Aprilyn Podd

For a musician, performance nerves is something everyone experiences some point in their life. Here is a list of things I have experienced and learnt from performing over the years that may help you.

• THINK POSITIVELY
  A most common fault I find in students performing is negative thinking.  “I don’t want to play, everyone will hear all my mistakes” , “That was such a bad performance“.

  Instead, try thinking something similar to this:
  “I am going to go on the stage and show everyone how well I can play” ;
  “If anyone out there is picking out my mistakes, lets see them come up on the stage and perform in front of all these people!” ;
  “It wasn’t as good as when I practiced at home but I think i did pretty well performing the piece in front of people“

  Think about this: most of the people in the audience (especially in a school setting) wont know how to play an instrument.
  Put yourself in the audiences shoes, would you pick out mistakes people do when they perform?
  Before the performance think about the negative things that you are worried about and try to think of a solution to fix it weeks leading into it than on the performance day.

• ‘ACT’ CONFIDENTLY
  Performing is all an act. When you are performing and making several mistakes, pretending that the mistakes are meant to be there will be less noticeable to the audience that you made a mistake. Making gestures such as eye movement when a mistake is made will give the game away.

  When you walk on stage, your presence will give the audience their first impression of you, if you look like you want to be there to perform, the audience will want to listen. When a piece is finished and it was the worst performance ever done, still pretend it was the best performance and walk off confidently with a smile. Remember First and last impressions are the 2 things that stay in the mind.

• PRACTICE AS IF YOU WERE PERFORMING
  Every practice session should always be as if you were performing in front of people. Try practicing a piece from beginning to end without stopping. This is a great way to practice not making gestures when a mistake is made.
  
• GET PEOPLE TO WATCH YOU PRACTICE
  Invite people to watch you practice. Even if it is just 1 person, it really makes a difference. If just learning to perform in front of people, play a few tunes you have mastered already as the confidence of performing tunes from there will be greater.
• MEMORISE YOUR PIECES
  Memorising helps reduce the number of mistakes made in pieces considerably. Memorising helps with analysing a piece such as the form, harmony and patterns in the melody. By memorising you know what will be coming up in the piece and know where you are likely to make mistakes which you can fix.

  You will be less worried about making a mistake and feel more confident. Learning by memory doesn’t mean you have to perform it by memory though!

• WATCHING PERFORMANCES
  How will you know how to perform if you haven’t seen other people perform? Its beneficial and educational to go an see a variety of live performances (not just performances on your instrument) ranging from orchestral – solo.  Its a great way to see how professionals present themselves on stage and see how they perform pieces musically.

  If you can’t see live performances, Youtube is another place to watch clips of people performing. There is a range of different levels of performance ability to help you compare what style of performing you like and don’t like.

• PERFORM OFTEN
  Take every opportunity to perform, even if it is with a large group or just by yourself. Busking is another way to get over nerves and you can get a bit of extra pocket money while you are at it!
  If at school, ask the teacher if you can perform in front of the class, assembly or have a group of friends and perform to them during lunch or recess in the music room. Joining ensembles such as community bands gives extra opportunities to perform and you can meet new friends with similar interests.
• RECCOMENDED READING
  • The Inner Game of Music by Tim Gallwey and Barry Green

If you want to remark on any of these techniques or want to share your experiences, please add a comment