Buckethead Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Hi, I am a student at the age of 15, still attending High School. I have been playing guitar for about a year and the time has finally come where I perform for an audience. Problem is... I have to perform in front of the school!! I am really nervous, and afraid i'll mess up, or i'll look at a mate and lose my concentration. Any tips to ease me through the performance proccess will b egreatly appreciated. Oh, and i was wondering if anyone would have any suggestions for what song I should perform. It will have to be partially formal, meaning no real metal rock, and not rely too much on the vocals, because we are having trouble finding a vocalist. Finally, it has to be a classic, because if not, then the crowd will be hard to please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 "Don't Fear the Reaper" by the Blue Oyster Cult. It's got notariety because of SNL, a great solo, and it's a fun song to play live. Memorize your part inside and out, almost so well that you could play with one hand behind your back . If you've got your part down that well, it won't matter if you get distracted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Be sure to get a good cowbell player, too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 My band played that song when we were in high school. We got this huge(numskull of a) football player and handed him a cowbell and drum stick. He couldn't keep a beat worth anything, but he made a complete fool of himself(which I considered to be totally redeeming of his lack of musical abilities). Good times, good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 I Believe in a Thing Called Love (better - vocals), simple tune, nice groove, classic feel. Learn your parts well enough to not have to think about playing them. Don't listen for anyone else in the band to cue you (other than tempo from the drums). Attack the beat. If (when) something goes wrong keep going and don't let the song stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 (edited) You're referring to the song by The Darkness, right? That song requires a ridiculously high pitched voice. Edited November 4, 2005 by thegarehanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Fall to Pieces by Velvet Revolver could be a good song, or Hush by Deep Purple with a modern edge could be cool. Anything by U2 will probably get you laid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff Beer Man Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Enter Sandman by metallica? Its a classic and i think everyone should know it. I played this with my high shcool guitar band in my sophmore year, as soon as you hit the opening riff the crowd goes wild. Also it extremely easy to the point where once u learn ur parts u know them and dont think about it, also i enjoyed playing the solo, gots tons of wah, or maybe the national anthem? get crazy with it people enjoy that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGwaH Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Louie, Louie by the Kingsmen. Even if you screw up, who the heck is going to notice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 You said no metal, right? How about something from the Eagles? Maybe Long Run, maybe Life's Been Good by Joe Walsh (it might be too long though)? Pick something where you won't have to carry the whole band and constantly be in the foreground. Joe Walsh and the Eagles have lots of songs where there's great guitar but it's not the only thing happening throughout the entire song. Also, I'd do a few practice runs in front of smaller groups of people first. Build some confidence - maybe to the point where you're looking forward to it instead of being uncertain about it. If you have time that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 You're referring to the song by The Darkness, right? That song requires a ridiculously high pitched voice. ← Yup. Did you catch thebetter - vocals(thats better minus vocals). The songs stands alone without vocals, and those vocals are crazy high. I was just thinking the classical rock style would be a nice fit. Nice easy tune, good grooves and tempo. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Dude, you're going to be nervous and that's that! All you can do is know what you're playing inside and out and keep focused on what it is you're doing, not getting distracted by the mammalian protuberances bouncing up and down in the front row. Next, picking classic material? Classic to who? Or do you mean Classic as in classical? The most fun I ever had doing a high school thing is having a choir backing while doing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody! The crowd, the choir, and the school totally loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 meaning no real metal rock, and not rely too much on the vocals, because we are having trouble finding a vocalist. Finally, it has to be a classic, because if not, then the crowd will be hard to please. Keep Your Hands To Yourself, Georgia Satellites. Trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 How about Billy Squier? The Stroke, Everybody wants You, Lonely is the Night,...? Get's everyone moving but you won't have to pull off any heroics. Also, Pink Floyd might be a band worth considering. Lot's of great stuff you could pick from. The one thing I really want to stress on this is to not put yourself into a postion where you have to be the main guy for the entire song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMan686 Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 I say go with something not to hard but not to easy. Maybe "Love Her Two Times" by The Doors or possibly something by The Doobie Bros. The main point is to try and have fun and try not to worry so much about messing up and feel the groove. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan123 Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 You don't need any advice, you're BucketHead! Haha, joking aside, Kid Charlemagne by Steely Dan would be a cool song to do, but hard to do solo or with a small band. But yeah, I'm 16, and my band covers Don't Fear The Reaper. Try it out, very fun song to jam out and have fun to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Why not "Knocking On Heaven's Door"? It's four chords, and really hard to mess up. And you can do your own version of it and not have to sound like anyone else. Plus you can really have some fun soloing with this song. G - - - - D - - - - Am - - - - G - - - - D - - - - C - - - - Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted November 6, 2005 Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 Freebird!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansorbdarb Posted November 6, 2005 Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 My first performance was when I was 15 too. My first song performed was at school and my band who we called No Remorse played the Metallica song Motorbreath. The kids went nuts and jumped out of the bleachers to come down to the gym floor with us and everything was crazy. I was very nervous at first, then as soon as I kind of looked up and noticed everyone getting into it, I started getting into the song more and it seemed like all my troubles went away. When I was stringing on my guitar before I turned my amp on my legs were so shaky, I could barely stand. But after the performance I had this awsome natural high, and it just rocked. Now here I am about to get a new band together and reach that high a few more times before I leave school for good. I do not recall a rock band playing under the roof of my school ever again since the event of Motorbreath. My good friend was suspended for replacing the last few lyrics of the last verse to swear words. (.... Same song and f^#@ing s#@^ yeah!!! MOTORBREATH its how i live my life....) The staff strictley told everyone to reamain seated for the entire variety show, however they could not stop the massive crowd comming down the bleachers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord-of-the-strings Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 (edited) My first ever performance (if you could call it that) was a cover of tribute by tenacious D I did for a science project, I changed the name to Copper and made it all about copper. Was pretty sweet, but I was nervous as hell even though I was only playing in front of 36 people or so. A good suggestion would be take "Just Bust a Move" by Young MC and rock it out. My teacher told me about him and his buds doing it for the school talent show and he said the crowd went berserk. P.s: Here's the lyrics for Copper This is the greatest and best element in the world, copper. long time ago me and my buddy Joel here, we was hitchiking down, a long an' lonesome road. When all of a sudden, there stood a giant talking copper mine, in the middle of the road, And he said! Spoken: Mine, the best ore in the world, or I'll crush your souls. Well me and Joel, we looked at eachoter, and we each said, "Let's mine." So we extracted the ore from down in the vein and just so happened to be, the best ore in the world, it was the best ore in the world. Look into my eyes and it's easy to see, it's atomic number's twenty-nine, and it's mass is sixty-three, it was density. Was discovered bout a hundred thousand years or so, used for tools and weapons and wire and bowls, it has a lustrous glow... So on and so forth very neat. Wrote it in about 30 minutes Anyhow, do whatever you want, just have fun with it. Edited November 7, 2005 by Lord-of-the-strings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted November 8, 2005 Report Share Posted November 8, 2005 Thats great, I've written a fair number of comedy/joke songs before in a tenacious d styling that me and my friend did as "Deuces Wild" cuz there is 2 of us... anyways.. if anyone wants I'll dig up some lyrics, for another thread of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.