore the crowd.
"Ignore the Crowd"....Try that more often....
I´m an idiot with a Bass guitar...
@@Jpeg13759 There is no such thing as an idiot with a bass guitar.
@@davidrandal7476 If you can´t play it, not at all, just wishing you could ?
That Ibanez hangs on my wall, dying a silent death...
@@Jpeg13759 Anybody can learn if you just start doing it.
I love both playing live (simple songs) and challenging myself in my room (impossible songs)
But I'll be honest, doing 100 takes to get a solo is waaay less fun than playing live, even if it's simple.
If you are a part of one group but not the other I would recommend trying both!!
Never heard of a 100% solo, never thought they were 100% the same, as people like to move around.
Thank you for the post. Loved it. Hope the bristol gig went well
Interesting video, you make a lot of good points!
Best of luck with the tour! 🙂
Very interesting illumination of perspective! Thanks so much, Mary! You are such a powerful artist!
Once I hit "record" button, I lose up to half of my usual playing skill. Especially at the beginning of each take, so if possible I prefer to start with some noodling and later cut it in the edit. But when I play to some audience, I just stick to what I really know well and rehearsed several dozens if not hundreds of times. Rehearsing really helps.
Practice is key to playing your guitar precisely but no matter how much you sing , the singing part is never precise
@@jeffclaterbaugh3962 That is not true at all. Voice is instrument too and you can improve your control over it with practice.
Great video! People watch "reality shows" and don't even realize that sometimes there are multiple takes. Anyone with an eye and who knows editing/camera can see it. Then there's the actors receiving Oscars for a performance which might have taken ten takes and editing of bits and pieces because the actor could not remember their lines. But people still say "what a great actor". It doesn't and shouldn't negate their talent in any way; and not all actors can do broadway. So what! It's already something to be able to perform and put yourself out there. And when filming you still have quite a huge audience and feel pressure. The problem is that musicians have always been expected to perform live and don't get the luxury of editing and retakes as much as actors. Enya has never toured and only performed live a few times over the years and it doesn't take away from her incredible talent. My two cents.
I LOVE this! This video is excellent at explaining why RUclips editing isn't such a problem. People who say edited RUclips videos are "fake" may as well not bother watching any movies or listen to any studio recordings of music. How many takes do they think is required before a final album or movie is released? If there wasn't any editing, every movie would suck (except for the bloopers of course...lol). I fail to understand why a video on RUclips is subject to such ridiculous scrutiny regarding editing when just about everything you see in the movies, television, etc. is already edited. In fact, a lot of RUclipsrs will include gaffs and bloopers just to prove they AREN'T perfect the first time.
Also, properly edited content that includes only the best takes, makes the live performances that much better. It sets the bar pretty high for the performer to measure up to, so it adds stress for them, but when the live performance closely matches the recording, it's that much better (how many times have people gone to a concert that "sucks" because the studio recording was so heavily edited it's near impossible to duplicate live).
My words to the armchair critics -- "Think you can do it better? You try it". Once the reality sets in of how difficult it really is, they will (hopefully) recede into the woodwork, never to be seen again :). Oh...and I'd like to see what they say to your face when they can't hide behind the keyboard. Those who use internet anonymity are the REAL frauds -- they wouldn't say half of what they post if they were out in the real world.
Your collaboration with Josh on Sultans of Swing was amazingly awesome...your thougts were on your face all the time....😂🥰👍🏻
Your videos are always interesting and informative and your style so relaxed that I’ve never even consider that you might have done multiple takes of specific sections for clarity or to accent a particular point.
I enjoy your honesty and succinctness.
Long may you run ! ! !
Hi Mary Spender, thank you for explaining the u tuber musicians, and the live stage show musicians. I do love your music and showmanship too.