Huge performance issues

[emmdoubleew]

For some reason, whenever I'm performing for an audience, be it of one or many, or even when I'm recording, I start messing up sooo much.  It makes me really miserable. Do you guys  have any tips? Has anyone had this experience?

It hasn't been like that forever its only since I've been taking piano really seriously.

[alzado]

I am the same way.

Sometimes I believe the audience is at least partly to blame.  They start talking and are what could be called "impolite listeners."

This rudeness just brings out my shyness even more.  My solution has been to almost never play for houseguests.  Just for my wife and our two cats.

[allthumbs]

I really can relate to that alzado. I never play for company anymore either for the same reason.

The last time several guests kept asking me to play something after I had told them I had been working quite hard on some new pieces.

After much cajoling on their part, I relented and sat down to play. There they all sat looking at me.

I kid you not, that within 10 seconds of starting my first piece, they all just turned to each other and started talking.

How rude was that! I cut the piece short, closed the fallboard and went to get a drink before they realized I had stopped.

emmdoubleew, I think one has to play for people who are sincerely interested in the music you perform and who can appreciate the time and effort you've put into your piano.

I experience similar problems in making silly mistakes when I do play in front of an people.

Those who play in front of audiences all the time have told me that they play the best they can and don't worry about making a mistake.

Those who are knowledgeable and interested in the music will forgive minor and even major lapses in memory.

The big trick they say is to keep playing as if nothing happened and a lot of the time people may not even notice.

Easy to say, tougher to do.


Cheers

allthumbs

[lostinidlewonder]

For some reason, whenever I'm performing for an audience, be it of one or many, or even when I'm recording, I start messing up sooo much.  It makes me really miserable. Do you guys  have any tips? Has anyone had this experience?

It hasn't been like that forever its only since I've been taking piano really seriously.

Do not get overly obsessed with trying to think what other people are thinking, or what other people are doing. I use to do that a lot when I was a kid playing for an audience. I was like, right this bit is loud and fast so lets over do it, and my playing would be way over the top, influenced by thinking about the people watching me. Some people cannot break this habit, and it has nothing to do with music but the psychology of self confidence. If you are confident in yourself you will not care what other people think if you make errors, you realise everyone makes errors and even if you make an error it will pass and be forgotten in time (no one remembers your mistakes, especially for something as beautiful as piano playing, its not like you are ruling an army and sending them to their deaths in war.)

Learn to listen to yourself when you play. This should be practice when you study alone. Make your listening so strong that no thoughts interupts it. You must in your head hear the music only, no other thoughts. Practice this so when you play for an audience you are totally listening to yourself only with ears and mind just like you do in your practice sessions alone.

[gilad]

a number of performers use beta-blockers. have you ever conseidered using them, they might help?

[henrah]

What do beta-blockers do?

[gorbee natcase]

They are for controlling blood pressure for people at risk of heart attacks, never thought to use them this way though interesting

[quantum]

I used to have this too before I went to university.  I usually happened with passages I found difficult, or where there was an impressive spot in the music.  I would get tense, think about what the audience would think, then play the passage too fast and mess it up. 

The big turning point is when I did the same thing for a master class with some concert pianist from Russia came to visit.  It caused me to rethink my approach and concentrate on the music and control my emotions to the point were if I did mess up, it would be nothing and I just get back up on my feet and keep going. 

[gilad]

They are for controlling blood pressure for people at risk of heart attacks, never thought to use them this way though interesting

A+ for gorbee, i never even knew that, in fact i know little about beta blockers, they probably arent an ideal solution at all. i dont have time to read it myself right now but here's a link.


https://www.ethanwiner.com/BetaBlox.html

[nedgerhart]

I think it is important for musicians to have an out-going, non-shy personality. Or at least to work on developing one. It is hard to always to have self-confidence, but it is important when playing for people, not in a room by one's self. When you think of music as a wonderful expression you simply must share with people or you will burst, then you will not  be prone to nerves or silly mistakes when playing in public. You just have to believe you are a wonderful person and a charming and delightful performer no matter what anyone might say. You have to have faith in yourself.

It is also important to respect the limits of one's abilities. Difficult and showy pieces are very attractive, but people should be realistic about what they are capable of.  In every level of difficulty, there is plenty of wonderful music that listeners will enjoy hearing played well.  If you are completely assured that you know a piece so well that you really cannot make a mistake if you tried, then self-confidence in front of an audience becomes very easy.

Unless you make a huge train-wreck of a mistake while playing (and it can't happen if you heeded the advice in the previous paragraph), listeners generally do not care if you make a little error here and there, and really, most of the things you would call errors are never even noticed by most people. Think of the last recital you were at where someone stumbled on a note....did it ruin your entire experience of the piece? Were you dismayed or upset by it? I'd wager not.  So, just ignore the mistake...pretend it never happened. Let nothing disuade you from being a charismatic performer.

Beta blockers can help. A flute playing friend once told me about how her heart would race and her hands would sweat whenever she would play in public....despite having consciously tried to overcome this...despite being a very capable player. So she saw the doctor, explained the problems, and got the prescription. For about a year she took a pill about an hour before showtime, and it made a big difference. She was able to concentrate on the music without shaking, and it really improved her performance. Taking this type of medication is not a life-sentence....she no longer needs this regularly, since she got more used to what a relaxed performance feels like.

Ned

[plunkyplink]

I performed a peice of music I was learning and it was a very small audience, me, my SO, and another person, and I played 3 bars of the peice and the lady burst into tears, and was literally sobbing, I was like, "my god, should I stop playing? If this song causes such painful memories and emotions", and I quietly asked my SO, and he nodded yes, keep going. It turned out her son who had died a while ago, had always played that song, or those first two lines, it was his thing, whenever he passed by a piano he'd play the little tune. And it was his birthday the next day. I started tearing up when playing. That was a performance situation I never would have imagined.

[henrah]

Who is your SO?

What an unimaginable situation and coincidence. Did you play alright, or was the tearing up affecting your playing?
Henrah

[faulty_damper]

For some reason, whenever I'm performing for an audience, be it of one or many, or even when I'm recording, I start messing up sooo much.  It makes me really miserable. Do you guys  have any tips? Has anyone had this experience?

It hasn't been like that forever its only since I've been taking piano really seriously.

Perhaps the issue here is not just stage fright but poor technique which has significantly greater problems than just getting nervous.  If you start messing up, how do you mess up?  Is it tension?  Is it the lack of control?  Most problems with playing are technical and performing with poor technique is the quickest way to show it.

[plunkyplink]

Henrah, I played completely horribly, mistakes everywhere, rythym all over the place, and cut the song short, and got up and gave her a hug, and didn't want to play anything after that. It was surprising, that's for sure! And I felt pretty sad about it, and was worried that she may have thought that I planned to play that song for her as a "surprise", so I said, "I didn't know, I'm so sorry! I wouldn't have played that if I had known!" over and over again. Extreme awkwardness and uncomfortableness. I don't think I want to play for her again, it didn't make me feel very good.

[wako_kato]

hey!
yea, i have these peoblems as well! when im all alone practising, its great!! then i do it in front of some one and it just goes a bit wrong! i think the key is to realise that they are on your side and if they are your friends, then they wont care how wrong you go! Firstly, you need to get back into performing for very close friends then get your confidence up to perform to other people. people who want to hear you listen will think your great however you do!! everyone is on your side, just remember that! good luck!

[pianistimo]

huge train wreck.  that's funny!  that's sort of what i imagine with the more difficult etudes of chopin or something - so i avoid playing them for a lot of people (and mostly for myself). 

you know what helps a performer get better at performing (besides all the great tips) - to perform for anyone and everyone (cats included).  just go down to your local assisted living home and sit down at the piano and start playing.  they'll gather around and make you feel really good about yourself.  then, with that encouragement in hand, you go to restaurant locations and charge an arm and a leg  - with your favorites.  then, you take the money and buy yourself lots of clothes (thus making the earned money negligible).  while at the mall - you secure another location to play in the evening for a couple of hours.  also, you can accompany at the local community college or uni - and pretty soon people get your name for accompanying and stuff - and y ou get back into feeling ok on stage.  it's just doing it over and over until it becomes like brushing your teeth (to walk on stage).  perhaps the playing shouldn't become tired, but the stage fright really should go away with proper breathing and concentration before each piece.  and, allow yourself room to make small mistakes and not grimace or worry.  just like skaters, you get back up and pretend it didn't happen.  i'm surprised at the scores of some skaters who fall - yet have passion vs the ones with no passion and skate fairly well (but no facial expression or excitement).

[allthumbs]

a number of performers use beta-blockers. have you ever conseidered using them, they might help?

I'm not a doctor, but taking drugs that affect blood pressure or anything else is dangerous IMO w/o consulting with a doctor. There are other options when dealing with performance anxiety, such as meditation and hypnosis that would be preferable to taking drugs.

[emmdoubleew]

Wow, thanks for all the replies guys. They help a lot. 

plunkyplink what was the music?