Playing the saxophone Stage Fright

[not a perfect sax player]

Repetition is mastery. This is as true for performance as it is for scales and arpeggios.

There are a couple things you can do. Take deep breaths, think of performing as a job you do in service of the music, and not an exposure of your soul. Or other parts LOL. And remember this is not a life critical activity, no one”s life or safety depends on what you do on stage. Have fun and make beauty.

Welcome to the Cafe!!!

Yes I do practice scales and have a few stock tunes that I know really well and as soon as it comes to playing in public it all goes very pear shaped.
Thanks for the advice though,will give myself a good talking too.
Cheers Vern.

 

[not a perfect sax player]

Yes I do practice scales and have a few stock tunes that I know really well and as soon as it comes to playing in public it all goes very pear shaped.
Thanks for the advice though,will give myself a good talking too.
Cheers Vern.

There are no hidden dark secrets. Everyone experiences the same reaction as you until they get accustomed to audiences. The only way to overcome is do things that put you in front of people.

I thought I may have chosen the wrong career field when I selected engineering and went to college versus being a hands on technician. Facility Engineers end up managing projects, giving presentations before managers and clients, meeting with strangers, and etc. At first it was difficult, but as I gained experience, it became more comfortable.

Hang in there. If nothing else where you are at, look for welcoming venues to practice being in front of people, such as playing sax in nursing and old folks homes. I have a portable sound system, a 15 inch powered speaker system and use my netbook with backing tracks. Doing it on a hobbyist basis, did it a couple years prior to Covid, about once a week, a different home each week. Plus since the mid 1980's, have led singing in various churches I attended.

Now I have no fear of getting in front of people. Hang in there, look for venues that put you in front of people to read / present / sing / play / etc. Over time you will overcome your shyness in front of people.

Good luck! -- George

Thanks very much for your comments, yes I can see that all forms of public performances would be very beneficial to me, I think I'll have to just push out of my comfort zone and get out there.
Cheers Vern.

 

[not a perfect sax player]

I agree with TenorViol. You'll get used to playing before others and alongside folks that enjoy playing as much as you.
You may be presented with opportunities within tunes that offer solis or solos that may last only a few measures. Experiences such as those will increase your confidence.
I played at church a few years ago. The song lasted over four minutes, but it honestly felt like less than a minute. I practiced a few times in the weeks leading up to it that also helped me get used to the view.

Yes that's a very good point about doing little solos and working my way up to gain confidence with a full tune. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Cheers Vern.

 

[not a perfect sax player]

Happens a lot, the question is what types of situations are you in? Playing for family and friends? Open jams? I think there's different ways to approach it depending on what you're doing.

Happens a lot, the question is what types of situations are you in? Playing for family and friends? Open jams? I think there's different ways to approach it depending on what you're doing.

It's mainly in front of friends and is really frustrating not being able to get through tunes that I know really well, but overall it would be just nice to play in any situation.

 

[PigSquealer]

Hi everyone, this is my first post so please be gentle with me. I've been playing alto and tenor sax for a few years now, have regular lessons and practice nearly every day, the trouble I have is playing in front of other people, where I just seem to panic and choke.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers Vern.

Hello Vern,
First of all, a big sincere welcome to the Café.
You’ve come to a site with a wealth diverse experience and knowledge. As mentioned above, everyone has something to share. All for you to make your musical journey the best possible. Real and not AI generated baloney replies. Wishing you all the best on your musical journey.

That said, your situation of “stage fright” is real. One person or be it family and/or friends is real. I completely understand. I myself and most all members here have experienced this at some stage of performing.

I have experienced being in front of an audience at different levels. Employee meeting, no big deal.
Oddly different than speaking/ directing a corporate meeting in front of many (200+) in attendance. All seated.

As a friendly suggestion.
Play / practice in front of a mirror. Look yourself square in the eyes. Play on. Keep doing this until it no longer bothers you.
This fix can be days or months. You’ll know like turning on a light.

Lastly, ask your sax instructor for advice. Gather information from all sources. Process out what doesn’t work and roll with the rest.

Good luck

Pigs.

 

[atwl77]

You could try the Tonic app, use it while practicing to help you get used to random strangers listening in on you.

I'm not actively using it much nowadays, but I made some comments about the app which you may find helpful here:

Software - Tonic app

Has anyone here tried Tonic Music | The new way to practice ? I'm curious if there's many saxophone players on it. From what I can tell it's a streaming app designed for people practicing, so you can listen to other people practicing and vice-versa, and it has some typical gamification elements...

cafesaxophone.com

 

[Woodpad]

The first victim of stage freight is the quality of breathing. Saxophone players need deep and steady air control. Concentrating on slow breathing helps against fear and improves your sound. Don't fight your fear of audiences, just ignore it, but don't ignore the audience.

 

[Tenor Viol]

Thanks for that, I'll have a look for some groups in my area and give it a go.
Cheers Vern.

Community orchestras usually welcome people on any instrument. I played sax with one in Chester when I first started playing.

 

[not a perfect sax player]

That said, your situation of “stage fright” is real. One person or be it family and/or friends is real. I completely understand. I myself and most all members here have experienced this at some stage of performing.

I have experienced being in front of an audience at different levels. Employee meeting, no big deal.
Oddly different than speaking/ directing a corporate meeting in front of many (200+) in attendance. All seated.

As a friendly suggestion.
Play / practice in front of a mirror. Look yourself square in the eyes. Play on. Keep doing this until it no longer bothers you.
This fix can be days or months. You’ll know like turning on a light.

Lastly, ask your sax instructor for advice. Gather information from all sources. Process out what doesn’t work and roll with the rest.

Thanks very much for that idea with the mirror, I would have never thought of that and yes I have asked my tutor about the problem, she is a very good gigging saxophonist but very much old school and her answer was to go out busking, she said it will make you immune to anything else.
Don't think I'm quite up to busking yet though!
Thanks very much for taking the time to reply, all of the members ideas have given me lots to try out.
Cheers Vern.

 

[Jeanette]

Welcome to the café, I was going to suggest busking too, A passing audience is less pressure 🙂

Jx

 

[Ghr9204]

I have asked my tutor about the problem, she is a very good gigging saxophonist but very much old school and her answer was to go out busking, she said it will make you immune to anything else. Don't think I'm quite up to busking yet though!

Like a friend's dad would say, "Do something, even if it is wrong!" 😉

 

[PigSquealer]

Last post some 14 years ago. Time to poke the thread. A worthy subject.

My first memory of being on stage doesn’t include stage fright. 1966 school choir Christmas program. Months of practice including proper posture and keeping your eyes on Mrs. Fields. All in an empty auditorium with elevated stage.
Multiple performances at different locations. A senior center being one. Memory of main event at district campus was full. A sea of people, thousands. Was more likely a couple - three hundred. Perception from training in an empty room ? Didn’t matter. Mrs Fields had trained us well. Keep focused. The crowd will become a blurr.

 

[thomsax]

I started to play in front of a small audience, and with otther musicians, at blues & rock Jam. It was good for me. I took the ferry from Scania to greater Copenhagen to play. The only guy from Sweden and I didn't know anyone in the start. On the jam sessions ther were some older sax/horn players that were very friendly and helpful. I learned a lot. To go jamming is good.

I still don't like to play in front of an audience. I'm rather sky. When I think back on the good and happy times playing in front of an audience, it was often less or no time of thinking about it. Just played what I had in my head. Some real improvising.

 

[mpjbiker]

I find it's worse if there is people in the audience that I know. A crowd of unknowns is fine, one mate (especially if it's a musician) makes it far worse!

 

[Vlad]

Performing anything in front of an audience never bothered me at all, probably works on the ''where there's no sense there's no feeling'' basis !

 

[Grumps]

Do you want to play in front of people? I mean, is that your end goal? Not everyone does, but saxophone is a bold and powerful instrument and can attract a certain type of player accordingly. You have to WANT to play for people. You have to want to SHOW OFF... which isn't a bad thing. It's part and parcel to every performance. That's what performers do. If you don't have that desire, you're never going to be able to do it. Once you have that mindset, all that is left is to get good enough to do so. I suppose in a word, that's confidence.

 

[turf3]

I started performing in public at age 9 with piano recitals. The program I was in (it was an extension program of the local university) did a superb job of preparing us for those first recitals. Mine went well, and I have never had actual stage fright since. Some times I feel a slight tension in the abdomen, which dissipates after the first few seconds of starting the actual performance.

I have been fortunate not to have this issue, as it has made it easy for me to stand up and give presentations professionally as has been needed throughout my career. Many of my colleagues would have great difficulty making presentations, or would actually refuse promotions to positions where it would be frequently required.

This leads me to another subject I feel strongly about which is the pathologizing of introversion and shyness. It has become a trope of modern culture that shy or introverted people have something wrong with them that needs to be "fixed". I disagree most strongly with this. There are three things in operation here, three different things, two of which are simply different ways of being normal and one of which is an actual problem.

Introversion is simply the preference for one's own company over socializing. It is a completely normal way of being. The chirpy extroverts are always after us to "get out and mingle" more, but we don't want to.

Shyness is a feeling of discomfort in novel situations, usually social. Again, this is a completely normal way of being.

Stage fright (or "performance anxiety", if you will), is an unusual stress experienced in situations that are perceived as being a public performance. This can be mild to severe, but it is NOT something perceived by the one who experiences it as a normal phenomenon.

We can look at some examples -

I, for example, am an introvert - can stay by myself for days at a time - also somewhat shy, do not mingle freely at parties, but I do NOT have stage fright. My wife is also an introvert, but she is NOT shy - we can go to a party where she doesn't know anyone, and she'll come away having met a dozen people and exchanged phone numbers. However, she has very severe stage fright.

I suspect that both Barbra Streisand and Carly Simon (to pick two famous people who've had meltdowns on stage) are EXTROVERTS, addicted to performance and being around other people - but with cripping stage fright.

Like I said, three different phenomena, two of which are simply different ways of being normal that are now ridiculed and treated as disorders by the chirpy loudmouth extroverts who run everything these days.

 

[not a perfect sax player]

Do you want to play in front of people? I mean, is that your end goal? Not everyone does, but saxophone is a bold and powerful instrument and can attract a certain type of player accordingly. You have to WANT to play for people. You have to want to SHOW OFF... which isn't a bad thing. It's part and parcel to every performance. That's what performers do. If you don't have that desire, you're never going to be able to do it. Once you have that mindset, all that is left is to get good enough to do so. I suppose in a word, that's confidence.

Yes I do want to play in front of people, but not for showing off more to give them pleasure which obviously means I have to achieve a good standard and sound. I can't describe how much pleasure I get from playing my sax and really am going to work at overcoming my nerves.
Thanks for giving me your views and yes you are 100% right it's all about confidence!
Cheers Vern.

 

[Colin the Bear]

To help your focus, try practicing with distractions. Put talk radio or the TV on. Playing your part while a recording plays a different tune takes focus. Once fully focused, there is no audience.

I wouldn't go busking if you can't play well.

 

[not a perfect sax player]

To help your focus, try practicing with distractions. Put talk radio or the TV on. Playing your part while a recording plays a different tune takes focus. Once fully focused, there is no audience.

I wouldn't go busking if you can't play well.

Yes that's a good idea, someone else suggested looking into a mirror while playing so adding external noise as well will take it to the next level. Thanks for your thoughts I'll certainly give it a go.
Cheers Vern.