What is the best way to overcome performance anxiety in music?
I am a relatively talented violist, who freaks out at auditions and when I have to play in front of people. I have done the beta blocker thing, and want to overcome the anxiety,not just mask it.
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You’d be surprised what motion can do! If you jog in place or jump up and down a few minutes before an audition or a performance, it not only relieves tension in the body but it also gets the breath moving (which is just as important for instrumentalists as it is for singers). After you’ve moved, take some slow deep breaths and you should be good to go! Also, the more you audition and perform, the easier they become. The nervousness never fully goes away and it’s not supposed to. But if you feel your nerves are interfering with a good performance, try the exercises above. Good luck!
I’m a singer who has often dreaded public performing. The thing to focus on is that in order to do your best you will need to be a bit keyed up (forgive the pun!) so that you can focus. Do you drink? Rachmaninof HATED performing; one day he mentioned this to a fellow performer who suggested a glass of sherry 10 minutes before going on-stage, and Sergei did it for the rest of his performing life! Try that plus a quiet yoga position with deep breathing for 15 minutes beforehand. And remember – you are performing to GIVE, not receive, so it is your audience benefiting. Try to approach it like that – a gift you are GIVING.
I wouldn’t do the beta blockers, the chemicals your brain makes are a natural response to anxiety, and with some practice these ‘bad’ nerves your experience can actually really give your audition energy. Try imagining that you have already landed the gig/part or whatever you are auditioning for; an audition is just as much about you wanting them, as them wanting you! Be truely confident, and just visualize your success. Sometimes pretending a close friend, family member etc is sitting in the audition room helps a lot. You should always be prepared for the audition, not overly prepared (don’t devot your life to preparing for one audition) but do be comfortable with your material. If you mess up in the audition, make sure you mentally move on; stressing about a mistake you made 5 minutes ago will only distract you, whats done is done, so make the best of the rest of the audition. The best way to get over audition anxiety, however, is experience. The more auditions you do, the more confident you will become. Auditions do tend to all feel similar after a while, so don’t be stressed if one doesn’t go well, try again. Good luck!
Read The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green and if you can go to a workshop with Barry evern better.
His ideas completely changed my life and I can not recomend him highly enought.
Anxiety will never disappear completely. Even Horowitz said he was always nervous.
One has to be able to perform using it to your advantage not against you. Usually nervousness comes from caring too much of what other people will think about us, which is natural…
I have found these things helpful to me (I am a pianist):
1. Know the music extremely well.
2. Have an attitude of enjoyment and sharing.
3. Know you body, feel tensions and release them. BREATH!
4. Not to start the program with Bach. (start with a piece that you feel very confident playing, that will make you more confident at the beginning)
5. In case of mistakes, don´t think about them after they happened.
6. Experience… the more you perform, you will get more confident.
Good luck….