know of any remedy to calm nerves?

[janice]

I was talking to a young lady today about performance anxiety and nerves.  I told her that I go to a forum and could get several ideas for her. 
 
What can she do to calm her nerves when she is anxious or nervous?  Is there anything a person could take or do that will relax them?  Any special vitamins or herbs she could  take? (NOT "drugs"--lol).  Thanks!

[bernhard]

According to the latest pharmaceutical research, the most efficient remedies for this condition are:

1.   Preparation. You must take as much as you want of this several times a day. It works like quinine for malaria: it prevents the disease form ever taking hold. It is no good to take quinine after you’ve got malaria. So preparation, even in its most potent formula will do no good after the disease has taken hold.

2.   Attitude. There are several brands of attitude in the market, some good some bad, some in between. It is easy to mistreat the patient. So use care. Some attitudes that have been found helpful are:
a.   Share the music.
b.   Direct your 7±2 items of consciousness to the music, not to the environment.

Attitude is usually taken as vaccination: Once you get the attitude it is yours for life. Trying to take it as a tablet will not work. And of course attitude by itself is completely ineffective. Treatment must be complemented by preparation.

Warning: These are powerful medicines. If not taken in moderation undesirable side effects may accrue. In case of doubt consult your piano teacher.


 

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[possom]

I have been reading a lot lately about the power of bananas  . Apparently they do calm you down if eaten straight before a nervous situation. Other than that, I have taken "Kalms" which are a herbal remedy, (i'm in the UK, don't know if they're universal), but you have to start taking them 3/4 days beforehand.

[quasimodo]

I have taken "Kalms" which are a herbal remedy, (i'm in the UK, don't know if they're universal), but you have to start taking them 3/4 days beforehand.

Cannabis ? yes it's universal 

[sklebil]

This is not a joke, this really helps me. This is a technique that I use when I am giving talks (but I guess it should also work for piano concerts and similar). It's simple, but must be used with care, otherwise it may be contraprductive!
You simply walk on the stage, very confidently with a broad advertisement-smile. You look at the audience for a few seconds (that is important!!!), and imagine that everybody in the room is a total nut and an image that I like to let pass over my mind is that all these people have bird's legs. Can you imagine that, all these smartly dressed people, instead of wearing neatly polished black shining shoes having pink or yellow clawed feet and feathery thighs? Now you just think to yourself: OK, let's entertain this lot.... I start to feel very confident after that. The only trouble, as I said, is that it can be contraproductive because if you start laughing aloud etc. it will distract your attention.

[musicsdarkangel]

Alright......


1.  Eat a banana about an hour before you play.  I forgot the technical explanation, but it gets rid of something that causes nerves.
2.  NO CAFFEINE!!!!
3.  There ARE pills that professional musicians use, that have barely any side effects.  My best friend's parents are both professional musicians (one is 2nd bassoonist of CSO) and they use them, and love them.  This would be the last option of course.


What I'VE found works.  (I think that I have JUST cured my nerves).....

I had to learn a Mendelsson d minor trio in a week.  I thought that there was no way in hell I could do it.  I wasn't confident when I had to perform it, but for the first time in my life, I though "Who cares?!"  I'm here to have fun!  I'm here to play music, not to complete a test!  Not to protect my ego.....

I went up with a positive attitude, if I made a mistake, I didn't care.  I got into the music, let my body sway every now and then.

I got a standing ovation (we only did the 1st movement for that concert, and it is basically like a movement of a piano concerto).  It helped.

[jeremyjchilds]

I'm always most nervous when I know that I am not prepared enough...

I am also nervous when my performance is dependant on muscle memory only, not both muscle and cognitive reinforced memory

I was most nervous before I started playing every week in my church of 800 people. now that I am used to that, playing in front of people is more casual feeling.

[thalbergmad]

Whisky.

If you do mess up, you don't care.

Fats waller used to use it a lot.

[happyface94]

Perform for your friends beforehand. At least if you know you can do it I don't think you'll have a problem. If it happens, pull a Horrowitz.

[pianohopper]

To stop the shaking of hands, bowl of warm water and pressing palms together vigorously for 20-30 seconds. 

[lostinidlewonder]

I am hell nervous if I play any music I have never played infront of anyone. The only way I cure my nerves is by practicing playing in front of strangers, people I am not routinely use to listening to me. So the cure is to dive into that deep end of peformance and keep doing it until the feeling dissapates. I usually play two or three times in smaller private gatherings before I play in open public concerts. The nerves dissapear because you know the reality, you know you have done it a couple of times sucessfully so there is little chance of anything going wrong.

Of course if something does go wrong you have to have the ability to "not care" which most people cannot that is why solo concert peformers are so rare, because people care a lot and have a lot of ego. I think if I cared I would be in a mental institution now. Heck no one is perfect, I have stuffed up and played a wrong note in public many times, but do people care? No! They care if you stop and just stare at the keyboard, but one mistake here or there, people forgive it, they are afterall there to enjoy music, not listen like examiners and take marks down. I think if anyone does that they are wasting their time attending a concert, there is a time to be critical and a time to just enjoy music.

[pianohopper]

Or then there's the method of doing it so often it becomes routine and normal (learning by repetition, do they call it?).  Starting at an early age helps dissolve fear. 

[rob47]

NOT "drugs"

What about.....drugs?

no im joking.  Irecommend dribbling a basketball for a while and shooting around.

Loosens u up nice. calms the nerves nice.

My outside J is nice.

[perfect_pitch]

What can she do to calm her nerves when she is anxious or nervous? 

Tequila???
Whiskey???
Rum???

Helps me....   

To be really honest - The best way I help to calm down is to practice in the same hall you will be performing in, but do it before the crowds come in. Imagine that hall completely empty, and take that same image into your performance. Imagine you are all alone.

[shoshin]

Any special vitamins or herbs she could  take? (NOT "drugs"--lol).  Thanks!

What if its an herb AND a drug?

[teresa_b]

I'm an amateur pianist and have performed now and then.  So the infrequency of performing makes it a real challenge not to get really nervous. 

I found it helps to remember WHY I am playing--because I LOVE this music and my greatest joy is in giving it life.  So what sense does it make to deny myself the joy and focus on terror??  NONE!  (And I keep in mind the audience is NOT up there on the spot, I am, so why should I give them the power to intimidate me?  BTW, I like the bird-leg idea!) 

Good luck--
Teresa

[Nana_Ama]

look here:

"The Three P's Or Performance"

https://pianoeducation.org/pnotperf.htm

[chozart]

Whisky.

If you do mess up, you don't care.

Fats waller used to use it a lot.

lol

I used to get SO nervous (and like RIGHT before the performance it'd hit me), then suddenly something happened, yesterday in fact!
I randomly decided I'd intrude on a university student, lol, and after explaining myself to her, she invited me into her practice room and had me sight read Brahms' 1st violin/piano sonata together with her, lol.
Yeah totally random.
Well, right after that and some talking, she had me play whatever I wanted (which of course was my old Haydn sonata Hob:xvi:59 (yes, once again, I know.. lol), random part of a Chopin Ballad 1 (which she told me to do for auditions, despite its popularity?! lol), and first page (for it was all I remembered) of Polonaise Op.26/2), and it's like for some reason I lost my nervousness as soon as I sat down.
I sort of forgot myself and everyone else, it was a totally new experience for me. It was like I was some observer, watching my hands just.. "go," heh.
Then she gave me a free lesson! She was very awesome

So I say, also, try to forget everything sort of. I think for this finally to happen, you must also have more experience performing in public. Even though I don't really have all that much, I think it's sinking in (thank god, lol). So really, that'd be my number one rec: exposure, and "forgetting"

[brsmpianist]

I think lostinidlewonder hit it right on the money... play your whole program in an actual concert-like environment at least three-four times, not just in front of friends but also complete strangers and all.  It really does make a difference in being alot less panicky.  Also try to start your program with something that's not as technical... something with a slow, moving beginning, perhaps, so that you have time to breathe.  Of course the most important thing is that your absoLUTely familiar with your pieces, theoretically and musically; study the music away from the piano a lot.  I wish I could say these methods make me experience the concert of my life every time I go up on stage, but unfortunately in every pianist's life there's only 1 or 2 instances like that... but preparing extensively DOES help you out 

And bananas are good... bananas are great, I heard(don't quote me on this) that they do contain very small amounts of beta blockers, so hey