Did all my drinkin' in high school!

But seriously, if you want to play well with alcohol in your blood, you must practice that way as well.

R

Nope. One beer - maybe
Two beers - no way.

I'm often impressed with how well some folk seem to play while slamming the booze, and then I start to wonder how much better they would sound if they were sober.

There was an interesting study recently about how inebriation affects one's ability to hear low frequencies. The drunker you are the less you hear the low end. So it could be affecting a performance in more ways than one!

I'm not one to usually drink to excess, but when I do I really really REALLY want to play. I can tell I play worse but my ability to concern myself with it drastically decreases.

I was told a long time ago that drinking while playing was like drinking while driving. You think you are doing great, but sooner or later you'll end up in a ditch.

I've drunk water every since.

It's a good question! If I'm playing solo, I really enjoy a glass of wine with practice. If I am with others, I try to gauge what others are feeling - if it's appropriate.

While much of it depends on one's tolerance, I tend to agree that one glass is sufficient for me with all the concentration that the Stick demands in a performance setting. Anything more is going to have an adverse affect on me being able to express myself with the instrument.

Of course, after the gig is something altogether different

Music is a mind altering experience.
Some musicians / vocalists can't live without the drugs and alcohol.

I play instruments for my own entertainment. I use it to relax.
I don't do drugs and I'm not much of a drinker. Just chillin' out...

I have a theory about that: those people used music as a treatment for a problem, and they had to find a different treatment when music became a job.

By the way, alcohol is a drug.

If it's a club gig, I'll have a beer before the first set, but that's usually it. A concert setting, just water, tea or coffee.

A Stick Night? all bets are off!! I tried to just have one beer at the recent Connecticut Stick Night but the crowd kept buying me drinks after the tunes they liked. Founders Nitro Oatmeal Stout to be exact:



http://foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/nit ... eal-stout/

how could I refuse?

Music is my drug. Google the two words together.

Last year,
I sat 20ft in front of Steven Tyler during his practice session.
I wondered how this man could still be alive?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Tyler
He's still got great vocals. Here's one of his tunes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vtwOqwRkNg

I think after a couple (not a six pack) of beers my improvised solos are more free, as I am left less contemplative and neurotic. Neither I nor my audiences have noticed a decrease in performance level. However, if I have not practiced enough, I cannot afford this decrease in contemplation, because I don't have the part down in my fingers. This is one reason I promote extensive practice.

One of my piano teachers said that a musician should practice similarly to the way elevators are rated in America. In some foreign countries, the elevator states the exact weight limit, and if it is exceeded, a buzzer goes off and someone has to get out. In the US, the actual rating is 150% of the stated rating. When a musician has practiced at 150% of the skill level required for the performance, very little can go wrong. I don't know if the elevator statement is true, as I never verified it, but the story sounds good.