Yesterday, I bumped into another flutist on my walk home from the English Building. I asked her how she was doing, and she said that she was okay, but nervous. She was nervous for her upcoming studio performance, and wrestling with performance nerves. She shared with me that she knew it was going to be fine, but that her doubts kept clouding her practice time and preparation. And as I listened, I was able to reflect on my own journey with performance nerves. But there are a few things I didn’t know that I wish I had, when I was going through this. First, there’s a difference between performance nerves and performance anxiety. Anxiety is a word that can be frightening for many people to define and try to pin down. And I don’t think pinning it down is always necessary, because even defining it won’t really make it magically go away. It’s a very crippling feeling, especially for people who love to perform. And it can also be an illumination into someone’s anxieties off the stage. If you suspect anxiety of any kind, performance or otherwise, then there is help! There are licensed professionals who deal with performance specific anxiety every day, and the school of music has its own embedded counselor who might be able to reference resources that deal with performance techniques.
But, to those of us who have performance nerves (ya know, the kind that makes your palms sweat and your brain wonder if you’re standing naked in front of everyone or if the clothes you put on are, in fact, real…), there are solutions, the most important of which is preparation. I have found that the more I practice, the less I am nervous, because as my friend described, nerves invite doubt. And the only way to make those doubts go away is to pick up the instrument and hear for yourself that it really is fine, and you can play beautifully/expressively/calmly/vigorously/whatever you’re going for! To the smaller things-these are parts of performance we can control. Prepare through practicing, and also prepare through planning. When stakes are high, often nerves will take that as an opportunity to strike. So! Dry mouth? Bring water and plan how long before the performance you will drink it. Sweaty hands? Bring a cloth and hold it until you get on stage. Bunch it up, play with it, but don’t wipe your hands too much. Wiping will only make it come back 30 seconds later. Heart beating fast? There’s a great breathing regimen from Bulletproof Musician. Actually, I recommend all their stuff, but this exercise is particularly good. Plan to do some breathing both before and during the performance if necessary. Feeling lightheaded? I would say it’s obvious that you need pre-performance Chick-Fil-A, but that’s not going to work in a pinch. Mints often help, so plan when to have those around. I also wouldn’t recommend eating too much before a performance. Look, nerves are an ass. But it all comes down to having a plan, and if that plan is one you feel comfortable doing, then it can be just as important as the performance itself. Preparation and planning can make your performance go off without a hitch! And the last thing I’ll say is I remember the performance when I stopped being nervous. Of course, I still get a little nervous sometimes, but I remember the day when I stopped getting very nervous. And it was when the stakes were low. Sometimes, you just have to treat every performance like it doesn’t matter, and the stakes are low, and nobody will give a sh*t an hour later, because they’ll remember a musical experience rather than your mistakes. So go get em! - Sarah Castle
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