Everyone has stage fright. It’s normal. It’s a part of being a performer and for most of us it will be until we hang it up and leave the stage. It can be painful to watch and live through. And feel like death would be preferable. But there is hope for all!
Performers want some anxiety. A performance with no jitters and the energy it produces would be boring for everyone. But it’s easy to get into a state where the anxiety feeds on itself. What if? The reinforcement that something could go wrong makes even more nervous.
You can control your thoughts by focusing them. If you wonder what will happen, it’s easy for the negative thoughts to take over. But if your brain is busy doing other things it won’t have time to turn negative. You could worry about other aspects of your life. If you are worried about World War Three your ten second solo doesn’t seem so important. As famed track coach Bud Winter said, “If you make everything a matter of life and death you are going to die a lot.”
The world is full of suggestions, techniques, gadgets, programs and blaming it on your childhood to relieve stage fright. They usually involve teaching you some thought, idea or motion that you repeat many times. They involve changing your vision, pressing an acupressure point or yelling ‘serenity now’ over and over. They do work if you practice them. You get your body to learn to respond the way you want it to.
It helps to realize that fear is a gift. It protects us. By embracing it we can keep its effects from taking over.
Perhaps the best tidbit on the web on stage fright is here.
Musicians do have some weapons other people don’t. If you perform several times a week then the perception of danger relaxes. If you perform once a decade its importance and perceived danger will be out of proportion.
Competence and confidence are all important. If you don’t have one you can’t have the other. So as we practice and get more competent we are more assured that the things we fear won’t rear their ugly heads.
There are also chemical weapons we use. Some people take beta blockers (they reduce the amount of adrenaline produced by your body), alcohol and other drugs. These are very dangerous and usually counter-productive steps. Experience and enthusiasm are the best drugs!
NOTE: If you are going to take beta blockers discuss them honestly with your doctor before doing so. They are dangerous substances and react with other medicines or cause other problems. No concert is worth dying for. Not even when there are Left Coast Players playing!
Performers want some anxiety. A performance with no jitters and the energy it produces would be boring for everyone. But it’s easy to get into a state where the anxiety feeds on itself. What if? The reinforcement that something could go wrong makes even more nervous.
You can control your thoughts by focusing them. If you wonder what will happen, it’s easy for the negative thoughts to take over. But if your brain is busy doing other things it won’t have time to turn negative. You could worry about other aspects of your life. If you are worried about World War Three your ten second solo doesn’t seem so important. As famed track coach Bud Winter said, “If you make everything a matter of life and death you are going to die a lot.”
The world is full of suggestions, techniques, gadgets, programs and blaming it on your childhood to relieve stage fright. They usually involve teaching you some thought, idea or motion that you repeat many times. They involve changing your vision, pressing an acupressure point or yelling ‘serenity now’ over and over. They do work if you practice them. You get your body to learn to respond the way you want it to.
It helps to realize that fear is a gift. It protects us. By embracing it we can keep its effects from taking over.
Perhaps the best tidbit on the web on stage fright is here.
Musicians do have some weapons other people don’t. If you perform several times a week then the perception of danger relaxes. If you perform once a decade its importance and perceived danger will be out of proportion.
Competence and confidence are all important. If you don’t have one you can’t have the other. So as we practice and get more competent we are more assured that the things we fear won’t rear their ugly heads.
There are also chemical weapons we use. Some people take beta blockers (they reduce the amount of adrenaline produced by your body), alcohol and other drugs. These are very dangerous and usually counter-productive steps. Experience and enthusiasm are the best drugs!
NOTE: If you are going to take beta blockers discuss them honestly with your doctor before doing so. They are dangerous substances and react with other medicines or cause other problems. No concert is worth dying for. Not even when there are Left Coast Players playing!
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