<p>Hello - </p>
<p>As the title so cleverly alludes to, I was wondering what tactics/methods people used to combat that nasty thing called performance anxiety.</p>
<p>I'm competing in a competition in about 10 days (yikes!) and I have never been the performer type. I figured many if not all of you have more experience with this than I do, so any advice? All input is appreciated! : )</p>
<p>mihan</p>
<p>There are lots of different hints and theories out there. I believe the very, very best one is lots of practice and experience. In other words, perform for an audience every chance you get. Get some friends and family together and ask them to be an audience for you. To make it more nerve-wracking, give them paper and pencils, and ask them to write down at least two mistakes you make. Knowing they are listening to mistakes will make you ultra conscious of them - which is how you will be during your audition. (And to be kind to yourself, ask them to write down at least 3 things you did well!) And when you see those pencils going, it is an exercise in focus to not be distracted by them!</p>
<p>What you need to learn to do is not hear your own mistakes. If you hear them, it means you are focusing on what you just did, rather than what you are doing next. The experienced performer/competitor has learned to always focus on the next note, not the past one.</p>
<p>Whenever my S hears a recording of himself, he always says something like "I didn't know I missed that" or "I thought I did better than that." It is our clue that he was focusing ahead.</p>
<p>That is actually another thing you can do - record yourself and listen. Record yourself playing from memory, standing or sitting how you will in the competition. Even wearing the top or dress or jacket you will wear -- and shoes.</p>
<p>Figure out who you're performing for. It works differently for different people. Some like an audience, some like judges, some perform for themselves. My S loves an audience, but performs best with he remembers his music is a gift from God, and tries to gift it back.</p>
<p>And another thing you should do is think through how your body physically reacted last time you were in this type of experience. Do you hands get cold? Do your knees wobble? Think it through, and then plan accordingly. If your legs get shaky, don't wear stilettos. If your hands get cold, bring a pair of mittens with you and wear them until you perform.</p>
<p>I still get nervous when I perform. Part of that is that I perform so seldom, and when I do, it is often as accompaniment for one of my kids, so if I'm not nervous for me, I'm nervous for them. However, my kids perform often, so we spend a lot of time making sure they are at peak.</p>
<p>And don't forget to eat a banana. :)</p>
<p>Let us know how it goes!</p>
<p>same here, i'm always sooooooo nervous when i perform. i can never play 100% of what i play... but its getting better. performance anxiety is something alot of musicians deal with.</p>
<p>Thank you binx! That was very helpful! :") Last year, for a competition, I ran up and down my stair case three times before running through the music so that I could be short of breath and have my heart racing, hahah...yes, I am a dork</p>
<p>There are going to be sooo many people that I absolutely admire/worship that will be watching and I'm just praying not to humiliate myself in front of these world class musicians. I'm not expecting to win anything. (Heh, this is probably the worst attitude to have, eh? Oii, hahha.)</p>
<p>I'm the type who loves to play for herself. I know, I'm a greedy pig ; ) I get waaay self conscious when I play for people because I've always had this concept of inferiority in myself. I think my parents took me to too many child-prodigy concerts when I was young, hahha..My parents tell me the same thing - I should use my music to glorify God who gave me the gift. Unfortunately, in face of an audience all that's left in my mind is usually, uh, er, nothing. :D</p>
<p>UC2008 - what instrument do you play?</p>
<p>mihan, there's a previous thread here as well. <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/368525-audition-anxiety-tuba-player.html?highlight=performance+anxiety%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/368525-audition-anxiety-tuba-player.html?highlight=performance+anxiety</a></p>
<p>I have a friend (now in a major symphony) who in his audition days swore on chamomile tea and bananas before auditions. I imagine it wouldn't work for vocalists, but it is helping my violinist daughter.</p>
<p>Tea? That's interesting..I've never heard of that one before. Do you happen to know if it's just that certain kind or other kinds like green tea etc as well?</p>
<p>Hi Mihan...I started the tuba performance anxiety thread for a friend (who I am happy to report was admitted to several of the top programs in the country!) He ended up doing breathing exercises (which tuba players do anyway) and visualizations. He also found that experience really helped...the more auditions he did, the easier they became. By the end of the college audition season, he found himself not getting nervous. S's new teacher has a great attitude and is a monster performer/auditioner...before S's performances, he tells us stories about various famous musicians who blew the piece S is about to play. He is hysterical, so S and I are usually falling down laughing before the performance (which makes everyone very relaxed).</p>
<p>I play violin, piano, and viola but my main instrument is violin.</p>
<p>Definitely not green tea- that's a stimulant. I give my D Celetial Seasoning's Sleepytime or Trader Joe's Bed Time. Anything with mostly chamomile and no stimulants. Pure chamomile doesn't taste very good, but you could add honey.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend that any performer read "A Soprano On Her Head": Amazon.com:</a> A Soprano on Her Head: Right-Side-Up Reflections on Life and Other Performances: Eloise Ristad: Books</p>
<p>It's an enjoyable read, even for those who aren't performers (me), and my daughter has it on her list to read when she returns home this summer. (I'd been recommending it to her for several years, but she'll be reading it at the suggestion of her voice teacher...!)</p>
<p>This thread has been very helpful for me also, as I also have very bad performance anxiety. My knees shake really badly and my hands get cold. When I get to college in a month I am auditioning for the top choir, and so I will try to remember what the wise posters on here have said.
Mezzomom- I also have been recommened "Soprano on her head", but have never picked it up. I think I will next time I swing by Barnes and Nobles.</p>
<p>I checked out the Inner Game, and it IS pretty good. Most of the stuff seems pretty "obvious" but the things he talks about DEFINITELY aren't the things that went through MY mind when I did auditions/competitions before. I think it'll help a lot! :D Yay!</p>
<p>So, my preparation list for next thursday:
1. Breakfast with lots of protein and fiber (7:00ish)
2. Sleepy sounding tea! (8:00ish)
3. Go banana hunting (8:30ish)
4. Warm up, panic, then attempt to calm down (9:00)
5. PERFORM!! (Still don't atually know what time, heh..around 9:30, methinks)
6. Collapse in exhaustion
7. Enjoy the convention</p>
<p>: ) You guys are all soo incredibly helpful! Keep the suggestions coming - I'm sure there are many others who will be going through this as audtition season approaches ;) Oh, the wonders of the internet.. : )</p>
<p>After you drink the tea, and before you go to perform...find the "little girls' room" :)</p>
<p>I didn't look to see if I recommended this in the tuba thread or not, but if the anxiety is something that really interferes and you want to try something different, look into EMDR. I have used it for a couple of things with amazing results. There is a link to find a find a clinician on this site but I always recommend trying to get a reference. As in any field, there's a lot of differences among clinicians. I read about an opera singer on another board who used it successfully for performance anxiety. </p>
<p>EMDR</a> Institute, Inc.</p>
<p>D's first teacher taught her to recognize anxiety as a form of energy and to channel that energy into her performance. The only performances she now worries about are the ones she is not worried about. Sounds a little zen, but it works wonders.</p>
<p>Just remember that your performance is an opportunity for you to show what you can do and reap the rewards of all the hard work you've put into learning and playing a piece. It's your time to shine. Don't think uh-oh, it's an opportunity to make a mistake. I know that sounds really simplistic...but it's important that you see it as a good opportunity - not an anxiety producing one.</p>
<p>I would also recommend running through your tough runs (how 'bout those high Ds on the Prokofiev) a few extra times so you are comfortable with them. And maybe some hand exercises so you don't feel cramped up.</p>
<p>If you are warming up with others it's helpful to wear earphones so the other people who are warming up (and they always sound more accomplished!) don't distract you and make you more nervous. A piccolo person once recommended we get tjos big, honking gunshot earphones to wear - they attentuate the pic's high frequencies reaklly well and intimidate the heck out of everyone else.</p>
<p>Lastly...enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the music and it will show.</p>
<p>Good luck Mihan!</p>
<p>Practice, practice practice. When you know the music cold, that will relieve one major source of stress. Before his first college audition (his first serious audition of any kind), S was very very nervous. He said that during his warm up he concentrated on playing whole note scales slowly and with a good sound and moving his fingers "elegantly." When he got into his audition, his hands were shaking literally, but once he started to play, everything fell into place.</p>