Faint

[chopin2015]

Does anyone ever feel faint when playing something that requires all of your energy?  I didnt feel slow, I just felt weak and shaky. I also made a lot more mistakes and it was hard to control myself. It was scary and blurry.
 Main question is, how do you conserve energy when playing fast? Practice of performing pieces can be very difficult and energy consuming. So if I were to perform a piece multiple times to get a good recording, how do you warm up to a best performance? Id like to make as little mistakes as possible! You know what happened to Lisitsa when she started missing in the cadenza of rach 3! It is scary out there and the competition is fierce!

So yeah, i dont want to miss and hit a slippery slope. That is my fear no 1. Lol

[hfmadopter]

I know the symptoms, It really sounds like anxiety. I'm not saying it is ( i am not a doctor and couldn't say it is) but it sure sounds like it. It comes in many forms and can range from just a spell of it under pressure or excitement to really fainting and in the worst case a seizure. If you continue to experience this, you might want to get checked out by a doctor.

Mean while keep your electrolytes up. Low electrolytes can also give you that weak feeling and shakes. Very similar, since both stress your body.

[chopin2015]

Thank you! I actually do experience a lot of stress from time to time. All these pieces i have to play soon, my heart flutters.

[thalbergmad]

I used to get this a bit until my teacher pointed out that I had a tendency to stop breathing when the going got tricky.

Took me a long time to overcome this. One would think that breathing is the most natural thing in the World, but under certain circumstances, it is not.

Thal

[hfmadopter]

I used to get this a bit until my teacher pointed out that I had a tendency to stop breathing when the going got tricky.

Took me a long time to overcome this. One would think that breathing is the most natural thing in the World, but under certain circumstances, it is not.

Thal

Good point, we do have to breath for sure !

[hfmadopter]

Thank you! I actually do experience a lot of stress from time to time. All these pieces i have to play soon, my heart flutters.

Well, just be careful and stay aware. Once you get through the stress it will most likely go away.

[chopin2015]

I used to get this a bit until my teacher pointed out that I had a tendency to stop breathing when the going got tricky.

Took me a long time to overcome this. One would think that breathing is the most natural thing in the World, but under certain circumstances, it is not.

Thal

I sometimes breathe really hard, but eventually I learn how to breathe nicely, too! Haha...gotta coordinate everything! Even dynamics of breaths.

[hfmadopter]

I sometimes breathe really hard, but eventually I learn how to breathe nicely, too! Haha...gotta coordinate everything! Even dynamics of breaths.

Beyond my obvious statement that we all have to breath, breathing is very important. If you gasp too much the result could be similar to hyperventilating. Practice slow deep breathing. In cycling for instance, one of the first things that needs to be built up is lung capacity or you find yourself extremely fatigued very early into a good strong paced ride. Your system runs out of oxygen.

I find a lot of things in piano that I can relate to other types of exercise.  Brisk walking and moderately paced road biking are my main forms of exercise. When I took up road biking I'd say the first entire year was devoted to core strength and building breathing capacity ( they say you need 1500 miles under your belt to get built up fully, I made about 650 of that the first year). With that added, I feel better in other activities I do, including piano and have reduced doctor prescribed prescription drugs by a minimum of half.. It adds diversion as well and relieves stress big time. I'm lucky in that I have a 37 YO daughter who enjoys the sport as well, so we ride together at least once a week in the nice weather, even though her core strength is better built than mine as she does tread mill and yoga as well. I couldn't believe the difference in myself in everything I do after that first year of riding and I'll be 63 in April ( coming on to my fifth season riding 3 with road bikes). Like piano and music in general, riding is something I did when a younger man as well.

Sorry to talk about my exercise but believe it or not it relates to your topic more so than not, from diversion to nutricien, stress relief and breathing ! In my case it relates to everything I do in life. I believe a good cardio excercise program is good for pianists. Often we get so engrossed in our music we can tend to forget about our bodies and minds beyond the piano and music, I think.

[thalbergmad]

All pianists should be road cyclists as well

Helped me immensely with my breathing and recovering from the effects of 25 years smoking.

Thal 

[lloyd_cdb]

All pianists should be road cyclists as well

Helped me immensely with my breathing and recovering from the effects of 25 years smoking.

Thal 

Biking is my morning exercise Although if I try to play afterward the pedaling can be hilarious.

[chopin2015]

Haha!

But yes, I do yoga as well. However, I was not able to practice yoga the past 2 weeks and my breathing issue came back. In yoga we practice syncronized breathing. Also, the wind here was 40 miles per hour, so my blood pressure was on the edge.