Questions & Answers

Performance Nerves

As musicians we go through life always worrying about what other people think of our playing, we have expectations to meet not only of ourselves but of our peers and teachers. It is something most of us will never escape and is one of the main reasons why many of us become so nervous in performances and particularly auditions or exams. In these high stress situations if we don't control our bodies they can go into melt down. Most people in this situation don't help the problem but make it worse. One very helpful hint to get rid of nerves is to breathe deeply when playing. Our natural reaction to nerves is to become more tense and hold our breath. This is the worst possible thing do to as our entire body then becomes tense making us feel uncomfortable, play out of tun and limits blood circulation which again causes breathlessness. The cycle is vicious. People also get what we call bow shakes. This usually occurs during a soft of slower passage as we are required to have complete control of the bow which is very difficult when nervous.

The first symptoms of nerves is usually a heavy pulse, sweaty hands, dry mouth, our bodies become extremely tense and sometimes people shake. For string players this is very bad. The best thing to do is to try and keep calm and only think positively. The audience you are performing for wants you to play well, they are there to comfort and support you, not to judge you.

Another way to help with nerves is to be extremely prepared. The more you have performed a piece the more comfortable you will be on the performance day. However, we can not always be completely prepared due to time restraints or the difficulty of a piece. One must visualize a successful performance in the mind to allow your brain to be in a good frame of mind. If you continually say to yourself 'I'm going to be nervous and I won't get this passage right', your brain will listen and will do what its told. Our minds are very powerful when it comes to nerves. If you can learn how to control it in high stress situation you will find performing a much easier and are more pleasurable task.

by Amy Brookman