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I have been learning how to play Spanish guitar for more than two years and half.
Every time my friends ask me to play something, I get scared and my hands start to shake.
How to break this fear?
I know this is a subjective question as every one has his own ways, but please share what works for you.
I had a teacher who liked to say "The key to overcoming performance anxiety is through rigorous application of technique." This basically means: practice, practice, practice. Practice not until you get it right, but until you can't get it wrong. Practice until the technique you have to execute on the guitar is just as natural as clapping your hands.
There are pharmaceutical means that are endorsed by some teachers in very rare cases (called beta blockers); a natural alternative is known by many to be contained in the common banana.
I include that tidbit for the sake of completeness, but I really don't recommend it. You will reap far greater benefits from practicing more and more efficiently, and learning how to relax yourself and gain greater self-awareness of tension in your own body.
Some other practical suggestions:
Start out small. Many musicians encounter performance anxiety only once they go to music school and need to play for large audiences. Before you have a big performance, perform for just one person, then a small group of friends, then perhaps your studio class, etc. If you're even having trouble working up to the one person level, try performing for your cat!
Memorization can be tricky, and is a personally major source of anxiety for me when I need to perform memorized. As before, apply technique rigorously to the end of being able to write out the entire piece of music note for note completely from memory. Then do the same thing on a different level (i.e. the sections of the piece, Theme I, Theme II, AABA form, Eb major to G minor, what have you).
Lastly, it sounds a little like you are only playing for your friends when they ask you to, which has the psychological effect of calling you out and putting you on the spot. Instead, try preparing a piece of music that you are totally comfortable with, and then perform it for them on YOUR terms.
The key to overcoming this is simply to do it a lot, just like the key to getting better at playing is to practice. Kill two birds with one stone- practice in public. If you're constantly practicing where others can hear you, a performance ends up being the same as a practice and won't feel so psychologically nerve-racking. There's a spectrum of performance from practicing alone to performing in a concert hall. There are multiple elements that contribute to anxiety: How big is the audience? How focused are they on listening to you? How distracting are they to you? You can scale up in all of these categories- Start at a place where you generally have no audience but sometimes someone passes by, then move on to places where people come by more frequently. Start at a place where people are busy doing things and nobody will stop to intently listen to you, to places where people actually will focus on you. Start secluded from your audience and move up to places where they're right in front of you.
Obviously this is easier said than done- it's easier to practice in your own home than to go somewhere else; it might be difficult to find a place that meets the exact criteria you're looking for. But simply practicing performing in front of people has worked wonders for my shaking, and when that fails there's always taking Propranolol.
My hands can shake if I just think about performing to others.
I used to play at church. The first few times I got really anxious and kept making mistakes. After few months of performing, I got used to it, and everything was quite fine. Once it got worse because I had to perform in another place, out of my comfort zone and normal audience. I was totally playing like crap, but it was covered by the other players music, so it was fine. I think you need to make it feel like home and probably make it a habit.
Some advice:
Find out what you are afraid of. You probably have the fear of making mistakes, fear of rejection, or you are afraid that your friend will not like it. You probably need to change your motive. For example, play not to impress, but to have fun, so making mistakes is not a problem at all.
Be focused. Sometimes when I'm practicing, my mind goes wild about performing to people, fear comes, and I start to shake. I overcame this by trying to enjoy every note or stroke of my hand picking the guitar or pressing the keyboard. By doing this, I sometimes forget that my friend is actually in my room listening.
Improve your self confidence. Your friends won't ask you to play anything unless they think you are good. Even though they never say it out loud. My friend always taunts me, and complains that he doesn't know what song am I playing. But he keeps showing up to listen when I'm playing.
One thing to keep in mind is that you should know it is not the end of the world if you do mistakes. Most mistakes that you do will not even be noticed by the audience, even if you think it's a big mistake.
Because of this, you must continue as nothing happened.
Knowing this fact, you can also have more confidence, because you will know that it is not important to play 100% perfect (or even 93% perfect). Even if you do mistakes that are so obvious that the audience will notice, it will be no issue if you just ignore it yourself.
If you make faces or stop and comment it or something, the audience will most likely remember the mistake after the performance, but if you ignore it and just play on, the audience will have forgot it after less than a minute - or even not notice it at all.
I don't think there's a silver bullet answer. Here are a few thoughts though.
Andrenaline will actually make your extremities (especially hands) cold. Starcraft simulates a fight or flight scenario in your brain (hence the adrenaline rush). Its a sympathetic nervous system response. This causes your body to pump less blood to non-essential areas (hands) and send blood to more areas like your core, brain, thighs. Things like hearing, vision, reaction time, heart rate all sharpen/increase. However, your hands get cold, due to lack of blood.
Someone has already suggested you some important advice on how to overcome the fear of performing in front of an audience... I'd like to give you mine, too:
When you're on a stage, in the spotlight and everyone is looking at you waiting and, often ready for one's criticism, begin thinking that everyone smiles, cries, feels happy or sad, feels strong or weak, goes to the bathroom... just like you!! Does it sound peculiar? Actually it helps you to relax, because you can feel a sort of closeness with the audience.
You are what you're performing. So, feel and LIVE what you're playing\singing as the audience can feel and live this, too! Be confident in what you are and what you want to say to the others, even when your performance in not technically perfect.
I agree with Finbar to a certain extent. The only way to overcome your fear of performing in front of an audience is to do it often. Take your guitar to a park and play while you're there. Entertain the passerbys and if you mess up, who cares?
Perform in front of friends and family members, but avoid those who will tell you that you're awesome no matter what. People like that are poisonous and will only serve to halt your growth and progression as a performer and person. Tell your friends and family to give you constructive criticism.
I recently sang and performed a set of my original music with an orchestra in front of an audience of about 400 people. It was quite daunting, but I was not nervous, because I believe in my music and myself. If you can play guitar by yourself, you can play in front of anyone. The only thing you have to remember is everyone messes up, unless you make many major mistakes consecutively, then more often than not the normal un-musical listener will probably not even notice.
Perform, perform, perform and above all else avoid the poisonous people who tell you that your performance was awesome even when you messed up!
(NOTE: This answer was written for a different question (pianist, problems with audience-fear on stage), but got migrated in here, so not everything might match up with this question!)
I'm guitarist, but I might be able to help you. (Because we all have to deal with being nervous from time to time)
Some people just say that you just need to get better or more confident in your playing, but I think that it's just a part of the truth. (A smaller part) Because you can be good and confident about your playing and still be afraid of messing up... Or maybe you just don't like being watched by strangers and you feel akward in these situations. (subconsciously and/or consciously)
In generell, it's good to practice with audience as much as possible, may it be friends, family or neighbors. That actually really helped me over some time.
The best thing you can do before you go on stage is not to think about it too hard, I know that's easier said than done, but you should try to find something to distract you. For example I talk with someone, play a game on my cell-phone, or I solve a rubiks cube... If you stand there and think about the situation and what happens if you mess up, you likely WILL mess up. Just try to stay calm, If you can't... do the opposite: take a walk, or go jogging for a few minutes, but come back soon enough so that your pulse can relax again. (Don't overdo it! It should be more like a healthy walk under fresh air than training) A little drink might help, too.*
These are some "tricks" that helped me, or fellow musicians I know. Not all of them might help you, since people deal differently with nervousness.
Over some time, when you can control your nervousness better, you can use it to your advantage. Nowadays I'm usually better when I'm a little nervous. :D
I hope that helps.
*Note: Do NOT get drunk! A little beer or a glass wine usually helps though. And NO underage drinking!
best way to overcome it is to do it, then in time you will be used to being in front of a crowd. you might be best performing with a group of people so that you can get used to the idea of being on stage in front of an audience, then in time one will get used to not feeling really conscious while on stage. from there on its fairly easy to get up and "just do it".
one of the hardest yet possibly the best things you could do is perform in front of your peers. doesn't matter if its in your friends living room or in a bar, doing it will help you overcome your fear because some friends will tell you your amazing no matter what, and others will tell you the truth and give constructive criticism if needed. all very useful for confidence and development as a musician.
you just need to take that step towards being more comfortable within yourself and then it will all fall into place.
Good luck! :)
This makes me think of the many times I have had to do public speaking. In some cases this was in front of an audience of 300+ people. There were really two keys to success: training and practice.
For training I had the opportunity to take a handful of classes and seminars on public speaking, and this will be the same with all the lessons you have taken with your music teacher or through self study. If you are a talented player with years of training under your belt it will show in your performance. Past experience performing in front of an audience counts here, but there is a first for everything.
Regarding practice, there is no secret. You just practice, practice, practice. For a presentation you need to know the material by memory, to the point where your note cards are there just in case, but you never use them because you know the material so well. In some cases I even videotaped myself doing my presentation out loud just for the camera. Same for music practice; you should know your material inside out to the point where you can play it in your sleep. As stated previously, practice until you can't get it wrong any time you play it.
With training and practice comes confidence. You may still be nervous, but one thing I was taught was that usually this will not be noticed by your audience. I also have always found that if I wasn't nervous then it translated into a mediocre performance. I am pretty much always nervous when I speak in front of people, but because I am prepared, and I KNOW I am prepared, I feel confident. There is nothing more exciting than the feeling after a big performance that you got it done, and done well. Now it's Miller Time baby! Thinking about how elated I would feel after my 1 hour presentation was done definitely helped to calm me down some.
Hopefully this helps you. Years ago there was nothing I feared more than getting in front of an audience, but now I know I can do it, and this experience in public speaking should hopefully translate well when the day may come that someone wants me to play for them.
I do know this question is marked as Answered, but I'd still like to offer up some additional advice by telling you how I overcome this.
I have been playing guitar since I was 7 and I am now 21, I have played in many events for school, and have played in a few bands as well as done a few solo acts my self. My first big show was at school in front of over 1000 people (teachers, students, and parents). Truth is (for me) you never get rid of that fear, you just need to be able to control it. The way I do this is think of a time where I was more nervous than the time I would currently be playing.. doesn't even have to be another time that you were playing in front of people, and it doesn't have to have anything to do with music.. just a time where you were more nervous. This helps take my edge out.
Another thing that helps.. Repetition, of playing in front of others. The more you do it, the easier it does get.
And one last thing to keep in mind, not everyone can do what you are doing. Most people would not even go on stage themselves, so the fact that you are on stage puts you above them if they are not a nicer crowd, which you will always have to be ready for. Don't let anyone discourage you from playing.
Hope this can be of help to anyone
1) Knowing your piece(s) so thoroughly that your fingers can play even when your mind is occupied or distracted is one step towards performance confidence. 2) Practicing rough spots over and over in isolation will give you comfort and should reduce nervousness about making mistakes in front of an audience.
3) Lastly, recruiting a friend or family member to be your practice audience, then go through all the practical steps you would in a real performance should take away the awkwardness. Don't underestimate the effect of a different environment will have on your comfort level.
I was a very shy child and my drive to perform music well usually resulted in success if I faithfully followed the steps above. Best of luck to you!
This is such a huge issue for many musicians. Please excuse blatant self-promotion but my iPhone app 'Musicians Hypnosis' and the 'Self Hypnosis for Musicians' CD and download have helped thousands of people. There's a video run-down of the material on the musicians hypnosis website which explains all. I appreciate hypnosis is not for everybody, but watch the vid with an open mind and decide for yourself. Good luck.
Here is some of my advice: don't look if your scared, it's your friends. They wouldn't say bad things. Just picture yourself alone.
I agree with a lot of what was said above.
If possible have the music with you, not always but at first. You may not read it, because of the lights but it centers. Choirs have it and orchestras too. I would prefer just going by heart, that will come. Unless it is one of my compositions then I can create as I go.
warm up your voice before you sing ( sing - om namha shivaya, the singing through lips, but just making sounds that move air, felix unger (repeated) there are others, you may have favorites
Play and sing a duet with someone you are comfortable with on stage
Before going on stage give yourself a lot of time to prepare, choose your close, feel good about how you appear, dress the best way for you and arrive early enough to take in the venue 1-2 hours
When on stage, adjust - have seating, microphones adjusted with someone to do this for you.
Focus on your feet while you perform - not looking - but putting your attention on your feet, this brings the energy lower, imagine you are connected to the center of the earth, being grounded helps, I usually just focus on my feet.
breath 2 -3 times slowly.
If something happens like a note missed, just keep going and catch up with the timing. Its ok, make it sound good, improvise if you have to, try to keep within the original plan, after all you are also making it yours at the same time.
Finally enjoy the experience, you are becoming you performing changes your life.
I also have huge stage fright and frequently will second-guess myself. However, to prepare for my recital, I took a class whose point is to perform every week, and I forced myself to make appointments with friends so they could hear me playing. That helped a lot, so when the final recital came, yes, I was nervous, my adrenaline was up, but I had experienced countless situations like that. I was much less nervous and I knew that I could hand in at least a good performance, if not a great one.
One thing no-one's suggested here yet is to try to be as physically fit as you can. If your body is used to the regular beneficial stress put on it by jogging, cycling, swimming, etc., then you cope better with the physical effects brought on by performance anxiety.
Another thing that helps me is to keep the same routine on performance day as on every other day - get up the same time, same breakfast, same everything. This is because if a performance goes particularly well (or badly) you might attribute it to that new pair of socks/brand of valve oil/blend of coffee you used for the first time that day, and you start becoming superstitious.
Also, as a brass player I always plan breathing very carefully, and when I practice I plan to use the bars rests within the piece to recover. That way, the breathing stays the same each time I perform the piece.
As a singing coach, preparing actors for musical auditions, they have the odds stacked up against them on two counts: not only is singing the most vulnerable activity when in front of others, but in a an audition you are also being judged. My advice has always been to inhabit the music totally. With a lyric you can enter the character of the person singing and imagine being within their universe rather than performing in front of an audience. Similarly, even without lyrics, you can still perform from inside the world that you've created. This means that rather than you going out to the audience, they are being drawn towards you. In this way, you gain power and confidence. For the audience you have become charismatic rather than someone uncomfortable to watch.
I should add that before this can happen, you must know your material thoroughly, so that you are not anxious about the technicalities when performing.
I agree with pretty much all that's been said so far: in particular, start with a very small audience (of family or friends) to begin with, then work up to larger audiences. Also the concept of practice, practice, practice so that you know the pieces you're playing inside-out.
What doesn't seem to have been suggested so far is that you're implying you're playing solo... What not join a group - of fellow guitarists, perhaps, or of mixed instruments - so that you're not immediately the centre of attention.
Even practising with a larger group (without any audience per se) should help - you're playing IN FRONT OF the other musicians as well as BESIDE them, after all.
That's just a thought. But I've got a bit of experience here: I physically cannot get up in front of any sort of audience and start speaking/acting/playing an instrument/etc. BUT... I joined an amateur brass band just over a year ago and within a few months found myself on stage in front of an audience. Being 'one of a crowd', able to contribute when I was capable, able to drop out when I felt insecure, has helped my nerves no end. And it's fun playing with others, to boot...
An idea I haven't seen here and sometimes works for me: realize that all this doesn't matter that much. The world will not end, people will go home with something positive (with an average audience, not thinking of professionals or of some jury), tomorrow by this time you will be over it and the world would still be spinning.
Okay. We already have quite a few excellent answers here. I'll just add my experience.
I used to be very nervous in concerts for years, despite doing lots of them. I tried to rationalize along the lines many have already said here: we're all in this together, no one will notice my mistakes, I can play even if I'm nervous, the audience likes me, etc. But one day (it really was one particular concert) it all came together: this is just something I'm doing, and it really doesn't matter if I make mistakes or even if people don't like me. It was sort of a philosophical nirvana. Since then, I'm never nervous. I suspect it was just a melding together of all of the above, but it happened more or less by itself.
If you are shy to perform in public, you have chosen the wrong instrument and/or style of music to play. It is not your authentic musician self. Your body is trying to tell you that.
That's my own personal theory derived from having performed publicly on many instruments in many different styles, and having observed a wide range in nervousness within myself for each instrument/style. I have a similar ability on all the instruments, but anyway, the nerves can be higher on my first instrument, the one I play the best. Go figure.
