Does anyone else hate performing?

[jas]

There seem to be a lot of concertising pianists here, which leads me to wonder if there's anyone here apart from me for whom it's an absolute nightmare that they could really do without. I do it only when I absolutely have to, or when someone I like has been on and on at me to do it and I feel I can't say no. Then I tend to spend the couple of days before the performance contemplating suicide/pulling a sickie and looking at the EasyJet website during short breaks in about 23 hours a day of practice... It always makes me wonder why I do it.

Is anyone else a concertophobe? Go on, make me feel better! You know you want to.

Jas

[thorn]

umm... i tend to hate the lead up, but once i actually sit and start playing i'm fine.

granted, getting me there in the first place is a major task- and i dont think my playing is anywhere near good enough to be worth all that effort 

[stevie]

nope, i love the feeling on stage; the electricity,  the adrenaline, the suspense, and then the feelings of adulation and awe that i get from the audience.
the comments afterwards are always rewarding too, humbling me and reminding me why i do it all, to communicate something deep and meaningful to my many fans.

[elevateme]

its before the performance that is the painful bit... especially in competitions

[el nino]

its before the performance that is the painful bit... especially in competitions

aha,definitely,im going to perform at one tomorrow in the morning.i hate that feeling i have right now

[leahcim]

nope, i love the feeling on stage; the electricity,  the adrenaline, the suspense, and then the feelings of adulation and awe that i get from the audience.
the comments afterwards are always rewarding too, humbling me and reminding me why i do it all, to communicate something deep and meaningful to my many fans.

Comments such as "I read 'come and watch Stevie Brush' and I thought it was going to be Basil's cousin...I take it Sooty isn't in the 'sweep' show either?"?

As for Jas, book an appointment with a physio specialising in thumb manipulation on the same day, and go to the concert to avoid that.

[ted]

Yes, I hate performing. Therefore I never do it. Oddly enough, recording, which worries many people, doesn't bother me at all.

[jam8086]

Personally, I think recitals are very rewarding (assuming you did the sufficient amount of work needed to play well) because you get to show people what you love to do.

I think competitions are ridiculous, and turn musicians into cutthroat snobs who only want to play the most difficult music to impress the judges and their fellow pianists.  Can't we all just get along?  As Bartok said, "Competitions are for horse, not artist."

I do not like playing exams, but they're kind of a necessary evil because your certificates are usually your credentials.

[lostinidlewonder]

Performance is risky business, it demands self confidence and not everyone are confident in themselves. I think if you could be assured you would play without error and the audience would cheer at the end there would be little nerves, but you cannot see into the future.

Trail and error shows that you can do it though and that should give you confidence. If you can sucessfully play a recital for a private group of people then there should be little difference if you multiply the number of listeners.

I like to perform simply to share music and to let people see music being created in front of themselves. The world these days are so fast and busy, sometimes to take people away from it and say, here listen to the sound of a piano, heres a way to listen to it, heres a memory, story, emotion attached to it. Do you feel it? Isn't it amazing how sound can make us feel things, even subtle sounds of a piano. These days we see men and women dancing in some flash video clip with fancy sounds to sell us music, its nice to go back to how subtle music actually is.

[teresa_b]

I always had a phobia about performing, too.  I now perform about once a year, which doesn't give me much experience to help me out.

Something that has helped me is to remember this:  Nobody in that audience is up there doing what you are doing.  YOU are the one with all the courage and the hard-earned skills to bring off a beautiful performance!  They are there to listen and enjoy, so just try to let go and "be the music!"

All the best, Teresa

[happyscottyboy]

I don't like the feeling before a concert / performance. Thinking of it makes my hands so sweaty (including now - after READING the post and imagining...).

But, I do like the priceless feeling of being on stage: People will sit still on their seats listening to every key you hit, and looking at you - only YOU and no one else. That sort experience is the one and only reason why I'd like to go on stage. So, in other words, I don't hate performing, but scared of it (mistakes, look silly...etc.)

After the performance, I'll feel very very very happy and sad at the same time - coz the 'scary' feelings are gone, and I'll be getting comments from the audience during the wine reception. And I'll feel so proud of my piano skills, smiling all the time for the whole night and for the many days to come... Then again, I'll be sad coz I need to wait for another concert to get the scary feeling back to myself again...hehe...

[ce nedra]

Stevie... since when do you perform??? When was the last time you were actually away from your computer? Awe and adulation?

[thorn]

Personally, I think recitals are very rewarding (assuming you did the sufficient amount of work needed to play well) because you get to show people what you love to do.

I think competitions are ridiculous, and turn musicians into cutthroat snobs who only want to play the most difficult music to impress the judges and their fellow pianists.  Can't we all just get along?  As Bartok said, "Competitions are for horse, not pianist."

I do not like playing exams, but they're kind of a necessary evil because your certificates are usually your credentials.

intelligent man, Bartok....

[mike_lang]

I like to think of it the way my teacher explained it to me (or at least his rationalization of the fear).  He suggested to me that performing is in a sense, a type of exhibitionism.  Where a singer addresses the audience directly, or somewhere in that general direction, the pianist faces the piano, perpendicular to the audience, never allowed to look at them.  The audience simply watches as the performer exposes himself through his music.  A bit voyeuristic, perhaps indecent.  But this is an explanation for the lack of comfort on stage, not a condemnation of performing.  It is the difference between a class watching you and grading you as you deliver a report, instead of you addressing the class with what you've learned and longing to share it with them.

Food for thought.

Michael

[jason2711]

The last two public performances I did were in a competition and in a recital.  Loved the recital, one of the best times of my life (so much adrenaline, enjoyed the spotlight, the comments, the surprise la campanella encore) but the competition was just too nerve-wracking for my liking... I started comparing myself to others, thinking I wasn't as good, and then inevitably wasn't...  The Bart was right

I love performing in front of an audience who will be appreciative of me (though obviously realistic too).  I don't like performing when there's people who would rather not listen to me (eg... I'd be made to play to guests in the house, who I know have no interest... I generally just play something short and virtuosic for them to get it over with)

Even though I really enjoy performing to large audiences, I can't help shaking a bit and getting overexcited (that's the adrenaline fun of it ).  Nerves are good

[m]

Honestly, I hate performing. But even more I hate... not performing.
Nice classic love and hate relationship.

[infectedmushroom]

I can't really understand why someone really would hate performing. Okay, before going on stage might not give a good feeling. You're nervous and the days before you probably spend most of the time practising, all because you don't want to make mistakes etc.


That might not give a good feeling, but when on stage; Isn't it nice to let other people enjoy the music, wich you play? I think it's great. It gives me a great feeling to perform and if you did good, the people will give you a standing ovation. 

[timothy42b]

Um, hello? 

Talk about seeing the glass half empty.

Earth to piano players! Earth to piano players!

******************GROUPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*********************

Why else would one perform?

And given the potential for reward, why would anyone not? 

[gruffalo]

i have a phobia of performing, and i find it nervewracking. however, i have a lust for performing and love doing it often.

[soleil_nuage]

I have my first ever recital tomorrow and I am absolutely TERRIFIED!  If this intense anxiety continues, I may not show up at all.

[timothy42b]

I have my first ever recital tomorrow and I am absolutely TERRIFIED!  If this intense anxiety continues, I may not show up at all.

Think of it as excitement instead of anxiety.  You'll pay $100 to go to Seven Flags, etc., and ride a roller coaster and be terrified for 2 minutes 30, this should be even better!

Plus there may be groupies.  Yeah, I know, I'm a broken record on that, but let's face it, where else does a piano geek who spends all his time practicing get any action? 

[gyzzzmo]

I absolutely hate to solo. Playing with others is no problem. But i really hate it when all the attention from the public goes to me.

Gyzzzmo

[jamie_liszt]

I love the cheers I get from the crowd and the people who come up to me afterwards just to say how good I was. Then theres times where I just feel so nervous and forget everything, and I just wonder why I keep going back for more.

Why be nervous anyway? I usually get nervous if there are other people listening who play the same instrument, and that they think they are superior and pick at everything. Eg: Piano teacher from a conservatorium. Thats why I hate competitions.