Pre-performance routine

[lukediv]

Hey guys,

I'm just looking to get a few ideas on how some of you deal with your pre- performance routine.

I'm a reasonably experienced player but have never been too great at performing after one particularly bad experience when I was younger haha.

I've got a performance coming up in about a month and I'm really keen to play my best and I’m just looking for a few tips to help calm my nerves before and even during playing. Any guidance on what to do an hour before to even during the performance the keep calm would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks heaps, Luke

[gvans]

To pretend one won't be nervous before an important performance is to deny normal human nature; this is especially true if a long hiatus exists before one's last gig. There is, of course, no substitute for practice, practice, practice. Know your program backwards and forwards, because at an actual performance, we all play less than perfectly.

Beyond that, I like to make sure I've eaten something about two or three hours before the concert (never just before), and that I've exercised earlier that day.

20 mg of propanolol, a beta-blocker, (brand name is Inderal) is a popular way to curb performance anxiety--without any substantial side effects other than a slow heart rate, it puts a lid on one's adrenalin. It can also, unfortunately, put a lid on one's fire and emotions. Coffee--the opposite. A real enemy. Drink a couple of cups of Starbuck's before a concert and just watch your fingers shake!

The best way to curb the nerves, though, is to practice and perform a lot.
Good luck!

[pianisten1989]

We are all different, and it seems that everyone get the best results from different things. Though, here are a few no-no that I've had to deal with, that I'll never do again:
1. If yo're playing for a jury, don't play for one of them just a few days before. To know that someoe in the jury think you should play differently is  extremely nervracking!
2. Don't practise that much the same day. You'll get both tired and worried about everything that will go wrong the hours before a concert. I practise around 1/3 of what I normally do.
3. Always bring water to concerts. You will lose loads of it, and will lose a lot of concentration if you don't drink something.
4. Be prepared! This is not just about practise a lot, but really know the music. Know the score and phrasing in your head. If something goes wrong, it will be easier to fix (plus, it will be easier not to fail somewhere).

The more "routine"-like preparations, like walk for an hour or stuff like that is something you have to find out yourself

Good luck

[ledger_lines]

4. Be prepared! This is not just about practise a lot, but really know the music. Know the score and phrasing in your head. If something goes wrong, it will be easier to fix (plus, it will be easier not to fail somewhere).

Also, always try to get to play the piano before the concert if you can. There have been a few times I have started a concert, only to relise how super heavy and clunkey the intrument is!

I also tend not to practice the music on that day, just excersises to warm up my hands etc. But thats just me. 

[mike_lang]

To pretend one won't be nervous before an important performance is to deny normal human nature; this is especially true if a long hiatus exists before one's last gig. There is, of course, no substitute for practice, practice, practice. Know your program backwards and forwards, because at an actual performance, we all play less than perfectly.

About nervousness, I agree that it's inevitable that that energy will be there - we just need to harness it!  This is one of the reasons that I always spend a considerable amount of time on the very first few phrases of a concert, so that there is a sort of shock absorber to take care of opening jitters and keep the integrity of the sound.  I think you'll find, for the most part, that you can harness this energy, as long as you acknowledge that it is there and to use it :-)

Cheers,
Mike