It was quite a storm last night here in San Francisco, and as I waited for the bus (for a looooong time), I tucked my umbrella under my purse strap, leaving me hands-free for whistling. I was on a busy street, and for some reason, EVERYONE passing by looked at me. I think it may have been the sight of someone making music in the middle of a storm, when most people are wet and grumpy. But people were waving and smiling, and rolling down their windows to listen when they were stopped at the red light. No one does this when the weather is nice!
Also, this is a great advantage to metal whistles–rain is no problem!
That was quite a storm, wasn’t it? It wasn’t expected to hit down here in Santa Cruz…the weather reports said “partly cloudy”…so my hubby rode his motorcycle to work! I had to pick him up that evening…it was raining so hard, there was virtually no visibility, and there was standing water all over the roads (definitely NOT prime motorcycle weather!).
Redwolf (singing “I’m whistling in the rain, just whistling in the rain…”).
I wish you could send some of that rain down this way we are so dry that the electricity in the air is rather shocking:-) I get zapped every time I touch anything. My skin is shriveling up. We did have a very lite snow a few weeks ago but thats it all winter.
[ This Message was edited by: C4 on 2003-01-10 14:45 ]
I was at Delta Queen car wash yesterday between the showers. It was a great time to wash the grime of the last month off my car, as no one else was there, due to the rain. I sat down under their covered walkway and pulled out my whistle and began playing The Maid Who Sold Her Barely and in the middle of it a woman walked around the corner and I got so flustered that I couldn’t remember how the tune went. I guess I’ll get used to it after a while, but for now playing in front of others flusters me.
On 2003-01-10 14:47, C4 wrote:
At least you guys are good enough to play in front of others:-(
Oh I wouldn’t say that (not on my part, anyway)! As Blackhawk said, you just get immune to any negative responses after a while (and you find more positive responses than you might think, even if you consider your playing not quite up to par). It helps to remember that most of the people who will hear you have never heard any of the great whistlers, and many don’t play an instrument themselves…they just think it’s cool to hear someone getting music out of a metal (or wood or plastic) tube!
Yes, there’s a big different between playing for an audience (people who are expecting MUSIC, probably of a certain quality) and playing for passers-by, who are just going about daily life and not expecting the bonus of music anywhere.
It IS hard not to get distracted sometimes. I can play in busy situations, crowds, city streets, and so on, but the minute someone says something to me (“Nice music!”) or makes eye contact and smiles, I screw up! Guess it just takes practice.
Having played a lot of weddings and parties, I can verify that its a lot easier to play background. If you’re up for it, it can be more gratifying to actually have people listen but in other scenario the pressure is off and you can really get into it with a little bit of chatter going on.
I was once hired to do a New Year’s eve party job in a fancy house in Marin. Fine, I thought.
So I set up my gear and the host came over, cleared his throat and announced that I would be performing a recital for the audience!!!
Oh----my--------gawd------! i went over and asked a guy to talk while I was playing just to break the tension… I was most definitely not ready to play an hour of classical guitar music in recital mode (which means no breaks between pieces, sticking to a limited repertoire that is paced and programmatic etc).
For those you who have posted about getting flustered under scrutiny: you have to work thru it and you will feel good when you can look em in the eye and keep playing. So train those tunes into yer fingers in case your head takes a fear break! And keep breathing!!!
I can second that “keep breathing” part! I think for me, breath control is the hardest thing when I get nervous (this is true whether I’m speaking, singing or whistling). That, and, for some reason, if I get nervous, I find myself playing too fast.
What seems to work for me is trying to get into my own space when I’m playing…even when I’m busking. I’ll tune other things out, get this far-away look in my eye, and just stay there…at least until I’m done with a tune. Once I’ve finished a tune, I’ll smile or nod or say “thanks” to the tippers, but until then I just let them think they’re listening to one of those “lost in her own little world” musician types
But I think you get more money if you make eye contact, Red!!! ( :
It takes guts but I learned to do it in my historical folk music concerts and school assemblies. It becomes something of interest in itself, whether they will look you back in the eye or look away..
And believe me, I NEVER thought I would be able to do that…But lowering your threshold of shame helps in busking!!!
On 2003-01-10 16:38, C4 wrote:
What is busking? Ive heard this before.Is it like just messing around with your whistle?
More like messing around with your whistle with a hat out for donations.
M
(grin)
And it’s amazing what people will tip for. Years ago, when I played on the street in SF, my repertoire was MUCH smaller, and my playing was…well, let’s just say say “what’s a reel?” and leave it at that! But I still made enough in tips in a few hours to buy myself supper (the one meal that wasn’t covered by either my residence club or my restaurant job) at a not-too-fancy place and maybe even have enough left over for an Anchor Steam later, if I was very lucky. Good buskers can make really good tips (I was never THAT good)…though the reason I did it was more for the fun of playing (the residence club had thin walls, and noisy musicians were NOT appreciated).
On 2003-01-10 16:11, The Weekenders wrote:
For those you who have posted about getting flustered under scrutiny: you have to work thru it and you will feel good when you can look em in the eye and keep playing. So train those tunes into yer fingers in case your head takes a fear break! And keep breathing!!!
For me at least, it depends on how familiar I am with what I’m playing. I could play Star of the County Down during a nuclear attack without missing a note, but Maid who sold her Barley is still somewhat new to me. Someone last year commented that they don’t feel they have truly learned a tune until they can play it flawlessly while the barmaid asks if they are ready for another beer and they can wink at her without losing a beat.
I always have a hard time playing in front of people who just don’t know what a Low whistle is. I play a lot while I’m at work. People will walk by and say “look he’s playing the flute.” You know how argumentitive I am so i say “It’s not a flute, it’s a low Whistle.” They of course argue with me that it is a flute, and that I’m mistaken. So I pull out the interchangeable flute head for my Low D and I put that on and say NOW it’s a flute, and they say “it was a flute before.” Then I say “I made the damn thing! I think I would know the name of the instrument.” Then they say “apperently not.” Then I pull out my pile of tune books that say “IRISH TIN WHISTLE” on the cover a long with pictures. And I say “see it’s a whistle.” They say “THAT might be a whistle but what you are playing is bigger than that, so therefore it’s a flute.” The I say “Just because it’s bigger doesn’t make it a differen’t instrument you ass!” So much for Customer service. Then I put it away and tell them to leave me alone.
