does nervousness ever let your performance down?

[musical_fingers]

does nervousness ever let your performance down? how do you overcome nervousness from affecting your performance -especially in the openings!! ?
ta

[Brian Healey]

Making sure I'm warmed up, hearing the music in my mind before I play, breathing deeply, exuding an air of confidence, and of course heroin.


Just kidding......

I don't warm up


You'll probably find loads of suggestions by doing a search on this subject (the little button at the top of the screen with a picture of a little earth and a magnifying glass).


Peace,
Bri

[Goldberg]

Nowadays, I rarely get nervous, at least to a point where it disrupts my playing like it would a few years ago; instead, I've learned how to harness any nervousness I happen to encounter into excitement, to be translated into my performance for the audience. I'm always happy to be on stage, and doing so gives me an enormous rush, but not really nervousness. But it didn't always used to be that way. My best advice is to learn how to breathe deeply and easily while waiting for your time to get up there; concentrate on hardly anything at all except for your breathing, and if you do it deeply enough and focus on the right things, you'll manage to calm yourself down and slow your heart rate; given about 2 or 3 minutes, you should be your normal self, but more energetic than nervous.

[pianowelsh]

Everyone gets nervous and sometimes it even gets the better of the best. It's absoulutely natural BUT i ve found it's helpful to think more about the music than the situation. ie don't think I'm scared I have to go out there and perform this big piece. I sit there now and think. That's a beautiful opening and then it goes on and does this and so on that way i keep the piece in my mind and the audience worry is minimised.

[earthward]

 Breathing works amazingly well because if you can control your breathing and keep it to a normal level it gives you a foot-hold against the nagging fears in your head.  When I do this I'm still nervous but at least I feel more in control.  When I get up to perform I feel more calm and objective and I can focus on trying to create the music instead of thinking "oh my god I'm so tense I don't know if I can hold on to the end." 

[steinwayguy]

Remember to express rather than impress. That means you shouldn't think "Oh boy I hope I hit all of those thirds in the coda to the fourth ballade". Rather, "I can hear how well I can phrase those thirds".

When you sit down, as many people have said, the most important thing to do is sit there, breathe, think about the music you are about to play. Not the piece- but the first phrase. As my teacher said "Now don't think you're going to sit down and play this Etude (Op. 10 No. 4), you're going to sit down and think you're going to play the first phrase of this Etude, then the second..."

Above all, it's music- enjoy it.