How to stop beeing nervous before the concert?!

[sara81]

Any advice?

My biggest problem is this.
I sit behind the piano,and my hands are starting to shake.
My ears become red,and I cannot focus on what I'm doing.
And I start thinking-"is this note correct?!Am I playing this the right way?
Do I have a B or a G?Is this base wrong or..?"

And ofcourse-I make a mistake.Memory blackout.I can't remember what I have to play.

[pianowelsh]

Cest impossible!  Nerves are important.  Everyone has them.  The fears you have are not to do with performance they are to do with practice. devise schemes of testing these weak areas before you get to the performance stage and practice playing in unthreatening situations where you can build up your confidence.

[rc]

Wow, them's some bad nerves!

You'll never get rid of nerves, but you can learn to handle them better. Definitely be as well prepared as possible, aside from that the only difference is the audience, and perhaps you may be playing on an unfamiliar instrument (if you can, play a bit before the actual performance, or at least always begin with an easy piece that you know very well, will be less likely to screw up while getting used to the piano).

Know that mistakes are not a problem, they happen. Playing through mistakes is a skill you can develop, practice as though someone's listening and you can't stop, you learn to ignore your mistakes, think of what comes next, get your bearings and play through. Sometimes I'll get completely lost, come to a stop and have to start over again, you want to avoid that but if it happens ya just gotta forget about it. Don't let your mistakes (or the very possibility of playing less than perfect) get you down.

The best thing you can do is to get as much performance experience as you can, to the point where you're relatively comfortable with it. Playing for family or friends is low-pressure. You can always go to a music store and try out different pianos as experience. Give a speech or read poetry will help get over fear of the audience. The more you do any kind of performance, the more you'll see that nothing bad will happen, the less you'll worry about it. A lighthearted approach is very useful.

[systen]

Yep, being nervous before a concert is kinda normal. Well, atleast if you're not that experienced yet with performing for an audience.


When I have to perform, I'm nervous too. But try to avoid thinking about the bad thing that can happen in the concert. Think about the good things. The people wanna see your awesome performance and you wanna show them what you got, right? Blast them away with your performance and enjoy your playing for the audience, instead of thinking of the mistakes that can happen.

Of course; mistakes can happen, everyone can make mistakes. If you make one, atleast just play on and try to not stop playing the piece completely. I had it once, I played a wrong note in a very emotional, slow part. What I did; I just kept on playing and I turned my head to the audience and gave them a little smile.  After the concert people found it kinda funny that I did that and they didn't even talked about that mistake really.

Also, be sure you have practised the pieces you have to play enough before playing it for an audience. Of course, that's kinda obvious, but if you really know the piece, you'll get a lot more confidence when you have to play it in front of an audience.

[danyal]

Any advice?

DONT PANIC

[gilad]

learn to have more confidence in yourself, it's way more fun to believe in yourself then to think about what other people are thinking of you. learn how to be and feel a hint arrogant.just my thoughts.

[arensky]

Hey we are talking about this over here.....https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,14402.0.html