Stage Fright - Help Needed posted by Fabrizio Ferrari |
9 posts on this topic, 2099 views |
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Dear Musician, If you play your instrument for an audience once in a while, or you have done it in the past, this e-mail is for you, and we need your help. Call it as you like: Stage fright? Nerves? The jitters? Butterflies in your stomach? No matter what you call it, most musical performers, from the most novice to the most experienced professional, have experienced performance anxiety in one form or another. Many things can lead a person to feel nervous or anxious in a musical performance setting, and performance anxiety can manifest itself in countless ways - both positive and negative. Additionally, there's an endless array of strategies for managing performance anxiety to minimize its detriments - everything from meditation before a performance to lucky charms on your music stand. Performance anxiety is such a fascinating, multi-faceted, relatable topic, and so we'd like to hear from you. What kinds of things make you nervous about musical performance? How does performance anxiety affect you? What strategies have helped you manage stage fright? Please take some time to follow the link below and thoughtfully complete our latest, short survey: https://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/sv/MGDMXJH/ In the coming months, we'll compile the results and share our findings with you on virtualsheetmusic.com. Thanks so much, in advance, for your participation - and we very much look forward to your responses! All the best, Fabrizio Ferrari Musicians Page https://www.musicianspage.com Virtual Sheet Music, Inc. https://www.virtualsheetmusic.com | |||||||||
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| Edited by Fabrizio Ferrari on July 1, 2019 @ 7:51 pm |  | ||||||||
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Good survey. The first way I overcame nervousness in my young years was to play to the tape machine instead of worrying about what the audience and others in the accompanying band/orchestra may think of my playing. | ||||||||
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Thank you Tom for your comment.
Thanks again.
All the best,
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Hi Fabrizio,
if the
people attending were all friends of yours then you wouldn't fear playing
before as many of them there could be, so it may depend on your own feeling
towards your fellowmen and your relation to people in their whole. If you
assume the attending ones all mean to rate and judge you bad then you get stage
fright.
Also if performing in group it depends on who you're playing with, because too many musicians mistake emulation for competition. Skills and repertoire don't make it all and you got to find the right people to play with. I once watched Marcus Miller being interviewed and it seems those we call 'killers' are actually the kindest and humblest guys on Earth, which beyond their skills could be what makes them so busy. | ||||||||
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Very good point Chud. I agree with you. To play with people you know very well makes a huge difference.
We hope to have the new articel ready in a few weeks.
Thank you again and stay safe!
All the best,
Fabrizio
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Hi Fabrizio,
Yeah! you are right everyone goes through this phase. But I identified the problem pretty soon at an early age when I went to present in front of my class.
I won't lie the first presentation was horrible, lol. But this is when I realized that there is no need to panic as they say, "its all in the head".
From that moment, whenever I have to perform in front of the audience, I just don't overthink. The more you overthink, the more you panic.
All the panic and anxiety is just before the performance starts. The moment you start, it's all gone. So, you just need to control your thoughts because our minds are trained to think of the worst. So all you need to do is control your thoughts from wandering like leaves in the wind and you are good to go.
I hope someone benefits from my experience.
All the best! | ||||||||
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Thank you Amenah for your posting and for sharing your experience. I also had similar issues, mostly with the "overthinking." That's what I call "negative feedback" which makes everything worse.
Stage fright is a bad beast, but there are ways to cope with it, and at least, to reduce it to minimum levels.
I'll get back to you with the article as soon as it is done.
Thanks again!
Best, Fabrizio | |||||||||
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Looking forward to it ! | ||||||||
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Hello everyone! We have finally published the article on stage fright, please, find it at the link below: https://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/blog/stage-frigh... Thanks again to everyone who participated in our study, and I really hope you'll find our findings useful. Enjoy! | |||||||||
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