Everything Piano

Are You A Nervous Piano Player?

Develop A Secure Mental Play For Performances

Do you get nervous when you find yourself in a room full of anxious relatives, friends, or complete strangers staring at you, eagerly waiting for you to blow them away with your amazing piano skills?

Believe me, I’ve been there. After more than a decade of participating in music festivals, competitions, annual recitals, conservatory examinations, and having my parents force me to play the piano at family gatherings, one could say that I’ve had my fair share of butterflies and sweaty palms at the piano.

Nervousness is a very natural human emotion, just like happiness, anger, sadness, fear, and so on. Generally, nervousness is a product of a mental perception of a situation where performance is critical. Nervousness forces us to concentrate entirely on the critical task at hand and most people don’t like to be nervous because it is normally accompanied by feelings of fear of failure.

Since nervousness is a performance enhancing reaction to specific critical situations, it is almost certainly necessary for a great performance. However, it needs to be kept under control. A healthy attitude toward nervousness should be developed.

History has been documented by legendary pianists of extreme nervousness, as well as completely non-nervous performers, suggesting that the nervousness phenomenon is very well not understood.

Under extreme conditions, emotions can get out of control and therefore can become a liability. Emotions are designed to work under normal circumstances. For example, fear can allow a small animal to escape from a predator. However, when cornered, the small animal may freeze completely with fear, making it easier for the predator to catch it’s prey. The overwhelming fear puts the small animal in a worse position than when the emotion of fear is more controlled.

And so, under extreme conditions, performances can spin out of control due to overwhelming emotions. Playing a piano solo in front of a large crowd qualifies as an extreme condition. In my own experiences, I have felt my heart beating out of my chest, sweaty hands, dry mouth, shaky hands and legs, and even memory loss (I forgot if I had already repeated a section of my piano piece).

There are ways to keep nervousness under control. Some claim that prescription medications such as Inderal, Atenolol, or even Zantac will work to calm nerves. In opposition, you can make your nervousness work by drinking coffee or caffeinated drinks, not getting enough sleep, and so on.

So, how exactly can you help control your nervousness? First of all, remember that you are your worst critic. Your mental attitude has a lot to do with your performance, You may notice mistakes that you make, but instead of worrying about it, smile and move on. In conservatory exams, you are penalized if you make a mistake and go back to that certain note or bar to fix it. Remember than even just casual playing will sound terrific to an audience, and they generally heard less than half of the mistakes that you can identify.

Do not pretend that nervousness does not exist. This is especially important for young performers, since it can cause them to suffer more easily from long-term psychological damage. Performance training is important because it allows nervousness to be discussed and examined in an open manner.

Developing a positive mental attitude is the best way to control stage fright. By helping yourself understand that performing is a great opportunity for you to grow as a musician an individual, you will effectively minimize your nervousness. If you want the best likelihood for a flawless performance, you must develop a secure mental play. You can then start playing from any note within the piece, you can stay ahead of the music, and you can hear the musicality inside your head, and even develop skills such as absolute pitch.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

During a recital, I had to play a very fast piece and I was overwhelmingly nervous. I messed up completely in the middle of the piece, turned around to the audience, and said, “I messed up!” There’s a big difference between creating humor from a mistake or recovering effectively from it and making that mistake create a disaster that affects the entire performance. This is why its so important for a student to play very easy pieces that can be performed with nervousness under control. Even just one performance like this can create an overall, optimistic attitude that performing without nervousness attitude, which can affect you for the rest of your life.

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Tags: Brain, Emotion, Mental, Nerves, Nervous, Nervousness, Performances, Performing, Recitals