why am I so nervous?

[casparma]

I dont know why...

when a stranger is watching me playing piano.. I will be so nervous..

just about 1 hour before, my teacher brought a guest to watch me playing...

I must admit I play some notes wrong... and I kinda speed up the rhythm...

but I know I could play better when some one is not beside me...


any help??

thx alot

ps, this will be helpful in long term.....

[xvimbi]

There are several ways to combat this.

1. Play as much as you can in front of other people, friends, family, anybody.
2. Record yourself. The microphone is an "audience".
3. Take medication (the Glenn Gould approach, used by a large portion of professional musicians)'

The most important aspect (IMHO) is to sit down with a mindset like "Hey people, I want to play some piano for you. Come here and listen. Isn't that great stuff?". Do not think "Oh dear, they are only out there to spot my mistakes and to ridicule me".

[casparma]

thx xvimbi...

I really apreciate ur help...

thanks alot

ps, what is "IMHO"? I see that alot in forum, but yet, I haven't got an idea...

[kau]

IMHO stands for "In My Humble Opinion"

They have some good advice for overcoming performance anxiety:

https://www.uwec.edu/counsel/pubs/musicanxiety.htm

K. 

[joachimf]

Thanks kau for the url, I have long been looking for something like that =)

xvimbi: I thought taking medication was a no-no approach?

[xvimbi]

xvimbi: I thought taking medication was a no-no approach?

Pick a symphony orchestra, tell them that pills are a no-no, and then run!

[joachimf]

Lol! 

[sonatainfsharp]

This might be too simple, but the best way to get over being nervous is to perform often.

I share the time when I was playing up to 15 times per week near the end of my college days. I was so calm and collected, and I often didn't even warm up before hand. It has been so long since I have played regularly, that even THINKING about performing messes me up, even when my cat is the only spectator.

[thalbergmad]

Try reading about Henselt and you will feel better.

I have not got a vast experience in playing in front of audiences, but when i have, i simply imagine it is just me and the piano. To me, an audience does not exist.

[aya_heller]

I know how you feel. =( I have the same problem.  I've only performed in front of a crowd 3 times.  Twice at piano recitals, and one for church.  These have all been in the past six months, and I was super nervous every single time, but getting better and better.  The first time, my ENTIRE body shook, even my LEGS were going CRAZY.

Recently my piano teacher brought two friends in to hear me play, I hadn't touched a piano all day because I was out of town.  I was so nervous.  I made some mistakes, and it sounded pretty bad overall.  I'm still mad at him. (mostly because both of them are musicians, and one of them has a concert pianist as a DAD! *faints*)

I was going to ask the same question as you, but I'm glad I don't have to anymore. u.u

[tocca]

This might be too simple, but the best way to get over being nervous is to perform often.

I share the time when I was playing up to 15 times per week near the end of my college days. I was so calm and collected, and I often didn't even warm up before hand. It has been so long since I have played regularly, that even THINKING about performing messes me up, even when my cat is the only spectator.

Agree 100%!  I have a very simular experience, although i never performed 15 times a week. In my mid to late teens i played publically quite often. I was nervous, but i could handle it.
Today (many many years later...  ) i very rarely play in public, and it's a real pain doing so.
I'm so nervous i often just decline when asked! I've been so nervous that i couldn't use the pedal, my leg was shaking so badly i couldn't use it at all.

I have a real problem now, the only way out is probably to just throw myself in there and take the heat. But it's much easier to just say i haven't practised (which i do three hours a day, still).

[keyofc]

Ok, here is a different approach.  Bach wrote on everything that he composed (To the Glory of God)   I think that is why he wasn't nervous.  He wasn't focused on himself.
When you are offering your music to God - it really does change everything.

I'm not trying to preach to you guys - but this is the only way I can play.  And when I do - I forget about the people around me.  I am very timid in talking in front of others, but when I play piano offering my music to God - the nervousness totally disappears

Why don't you try it?

[m1469]

why am I so nervous?

I dont know why...

any help??

thx alot

Hi casparma,

I think your topic question is actually quite important.  Why am I so nervous ?  Or, maybe even more specific, What, exactly, am I scared of ?

I agree that there are ways to cope with general nerves, and I would agree that one of the main resources of growth in overcoming them is experience.  But, I think it is worth getting much more specific than that.  Just like in practicing or learning a piece of music, it is generally accepted that running through the entire thing over and over and never stopping to fix specific problem spots, is not considered the most efficient way of learning.  Learning and playing music is an art, and *performing* is in itself also an art.  It just so happens that we often combine them.

As far as getting specific, I think it is worth considering that there may be something very "small" or very "isolated" causing nerves, which if not brought to the attention, may be thought of and experienced as some big ambiguous wall of nerves that completely overpowers us.  And that can be quite difficult to deal with and may leave one feeling defeated. 

Consider this scenario :

When learning a piece of music, you run through it and get to a specific spot and crash, but never become *aware* that it is only that one spot which needs attention and fixing in order to master the piece.  So you start at the beginning, crash again.  Eventually you feel as though you just cannot play "the piece" and an anxiety over the entire piece is formed. 

In reality, it is just that specific chunk of the piece which is the problem, but the anxiety over the entire piece, caused by unawareness, causes one to feel as though they cannot tackle the piece as a whole and they become defeated.

I think it is similar with the art of performing.  For example, there may be a specific fear of losing one's fingering in Bach, and then that causing the entire train to be thrown off the tracks to the point of the performer needing to stop in the middle of a performance (I am noticing that I feel scared just talking about it, that is an important observation).   Or maybe we are haunted by a past performance where something (specific) did not go well.  So we get overwhelmed with these specific fears, and instead of dealing with the fears specifcally, we take beta blockers because we think we are simply just nervous to perform. 

But we're not just nervous to perform, we are nervous about that specific thing.  Is it worth it to address it specifically ?  Obviously people's opinions on that will vary.  It may seem to involve more effort, so how much does it matter to the performer ?  Only as much as they desire to grow and evolve as a person and musician/performer in their work and life. 

And finally, as has been said by many people in many professions, getting into problems is not an art, but getting out of them truly is.  And, I think that the root of most nerves regarding performing is not in that we will get into problems (because, let's face it, we will), but that we will not know how to get out of them gracefully, or at all.


m1469 

[chopiabin]

Ok, here is a different approach.  Bach wrote on everything that he composed (To the Glory of God)   I think that is why he wasn't nervous.  He wasn't focused on himself.
When you are offering your music to God - it really does change everything.

I'm not trying to preach to you guys - but this is the only way I can play.  And when I do - I forget about the people around me.  I am very timid in talking in front of others, but when I play piano offering my music to God - the nervousness totally disappears

Why don't you try it?

I offer my music to Satan, and I always play brilliantly!!!A blood sacrifice (virgin if possible) can help too.

People always say my playing is "fiery", and I think this is why.

[xenon]

LOL chopiabin, you must play a lot of Mozart...

Anyhow, I know what you mean, casparma.  From my personal experience, I find that when I was performing more often, public performances wouldn't scare me that much.  However now in my (not so) advanced years, I am performing less, and when I do, I tend to get nervous.  Anyhow, another thing that helps me is to REALLY know the piece.  Not just memorizing by hand gestures or "finger memory", but rather analysing structure and patterns.  As well, I try not to look at anything in particular, such as my hands or the dampers in the piano.  I just try to be one with the music, feel the music, let it flow, think of its shape rather than focusing on each individual note.  I breathe beforehand and try to set my heartrate lower.  I try to be relaxed (not easy!), and just think of the music.  Also, I try to enjoy the time and have fun with the piece! 

Once, I was playing, mermerized by the music, eyes half closed, when suddenty I opened them, and looked down the strings of a Yamaha CFIIIS.  I remarked to mysel 'My, this piano is HUGE!' (haven't played on many 9' concert grands back then).  Then I blanked for a split second and missed a jump in the right hand.  Alas...

Anyhow, a recommendation made by my piano teachers/profs and masterclass artists is to eat bananas before you perform.  I believe it's something to do with the potassium and how it stimulates production of gamma-aminobutyric acid thus having an inhibitory effect on neurotransmitter synthesis and activity.

Anyhow, best of luck!  Hope all goes well with you. 

[kghayesh]

I think the most important thing to overcome performance anxiety is to concentrate totally on the music. When you perform something you must be playing it at the level of which u can play it while you are sleeping.
If you thought of it in another way, what makes you nervous is that you are afraid of some fast runs or passages that you might miss some notes there. If you were 100 % sure, you will get it right, what on earth can make you nervous??
Take another example, Suppose you were to perform the C Major scale in public, and only the C Major scale...... How easy !!!  Will you be afraid??? Of course not, because you have played this scale a zillion times and you play it so easily.

What i wanna say is that practicing hard not only makes you play better, but it makes you more confident about your performance.

[tocca]

I think the most important thing to overcome performance anxiety is to concentrate totally on the music. When you perform something you must be playing it at the level of which u can play it while you are sleeping.
If you thought of it in another way, what makes you nervous is that you are afraid of some fast runs or passages that you might miss some notes there. If you were 100 % sure, you will get it right, what on earth can make you nervous??
Take another example, Suppose you were to perform the C Major scale in public, and only the C Major scale...... How easy !!!  Will you be afraid??? Of course not, because you have played this scale a zillion times and you play it so easily.

What i wanna say is that practicing hard not only makes you play better, but it makes you more confident about your performance.

True, to a point. But that doesn't explain why you get nervous holding a speech for example. Reading something aloud in public from a paper.
I do agree that the better you know a piece, the less nervous you get. In my case (as it is now, being very nervous) that means that if i don't know a piece really really good it will be a disaster.
If i know it like the back of my hand, i will "just" be extremely nervous. 

[prometheus]

I have heard from many people that nervousness often doesn't become less through experience. Theres stories of veterans still having to puke from nervousness right before some silly performance after 40 years of experience.

It is a mental thing.

[maryruth]

I read somewhere that an important question to ask yourself is "Who are my judges?"  It's the judges inside our brain, sitting on our shoulder that make us the most nervous--so nervous you won't perform.

Everyone gets a little amped before a performance of any sort.  I think if you didn't you wouldn't be normal.  I play weekly for a church with about 500 people in the congregation--I was way more nervous 4 years ago than I am now.  It's true, repeatedly playing (and goofing up) in public really does make it easier.    Of course, I'm way more nervous when I have to do something solo than I am when I'm playing a song for the choir and 500 people to sing a long with....

[allthumbs]

There are several ways to combat this.

1. Play as much as you can in front of other people, friends, family, anybody.
2. Record yourself. The microphone is an "audience".
3. Take medication (the Glenn Gould approach, used by a large portion of professional musicians)'

The most important aspect (IMHO) is to sit down with a mindset like "Hey people, I want to play some piano for you. Come here and listen. Isn't that great stuff?". Do not think "Oh dear, they are only out there to spot my mistakes and to ridicule me".

Good advice (except #3 )

I too get nervous if I am playing in front of strangers. It's something that I would like to work on. Your last point about having a certain mindset is so true.

Putting it into effective practice is another matter.

I'll try it next time I have company over to the house.

Cheers

allthumbs

PS - Good posts as well from the other contributors.

[sarahlein]

Excellent advice from all!
 

I have heard from many people that nervousness often doesn't become less through experience

I tend to think that what actually improves over time is our ability to control nervousness and not so much that nervousness completely goes away ( although some may say that this can happen too)

I also believe that people who are not afraid to laugh with themselves or even embarrass  themselves in front of others do tend to handle performance nerves better.

Perhaps those of us straggling with nervousness  could  'lighten up' a little?