How to Play Guitar With Others (Without Intimidation)
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For as much joy as playing with another person can be, it can also produce a ton of anxiety… and I mean the kind of anxiety that can cause any player to lock up.
What causes this anxiety are the questions that bubble up. Those pesky questions that rattle around our guitar #guitargeek brains like:
What if I don’t know the song and can’t play along?
What if I’m not good enough to play with others?
What if I’m unfamiliar with a certain chord?
What if whomever I am playing with asks me to do a solo?
What if there are no song sheets to follow?
What if…
There are a billion "what if" scenarios, but the reality is that the overarching theme here is fear of the unknown and that is totally valid.
This is something all #guitargeeks go through at one point or another and, quite honestly, it never totally goes away. The good news is that there are some things you can do to keep that fear at bay and open yourself up to the learning opportunities that present themselves while playing with other folks.
Here are some tips to gain confidence in playing with others and some things to learn that will help you on your guitar journey.
1.) Guilt By Association - Surround yourself with guitar geeks that share the same thoughts, enthusiasm, and approach as you. This gives you the peace of mind that the folks you are playing with are there to support and help you along on your guitar journey.
2.) Open Mind - Go into any situation with other players as a bonus opportunity to learn. So many times the practice room feels like the only place to learn a lesson, but the truth is you can learn lessons anywhere and often the ones outside the practice room are the most valuable.
3.) Ask Questions - There is no rule, that I am aware of, that says you can’t ask questions and that you are magically supposed to know everything without ever asking. When playing with others it’s ok to ask questions about what chords are in a song or what key it’s in. Really any question is fair game and usually, those questions lead to major breakthroughs.
4.) Communication - This is key, no pun intended… hehe. Communication lies at the heart of having an awesome experience when playing with friends. One of the most crucial parts of communication is having the musical vocabulary to do so. Understanding what a key is and how chords work within a key will not only help you communicate with fellow guitar players; it will also help you be able to musically function within a jam which will certainly cut down on your anxiety when approaching a playing situation.
So wrap all of those things up with a nice little bow and you have yourself a launching pad into a world of fun that you will enjoy for years to come.
Пікірлер: 30
All the jams I ever went to, were 3 chord, 70 yr old songs and everyone was strumming the same thing. As beginner, I could see they had been beginners for 40 yrs. Thank God for You Tube.
Wish I was younger when I started out, on my age 58 it's a real challenge to find people to play with, haven't found one in ten years now, on the other hand I have loads of fun playing on my one, love your tips and tricks.
@AWSKAR
3 жыл бұрын
Where do you live? What state even
@myguitarjourneymikerogers5015
22 күн бұрын
Hi Dirk. I started playing at age 61. I joined up with a local jam group near me. About 12 people of various skill levels. Best thing ever for learning. Do it 😎
This is absolutely awesome! It's unbelievably intimidating, but it's never as bad as you think it's going to be. I'd become obsessed with guitar for about 5 years before I ever played infront of anyone. When I first played with others, I was a mess of nerves and thought my playing kind of sucked. We stopped for a break, and a guy that I saw as an absolute guitar god, asked me to show him how to play a little riff I'd come up with. I couldn't believe it! It gave my confidence such a boost and that was the beginning of getting into bands, gigging, studio stuff, open mics, anything that involved playing, and a whole new world of friends. I'm 54 now and in the middle of getting a set sorted for a duet thing with my best mate, and just see where it leads us. Playing with others makes a musician of someone, and absolutely makes a better player. You might shock yourself and actually be better than you think you are!
I just started jamming with a friend, who started about the same time I did, which is about 2 years ago. I've been spending my time with scales and learning the chords, he only learned song whole piece through KZread videos so it's difficult when I ask him what the key is he rarely knows, but it's fun and that's the key. Pardon the pun. Great talk!
I love how Tony is real about this stuff.
Perfect timing Tony. I am attending my first TAC Jam Club this weekend. Just finished the Fretboard Wizard course.
This is a great video! I've been there... At 53 years old... Still there. And I can play! I've always had some form of stage fright and feelings of intimidation
This is a great video and Ive been playing guitar for years and still Intimidated to play in front of others. I've never played in a jam before or in front of an audience but a friend of mine invited me to play open mic night at Pat's Endangered Species Record store in Delaware, Ohio. I so want to do it but have that anxiety
Love you’re videos so laidback and nice guy
You are a good teacher, really well explained. Im so new to music qnd just started to jam for the first time. It was almost an embarrassibg, vulberable, intimidating time. Im a vocalist who couldnt come up with lyrics even if i had some vague lyrics with me. But we created some good stuff in the end, maybe potential song ideas. I also smoked weed towards the end. Haha. Anyway, thanks!
Key? I-IV-V?? Are you suggesting that people learn some... MUSIC THEORY???? DUN DUN DUUUUUUUHNNN!!!1
@scottmackie2821
6 жыл бұрын
Yep. You really can't avoid it.
@RingsOfSolace
5 жыл бұрын
I tried avoiding it. Didn't work out very well.
Thank you
Best jam ever: Albert king and SRV
Just had my first one today. Super scary super self conscious. Realized I need more practice. The people where extremely patience and nice though.
tony please give us tips on how to perform solo in front of a crowd I don't do this very often in fact this last sunday I played in from of a crowd of about 30 people and I was so nervous I only played about 5 songs and all I did is focus on my guitar like my eyes were just watching the chords I was playing so I didn't really interact with the crowd because I was more focus about not making a mistake, please give us some tips thank you 😃
@troubledjoe6201
6 жыл бұрын
Do it again. And again. And again. And again ! It will come... at least I keep telling myself that !I still spend too much time looking intently at my lyric/chord sheet as a crutch even though I may know the songs backwards. I find looking at the audience and making eye contact can throw me off so I try to focus at a spot (or spots) towards the back of the room to at least give the impression I am looking at them. Also, I find it helps to have some chat (semi) prepared for between songs so even if there is no interaction during the song you still have some connection.
@DrumWild
6 жыл бұрын
Rehearsing the songs is always a good idea. Having the songs down to the point that performing them is almost second-nature is a good thing. Also, be sure to rehearse the performance. If this was a case of getting up and playing in a spontaneous fashion, then certain there would be reasons to be nervous. I can't tell if you had planned on performing these songs, or if it was a spontaneous event. For me, the biggest thing is to have fun and not take it too seriously. I have a handful of jokes at-the-ready, in case I mess up in a really big way. Typically, with mistakes one tries to just gloss over them, because doing anything else could result in making the audience uneasy. Keeping it fun, light, and entertaining is key.
@jrviade85
6 жыл бұрын
Troubled Joe thanks man yes I do think performing a lot more often will get me used to it and feel comfortable in front of a crowd also when the crowd start singing the song I have noticed that helps me feel even better and play more naturally 😊
@jrviade85
6 жыл бұрын
DrumWild I usually look for videos on youtube of professional singers mostly when they perform acoustic with just a guitar and they look so calmed lol Im like damn how do they do it even when I know the song perfectly when the time comes to sing it in front of people I start thinking that I might make a mistake or what if I forget a chord or lose timing in the strumming between chords even though I play guitar pretty much every day I do think that you are right about not taking it too seriously and just enjoy the moment sometimes I drink a beer or two just to not focus too much on me getting nervous lol
"I won that jam" If that's the case, nobody will want to jam with you again
Pot only in some cases? SOME!? Jk but for real I stopped smoking weed for the first six months of playing because I thought learning guitar was stressful enough and only started again a few months ago because I'm more comfortable now. Shit felt impossible while high.
I'm sad
You look like Lucas Mann Blues version
Pot? You mean like chili? 🥴
And in same cases pot...lool