nerves

[foxglove]

I can't believe there's nothing here about stage fright, people's experience with beta blockers, and such.  It's been a horrible lifelong problem that seems to get worse with age, in my own experience.  I should add that I've been away from performing for a long hiatus and am revisiting the scene after years away.  I'm nervous about programming a lot of skittery Chopin I've prepared - 4th Ballade, etudes, E Scerzo etc., the very sort of thing that suddenly makes hands turn into hummingbirds in the middle of a recital.

[xenia]

Interesting topic!But,what is beta blockers?
Please,explaine!(my english..... :-/)

[foxglove]

Beta blockers are prescription drugs that decrease the production of adrenalin by blocking cellular receptors, resulting in blunted metabolic & cardiovascular effects.  They're often prescribed for headaches, hypertension, anxiety and other disorders.  Many musicians use them to relieve the phsical problems of stagefright, with varying results.  There's a good deal of literature on the subject, but the fine points of the effects on performance are hard to determine.  I've used it in varying doses in several performances, and I've found that, while it made a great difference while playing in intimate circumstances, performing before a larger audience resulted in unprecedented fluffed passages and loss of control over rapid fingerwork.  It's hard to know whether the drug helped or hindered the performance, as the occasions for comparison are few.

[foxglove]

I forgot to add, these are among the safest drugs developed, and should only be of concern to persons with athsma, and possibly depression.

[tosca1]

This is a most important topic as every pianist in a performing situation with an audience or even in a studio recording must be affected in some way by stage fright or "nerves".

Some would say that a degree of nervousness gives a performance an added excitement or edge.

However, extreme nervousness can be devastating and apart the from the terrible effect on technical control, the nervous panic can shut down the performer's emotional  connection with the music so that  the performance is also devoid of emotion and musicality.

For those (including myself) who are prone to extreme nervousness the best way to prepare for a performance is to be absolutely secure technically, musically  and with the memory work completed well in advance of the performance. Nervousness will increase if there is any insecurity whatsoever with the music to be performed.

Beta blockers are no panacea for the nervous performer as they are only a palliative and do not deal with the root causes of nervousness.  They can also inhibit a performer's emotional response and that is a vital ingredient in any performance.

Only by confronting the fear and performing regularly, even if in an informal situation,  can the stage fright be controlled. It can never be cured and as musicians are mostly sensitive souls, it will affect us all in varying ways.

Build confidence step by step with performances in small informal situations.  House concerts, recitals in hospitals and rest homes provide excellent experience and render a valuable artistic service to the community  as well.  Nervousness will at least be controlled and the performer can grow to love the experience of sharing his or her music.

[rachfan]

I was always very lucky in the nerves department. Studying in my youthful years, I played in hundreds of recitals, auditions, as an accompianist, as well as being a finalist in a competition.  (That amount of exposure is key, I think--i.e., the more you do it, the more you can overcome your fears.)   The size of an audience never bothered me, as I loved performing in public. I always found that one or two deep breaths before going on stage was helpful too.

Tosca1 is right, you need to have a very slight  but healthy nervousness to be alert and on your toes.  But anything beyond that can be debilitating to a performance. Also, overconfidence is just as dangerous as self-doubt.   Thorough practice  and playing before other students, family, and friends are essential to building confidence and being in command of the situation.  Let's fact it: If one has been slipshod in practice such that there are some shaky passages lurking there, then no wonder that pianist is terrified at moment of truth, the recital!      

Anecdote: The most nervous performer I ever saw was Rudolph Serkin.  He would appear (as if forcibly pushed to the piano) like a frazzled bundle of nerves.  He would remove his glasses and polish the lenses within an inch of their lives like a madman.  The audience became worried just watching him.  Then something mystical would happen.  When Serkin played his very first note, he was transported to another world, the nervousness disappeared instantly, and his performance was profound. So even the best artists have faced this problem, not just us mortals.

[Rachmanoinoff]

Interesting that you bring this up...

I LOVE performing for people, but also DISPISE it.  (If this makes any sense!)  I love playing, but I get SOOOOO nervous.  My hands get all sweaty, and I just totally screw up.  What should you do?  DO you have any tips for overcoming this?  I'm trying to play as much as possible for people, and taking deep breaths and all that, but is there anything else?

Thanks

Martin

[tosca1]

Enjoy those positive aspects of performing. The excitement, the joy of musical creativity and the pleasure of communicating through music with others.  With frequent performing experience the nervousness will be less of a problem.  If your hands are sweaty apply a little talcum powder and/or wipe them with a handkerchief.  The nervousness is psychological and its associated problems will lessen as you become a more seasoned performer.  

[stokes]

I heard someone talking about these kind of things once and he had the idea that if you do something you are not so good at and someone is watching you, you will most likely do worse than if that person was not there. And if you do something you are good at you might do even better when someone is watching you. One very good example of that is golf. Professional golf players often play better in tournaments and beginners very often miss the ball when they know someone is around looking at them. The reason for this is a matter of possitive and negative thinking. If you play a piece in performance that you earlier messed up and stopped on in front of an audience you will probably be nervouse when getting to that part where you messed up. The risk of messing up again is even bigger now (even though you know it so well in the practice room) since you feel unsecure and negative thoughts come up your mind. Some performers have periods when they mess up every single time they play in front of people. This is not because they have become so much worse than they were before, since they can do it without the audience. What those people have to do is to transfer the possitive thoughts they have when playing alone (comfidence) to the situation they are put in when playing in front of people and let the negative thoughts and feelings away.

[foxglove]

These are all thoughtful contributions, but in fact one can be very well prepared, feel confident of the beauty, innovation, and facility of one’s performance, and have played it comfortably with pleasure for others, can go onstage like a lion thinking positive Martha Argerich thoughts; and still bits in even an easy piece can fall apart in real performance.  To what extent is a psychoanalytic couch of use? – surely it is mostly a matter of conditioning by repetition.  (Glenn Gould of course thought that performance was deeply immoral.)  Oddly, I suspect that in my own case I perform better before fellow musicians than before a nonmusical audience.  Yes, of course repeated exposure and the context of a musical community, for example a school, is invaluable.  However, I’m addressing the tricky period PRIOR to that degree of involvement - as I mentioned, I’m coming to this after many years of abstinence from regular concerts.  I’m soliciting people who’ve had experience with these drugs, because my own experience is that they do NOT inhibit emotional involvement in the music, on the contrary, by suppressing certain symtoms they allow a fuller identification.  I’m not yet certain whether they have an effect on rapid passagework, though – I’ve fluffed on two occasions in such contexts; it’s hard to know whether to ascribe it to nerves or the drugs, these are a very subtle differences.  Thanks for your remarks.

[dinosaurtales]

No clue about the drugs, but I, too, took about 20+ years *off* the piano, whereupon I am now So-o-o-o self conscious that I can't even play decently for my teacher yet! Stuff I nail at home becomes a mess in front of her! She claims that will go away eventualoy, but I am not so sure.  In any case, I used to perform a lot, as a soloist, accompanist, and in chamber music.  Now, I have no problem performing if I am accompanying or with a group of any size (one other person will do).  Somehow, I feel like I can *hide* or something,  but the thought of *just* me on a stage, all by myself,just scares the *whatever* out of me.  I don't know if I will ever be able to do it.  Maybe Rachmanioff has the ticket - the home concert for friends.  

I'd love to know what *tricks* can be played to transition nervousness into positive energy - I could use some!

[veimar]

Hi! Don't be so frustrared! I was suffering of the same problem - everything I learned and could play really well crashed down during the performance because of my stupid nerves.
But one day me friend gave me a small piece of beta-block TRASIKOR pill before the performance, and I experienced a miracle with myself playing confidentely and freely on the huge stage.
Sinse that i always use beta-blocks at responsible performances and it helps greatly.
So dear friend, ask your doctor to prescribe you this or some other analogic medcine and try it on yourself!

[ned]

Foxglove and others:

The medical profession has made some great progress recently in dealing with fear/anxiety symptoms. Maybe stagefright is just an overactive manifestation of our ancestor's "fight or flight" mechanism. Maybe it is an issue of brain chemistry, serotonin re-uptake or something like that, which newer drugs like Paxil have been used to alleviate. Many traditionally "emotional"or "psychological" difficulties of the human race have now been brought under control with pharmacology. Maybe there's hope also for concert nerves in medication. Time will tell.
Just a thought. I'm a lawyer, not a doctor.
Ned

[willcowskitz]

I don't know if this is normal but I heavily doubt it is, that difficult it makes my life.

I'm extremely nervous in different situations. If I miss a class in school, for example, I have to skip cause I can't stand the thought of standing in front of the class everyone staring at me, all the seats taken and I'd have to browse through the whole class to scan an open seat and then stumble to it, which is another adventure of its own. Another case is, yes, "performing".

I'm an amateur pianist. When I started playing, I was VERY nervous for just my mom being in the room or the next room while I played. Slowly, I got over this problem when I started to develop and got credited for it. So, our neighbour is a piano teacher and she heard that I had started playing so she came over and asked me to play something I had learnt. There's no way to describe how crap I played compared to what I actually COULD had played if she wasn't standing there behind my back paying all of her attention to my fingers. Well actually, there is a way to describe it. I'd say I played about 7% of how well I could play that part.

A couple of days later she was visiting us again, but this time not in the piano room. So I was playing Bach at the time. She had told my mom that I had advanced HEAPS. I gained confidence and started to learn other parts from other pieces (up to date, I only know one piece in whole).  Now I take lessons from her and she says she's amazed how I have no problems with technique at all even with the hardest pieces.

Now I enjoy playing until suddenly somebody visits us and my fingers start to feel like dead fish! I can play, alright, no problem. Yeah sure. I know I can't play. I'm not as good as I always thought. Its just that I DO have a bad ear and I use the sostenuto pedal a lot to cover up the ugly mistakes I do sooo often. I am ridiculous interpreting Bach romantically or trying to make Prokofiev out of Rachmaninoff etc.  Playing piano is really the primary thing I like to do in my life, yet I'm quite crap at it. Now if the visitor would be just about to leave the house, I start banging with 102% confidence grunting in my mind "Check this out I own the World!". Usually it works out fine, I've exceeded myself. Still I'm left alone with the thought of cheating myself about my level of skills. This lack of confidence follows me about everywhere, not just about piano playing but about most things. And of course they add up to each other!

If I ever want to perform anything in front of an audience, I really need to get over this. I don't know what else to do, but slowly tricking myself into "performing" situations and that way build up confidence to speak through the instrument instead of just thinking about every possible way to mess up each second.

[S.Peterson]

All of my life I have been tought that self confidence is evil, and that virtually ruined any chance I had as a performer. Now I'm just beginning to gain back bits and pieces of it.What is weird about me, is that I do fine playing in front of relatively large audiences. But if you sit me down one on one, especially with someone who knows music, I am a basket case.
I don't have anything that works to help with my nerves either. I just cover them up but that doesn't deal with the root problem.
I would be interested to know if anyone else has problems like mine and what they do to help them out.

[rachfan]

Hi S,

Like you, when I played in public, I relished a large audience.  Yet I always knew too that in a large audience there were a great many there who knew little of the art of piano.  So to stay on my toes, I always imagined that there was one person present who DID know and was extremely discerning--somebody who could never be fooled.  That is the ONLY person I ever played for in a recital no matter how many were present.  

In the opposite venue, whenever, I practiced alone, I always played as if the composer were sitting on my living room couch, listening to and judging every nuance of my interpretation.  Who could be a more demanding audience than the composer?

So by playing to that one imaginary person-in-the-know in an audience, and practicing to please the composer himself, it built up a certain mindset over time.  Thus, if I found myself in front of a single audition adjudicator or a three-person competition jury, I was never rattled by it.  In those moments, my approach was simply being put to the greatest test--and it always worked for me.

Everyone has to find their own best solution, and I don't know if this can help you at all, but perhaps it can.  Good luck!

[amp]

S. Peterson:
I know how you feel, same way for me.

I've noticed (and this may help, Foxglove, Willcowskitz), that people tend to think that other people judge them. Ex. this audience is full of pianists and they will notice all of my mistakes. Try thinking the opposite way--everybody is there to enjoy what you can honestly offer. You may feel more comfortable performing because you are offering your music for the pour beauty and passion that you put in to it....not as something to be judged. This does not mean you won't get judged, but may help your mindset.

Also, there is a debate going around about pianists using music scores in a recital. Could that work?

Just my two sense. Hope this helps.

[frederic]

Hey!
I am very interested in these beta blocker things?
Are they useful??
Are there other drugs to help with nerves??!??
Because i always (always!) stuff up in a performance because of nervousness. I have never had a performance when i played my best.

[veimar]

Oh, yes! Beta-blockers can really help a lot because they don't low your emotional level but only make your heart keep normal beat and your hands not chaking  
I've been using them for years and now I can perform without them too because I got self-confidence needed for playing in public.
M.W.

[NetherMagic]

S. Peterson I know EXACTLY how you feel!  I always play like absolutely mad in front of my friends, whom most dunno anything about music and if they do with some other instruments

but when it comes to examinations in front of judges, my hands totally go limp!

and Rachfan thx for your suggestion, I ought to try that out sometime

[amee]

These beta-blockers sound interesting; I haven't heard of them before.  I get really stressed out when I perform especially in front of an audience.  I'm lots better if only one or two people are watching!

[mattgreenecomposer]

yea its rough.  you gotta block it out.

[pianowelsh]

DO not mix beta blockers with other medication or alcohol - i know someone who did. They always used to sway when they stood up and once they collapsed on the way out! They aint good for you. A banana is supposed to act as a natural beta blocker and is much more friendly to you body!
I Pray before I recital. I find that reassuring but - clearly its not for everyone. I know closing your eyes and just deep controlled breathing can have a calming effect.  I just get paranoid that my hands will get too clamy - not good when your scheduling etudes!!! so I have a couple of hankeys to take off the mositure. I also find the blowers in the washrooms do a good job of keeping your hands at a good DRY temperature.

[tds]

i've never tried betablockers. and i still believe that i don't ever need them, regardless how nervous i get.- one time i had to puke twice right before my sold out recital. and i keep going.

yes, i get nervous in one concert more than the others. its the dynamic of life and its normal. there are several reasons why one becomes nervous. one of the obvious ones, which haunt most performers, is the anticipatory feeling of sensing the new thing, or the unknown- can be that of new repertoire, new type of audience, or new expectation. yes, list goes on. generally speaking the unknown makes everyone nervous, or at the very least, uncertain.


as a believer, i ask God's help. I pray to God not only to guide me thru a recital, but also to show me the right path of life ( His plan in me ). i know that God is reliable and will help me thru anything, not only in a recital of one particular day of the year, but in absolutely anything and everything. with His guide, i feel peaceful and certain. so far He has helped me do a succesion of little successes. and i am loving every move of His.

warmest, tds