#1 - Performance Anxiety

November 6, 2003 - Revised November 4, 2006 - Book Added April 9, 2009

You Are Not Alone

One of the first things to recognize about performance anxiety is that you are not alone in needing to tame this beast, and you may find comfort in that. Indeed I found it comforting when one of my former teachers, a seasoned musician in a major orchestra, said about performance anxiety: "in me it is an ongoing battle." That statement acknowledges that many of us will never completely conquer this foe, but the tools in this article can help us control the symptoms a majority of the time.

Diagnose Yourself then Get to Work

When does performance anxiety affect you most? During solos? Auditions? Large ensemble performances? In small ensembles? Some people love the spotlight and feel most free as soloists, or prefer soloing because that is when they are not judged by ensemble colleagues. Others find strength in numbers on stage and feel most at ease when performing in ensembles. Some find the screened rounds of auditions easier while others like when the screen is gone.

The more you know about yourself in these various circumstances, the faster you can progress because knowing your weaknesses allows you to address them. People are often comfortable in their most familiar performance circumstance, so they need to prepare for other situations when they arise, by having mock auditions or dress rehearsals, for example. You can get prepared for your most uncomfortable situation if you admit your fears and practice to face them.

I have had students who thought there was no way to practice sight-reading until I told them to turn on a metronome and play something new without stopping. Performance anxiety can also be thought of as difficult to prepare for because if, for example, you set up a mock audition for yourself, you will of course know that it is only a mock audition. On the other hand, if you have done a mock audition, playing through the material non-stop for an audience before your real audition, then you have taken one step closer to the real thing. Here are some techniques that diminish performance anxiety for me most of the time:

Prepare your music slowly, carefully, and repetitively over a long time. This will help you raise your average performance, since you might not get lucky and have your very best performance when the pressure is on. Thorough preparation should also give you confidence if your heart begins to race or your hands or your air stream begin to quake. And the muscle memory that you have engrained will serve you well under tense conditions.

Settle into your own way of playing before the performance or audition. Trying to improve the way you play on an audition day won�t help you, because you can�t �cram� a skill: you must practice it over time. Many teachers understand this and that is why they may seem to lighten up shortly before a recital or audition. They may even say something like �well, that phrase would be better in one breath, but since your recital is tomorrow and you still need two, do it that way.� You can only change your playing so much in that last week, so you should practice run-throughs with all of the faults that may occur as your performance nears. It is important to get used to moving forward in spite of a biffed note or unexpected breath. This does not mean that you should lower your standards before a concert, but have realistic expectations and don�t get flustered when you sound only human. Besides, your audience won�t know which faults are recurring and which are flukes, so just make great music!

Minimize new experiences before your performance. Have dress rehearsals or mock auditions for friends and peers. Ask for their honest feedback and suggestions. Do this early enough to practice and incorporate these suggestions into your playing. Practice in the room of your performance when possible. For auditions, walk or drive by the site beforehand. Simulate an adrenaline rush that you may get when nervous by doing several jumping-jacks or squat-thrusts before practicing. You can also rely on the �audition triangle,� written about by trumpeter William Lucas. This refers to your chair, music stand, and case. At your performance you can trust those things that are always the same.

Practice Mental Toughness. On January 5th, 2005, National Public Radio's All Things Considered ran a story about about the Julliard class "Performance Enhancement 675." I recommend clicking on the link and hearing the story for yourself. Basically, students have to perform under intense conditions such as while being harassed by other students, loud noises, or flying objects. Shoulders may tense, pupils may dilate, but the students must maintain high quality through those conditions.

Remember that less work equals more sound. Brass instruments (and I suspect others) don't sound as good when forced. Your most beautiful, projecting tone is produced when your body is relaxed and supple. It's a trick of mind over matter (body) to play well in tense circumstances.

Adjust your attitude. Here are some words of wisdom from one of my great teachers, Curtis Olson: �Don�t care too much. Be realistic. If you don�t get this one [audition], the next one is right around the corner.� Caring too much about one moment�s work is frequently the performer�s downfall. Remember, musicians are not surgeons: if you miss a note, nobody dies. Heck, the world keeps turning even if you forget to show up! This perspective can free you from worries and allow you to make music. Naturally, achieving this relaxed attitude (or as a Zen Buddhist or Taoist might call it, �detached� attitude) is more easily said than done. Perspective often requires time and experience.

�Put music in the foreground and the trombone in the background� (Michael Mulcahy). In performance, concerning oneself more with music and less with technique (ironically) results in fewer mistakes because of less suffocating, internal focus. To put it another way, if your only goal is to "not make a mistake" and you miss a note, then you have lost everything. But if you try to make music and you miss a note, then you can still achieve your goal.

If you catch yourself thinking of the wrong things (unhelpful things), then bring your attention back to the music. For instance, if you are driving to an audition and you are noticing how cool it would be to win this job because of the great city, salary, or new colleagues, then immediately stop those thoughts and play the first phrase of the Tuba Mirum (or another likely first-round excerpt) in your head. If you catch yourself imagining the final applause and the party after your recital, then stop and imagine playing the last phrase of the Ropartz Piece in Eb Minor or whatever other nasty lick is on your recital. Be in the moment through your preparation and performance, and celebrate later.

Be patient with yourself and create performance experiences. Diminishing performance anxiety takes time, in addition to a proactive approach. I used to get nervous in all circumstances: on stage in ensembles, as a soloist, and at auditions. After years as an orchestral musician, occasional audition candidate, and occasional recitalist, it only makes sense that I am now most comfortable in the orchestra and need to prepare heavily when either of those other circumstances arise. Be kind to yourself because gaining years of stage experience requires just that...years. You can, however, increase your solo and chamber performing experience by asking to play in non-threatening situations such as elementary schools and nursing homes.

If (like myself) after many years of trying to overcome nerve problems on your own, you try a beta-blocker to help calm your most nerve-racking situations, remember that medication only acts as an assistant. The pill isn�t magic, and in my experience it works best if you don�t abandon other means of staying on your game such as those suggested in this article or any of your own invention.

Other Resources

Click here for more articles on performance anxiety, check out Feature #7, read more of my writing on the subject in my book, where I discuss some of the causes of performance anxiety and offer even more strategies, and investigate any of these texts: