The Inner Game of Music...!!

On another Piping Forum...the subject of playing in front of people,especially other players..
(all listening carefully...for you to trip up..?)..was discussed..I was brought up in the "EaglePipers"
enviroment many moons ago where you had to play in front of the elite in Piping...all sitting there with their eyes closed,
you always wondered if it was your playing..that was screwing them up..!!,but at a Workshop I attended this year with Robert Mathieson,
he suggested the book the Inner Game of Music..by Barry Green..bought it..and enjoyed it..(a hard read I thought)...but very
informative and helpful..any of my fellow forumites ..read this..!!..?..or how do you cope with the "pressures"

Pressure ??? what pressure lol

Yeah i think i was at the same Workshop Ian,
I also got the book but it seams to be on permanent loan so havent had the chance to read it,
I find preperation is the best cure for pressure , for me if I know i have put in good work on the music and my pipe is set up the best i can it lessens the risk of any blooters or mechanical failure, this allows me to relax enough to enjoy what i am playing and who ime playing for.
Also a bit like yourself the more you play solo for different clients the more comfortable you become. I have played for various people from Devina McCall to The wee fat yin ootah Take That
From corporate events for BT Directors to Owners of the largest chocolate manufacturer in Norway, from small groups of 4-5 to crowds of 100,000 it all adds to your experience level and reduces the nerves although the day i stop getting the nervous feeling before striking up is the day i stop playing
I have a couple of players in the band that suffer quite a bit from nerves or they did last year but i think things were either not explained to them properly or they didnt put in the practice !!!

Very true Richard, prep work is of paramount importance. The feeling of anticipation prior to doin' a gig is still a buzz of excitement more so than nerves as such, but a know what ya mean m8.
What if ya do slip up..........improvisation is class....... ie:- Tayport 2008.

i was at the same workshop and also bought the book haha. i aint read it either started reading it but stopped because i find reading very boring but i will probably read it sometime in the next ten or so years.

This is a scary topic for people in any discipline.

The solution(s) is simple,

Either: be the best in the room, so you are better than all of them anyway,

Or: like me, play something really well, not necessarily difficult, but play it well, with a properly set up instrument.

I can tell you, and so will Stormy and Redneck that even playing a 6/8 for drone tuning in a top band can be a daunting experience for some, In Ballycoan, you could easily get ripped to shreds!

I made a horrendous mess of a 6/8 at a practise one night and got a real slagging over it.

Back in the dark ages when I joined the RUC pipe
band, it was awful, playing in front of the likes of Ian Jess and Nat Russell.

That was what I did, and still do, keep it simple, and play it well

Good point Gordy, I think this could be applied to lower grade bands also. Some try to come out wi FMM 'n SPPB type tunes only to fall into the thinking, better than they are trap.