I Always do Bad in Preformances

[invisiblez]

I practice alot, 2-3 hours a day. I prepare pieces well sometimes running them through with 0 mistakes! However whenever I'm under pressure i get REALLY nrevouse and I mess up even the most simple passages what can I do?

[pianisturban]

I'm also not best at performing but for me it helps focusing on the past successful performances. You can also try to imagine the concert hall and how you play well before. And basically you shouldn't too careful while you're playing, you should express yourself.
Hope it helps a little.

[Bob]

Easier pieces.  And more of them.

More practice performing.

Make sure you get a chance to play on the piano your perform on too.  If not, practice cold on as many different pianos as you can.  Don't expect absolute perfection if you've never touched the instrument before.

[chopinfrederic]

What about trying to perform in front of your family/ friend before performing in a concert? Try to relax and think that they're not there, that you're all alone.

[swagmaster420x]

let yourself feel nervous. if you want to fight it, then fight by tricking yourself into thinking you aren't nervous. like while you're performing, tell yourself that this feels great, etc in my experience it kinda helps. if you try to overcome the nervousness by suppressing it entirely, i think that's impossible/way2hardando. anyways, the more you make yourself feel nervous, the less nervous you will feel each time. basically, just look for opportunities to perform, even if they are very scary (im kinda hypocrite as i say this but be brave : D)

[destini]

Well, people make mistakes, that's a given. I think, the more you concentrate on them and blame yourself for your "bad" performance, the lower is the opportunity that your next performance will be more successful. I would advise you to pay attention to what was good and what you managed to improve in the first place. Of course, you should analyze your flaws too, but you needn't perceive it like "again!" or "I have never been able to perform perfectly". It takes years and years of intense practice to get closer to a flawless playing. 

[pianist1976]

I practice alot, 2-3 hours a day. I prepare pieces well sometimes running them through with 0 mistakes! However whenever I'm under pressure i get REALLY nrevouse and I mess up even the most simple passages what can I do?

Join the club! I really understand you, that's my nightmare too. I'm still on the road to overcome stage fright but I certainly have improved over the years, so I sum to the other's advices and add some personal approaches (hope they help):

- Play in front of people as often as you can. Even for friends and family. Also look for public places to play (schools, churches, universities, hospitals, town halls... there are lots of pianos awaiting to be played and undusted...)

- Choose a slightly lesser difficulty program. This will help you to gain confidence in yourself.

- Learn and practice how to focus during performance only on your music and instrument. Be present, avoid thinking on future ("oh my... that passage will come...") and avoid thinking on past ("I screwed that passage the other day, I just ruined a passage two minutes ago...").

- Assume you will fail a few notes during the recital. Everybody, I say, EVERYBODY (even the greatest pianists in History) makes (made) mistakes during public performances. So just accept the fact the concert will not be ideally perfect but also that the little mistakes doesn't have any importance in the overall quality of the performance. Paradoxically, assuming this and letting go the desire and tension to be perfect, the overall performance is usually cleaner and technically proficient that the opposite approach.

- Be courageous and risk (moderately...). Tentative playing simply doesn't work. Give yourself permission to be nervous. Fighting the nervousness only make it stronger.

Read the books "The inner game of tennis" by Timothy Gallway, "Zen in the Art of Archery" by Eugen Herrigel, "Golf for illumination" by Deepak Chopra and "The power of now" by Eckhardt Tolle. These ones are great for learning concentration and focus, but they are also marvelous for improving not only focus skill but also many other areas in life. And last but not lease, (maybe the most important for this specific instrument playing thing), please read "Performance success" by Don Greene.