Public performances--how good need I be?

Whistle
1

I’ve got a general question, I need some guidance on. I’ve been playing the whistle for almost a year now, and I really want to play Christmas Carols this holiday season out and about in the city (San Fran). You know, at subway stations or downtown. I’ve been practicing, and although I don’t have more than a few tunes memorized, I am now familiar with most of the popular carols.

I have ALWAYS wanted to be a street musician and especially at Christmas. I just love the holidays and want to contribute. Unfortunately, I am just not a very good whistler yet. I’m OK but nothing near what I hear from OTHER street musicians.

My question is: how good do you have to be to put yourself out there in public? I’d hate to feel I was annoying people instead of entertaining them!

And then, does anyone have any suggestions for making Christmas carols played alone on a whistle exciting? They are tough to embellish, I think, because people are expecting a straight tune. But I just don’t want to go out there and BORE people!

And if anyone has any experiences doing this that they’d like to share, I’d appreciate it!

2

You know what? Just go do it. Some people will hate it, others will love it and stand around and ask you to play more. But use a guitar case if you’re collecting. Lots bigger and easier to hit than a whistle case!
:smiley:
Cheers,
Bill Whedon

3

I’d say as long as you are a better player than your audience, you’re fine! :slight_smile:

I’m sure they would enjoy it. Two recommendations:

  1. practice not making a face when you hit a wrong note (something I need to work on),

  2. practice recovering from a wrong note, such as trying to incorporate it into the beat or make a harmony for a second or something.

In otherwords, hide them mistakes! LOL You’ll be great, and maybe next year when I am in Seattle, I can come down and play with you!

4

Another observation from the Serpent: Don’t take your own judgement of how you sound as gospel. Play in front of some people and see if they listen, or run away. That sort of opinion, you can take to the bank.

Go ask one of the buskers if you can play along with him/her, free (no hat for you.) then see if they like you enough to keep you there by sharing the hat. Which they will, if their average “take” goes up when you’re there.

Objective. That’s the key!
Cheers, :smiley:
Bill Whedon

5

Done a lot of that. You’re ready.
The street is a very forgiving
venue, at least critically.
People are so delighted
and surprised to hear live whistle
music that they don’t care much
about whether you sound like
Joannie Madden, who they’ve
never heard anyhow. They don’t know
what great whistle playing sounds
like, most of them have never heard
a whistle. They just recognize
the tunes. The whistle has a
wonderful ability to delight
people on the street.

It’s fine to play the tunes
straightforwardly, with a minimum
of embellishment or none at all.
They sound lovely unornamented.
Just play it like you mean it.
People hear heart. Good luck! Jim

P. S. If you feel like you’re about
to faint before you start playing,
play anyway.

6

If you play well enough to please yourself, chances are you will play well enough to please at least some of the passersby. Are you at the point with the carols where you can always play them without hitting a sour note? Do they come easily to your fingers? If so, get out there and try it!

As far as avoiding boredom goes, how about making up carol “sets”? Instead of playing several repetitions of “Silent Night,” for example, group it with similar carols (such as “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Angels We Have Heard on High”). Or you can alternate meters…for example, sequeing from “Silent Night” into “In Dulci Jubilo” (“Good Christian Men Rejoice”). If you know the words to multiple verses of each carol, you’ll have a better feel as to how to embellish them…each verse will have different notes that cry out for a bit of emphasis.

A word to the wise re busking with a whistle…make sure you hit it with the soap treatment, because they clog like crazy in the cool, fog-laden San Francisco air! I used to park myself down at the bottom of Hyde Street, not far from the cable car turntable, and the moisture off the Bay made clogging a real problem…I had to shake the darned thing out after just about every song! Also, make sure you’re not taking someone else’s place…buskers can be pretty possessive about their regular spots.

Have fun!

Redwolf

7

Thanks for the encouragement and all the advice. I do know the tunes well enough to hit a clunker note only maybe once every other tune, and my friends don’t cringe, so I guess I’ll go for it!

8

The first time I played in public was on my Native American flutes. I played for a new-agey type store during a day when they had various “artisans”…palm readings, dream stuff, card readings etc. It was great fun, I met lots of interesting people. Life is so hard sometimes…that just hearing nice peaceful or uplifting music is a joy in itself. Good luck playing…just do it!

9

I agree with everybody. The way I usually put it is, you’re probably your own worst critic.

My primary instrument used to be the lap dulcimer. I played shows in college and graduate school frequently, and remembered every sour note afterward. But most of the prople who saw me a) were primarily struck by the novelty of the instrument and b) thought it was cool, so they heard the good parts rather than dwelling on the bad.

I think the whistle is also novel, and that most people passing by will react the same way, especially if they can sense you’re enjoying it.

10

Give it a whirl. If they throw coins or currency, you’re OK. If they throw anything else, you probably need more work.

11

Sounds like you are certainly ready for the public.
I play whistle on about 20 tunes in our annual Christmas Revelry and have found very few christmas tunes that are not great on whistle. Folks are always amazed at the amount of music that can come out of such a simple looking instrument and really love it. I’m sure that you will find the same when you go out there. Good Luck!

12

I have a question that is in the same vein as this one as well. How many tunes do you think I should know before I try busking? 1/2 hour’s worth?

Someone? Anyone? Beuller?

Thanks!

Kaitlin

13

On 2002-11-14 15:33, Kar wrote:
Thanks for the encouragement and all the advice. I do know the tunes well enough to hit a clunker note only maybe once every other tune, and my friends don’t cringe, so I guess I’ll go for it!

Tell me where you’ll be busking so I can come listen!

14

On 2002-11-16 21:02, Elerossë wrote:
I have a question that is in the same vein as this one as well. How many tunes do you think I should know before I try busking? 1/2 hour’s worth?

Someone? Anyone? Beuller?

Thanks!

Kaitlin

I’d say 1/2 hours’ worth is good. You don’t want to have to do repeats too soon, in case people hang around to listen for a while (also, you’ll drive anyone who has to hang around…for example, if you busk near a newstand or busstop) absolutely bananas if you keep playing the same things over and over. Half an hour gives you a chance to get some audience turnover, and, if you mix the tunes up a bit (i.e., don’t always play them in the same order), you won’t bore any potential captive audience.

It’s also a good idea to make sure you have a few common favorites under your belt…just in case someone requests them.

Redwolf

15

Definitely, go for it!! Music is meant to be shared. You are already a better than anyone in your audience is likely to be, and people LOVE hearing live music, no matter how simple ( don’t YOU?) Stick to stuff you know well, play them simply and honestly and you will be astounded how people respond.

16

However well rehearsed you are, you’ll still feel as though you’re throwing yourself in the deep end. It might help if you play initially with, say, a guitarist. That would help to hide the little mistakes that can make you lose your nerve. I started playing publically in a band and it was a great reassurance to know that the music wouldn’t grind to a halt if I fluffed a note. If that isn’t possible though, you’ll still feel nervous when you start. But busking is a funny business. I’ve seen crowds gathered to listen to, at best, semi-competent ‘characters’ while they walk straight past musicians who strike me as brilliant. You won’t know until you try.

Good luck, but enjoy it whatever the reception. I’ve never seen really rude or abusive responses and I’ve seen acts that were quite pathetic. Some of them seemed to be getting quite good sympathy money too.

17

About five years ago, I was sitting on a deck on the second floor of a house in Montauk in the summer just practicing (there was also a guy a few houses down on pipes believe it or not), and some passers by broke out into applause and smiles. Same thing happened while in the Carribean on a trawler moored among a bunch of boats. I was pleasantly surprised and I bet you will be too. Wonderful little instrument…seems to bring delight easily.

Philo

18

I bet all of you just gave others some really great ideas!

Since I don’t know where my whistle is, and I haven’t had time to look for it, and none of the music stores around here (can you believe this) carry whistles in stock, I don’t know any song well enough to play it for anyone except my loving sisters who taught me the notes and half-tunes I DO know.

I lived in Southern Tucson for a while. One day my friend and I went to WAl-Mart, parked the car, and walked to the doors to go in. We heard a bell and thought it was the Salvation Army, but a little jazzed up.

As we got closer (it was packed and we had to park a long distance away), we saw a very, very tanned man with a beard and mustache (white, against his brown skin…there were lots of Hispanics down there).

He was shaking that bell and dancing around (quite a heavy, big, jolly fellow) in his pants and turquoise t-shirt. He was singing as loudly as he could (more like shouting it, but not so loud as shouting):

“Ah…wish you a Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, ah wish you a Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Ah…wish you a Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, ah wish you…”

[You get the picture].

Anyway, he had something spilled on his t-shirt…we guessed it was beer, and he just looked like he was enjoying himself thoroughly. It was around 12:00noon, and he didn’t care who was there, who didn’t like his sing-talking, who was sick of the same song over and over again. That was the only song he did.

I dared my friend to go up and boogie with him (he was shaking his tush like it was going out of style) and so she did. I got a picture. If I had a scanner, I would let you guys see it. Probably by the time I get a scanner, this post will have been forgotten.

But he was a merry old soul and he enjoyed his music, regardless of what others thought. Whether he was drunk or not, (it could have been water or sweat) we were extra cheery that day as well!

More people should perform on the street. I want to talk to my husband to see if he will go with me to do that in the park in downtown Des Moines, if it’s legal here!

19

Maybe ten tunes are enough–more better.
Some tunes work better on the street
than others. You’ll find
them soon enough. As generally people are
passing through, it isn’t so
important not to repeat yourself.
But it’s good to play everything
as if it matters.

Let me add this–the street
can be tough, too. You can
go long times being ignored.
It’s easy to get disheartened.
Then somebody gives you
a dollar and your heart leaps.
Sometimes I’ve made more money
on breaks than I make playing!
Sometimes people are fighting
with each other to put money
into my jar! Other times
I’m invisible for 45 minutes.

I’ve been cursed roundly by other
performers (drunken louts) for
encroaching on their space,
told to get lost by
street vendors, threatened
with arrest by restaurant
owners and by police–
all this happened
in Europe, in fact.

The street is the street,
and it can be raw. This isn’t
meant to dissuade–just that
if your experience isn’t always
delightful, it isn’t because of you!

To make money you need
to find a place where there are
a lot of people with money,
who are in a reasonably relaxed
mood. Also you need to be
heard–traffic, etc. can swallow
you whole. Sometime music stores
let me stand out front. There
can be competition for positioning
with other musicians, etc.
The single most critical
factor in making money
seems to be not how
good you are but where you’re
located. But if you are good,
even a little bit good,
you will brighten people’s
day.

Sometimes it’s good
spiritually to stand on the
sidewalk with a musical
instrument in one’s hands,
and take what comes your
way. The street can be
a church.

[ This Message was edited by: jim stone on 2002-11-17 12:55 ]

20

On 2002-11-17 11:29, Kai wrote:
If I had a scanner, I would let you guys see it. Probably by the time I get a scanner, this post will have been forgotten

Thats great, I’d sure like to see that one!

see if he will go with me to do that in the park in downtown Des Moines, if it’s legal here!

Well, I figure the worst they can do is ask you to leave.

This thread has been encouraging to me also, when my song list gets bigger, I think I’ll go to duluth and play.

[ This Message was edited by: jeffmiester on 2002-11-17 16:16 ]