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Defeating Stage Fright
If you don't suffer from stage fright, I hope you know how lucky
you are. For some musicians, the thought of standing up in front
of an audience and performing leaves them feeling weak in the
knees, shaky, sweaty and miserable. It's a debilitating
situation, one that has prevented many fine performers from
becoming all they could be. But don't despair if it has you in
its grip- it is curable!
If you suffer from stage fright, or performance anxiety as it is
also called, you need to know that a certain amount of
nervousness is normal. It is natural to feel angst when having
to demonstrate your musical abilities in front of others. Public
speaking is another area that people get jittery over. But
having the jitters is one thing; actually being so afraid that
you can't do it - that's quite another, and very important that
performing musicians solve it. The first thing you should note
is that you are likely always going to experience nerves when
you perform. Nerves are normal. You will likely always feel the
jitters at least a bit. But most people can handle the jitters.
And in fact, a bit of nervous tension makes performing exciting
to most. It becomes a problem, however, when those nerves eat
away at you and make you feel almost sick to your stomach!
The second thing to note is that performance anxiety is almost
always curable. But it takes a bit of psychology and a dose of
ego to defeat it. You need to deal with it head-on starting at
least one week before a performance. The technique described
below can be done at home, at work or school, in a park...
anywhere that you have a few moments of peace.
Sit in a comfortable chair, close your eyes and relax. Imagine
yourself going through the process of getting ready for the
concert. Imagine the day. Picture getting dressed for the
concert. Now imagine walking out the door of your house, getting
in the car, and driving to the performance venue. Then imagine
taking your instrument out, warming up, and finally, walking out
onstage to perform.
Through every step of your imagined concert, remind yourself
toalways remain calm. If at any point you feel your body
tightening up, or your breath or heart rate increasing, pause
your imaginary story, slow your breathing down and relax
yourself physically. When you feel calm again, resume your
pretend concert day preparations. Then imagine walking out and
playing. Stay calm and you will begin to feel a confidence
you've perhaps not felt before.
The imagination is a wonderful tool. If you do this every day,
at least once a day, starting a week or two before your concert,
you are going to surprise yourself with how well you do in the
real situation. Keep in mind that you will not feel completely
nervefree in the concert. That is not a reasonable goal.
Musicians should feel a bit of nervous stress; that is healthy.
Throughout your imagined concert scenario, you need to boost
your ego. You need to keep reminding yourself that you can play
that music. Tell yourself that there is no one in the audience
who can play like you, and that you are going to now demonstrate
to everyone how this music should sound. You may not be
accustomed to thinking in such arrogant terms, but you must! You
will find that the confidence you show in yourself will help
defeat the fears you have. And one last suggestion: try to find
friends you can play for from time to time. Part of solving
performance anxiety is to put yourself in the performance
situation as often as possible. You will find that with time,
performance anxiety will be replaced with performance
excitement, and you will love the feeling!
________________
Gary Ewer is the author ofThe
Essential Secrets of Songwriting and Gary Ewer's
Easy Music Theory. He is currently an instructor in the
Dept. of Music, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
About the author:
Gary Ewer is the author ofThe
Essential Secrets of Songwriting and Gary Ewer's
Easy Music Theory. He is currently an instructor in the
Dept. of Music, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Written by: Gary Ewer
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