do you guys make stupid faces when playing like me?

[eddiewagner]

have mercy folks,
i just made a dvd for my little guitarschool.
and when i first saw me playing on a big tv-screen i was in shock: i make all kinds of weird facial expressions, even when i play something rather casual like c-am-f-g-chords.
i guess there is no cure for that behaviour. how about you guys, how do you look like when you play?
eddie

[marshman]

My life-long best bud has always made funny faces while he plays, particularly wihle solo-ing. We have referred to that as "Marking" ever since. It is particularly funny to watch, saaaay, Clapton 'mark', or Buddy Guy 'mark'.

Your only hope is to find someone worse than you to play with.

[jhundt]

When I played my first live gig (I was 14, back in '68) peopletold me I was making crazy faces and not looking at the audience. In fact I turned my back to the crowd half of the time, and I just stared down at my guitar through the whole show.

So I spent hundreds of hours practicing in front of a big mirror. Now I don't make so many faces. I learned to play without looking at the guitar, too.

I used to do a whole show and hardly ever look down at my hands. Of course, I was playing like crap - but I sure looked good doing it!

For a whhile I played in a group with an acoustic-guitar-basher and another electric "lead" player who played really loud. Then I played a whole show without looking at my guitar, and without hearing it! I have no idea what it sounded like, but it gave me a chance to work out on my stage moves...

[Cross Roads]

Yes, my wife used to tease me about it!

[Deaf Eddie]

Like this?



That's from last summer, at a gig on the outdoor stage at the Viejas Casino. In the second shot, yes, my tounge is sticking out...

[wilkat1]

I bite my bottom lip. I don't even notice I'm doing it until I realize that my lip hurts.

But I'll take that any day after watching Norah Jones on ACL. Adam Levy makes some godawful faces when he plays. Just keep the camera on Miss Jones, please!

[boris bubbanov]

That's why I try to sing as much as possible.

Then I can concentrate on makin' stupid faces in conversation instead.

[Jakedog]

Ah... the dreaded "Guitar Face" syndrome. I am afflicted too. My wife cracks up when she sees me take a solo. The rest of the time, I'm singing, so the face stays fairly normal, well, normal for me. But when it's time to let her rip, well, I have often been weirded out looking at photos of myself playing.

My wife, in the past, has named several of my faces that show up in pics:

Jimmykicked
Severely Constipated
No Longer Severely Constipated
Giving Birth

If you make any of these faces on a regular basis, you might be a guitar player...



Jake

[NewOldStock]

Sexy guitar face or XXX content?




Look at the headstock!

[newtwanger]

I take my lessons from Gary Moore. I know a 14th fret bend absolutely needs one of these:

[Tony]

I've been told that my face, when I play the bass, looks like some kind of big jellyfish or something. You can't really identify it, it just kind of flashes, looks like some kind of fruit or something.

[davidge1]

I never made guitar faces (so far as I know), but I used to make a low humming sound through my nose when I was concentrating really hard on my playing. I learned this when I was sitting around with some friends...they were talking and I was playing any unplugged electric guitar. Someone said "What's that noise?" I stopped to listen, but no one heard anything. Once I started playing again, he said "It's you!"

[Strat62]

Yep. It was really bad when I first started playing out-people had me figured for a meth-head or something, Lol. It took a couple of years of concentration and playing regular gigs before I could get my facial expressions to acceptably match my leads and chord progressions.

[superchicken_VI]

Thankfully, not really. Being a trumpet player, I couldn't afford any facial contortions, so it didn't become part of my thang. When I play guitar solos, I do a little bit of mouth movement, sounding out the vowel sounds of the notes I'm playing, but with my mouth closed. It kinda looks like I'm chewing, I guess.

It's nowhere as bad as our other guitar player, who usually looks as though somebody wafted a dirty sock or some really strong cheese in his face while he's playing.

[Pete Galati]

I'm not aware of having any facial expression at all when I play. If I do, it probably has something to do with my straining to see the neck.

[jazztele]

i'm a perpetuator of the eddie van halen half smile/half grimace.

[odiemann]

I didn't think so - UNTIL I saw the faces my four-year old makes when playing his little guitar. I asked my wife, "where does he get that from?" She replied (while laughing), "look in the mirror when you play."

I proceeded to observe my bad self in the process, and sure enough- I made those faces the little guy had so skillfully reproduced.

Hey, did I tell you? His timing is great!

[xjazzy]

My only problem is using the wha without moving the mouth... I've stop using the wha.

[Bangbang]

Don't know yet. Never played in public yet....thats a long way down the road. One of my books actuall says to dress different than you usually do develop a style of wierd looks and mannerisms.

[byrdbrain]

I tend to "dance", like a heavily tranquillized Bizarro World Fred Astaire.

[Tele Fan]

Guilty, more of a grimace really. It's not as bad if I'm smoking while I'm playing, but you can't do that too many places anymore.

[bluesfordan]

I don't know, I have no idea if I can play like you do.

[TheGoodTexan]

Originally Posted by eddiewagner

do you guys make stupid faces when playing like me?

YEP! Every time I play like you, I make stupid faces!

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by bluesfordan

I don't know, I have no idea if I can play like you do.

i had the feeling that something went slightly wrong with that sentence. everyday i learn a little bit more english on this forum.

[jumpnblues]

I just pass lots of gas.