GAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

[SpecialK]

I play the saxophone. I've been doing it for a while and lately I've been putting in enough practice time that I was starting to feel pretty good about myself. So I answered an ad looking for people to play in a local production of Fiddler on the Roof. Well I got myself in over my head. This will be my first attempt at being a pro musician. It's a shitty gig, the pay is lousy and any legitimate pro would scoff at it, but for me it's a first step. As a student I'm used to playing easier music than this and having rehearsals every week. We're about to have our first and potentially only rehearsal for this thing tonight and I know where I'm at. I sound like shit. I've quite literally never been so stressed out in my life. It's to the point where I get sick to my stomach just putting the CD on. I've been wanting to quit so bad I can taste it, but I don't want to be the guy who flakes at the last minute and screws everybody over. Plus the music director's a nice guy and I don't think he has anywhere else to turn. So tonight I get to go in there and look like a total asshole. GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GeekGrl]

Dude, relax. Seriously. You are not going to be the reason the play sucks/fails/etc. If its as bad as you say it is, then no one is even going to notice your less than perfect sax playing. Let go of the ego and just have some fun. Every performer starts somewhere ... showing up is not being an asshole, its being the guy who stuck with it even though it was hard, stressful, and a bit scary. No go forth and enjoy your debut!

[Rabbit_Fighter]

Just go all "free jazz" on their asses and see if they can keep up. Tell them they are a bunch of asshole philistines if they don't understand where you are going.

Or relax and do your best. Good luck!

[Mk3]

Just go all "free jazz" on their asses and see if they can keep up

That'd be a break with TRADITIOOOOOON TRADITION........TRADITION.

[SpecialK]

That'd be a break with TRADITIOOOOOON

No doubt!

Whew. That was a relief.

In the past I've been the only slightly backhanded compliment that I have enough taste to know when to be quiet. So that's what I did. I played the stuff that I knew was important and completely skipped a ton of stuff that I knew I wasn't going to be able to pull off. It basically worked. I was clearly off the back of the pack but no body openly scoffed or got pissed off. I only fucked up a little bit of the important stuff, and only a few of the things I skipped were important. I'll try not to stress so hard now. Of course there's still plenty of practicing to be done.

[xtian]

You can only get better, and no need to stress, I mean, of all the worse, you'd suck a little, nobody should get injured. You'd be surprise of how much you can suck at your job and still get along, believe me

[Rabbit_Fighter]

Knowing when to keep your mouth shut is a valuable skill. Well done!

[Bigshankhank]

Sorry, I have nothing else to add. Good luck.

[Zim]

That's not "total asshole", SpecialK. Total asshole was that douchebag trombone player in my 7-8th grade band class who never practiced and only knew a few notes. During the big school concert, his slide was out while the other trombone slides were in as he pretended to play. Back row, and everyone could see him. What a tool.

I hated band.

[Metalredneck]

As a guy who just quit a band with three absolute loser beginners, and a pro drummer, you'll be fine.
I now am working on writing & recording at home, mostly because I hate people.

[Rench]

I'm not sure how this pertains to a paid gig, but I decided to take up an instrument as an adult, and I find when a few mistakes happen, I start getting self conscious, and frustrated and make more mistakes and spiral fiwn into a nervous sweating mess.

Fix: liquid courage.

Maybe even just through practice sessions if not the event. Helps you relax, laugh off your flubs, and everything sounds better with a little buzz. Just my experience, and probably nothing healthy about it.

-Rench