How To Improve Your Stage Presence
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2017
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Guitarist/Songwriter/Samurai
Born in the Manitoba prefecture of Canada, samuraiguitarist, Steve-san Onotera, honed his discipline under the study of the country's most powerful musical sensei.
Bred on rock, raised on the blues, trained in jazz, samuraiguitarist creates incredibly innovative videos that showcase his talents on the guitar.
![Improving Stage Presence - For Individuals and Bands [2020]](/img/n.gif)
'there's nothing worse than dead silence'
my band used to be called dead silence.
:(
Ouch
Edgy
Haha I literally dropped my phone lol
That’s such an edgy name
My recently "I'd be dumb to assume she's never gonna be mine again" ex gf is giving me dead silence after years. Effin tragic. I want a song about it Friday by 5.
"Practice as if you were the worst, play as if you were the best!"
Culture Best - First time I've ever heard this (in 30 years of playing and performance), but it's so spot on and to the point. I might have to borrow this phrase.
God damn, that Taylor Hawking's phrase is gold
Can someone explain this to me
@Sherion - I am not entirely sure, but to me, the way I understand it is that, "practice as if you were the worst" means that you must practice as if you were a bad musician, so that you will do your best to improve, always. Some musicians get to a level that they think they dont need to practice because they believe they are the best, hence "practice as if you were the worst". Then "play as if you were the best" means that you must play with confidence, believing you are a great musician. That is what I believe it means, and yes, I am fun at parties.
We are the worst XD
10. NEVER apologise for making a mistake. All it does is draw attention to the fact that you made a mistake which may otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Rational Funk (with Dave King) reference, muh dude?
I think that really depends on the atmosphere you're going for.
If you're in a rock band and have an image you want to project, then you'll want to play off your mistakes since only musicians will notice most of them.
If you're a solo artist playing something more intimate, maybe on an open mic night, you want to remove that barrier and engage with the audience as an equal.
In that setting you want a chill, just a bunch of friends hanging out vibe, so calling out your mistakes, joking about them, even stopping a song to banter before cutting back in can be more effective than a scripted stage performance.
I don't want "Sorry, I flubbed the second note in the seventh bar of my solo," but I wouldn't say always pretend nothing happened.
Clapton says, "kerfuffle" at the end of Crossroads. There's a video of John Paul Jones playing a solo show and when he flubs part of No Quarter, he pulls a "yikes, sorry" face. I saw Sonny Landreth play in a club once and after one song, he said, "Sorry, I guess I have to practice a bit more." Any mistakes were so minor that I probably wouldn't have remembered them 5 minutes later otherwise, but it was funny and humanizing and cool.
I guess it depends on your image, though. The humble apology may not work for a Jimmy Page-esque rock god mysterioso.
Absolutely. There's a world of difference between humorously acknowledging a monumental f**k up and nervously apologising for forgetting the third word of the second line of the fourth verse of a song that nobody knows anyway. I once saw a duo who sang beautiful two part harmony who presaged one of their songs with 'We wrote this ourselves. Sorry the lyrics aren't very good'. Instead of simply enjoying what followed, I was listening intently for bad lyrics which never came.
No. When you make a mistake, do the Side Leg Rocker Stance
You missed smashing the guitar, throwing it in the crowd, starting a mud fight, and setting the stage on fire.
Alter Ego Band what is this woodstock 94
@@sloo3719 yes
Lmao😂
Haha so true (not really) 😂😂😂
You also forgot creating a black hole to kill everyone in the universe
1. Eliminate silence
Classical musician: ight imma head out
Nonsense! The audience’s coughs and throat clearing will fill the silence for you.
Lionheart352 lmaO
After being disgusted by ourselves in a video our manager took of us at a gig, we started practicing in front of mirrors. Started getting standing ovations after that. Wierd? Yes. But if you can't entertain yourself...
this is actually such a good tip, we have a room we can practice in that has a mirror definitely trying this one thank u
This is what I need to start doing. I performed the other day and I felt like I wasn’t giving my all. I’m going to start recording myself.
Sunglasses, it sounds like a joke, but it helps me so much as I'm shy and not having to look at the audience while
1.they don't know I'm not looking at them
2. You look like slash
DRIFTY
I wear the hippie "Lennon" glasses, and for one your correct! Us guitarists usually make such weird faces when we're blasting the amp of it's foundation! :P
Gamer Guitarist yes! I wear sunglasses even when I’m not on stage. They can make anyone look like 10 times cooler
It's true. I'm an older player, and no longer quite so handsome as I was. Dark shades really help. If it works for you use it. Look at Mick Mars, he pretty much hides his whole head above his jaw with that hat and shades. Don't laugh, your turn is coming, laddies!
Also, fedoras or porkpie hats. Those are great for shy people and they look cool.
wtf those are the WORST hats@@lifeontheledgerlines8394
maybe make a samurai gutarist video on starting a band?
BiscuitBuff yess
yes!
I agree
My way of doing it was talking to a guy with long hair that I didnt even knew at the time and my band started, an that guy is not even on the band anymore, just do something an thins should work out, and if they dont, try again.
*loud japanise screaming* absails from the celing with a guitar and samurai sword whips out the sword and kills the bass player whilst shreding on his yellow tellicaster
1) Entertain- that's why you"re there.
2) Engage.
3) Be Dynamic
4) Be on and be prepared. Know the set!
I have a show tomorrow and I’m 13 so it’s like my 2nd one so I’m pretty nervous. The band is playing a bunch of AC/DC songs. I need to be more aggressive with my playing and my stage presence for the show. This helped a lot, thank you
How did it go?
that’s where i started, hopefully your concert went well :)
eyy so how did it go??
Sorry I’m a literal year late responding but it was awesome! I’ve performed a few times since them too, we just walked performed at the Coca Cola roxy in Atlanta on Saturday
@@kat6077 yay she responded! good job i’m glad it went well :)
My dad has been a rock/ heavy metal guitarist for about 38 years and his biggest advice to me was the PROJECTION of your playing. He had a story about Jimmy Page playing with the firm. He went to the show with some friends got some drinks and sat down. About 20 minutes later the lights went down. The audience was just talking, drinking and facing away from the stage. But then at one moment everyone just went completely silent turned around and there was jimmy on stage. He said he just felt his presence there immediately. Then he counted off and fucking leveled the place.This is an art form, projecting your mind and presence onto the crowd is almost as important as learning to play the instrument itself. In fact, your technique and playing should be directly in service to this skill. There's a reason rock guitarists play mostly simple music, because you need to fucking MEAN it. It should be just as mental intensive as playing classical or jazz and if it's not you're doing it wrong. It sounds very spiritual and metaphysical, but if you can develop this skill you'll find it works. I've seen my dad do it time and time again, you must be captivating. You can tell immediately if a musician is really in the zone and focused. You have to put your shadow out into the world, you should be able to *intimidate*. I find metal screamers are very good at this, I remember seeing a deathcore band and the vocalist jumped off of the stage right into my face and I was just terriefied of this dude. The way he moved, it felt like he wanted to kill me, and I believed him!! Dad also stressed that you can't be afraid to play HARD, in the climax of a solo you should play hard as you can without hurting yourself (though it wasn't uncommon for him to have his whole forearm black and blue after weeks of playing 2 shows a day). Strum hard, pick hard, you need to make sure your instrument gets as much emotional input through its signal as possible. But never ever lose control, and if you do fake that you have it all under your thumb. Make sure people know exactly what is on your mind. Performance is the ground zero of creativity, you need ALL of your mentality and senses in the moment.
I would be teriiefied of anyone jumping right in my face
good commecnt, actually.
Maybe jimmy page has emperors haki
Nicolás Pacheco jimmy page sold his soul
HallMonitor you sir have your mouth full of reason
HallMonitor yeah!!!
10. Start the show like Flea Woodstock '99 to gain attention
Döner Yes!
ExaRom 😂😂
ExaRom Dner, bist dus?
He doesn’t even have a sock this time
THIS!
I'm 14 and I'm doing about a 2 hour Gorillaz cover show as mostly a singer, but also a pianist, guitarist and playing the melodica. This helped me a lot, thanks!
Woah, good luck!
Yo that sounds cool as shit, how did it go?
_"Have good outfits"_
*Pantera has left the chat*
Yeah but they looked cool
Couldn't agree more, I once threw my pick in the crowd at a gig, the pick didn't even reach the first row (yeah I'd be a lame pitcher) but everyone was fired up (Also nobody noticed me fucking up because only the stage was lighted).
What I like the best on stage is just making fun of little mistakes or interracting with the crowd with humor. Of course, it has to feel spontaneous...
Hope you got your pick back!
One of my most favorite things about writing a live set is creating blocks of 3-4 songs with killer transitions to make for 20-30min of seamless nonstop music. This is my favorite part about seeing bands live and seeing the little things that they did that changes the live performance of a song from the studio version. Jamaican and European reggae bands do this very well!
The answer is one and only, guitar spins.
too risky though, i've seen the videos lol
Janick Gers approves
but the nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remember the family guy episode where Peter was playing drums and making eye contact with the guitarist and they made too much eye contact and they had together married. Lol
One thing I try to implement is saying something specific to The venue, the crowd, or definitely the location, the town, or state you are in. if I am from out of town, I try to let people know that. I think it sounds cooler. Let people know how far you traveled. And then say something to make them feel special. Say something cool about the venue. About the people. Or about the town. I just think it was always cool when musicians would do that when they came through. bonus points if you can work it into one of your songs. I'm telling you, it's so little and stupid but whenever I hear a musician say something about my hometown, it stays with me forever really. I'm like oh so this is what people think about where I live! For me, it can be the stupidest thing. I can say how cool at venue is and how I can imagine a specific artist playing here. I can say something about the hospitality or I can say something about some burrito I had down the street or some street sign I saw.
totally agree with practicing what you're going to say. It's part of your show so it should be exactly what you practice. That way it doesn't really matter if you're nervous on stage or whatever. You're not really talking to the people, you're basically just going off a script like you would with a song.
I wear combat boots with a frilly dress on stage. I'm a man
CelticBananas that’s badass, dude
Channelling your kurt cobain I see
Haha haaaa
Lol dude
You Fat Mike or something?
1. headbang
I hear that Samuraiguitarist guy is a pretty cool dude.
I played my first show last Saturday, with another coming up tomorrow. I can't tell you how nervous I was, but the energy got going the more we played, and it culminated when we covered I Love Rock n Roll and we got just about the entire crowd clapping along with the drum beat! It was a rush for sure! Thanks for the advice man, I'll definitely be taking it up for tomorrow!
Megan Krumpak ayy i played my first one last saturday too!
Aryan Kapoor Nice! how'd it go?
Megan Krumpak great! the crowd loved it when we covered fire by jimi hendrix!
Aryan Kapoor awesome!
I had my first concert recently, I was so nervous, it was a solo performance of moonflower by Santana, I was pretty happy in the end though
Perfect, down-to-earth tips.
My previous band could really stand to study this!
Between every song: "drummer tests his cymbals/toms/kick incessantly, bass player shows off riffs, test, test, test...feedback..." you get the picture.
Two more: no noodling, no tuning (with volume)
mike harvey lol just be glad they even tuned
Those won't kill a show though, just your chance at another.
@Francois Delacroix exactly dude
Aaron Hackett yea lol ive seen plently of famous musicians do this right here on youtube. Nothing wrong with it
But but... the crazy things I wear on stage ARE what I would wear to Applebees.
Wait a second... I think I heard this guy on the radio the other night! I remember it because his song was on right before my favorite commercial for "Spouse be gone".
How to improve your stage presence
1. Look up AC/DC Let There Be Rock Paris 1979
2. Watch and learn
Very good advice
Didds why would i watch a band play the same song over and over
Top advice!!
Watch David lee Roth in the 80s
What if you don't play rock? What kinda advice is that
Us high school bands tend to not move whilst playing our instruments at all, making us look depressed, and also we wear the most casual of clothes! :D
Spoken because I've seen it myself in 2018!
Seriously though, even in high school, I try to play as a professional. For one, it's rather fun to pretend your Jimi Hendrix for a start, and two, I think it's more fun, and the audience thinks it more fun to watch as well.
Or as Iggy Pop would say "when in doubt, whip it out" :-)
When in doubt bend it out -Nick Jonas
When I had my first band in 1994. I had to learn these things the hard way. Nowadays kids can simply click on a video like this one and some will STILL bitch and moan about crap, when in fact they have all this wonderful information out.
Good video Sensei! :)
Some stuff I've learned on tour over the past couple of years, a lot of which you touched on:
Always have fun on stage! Even if you're having a bad night, the band fought, the room is empty, sound sucks, whatever. Make the most out of your time on stage and find something fun about it. If it's a light crowd, I use those nights to introduce new ideas into my improvisations, spark spontaneous jams on stage, and make goofy faces at my band mates from time to time to get them to perk up and have fun. Creatively turn your bad night into a fun night.
Also, yeah, you want to be dressed cooler than everyone else in the venue but it shouldn't look like a costume. When my band walks into a room, everyone knows we're the band. We all have our style about how we dress, but we're all dressed to make a good impression and represent ourselves and our collective style.
I disagree about the silence thing, though. I think little pockets of silence in between songs accentuate the way songs begin. If I see a band that has drum beats or samples or jams in between EVERY song, I get bored/overwhelmed really fast because it's just constant sound. I will say that you want to avoid noodling between songs, looking generally anxious, dicking around, and wasting time. Silence is okay for a few seconds or a minute, just wear it with purpose. It shouldn't look like you're unprepared. Sometimes, our singer will make a joke out of taking a second to pick up and tune his guitar before a song with something like "These guys have to wait on me to tune to get started. Ya know, lead singer stuff" and that stuff gets a laugh.
If you mess up really noticeable on a song, just keep going and don't make a big deal out of it. Don't apologize, don't mention it, nothing. It happens. Just laugh it off and keep going.
Sometimes you have to sound check right before you start playing. Throw and go. In those cases, I always do quirky stuff for sound check that grabs people's attention. No noodling and no lame comedy sketch, but I've played a medley of "All Star" by Smash Mouth and "La Cucaracha" to check my guitar and quoted funny Donald Trump quotes for my mic check. "Fake news" is way more interesting that "Mic check 1 2". I like to be quick and professional about sound check but I always look for something to make it less grating and annoying and boring a process for an audience to sit through.
Nothing looks worse to me on stage than arrogance, cheesy planned banter/audience participation, being rude to a crowd/soundman, sending out vibes of friction between band mates, trying to show eachother up, forcing yourself to run around just to put on a "good show", dressing like a slob, noodling during sound check, noodling between songs, and staring at your instrument/music/iPad/girlfriend the whole show.
I am in an indie band and a heavier band and in both cases I like to check my mic with rap lyrics, but not in the original rhythm. Like I'll legitimately sing a bunch of the words to an earl sweatshirt song in a pop-punk style just to make sound check less boring for me, my band mates, and the sound guy.
Also I agree with you in general.
This video was both exceptional advice and a great indicator for where I’m at. I definitely have the banter and flamboyancy amongst other things down but I really have to get more physical with things.
I've been doing live gigs for many many years.. and this advice is still very valuable and helpful.. thanks Sam.. I just subscribed!
it's amazing how long you can keep your eyes straight forward and righto into the camera. I realyy need to train this. Thank you for this vid.
10. NEVER discuss politics /religion or anything divisive.. on stage or on social media. Thank you for this post, I sent it to all my bandmembers as back up to everything I’ve been saying for the last year
I’m talkin to you Corey Taylor
Just tried utilizing these tips at my last show over the Friday the 13th weekend and we had the whole place buzzing! Sold a lot of CDs after the show as a result probably. It was just overall one of our better performances if not our best. So thanks a lot for these tips!
Thank you! Fantastic advice. Hard to practice at times but this video is a good reminder to do so!
Priceless info brother. Thank you for sharing!
Getting off the chart was something that really helped me. I still have it handy for when someone randomly calls a Beatles tune I haven’t heard in 5 years but it’s no longer necessary for most of my shows (aside from live band karaoke but that’s a different story).
Getting off the charts means you’re actually spending time PLAYING and being there. Nothing says “this sucks” more than watching a performer whose eyes are glued to his charts
Awesome video! I think these tips are also helpful for giving academic lectures and courtroom performance as well.
I had my first show over the summer I remember how nervous I was but after the first song played all my jitters went away. The energy of the crowd gave me way more confidence. Thanks for your advice bro.
Great advice and even the comments are helpful for the most part.
number 8 reminded me of a local band I saw a couple years ago, a lot of their music had a kinda dark and unsettling kind of vibe, and they also had a mascot sitting on one of their amps: a dismembered baby doll. fucking terrifying, man. it suited the vibe so well and imo made a disproportionally large contribution to the experience, just sitting there lookin creepy af
Love the sensei series stuff. keep doin theory lessons ur a great talker
Nice! You simplified this out really well
It's great to know that other people take notice of these kind of stuff. My band mates don't and it's really an important thing to get into
This video was a smart idea. It's common sense stuff that either never gets talked about or gets missed entirely by bands. As always, your videos are very entertaining and insightful. Keep up the great work, brother.
Thanks so much this video was super helpful 🙏💯🔥
Well said, great information.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge
Awesome suggestions! Thank you!
So glad I subscribed to this guy, great information! Also the background music is very nice hahaha
No. 3 is great. I've been really wanting to do that with that with my solo acoustic show especially now that I'm adding live looping to it...
I really enjoyed this video - thanks, great tips.
Dang - this is actually a really great video. Good stuff.
Thank you for your on point anecdotes!
my pleasure
Very cool video! It gave us some cool inspiration!
I love you already, best advices for a beginner ever
This was great! Thank you!
Love this. Great points! 👌🏻
Great advice,thank you.
These are excellent tips. I recently joined a cover band startup and we will certainly be putting these ideas into practice. Samuraiguitarist - if you are open to requests, I would like to request separate, more elaborate videos elaborating on any (if not all) of the 9 tips in this video.
That was very helpful. Thank you 😊
Thanks for this video, my band has a show Wednesday and these tips are hella useful
Thanks for these useful information.
Excellent advice, great video thanks👏👍😎
Thank you for posting this video.
I saw steve vai two weeks ago and I was able to see the extraordinary presence steve has.... you can actually feel the energy Steve transmits. Amazing.
dude great vid, share it with my band mates si they can understand why I always try to do things differently. Black Lawless (WASP) once said. people listen with their eyes....
Much needed video!!
Best advice to date. Thank you.
BRILLIANT, VERY HELPFUL :-)
I did not know about 5 and 6. Thanks cause I needed that info
Great advice. Many thanks.
Powerful bro!! Thanx
Thank you very much for this!!!
Very helpful thank you for the insight
Great points!
Thanks very good advice
Very helpful video!!! Thanks a lot :)
Sick vid mate.
great tips, glad I’ve learned most of them already. I definitely spent a good year or two playing in groups that had god awful pauses in between songs and just... terrible endings/transitions
Thank you for this
great info!
thank you very much :) this helped a lot to me
everything we all know and forget to practice every day! thanks!
I feel like none of these apply to drummers lmao
It is a bit more if a challenge. I envy they guys out front because they get to wear the cool clothes. I gotta wear something that I am comfortable with getting drenched with sweat, lol!
@@bbarrett71 you can always Tommy Lee it with the exaggerated flourishes when you're beating the drums!
This was a great vid! Thank you! Subscribed.. ;)
Thanks so much!
Thank you, dude! :3
Well done
All good points. Everyone should watch this.
How about a video on learning to move around while still playing accuratley? Im dyspraxic and this is something I struggle with
Great advice
1. Watch Frusciante on Slane Castle
Amen
True
Awesome stuff...subscribed
I needed this video.
this advice is really good, love it, we did a gig last night with my bon jovi tribute band and all our mnitors went and the drummer had to wing it, lol.
Thank you sensei