Getting on stage movement

[Thurbs]

Really stupid question this, and I think I already know the answer...

Following on from the 'Opinions please' thread, I am sure I could do more to liven up my performance over an evening. The thing is, every time I have spontaneously done it I have cocked up the song I am trying to play.

Is it just practice?

Does anyone practice at home "your moves!" so to speak? or just at rehearsals?

Do all of you rehearse the movement?

I am guessing the answer to all of those questions should be yes, but I am guessing egos may get in the way.

[woodyratm]

I dont really practice my moves as it were. More just let the feel take me!
Which usually happens in practice too.

Just makes sure you know what your hands are doing so its 2nd nature for them.

If i'm doing fairly tech stuff i can mess up when i try showing off!

Good luck.

[lettsguitars]

ugh. NO! this aint no amateur dramatics. just dance around in a way that doesn'y affect your playing. the odd fluffed note due to a particularly funky hop is perfectly acceptable. the old saying is look like you're enjoying yourself and the audience will enjoy it too.

[geoffbyrne]

The Ox didn't jump around!!!!!



I'm a pretty 'static' player & (a) it's due to concentration & ( due to playing on microscopic stages for generations!!!

G.

Edited May 11, 2011 by geoffbyrne

[xilddx]

Just watch Van Halen and Michael Jackson videos

Seriously, I have practised stage moves in the past. It's no different to practissing answers for interviews or whatever. I absolutely could not just stand there like a fish and just play. My instinct is to dress up and move with the music, and hopefully entertain the audience and show an onstage relationship with my singer and the other members of the band. And I don't care if I look weird doing it.

[Bilbo]

'Strike a pose' :bleuch:

Most stage antics/moves are as cliched as most of the music being played. If punters want that kind of thing, they won't be at my gigs.... A simple smile goes a long way.

[skankdelvar]

This is a classic "It all depends" thing. The amount of movement and visual projection should be dictated by the kind of band you're in, audience expectations and the venues you're playing. And whether the frontman will fire you for stealing his limelight.

So, if it's standard covers and you're crammed in the corner of a tiny pub, then a gentle bit of foot-shuffling and rhythmic nodding is good. No choreography necessary - go with the groove. Running around like a mad thing, spitting fake blood and doing backflips off the bar-top would just be silly.

The converse might be true if you were doing originals to a capacity crowd at a metal festival. A certain degree of very carefully-rehearsed expressive abandon would be expected. Unless the frontman fires you for stealing his limelight. Either way, invest in strap locks.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1227196' date='May 11 2011, 09:53 AM']A sweat-soaked, shamanistic performance dripping with raw sex. If punters want that kind of thing, they won't be at my gigs.... A sinister smile goes a long way.[/quote]
Fixed.

Edited May 11, 2011 by skankdelvar

[BigRedX]

Bilbo - I thought you played jazz with no smiling allowed? ;-)

What I do on stage depends entirely on how I'm feeling and how the music and audience reaction takes me. Other then checking in the comfort of my own home that I can still play while throwing my bass into some of the positions I want, I don't really practice any "moves".

IMO when it comes to on-stage performance over simply playing you've either got a feeling for it or you haven't. If you haven't you're best off standing at the back and getting on with the playing.

[Low End Bee]

The amount of movement is dictated by the amount of room I get. It is entertainment. If I wanted to stand still and bore peoples socks off I'd play jazz

[Bilbo]

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1227216' date='May 11 2011, 10:06 AM']If I wanted to stand still and bore peoples socks off I'd play jazz [/quote]

Fcuk off....

[Gust0o]

Put 10 sugars in everyone's tea beforehand. Never fails

We move about a lot during practice, it's good, er, practice! Still, it gets you a feel for it - and it's not so contrived, I don't think; just a little more comfortable to start getting your groove on when there's just the few of you in a sweaty room.

[Bilbo]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1227205' date='May 11 2011, 10:00 AM']Bilbo - I thought you played jazz with no smiling allowed? ;-)[/quote]

Interesting point. I did a gig recently that I referred to in the 'last night's gig' thread. It was a sax/bass/drums ftrio and it was a monster gig. The audience loved it, the landlady loved it and we loved it. It was some pretty heavy stuff and demanded a lot of the audience but they responded positively to the energy (not volume) coming off the band. The thing I wanted to mention here was that one of the people in the audience was another sax player who I play with a lot and, in earnest, he said to me at the end 'you enjoyed that, didn't you? I have never seen you smile that much in all the years I have known you'. The landlady also said that she coudl see we were enjoying ourselves and the positive energy created by that alone was enough to engage people. I was smiling entirely unconsciously because it was a reflection of what I was feeling, not because it was the 'cabaret' thing to do. Most folk can see the difference.

So, if you come to see me play and I have a face like a slapped arse, you can rest assured the music is not happening

[cetera]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1227196' date='May 11 2011, 09:53 AM']'Strike a pose' :bleuch:

Most stage antics/moves are as cliched as most of the music being played. If punters want that kind of thing, they won't be at my gigs.... A simple smile goes a long way.[/quote]

Well that explains the low attendances at jazz performances then!
...and of course there's nothing like the cliche of a non-moving, serious looking jazz group is there?!

[Bilbo]

Its hard to play a double bass with your foot on a monitor.

I also think it is pertinent to note that the rebellious 'smash the gear up in a fit of pre-pubescent pique' thing doesn't really work when you are 47, overweight and playing Lush Life. That rebel without a cause thing was started by the likes off Jerry Lee Lewis in 1849 and is a bit tired now anyway but watching it done by middle aged old farts who drove to the gig in a Volvo with a 10 plate is a bit sad.

Even if they [i]are[/i] called Iron Maiden.

[thisnameistaken]

I think if you don't naturally move to the music you're playing then you probably shouldn't do it at all.

[Truckstop]

Just develop a heavier playing style (not 'heavy' music, just adopt a heavier touch) and you'll find yourself blasting away naturally!

Truckstop

[Doddy]

I've played gigs where there is loose choreography that is worked out in rehearsals,but I've never practiced any moves at home.
I'm generally pretty animated when I play(even on jazz gigs ),but I just get into it and do what I do. Of course,if the gig is hard work I can fake it to a degree,but when It's a good night I just go with it.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Doddy

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1227275' date='May 11 2011, 11:00 AM']I think if you don't naturally move to the music you're playing then you probably shouldn't do it at all.[/quote]

+1

A sense of rhythm and an inability to keep still when it's good are generally quite closely linked (source: my head a minute ago, probably a lie)

[chris_b]

I never mastered walking and talking, so no stage moves! I make John Entwistle look animated.

[Lozz196]

In most places where my last band played, the "stage" area wasn`t really big enough to move about on, especially as, being on the right hand side (from audience view) my headstock would bash into the walls if I did.

On the bigger stages though, happy to move about, striking the correct rock poses. It does help playing punk & rock though, less complex playing leaves more opportunity to move without messing up.

[farmer61]

Aged 49, move as much as I bloody well can, while I can!!!

[icastle]

[quote name='farmer61' post='1227368' date='May 11 2011, 12:04 PM']Aged 49, move as much as I bloody well can, while I can!!![/quote]

[SteveK]

The only practice I ever did on "my moves" was in the 60s - every Thursday evening without fail (older BCers will know what I'm talking about), mirror and mum's hairbrush at the ready. Kinda saw myself as a singer in those days - although, around about the time of "I Can See For Miles" I moved on to a broom. I was every bit as good as Townshend.

[megallica]

One of my friends joined a new band and one time we went to see them play and we could hear a bass being played but no bass player on stage.
At the end of the set we realised that the bass player was hiding behind a pillar on stage left as he was a bit shy.

[Happy Jack]