6 Tips For Performing To A Live Audience.

Performing to a live audience can be one of the most fulfilling things you can do as a musician. Apart from being able to showcase your talent, you also get to experience a connection with a group of people through your performance.

However, it’s important to note that performing live for the first time can be a daunting task, and is very different from performing at your home. But, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

Here’s a list of 6 useful tips that can help you boost your performance the next time you’re on stage!

Practice, Practice, Practice!

As any experienced musician will tell you, performing live is not the same as performing in a studio. You don’t get to redo your performance if you miss a few notes.

The best way to make sure your live performance is perfect is to practice it on stage without the audience present. Have your soundcheck team or friends watch you perform and get feedback about what they have to say about your performance.

Putting in the hours during practice and refining your sound will boost your confidence on stage and will ensure you don’t make mistakes where it really counts (on stage!).

Do Your Research

The more you know about the venue, the type of audience you’re going to be playing for, and the schedule, the fewer surprises you’ll encounter when it's time to perform.

Consider visiting the venue beforehand to get a feel for the stage, the type of room you’ll be playing in, and how your music would sound to the audience. Doing your research will help you determine what you’ll need on stage to produce the best sound.

Try Breathing Techniques To Calm Yourself On Stage

The importance of visualization techniques and breathing exercises for managing pre-performance jitters and stage fright can’t be overstated.

Try to find 5-10 minutes before your performance for breathing exercises to help reduce anxiety and stress. You can also try visualizing yourself going on stage and performing confidently in front of the crowd from start to finish.

Here are 8 breathing exercises that can help you feel less anxious before your performance.

Engage With The Audience

Engaging with the audience is very important when performing live. The more engaged the crowd is with your performance, the more positive the atmosphere will be.

Engaging with your audience allows you to form a connection on a deeper level, and it also can help make the environment less stressful. Allowing you to enjoy the experience and produce an even more awesome performance for them.

Plan Out The Entire Performance

The audience can very quickly catch a lack of flow and preparation. Many artists are often under the misconception that they can just jump on the stage and improvise as they go, but even for most successful artists, that’s a difficult thing to do.

Map out your performance’s entire structure and setlist to help you produce a more solid body of work and make it more enjoyable for the crowd!

Don’t Forget To Enjoy Yourself!

At the end of the day, all that really matters is that you’re enjoying playing and sounding good while performing. Having fun performing is more important than the latter.

If you’re not having fun performing, then there’s no point in playing in the first place. If the performance sounds good, then that’s a plus.