Performance Anxiety

[didi100]

Are there any classes or does anyone have suggestions for those of us who suffer from severe performance anxiety? No matter how well I know and practice a piece, as soon as I have even a very small audience, it is a disaster each time I play. I don't feel butterflies and am not consciously nervous, but the result is always the same ...... skipped notes, wrong notes, to the point that I feel like just stopping and walking off the stage. It seems to be getting worse with age. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Wondering at this point if I should just quit playing altogether.

[clouseau]

didi100,

there is a quick fix, which I wouldn't suggest: It's the elephant in the room in the musicians scene, called beta blockers (ex. Inderal). Though I would first get medical advice before taking them.

The right way to go is to attack the problem from its root. Exposure therapy is a well established concept in psychology for treating phobias. What you need to do is gradually confront those situations which make you uncomfortable. In this situation, start small, as small as possible. You could start by making a recording of a piece. Then post this recording somewhere (ex. audition room or youtube). Then play for a friend or relative. Then for two or more people. Then go to a music shop play a piece (pretending to test-drive the piano). Make those steps und eventually you will reach your goal. But you have to insist and do those obviously uncomfortable things regularly.
Also reduce cafeine intake, at least on days performing, as cafeine increases anxiety. Vitamin C and B vitamin complex, as well as magnesium,  are known to reduce anxiety somewhat, so it might be a good idea to include those in your diet.

If though you are struggling really hard and start becoming desperate, I believe that the best advice will come from a psychologist.

[ryoutak]

Are there any classes or does anyone have suggestions for those of us who suffer from severe performance anxiety? No matter how well I know and practice a piece, as soon as I have even a very small audience, it is a disaster each time I play. I don't feel butterflies and am not consciously nervous, but the result is always the same ...... skipped notes, wrong notes, to the point that I feel like just stopping and walking off the stage. It seems to be getting worse with age. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Wondering at this point if I should just quit playing altogether.

I am also currently facing this problem, but have taken steps to try to alleviate it.

I think you have the same problem as me - maybe you're worried/afraid of performing badly or play the wrong notes during the performance.

I can't really offer much advice but currently I'm taking these steps to reduce my anxiety:

1. More performing in front of audience. Schedule or impromptu, it doesn't matter. If you have a chance, just gather your courage/spirit and play in front of people or public

2. Keep practicing the piece, but (a) at a crazy slow tempo, and/or (b) with hands separately without looking at music sheet, and/or (c) play one bar, pause for a moment, then play the next bar and repeat. Purpose of this is to train your mind that you are 100% absolutely have memorize the piece. You could be wrong if you think you've properly memorize the piece.... until you tried to play the piece with hands separately. This is to make sure that your fingers do not remember the piece through repetition/behaviour, rather you actually memorize the piece with your head.

3. Play your pieces with different types of piano. It could be that you're not used to different piano's keys that it could actually mentally or physically affect your playing. Try to get more experience by playing with lots of different pianos that you don't usually have the chance to use it.

4. Just enjoy playing! Many times I've asked myself why I could play better when I'm alone than in front of people is because when I play alone, I'm only focus on myself whereas when playing in front of people your attention is focused on them. So, try to train yourself that every time you're sitting in front of the piano, it's just only you and the piano. Nothing else matters. Put both you and yourself in an isolated world. Just have fun playing the piano! If you have trouble with this, just remember that even the best pianist makes at least a mistake during his/her performance in a concert. Even if you made a few mistakes, no one in the audience will notice it, just like how you normally wouldn't notice a professional pianist's mistake during their performance.

Anyways, I wish you the best endeavor and let's hope the two of us could get past this anxiety soon!

[dogperson]

I would suggest reading the book, “a soprano on her head”.  There are several chapters devoted to analyzing to performance  anxiety.

 You can purchase used for about $3

The Bulletproof Musician is a good online resource
https://bulletproofmusician.com/?s=Anxiety

[Bob]

Sounds like fight or flight response.


Practice it.  But stack the deck in your favor if you think there's an issue -- Play easier pieces.  Pieces you can control.  Perform how you practice -- Make sure you won't mess up and your performance is acceptable to you.  Perform more.  Learn not to care.  After a while you can align your performance level, expectations, nerves, etc.  You can also control what the audience is and mess with your mind.  Big audience?  Small audience?  No audience -- Just imagine one?  What about making a recording and inducing a little nervousness that way?



Maybe watch how your conditioning your mind.  Check out the wording here...
"No matter how well I know and practice a piece, as soon as I have even a very small audience, it is a disaster each time I play. I don't feel butterflies and am not consciously nervous, but the result is always the same "

It can't be always, every time, 100% disaster.  If you are having bad performances, stop whatever's making them bad.  Do some performances that are pretty much guaranteed to be good.  Try something like a simple piece, zero audience but imagine one.  (Or you're the audience, right?)

You can look at the positive side too -- You did do performances.  You performed something even if it wasn't at the level you wanted.  You didn't walk off stage -- Part of the performance is continuing on even if you're making mistakes, to gloss over or cover things up so it looks like more like one, seamless performance.  And if the performances you've already done have been bad, then you know what the worst is and it's probably only going to get better, right?  I'd just pick some simpler music and do some performances of that.


You're also making a bit of a jump from performing bad to quiting piano entirely.  You could practice and never perform.  It sounds like something is stuck on the reason for playing piano hinging on performance.

[markh13]

didi100,

Sorry to hear that you're struggling with anxiety - it can be really difficult to deal with. However, here are a few ideas/suggestions that might help.

1. Normalise it!
Everyone suffers with anxiety when they perform, the key is to accept (even welcome!) it, and channel the anxiety into positive, rather than negative outcomes.

Remember that we can only perform at our best when we feel some anxiety - without anxiety we will under perform.

2. Understand it.
The more you understand why you get anxious, and how the body reacts, the better you will be able to control it. Research the fight or flight response, and see how/why it influences our bodies and performance - in particular read up about the Yerkes-Dodson curve, as this is a very simple way of understanding (and controlling) what anxiety does to us.

3. Manage it.
Everyone is different, and what works for one person might not work for another. The key is to find a method that works for YOU and helps to control (not eliminate) your anxiety, and channel it positively.

Things you might consider:
- breathing exercises (e.g. '7-11')
- re-framing, i.e. making a positive out of what might initially seem to be a negative (e.g. 'I'm so lucky to be given this opportunity to play'; 'It really doesn't matter if I play a wrong note'; 'Even if I make mistakes, the audience will still enjoy it, and I'll learn from the experience'; etc.)
- NLP type exercises - e.g. Anchoring (Google it), Coloured stress ball, etc.
- hypnosis - this can be amazingly helpful if you can find a good practitioner (many calling themselves hypnotherapists have had little or no formal training)
- beta blockers, as a last resort (as mentioned above, these do work, but it's much better to try and treat the root cause of the problem, rather than just the symptoms)

4. Preparation/Review.
As mentioned by others above, the more you get used to performing in public, the easier it gets. One caveat to this though is that a bad performance can leave scars, so start in a very small way - e.g. play for your cat - and then work up to more demanding situations.

And don't be too hard on yourself if you mess up in a live performance - be rational/analytical, and ask yourself why (there may not always be a specific reason), and what you might be able to do different/better next time to try and avoid similar problems.

Part of your preparation should also be mental - visualisation can be very powerful, think about what you're going to be doing, how you want to feel, how you will deal with any problems, etc.

5. Be kind to yourself!
I've noticed that most pianists are MUCH harder on themselves than on other performers. If you went to a concert and heard a really musical performance, but with a few bum notes, I'm sure you'd leave feeling very happy. But when we make even one mistake we're our own worst critics, and write off the whole performance.

Treat your own performances in the same way you would other people's - be kind to yourself, and realistic about what you can achieve (not even the very best professional pianists play without errors - and sometimes there are many!)

I hope that helps, and good luck with your next performance!

[timothy42b]

I have the same problem with one of the performance ensembles I direct.

They can do a dead solid rehearsal and have a train wreck in front of the public.  Since I went to easier pieces no trainwrecks anymore, but there are always dropped notes and miscountings that pop up when nerves hit.

Their nerves affect mine.  On days when I have more than one group I don't need coffee, I'm keyed up enough.    It doesn't affect my performance much, I've been doing this 50 odd years, but I certainly feel it. 

If beta blockers work for you, go for it.  I see no shame in it.  I have dental anxiety, and I have a prescription for Xanax when I need work done.  My teeth are in better condition than ever, because I've figured a way to get them fixed. 

On a purely practical level, consider videoing your next performance.  Yes, this is threatening!  It's worse than recording, which I assume you do anyway.  I hope so. 

Here's my thought.  We tend to focus on our errors and don't see the good things we've done.  The audience is the other way around (except for a few jerks I don't care about anyway.)  It may help you feel better about how you're doing - it might not be as bad as you think.

But even if not, from a practical standpoint errors are diagnostic.  They typically aren't random.  As pressure mounts, the weakest points fail first.  If your rhythm gets off, then work on it separately until it's your strong point.  Or if your shoulders get tense, causing you to stumble finding the keys, pay attention to posture and relaxation.  Etc. 

[j_tour]

Well, while I'm a fan of using tools like benzodiazepines or beta-blockers (I know the former, but the latter made me feel unhealthy), provided they're used as tools as not crutches/excuses, I might have said this before, but what worked for me was:

While practicing at home, put yourself mentally through EVERY possible challenge.

Drink two pots of coffee and play your set. 

Use all kinds of unpleasant scenarios and play through it.

You get the idea.

Ultimately, I don't think there's a quick fix, except doing it every day, as much as possible, in all kinds of scenarios, and just rebuilding the parts of the neural pathways that aren't working the way you need them to.

[louispodesta]

Are there any classes or does anyone have suggestions for those of us who suffer from severe performance anxiety? No matter how well I know and practice a piece, as soon as I have even a very small audience, it is a disaster each time I play. I don't feel butterflies and am not consciously nervous, but the result is always the same ...... skipped notes, wrong notes, to the point that I feel like just stopping and walking off the stage. It seems to be getting worse with age. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Wondering at this point if I should just quit playing altogether.

I have had tremors for all of my 66 years.  When I was in music school, I couldn't even play in a lesson.

Then, when I was venting my frustration over having folded during my senior jury (UT Austin), a fellow classmate said:  why don't you take Inderal?  He said that all of the musicians in Europe take it, and it is prescribed for stage fright.

To cut to the chase, I actually started laughing during my next jury because the "Nerves Monkey" was off of my back forever.

So, for the short term, get a full exam and then have an Endocrinologist/ Neurologist write you a prescription for this very common non-narcotic beta blocker.  It is available generically, and it is cheap.  (A full exam is necessary in order to rule out Diabetes or a Brain Disorder.)

What Propranolol does:  is to temporarily restrict your adrenal glands, which is what happens when you get nervous.  That is:  your body starts pumping tons of insulin/adrenalin into your bloodstream, and your nerves go to hell.  And further, get it out of your head that the tremors are reversible, regardless of any "good thoughts" you might conjure up!

Unlike Valium or Xanax, Inderal does not effect your mind and cause memory slips.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propranolol

Secondly, I underwent Neurofeedback training a few years ago, and it made a permanent change in my nervous system.  It is expensive, but a study out of the Royal Conservatory in London showed a 40% improvement in performance among piano majors.

Finally, there is a cardiac breathing biofeedback program called Heartmath, which I do every day for five minutes.  It is a recommended follow-up to Neurofeedback.  After awhile, you can "zone in" on your breathing at will.

So, put a big smile on your face because you are now on the road to getting rid of your nerve problems once and for all.  As aforesaid, I specifically recommend an Endocrinologist or a Neurologist because they have prescribed this (Non-Narcotic) medication thousands of times.

Initially, they will have you start out with a small dosage (5Mg to 10Mg), and then they will see what is the right amount for your particular body.  Also, you personally have to see how much (time ahead of your playing) that you should take it before it takes effect.

Good luck to you.  And, if you have any questions, please contact me by PM.  This problem can be solved!
 

 
 
 

[gaidheal]

Hi didi,

From your description of your performance anxiety, it sounds like one or both of things are happening:

One possibility is that your anxiety is psychological, and thus you need exposure in the same way people deal with phobias - a little at a time! Have you noticed a point at which your performance starts suffering? Five people listening, or two people, or one person, or even one person in the room but not actively listening? Try to find this point, then go below it and perform as much as possible to that number. You can ask your audience to sit far away, or face away from you, or read their phones, to lower the amount of attention they give you.

Another possibility is that you might not know a piece as well as you think you do. It might feel like you can play a piece well, but performing a piece of music live to an audience means you have to be able to perform a piece well every time, including in adverse conditions. For example, my teacher said that a violinist she knew used to wake up at 4am and play her piece, and if she could do that, it was ready for performance! I don't know your level or your desired standard of playing, but if it's at all possible that you're not as prepared as you think you are, perhaps consider researching different methods of preparation, e.g. memorising the harmonic structure, playing hands separately, crossing hands.


Lots of other good advice happening in this thread.
I have to remind myself that, based on evidence, even an informed audience will probably not notice your mistakes. The evidence is that audience members or friends have often told me so!

Loved timothy42b's post!

I personally would avoid cutting caffeine in preparation for a performance unless it were several days before as I get a bad reaction (pounding headache and feeling shivery) from ceasing caffeine, even small amounts. I hardly ever drink caffeine now, and only ever a small enough amount not to cause withdrawal. I think the lack of caffeine helps lower my anxiety!

A few days before your performance, you should play your piece(s) through three times in a row. Connecting to my next point:
Is concentration an issue? Meditation might help with that!


Okay, that's enough from me for now. I hope this helps. To echo another poster - be kind to yourself!