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ACK! My brother asked me to play guitar for his wedding!

M

Mucman

Diamond Member
I said yes too! I've never played before large crowds... maybe 30 at the most for a guitar recital a while back when I practiced every day. Can anyone offer me any advice on playing before an audience? I am planning on playing Pachabels Canon in D... and later a bunch of Rush tunes, and Baroque stuff as background music for around an hour.

I am tickled that my bro asked, because when I practice I always imagine that I am playing for people... but to actually do it is another story 🙂. I always needed a reason to play more often, I guess...

Can anyone offer some good tunes to play? I can't sing (I haven't tried and I am to emarrassed to anyways...
 
xlo - Hehe, I know how that is 🙂

Ornery - Good suggestion! That's a song I don't know how to play, but I think I have the ability to play it.
 
"I have the ability to play it."
  • :Q
You sir, have NOTHING to worry about! No wonder your brother asked you to play!

Have Fun!
 
Ornery - Playing in front of the computer for my cat is a heck of a lot different than playing in front of 100+ people!
 
Pishaw! You'll kick ass if you can play stuff like that! It would take all my concentration to play chopsticks on a piano, and I'd forget anybody was even there! 😀

BTW, what kind of guitar do you use? I was going to shop for a guitar with my son, but he's not too sure what kind he even wants. We went to a local shop, which doesn't carry Gibson. I asked what he had similar to a Les Paul Classic. he asked my son what he wanted to play and my son said, "just some finger pickin' type music." The salesman came back with a nylon string Ibanez acoustic electric and my son loved it! My son also said he liked the "grunge" sound of certain groups, so the guy dragged out this Ibanez Electric Guitar and everything it played was solid grunge! Pretty cool for not much money.

He asked his guitar teacher what kind he had. Turns out his favorite is a Les Paul. I'll help him buy one of those, but only if that's what he really wants. Doesn't seem to be too concerned one way or the other at this point... 😕
 
Well I've played at a wedding before and also do many solo's for jazz band and crap in front of large audiences so I know how this goes...

What happens is you're nervous as hell to begin with but pretty soon you realize no one knows what the hell you're playing or exactly how it goes so if you need to improv at any point in time, go ahead and let her fly...

(I play tenor sax, but still it's playing in front of people)

If you're good (and I imagine you sure are) then don't worry about it. It's fun once you get into it and forget that you're supposed to be nervous.
 
Ornery - Hey, I can't play it yet 🙂 Thanks for the encouraging words! As for what to guitar to buy your son... None of my guitars are worth over $300cdn 🙂 Here are some
pics :

Classical - Made in Candada "La Patrie - Presentation"
Electric - This was a Yahama body with a Kramer neck... I redid all the electronics and reshaped the body
and added the locking nut.
Tiesco Electric - Picked up this one for $25 at a garage sale. I showed it to Barry Ewart (he built Steve Howes guitar and some other big names) and he said it's worth at least $300 for the classic pickups 🙂. I don't play it often though.

I am totally happy with my guitars, and don't have a clue about higher end stuff because they are all out of my reach 🙂

FSUpaintball - It could be worse than that... I could play some My Dying Bride 😉
 
I've played to some club crowds, bars and such.... I dont know, I for one get nervous, but some of the guys I play with thrive on it. It psychs them up i guess... after a short while tho (and a few drinks) the nervousness fades away. I play a '77 Gibson SG.
 
That Tiesco Electric looks pretty cool. My wife said I have to let the boy "do his own thing" and it may take a long time. Said he might even drop it altogether at some point, so let him go at his own pace. Bah, what does she know?! 😉

Well, I know I gotta get some sleep. Clocking in by 6:00AM and it's already 12:30! :Q

You'll do great, so don't worry about it. I hope somebody records it for posterity. Maybe we could hear some that way too!

G' Night!
 
.Ornery - Thanks! I do have some recordings on-line, but I can't find my classical ones. I looked up my classical online and found out that it got some decent reviews harmony-central. PM me if you want to hear anything I've played... I think
I have spammed my stuff on the board too much now 🙂

ThePresence - Maybe I should take up drinking 🙂
 
I played Canon in D for my cousin's wedding. Luckly, I played at the back balcony (sp?) of the church. I played with a slight delay-detune effect from the Digitech Whammy II petal. Don't fret 🙂)) about it. You'll do fine, but if you get nervous, just look at your strings.
 


<< .Ornery - Thanks! I do have some recordings on-line, but I can't find my classical ones. I looked up my classical online and found out that it got some decent reviews harmony-central. PM me if you want to hear anything I've played... I think
I have spammed my stuff on the board too much now 🙂

ThePresence - Maybe I should take up drinking 🙂 >>



Nah, a couple of single malt shots to take the edge off should do. But that's just me. Maybe you'll find that you enjoy the challenge of playing to a crowd. I'm sure you'll do great. Relax. I wish I had a pic of my baby (gibson sg) to post.
 
A girlfriend asked me to play at her sister's wedding and I said no four times. Try a couple of Beatle songs. They work well for solo guitar
 
Good luck.


I use to play in front of 500 people, but that was part of an orchestra (~60 people) or a small group (6 people), never alone though.


Personally, I like the rush you get when playing a nice piece 🙂
 
Paulson - Sorry, didn't see your post before... Thanks for the encouragement. I would love to think I am good, but I can't. Every time I hear Chet Atkins, Adres Sergovia, Yngwie, and Lifeson I can't say I am good. I am merely mediocre (but I guess comparing myself to the greats is a good start isn't it 😉).

JetBlack69 - Cool! I could scan the version of Pachabels Canon if you want... I find it very tricky in some places to allow the bass notes to ring. It always sounds staccatto like to me because my hands jump all over the place 🙁

I am looking forward to play in front of a crowd, but I just would hate to play anything less than perfect 🙁. At least the wedding isn't until Sept. so I got plenty of time
to polish up my chops. Sucks playing classical guitar and having a nail biting habit 🙂
 
playing in front of an audience is SOOOOOOOOOO FUN! i played a show with my friends in front of about 60 people and it was soo fun. you'll have a blast
 
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