Performance Anxiety

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Permalink Reply by Ron Terry on March 6, 2009 at 9:53pm

David,

I can relate. When I was much younger I would get so nervous I would actually shake. Sitting on a stool I could feel my leg shaking so much I was afraid the audience would see it. Fortunately I trained myself to relax. I figured out the main driver for my nervousness was my insecurity in the quality of my songs and my singing. After listening to so many songs, live and on the radio, that were not really that good, I realized my music isn't that bad-we've all had that thought when we hear a real stinker playing on the radio. I just told my self to relax, it's not that much differnt than playing in front of friends at home and not to hold back. My music is what it is, not everyone is going to like it, that's OK. And guess what, the more I did not hold back and played the way I wanted the more people seemed to like my music-much to my delight. Wow, being myself in front of people was becoming fun. Now I really enjoy playing in front of people. I still get anxious, but I would call it a good anxious, it seems to help me keep focused.

So for me it all came down to confidence and believing in my own abilities. I still mess up, but as we all have learned, you just can't stop, keep going and finish the song. It's all part of a live performance. One real life example I always recall for myself is: I've been to see CSN many, many times. Some nights they are so on it's unreal, other nights you just have to say "Well, they can't be on all the time". The moral of the story is: even the best of the best have their on nights and their off nights. Just accepting that has helped me relax and enjoy playing in front of others.

That's my two cents worth. Don't be too hard on yourself, relax and have fun!

Ron

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Permalink Reply by Brian Gore on March 7, 2009 at 9:57pm

Here is my approach, cobbled together over many years, and some advice on how to deal with it.

1. Don't confuse excitement with fear. There are certain physically predictable reactions that happen before you go out on stage. Your heart rate increases, your breathing increases, you sweat. Your mind can start racing and delving out distortions-- confusing excitement with fear. So, the first thing you have to ask yourself is, are you afraid, or, excited? Often it's a mix, but you can sort that out through mental training. If you are afraid, you can rationally confront the typical fears, which are usually distortion based. If you are excited, run with that and learn to work with it!

2. Take a few deep breaths before you go out, and drink bottled water. With the adrenaline rush comes dehydration. When you speak or sing, your throat may get dry, causing it to crack or you to cough. Which can then cause your mind to race and start you getting uptight again by confusing the effects of excitement with fear. Seems like a small thing, but this one technique when employed especially at the start of the show can be huge.

3.The audience is your friend. The group-psychology effect of the stage is in the performers favor. An audience is predisposed to liking you. They’ve made a choice to come see you, and that works incredibly in your favor. Making a mistake may seem like a personal humiliation to you in your mind. Ironically, that kind of vulnerability can endear you to your audience, even more.

4. Don’t mind read the audience. On the last International Guitar Night tour, Benjamin Verdery observed there’s no necessary connection between what the artist subjectively thinks of his or her performance and the audience reaction. You could do a set you thought was rotten, but the audience goes wild for. Likewise, the audience may not react any more enthusiastically when in your mind the performance was close to perfect. The vast majority of the audience will enjoy the show most of the time. So what really matters is being focused enough to strive for your personal best, because in and of itself that goal’s a good thing.

5. Don't magnify OR minimize. The most common problem is the magnified fear of making what is usually a minor mistake. The other is the minimization of the over-all effect of a performance once a mistake has been made. Thinking rationally about this can relieve the impact of the fear. Most people really can't tell when you make a mistake, especially if it's your own tune.

6. What's the worst case scenario? Think rationally about your biggest fear. A train wreck stops the song and start again? So WHAT? You have your whole show to make up for it.. Andrew York once told me a famous friend of his learned to relish his first mistake because he's relieved and it's out of the way. He played better once that first error was made, or that first hurdle in the song crossed.

7. Trust in the efficacy of your practice and preparation. If you’ve done it well and right, the technical part of the music automatically. So you can focus on being present with the music, conveying the emotive content of the narrative you sense in the song. Ironically, the very fear often employed to motivate technical perfection is what startles us and causes us to make mistakes.

8. Know exactly where you are in the form and each musical element of the piece. If you are in a jam, the easiest way out is to skip to the next bar or the next most remembered for comfortable place. But you can also improvise your way into the next section as well, making a potential train wreck something more exciting for both you and the audience. As Pierre Bensusan says, “the good thing about improvising is there are no mistakes.


Donna said:

This is a very big issue for many musicians. In fact, many orchestral musicians will medicate with a drug called Inderol (I think that is the drug) to decrease anxiety before a performance. Segovia said he died a thousand deaths before every performance. On the other hand, when Julian Bream was 12 and watched people playing at a guitar society, he said, (paraphrase) "what's wrong with these people, have they got some sort of shaking disease?" He didn't seem to ever suffer from performance anxiety.

There are lots of books written on this topic -- one of the best that I have found is Barry Green's "The Inner Game of Music". I've also attended some workshops done by Scott Kritzer on Performance Anxiety. He is in Portland and he does an entire series call PAR (performance anxiety rehab). Scott is a concert classical guitarist that went through tons of anxiety before performance. He finally came to the conclusion that he either had to face this demon or give up. He decided to face the demon and he has done lots of research on the topic and helped students overcome this issue by understanding it.

The issue is complex. One of the biggest problems is seeking perfection. We are not perfect and in performance, we are always going to make a mistake. The point is to just let it go and continue on.

That being said, if you stay in the moment and listen to every note as you are playing it, you become more the music and less thinking about what people thought of your mistake or what they are going to think when you hit the next measure which is the hard one and you may screw up.

Another is THINKING too much when you are playing rather than just playing the music at the moment you are playing it. The new age spirituality text by Eckhart Tolle -- eg. "The Power of Now" can really help with learning how to stay in the moment. Our minds are constantly running thoughts a million miles an hour and it can be very hard to focus.

Inner Game of Music talks about 2 voices in our head that are running those thoughts. Voice 1 is the critical voice, Voice 2 is the voice that tells you you are amazing. Voice 2 gives you the confidence and courage to say -- "Yes! you must perform. You are a great player and have a lot to share." Voice 1 is the voice that tells you -- "here comes the difficult measure, don't screw up like you always do, everyone is watching now".

What Scott teaches is to practice for performance. And that doesn't mean to pretend you are playing in front of a group - but instead work to get 80% of voice 2 in your head when you are practicing. He takes people through a series of exercises to help become aware of voice 2 and to help keep it there.

Scott also teaches it's important to perform as much as possible. The more you do it, the more you you figure out where the rough spots are. And, in the performance venue, you just never know what is going to happen. A mic may go out, a baby may fall off a chair and start screaming (this happened to one of my students -- and he just kept playing while he looked quizzically at the screaming kid!).

If you want to read more about Scott or talk to him about his PAR program here is his website: www.scottkritzer.com

There is then always the question - why do some people react like Segovia and others like Bream. What I can tell you is just from my own observation from watching various interviews of both of these artists. Segovia felt it was all about him; Bream felt the music came from a higher power or other source. Bream says in his DVD "My Life In Music" (again paraphrase), "The music as it were comes through me and out to the people".

I recently heard a talk by an author who says that in ancient Greek/Roman times people believed that those who were creative were influenced by creative spirits and the creativity came through that. Therefore, the creative person wasn't necessarily acclaimed, but they were said to have this influence. Then when they screwed up, they also weren't seen as failures. That is different in our society -- artists are very vulnerable -- acclaimed as Gods when they have a big hit and doomed to failure if they don't continue to be perfect in every performance.

Some of Segovia's final performances were filled with error in his playing. Young classical guitarists mocked Segovia, but what they missed was that Segovia was interpreting the music like no one has ever been able to do. So looking for perfection seems to be the key of demise in artistry.

Some thoughts that may help,

Donna

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Permalink Reply by Donna Zitzelberger on March 8, 2009 at 4:10pm

Thanks for such a great post Brian! I had the opportunity to see Brian and friends in concert at an International Guitar Night in Thousand Oaks, CA a few years back. IGN is a fabulous experience, never to be missed if it comes to town!

I would like to add to Brian's instruction:

"8. Know exactly where you are in the form and each musical element of the piece. If you are in a jam, the easiest way out is to skip to the next bar or the next most remembered for comfortable place. But you can also improvise your way into the next section as well, making a potential train wreck something more exciting for both you and the audience. As Pierre Bensusan says, “the good thing about improvising is there are no mistakes."

A key way I have learned to incorporate this is to learn a piece in sections and practice it in sections.

Typically, when we sit down to learn a new piece we "start at the very beginning" -- thinking that's "a very good place to start". It might be good, but the problem is that we may often keep going back to the beginning. I watch my students do this ALL the time. They play the first measure, the second measure, the third measure, and they hit a wall on the forth measure. So what do they do? Instead of staying in the 4th measure and working at getting over the wall, they go back to the first measure, play the second measure, play the third measure, and hit half the wall in the 4th measure. Then they go back to the first measure. It's enough to make practice is living nightmare. And this leads to a performance in which whenever they hit the wall, they have to go back to the beginning.

The problem is that by practicing this way, we develop mostly muscle memory -- the stupidest of the three: muscle, visual, aural. So here's what I have learned to do: stay in the 4th measure and figure out how to climb over the wall. Then play the 3rd and 4th measure. Then play the 3rd, 4th, and 5th measure and continue on. When the next wall comes, I do the same thing. This makes practice much more manageable - i.e. why waste time on measures 1-3 when they are known well, and the walls are getting climbed efficiently.

Then, a key thing to do once the piece is learned: Practice it in sections. I have kids close their eyes, make a circle with their finger and land the finger on the sheet music. Then they have to play the piece from the spot they landed on to the end. So many times, they can't do it, even if they have the piece learned beautifully. That is because they put in mostly muscle memory. This exercise helps to develop the visual memory and the aural memory.

To develop the aural memory, they have to play the piece and they are not allowed to stop or go back - this develops their skills in improvisation. A cool thing I learned from a Victor Wooten instructional DVD -- "if you hit the wrong note, you're only a 1/2 step away from a note in the scale - so just keep the groove going and make it part of the music".

Would love to say I discovered and came up with all this stuff on my own, but all the credit goes to the great Maestros James Smith of USC and Scott Kritzer of Portland Oregon. Both of them are virtuosos of the instrument; and by what I consider an absolute miracle of miracles, I get to sit at their feet and drink up the knowledge, passing it on to my little ones.

Donna

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Permalink Reply by Bob DeVellis on April 19, 2009 at 10:06am

Lots of good observations. I found Brian's especially useful.

First, a disclaimer: I have no need and little desire to perform. I don't particularly enjoy it. But I might have a few observations worth sharing.

I speak in front of people on a fairly regular basis and I think there are some similarities. It's important to realize, for openers, that people have different physiological and psychological make-ups. Some are more prone to anxiety than others. Social anxiety is an extremely common occurrence and people are more fearful of the prospect of a public appearance than just about anything else. There are things that help, many of which Brian has noted.

First, don't misinterpret anxiety. The physiological mobilization we experience as anxiety is there to prepare us for action. The quickening of the heartbeat, chilling of the skin surface, etc. can legitimately be interpreted as the body's mobilizing its resources to help you succeed. When I help others prepare for giving presentations to groups, I'll suggest that they take brief notice of their body's reaction to the stressor and tell themselves, "great, my body is getting me ready to do this." Don't dwell on the reaction, just acknowledge it and consider the zing of adrenalin as a resource. Part of this interpretation process includes how you define the situation you're in. It's not a confrontation between you and the audience. You share common goals. I find that when I play in front of people, I don't define it as a performance but as teaching (which I do well and often). I remember at my first public "performance" telling the people a little bit about the history of the instruments we were using (I had a concertina and most people weren't that familiar with it). It allowed me to feel comfortable in telling them something I knew well and that they would likely find interesting. We got to know each other a bit in that comfortable context. When we started to play, we realized, to our horror, that we musicians couldn't hear each other at all. We were absolutely awful. But the audience was generous and either didn't notice or didn't mind a bunch of goofs that embarrassed us to death.

Second, be prepared to do what you're about to do. We should have been better prepared for the terrible acoustics. We should have had enough familiarity with the tunes that, even without hearing each other we could stay together. Confidence in your ability to handle the task before you is a great tonic.

Third, grade your exposure to the stressor. Start easy and work your way up. The venue I described above, accompanying an Irish story-teller reciting ancient folk tales to our Irish traditional music accompaniment at a bookstore on St. Patrick's Day, was an excellent, low-threat "first time out." We weren't being paid (although the bookstore owner, who seemed delighted despite our flubs, did give us some store credits for books), so there wasn't any external pressure. If I played in a setting like that on a regular basis, I'd be bored but I sure wouldn't be stressed after the first few outings. Lots of people play at nursing homes or for other people who are highly appreciative (although they can also be brutally frank) as a way to take pressure for perfection off the table.

Fourth, be clear about your goals. Why are you playing for others? If it's to share music, that isn't necessarily performing. If it's to prove you can do it, ask why that's so important. If it's your livelihood, that's another matter. But if your goals are clear, then the effort you should expend and the discomfort you should tolerate should also become clearer.

Just my thoughts on a subject that fascinates and torments many of us.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Nepper on April 19, 2009 at 8:39pm

This is a subject that comes up among my friends quite often and one that I have dealt with in my past and a a little in recent events. I grew up performing with the accordion from age 8 through about 16 in groups, bands and solo. I then quit the accordion and picked up the guitar. As a kid I got kind of excited to play in front of people (not relatives) and when I played solo, I had a tendency to speed up the tempo. This didn't happen in a band of course, which I will say right now is the best way to deal with the nerves. When you play gigs in a band REGULARLY, I guarantee, you will lose the jitters in a very short space of time. Playing solo is a completely different story! Now, later in life, after raising children and not performing hardly at all over 25 - 30 years, I got very nervous and actually fell apart a couple of times playing solo guitar fingerstyle instrumentals. I'm much better when I do vocals with the guitar, because that is what I do best, but I ALWAYS get nervous. I perform only 2 to 5 times a year now and it comes and goes depending on circumstances. But, I guess just like practicing, repetition is the best remedy - just play in front of people as much as possible and maybe try a little banter with the audience if appropriate. Or, maybe get some friends who you are used to playing in front of or with to BE in the audience. You will find things that make you more comfortable. Also, it has to be said that confidence in your ability to play a piece almost without looking is a BIG plus. I am always more nervous when I try something that is a bit over my head, or that I just learned. But, you know I just continue on and never quit and never break tempo because EVERYBODY makes mistakes. After awhile, you just learn to recover quickly from a bobble or two and it's cool.
Hope this helps a little and good luck with it.............Mike

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Permalink Reply by Von Luhmann at Pick Punch on April 20, 2009 at 12:47pm

just practice around other people and you will get used to it....once I started playing in front of a couple people it was all pretty easy after that....But I never had more than a couple wanting to listen to me anyway....lol...

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Permalink Reply by Sean on April 21, 2009 at 12:40am

After playing electric guitar on a praise team for about 4 years, I became really good at keeping stage fright at bay. Sometimes for really special church events I'd get butterflies but I think everybody did. I aced my public speaking class in college and though that I'd be in the clear of this epidemic. Wrong.

I put the electric down and fell in love with solo fingerstyle guitar. Inspred by such players as Mckee, Dufour, Bundy and the likes, I began the process of re-learning how I approach the guitar. Well, after getting a couple of covers down I decided I'd play them for a small gathering of family and friends at a fundraiser. I don't know what happened but I freaked. The songs came out ok, but in practice they were much better. I was shaking like I slammed down 4 pots of coffee right before that performance. Bummer, At least I finished the pieces.

I think the difference was that I couldn't hide behind a loud band anymore when mistakes on my part were made. Now, every chord and note would have to be nearly perfect, or mistakes cleverly covered. Solo playing requires a practice like no other!

There are enough great responses here to fill a small psychology text. I read something in...well... Acoustic Guitar magazine about 6 months ago. Towards the back (sorry I don't know what issue it was, I just know it was fairly recent) there was a great little 2 page spread about this very issue. If there is one thing I came away with in that article was this;

Don't worry about what people are going to think about you, your music, or how you manage to play so well in your busy lifestyle (many late nights of practice, when the wife and kid is in bed)! Remember that they are there to see YOU. For some of the very talented and lucky, you get PAID by them to come and see YOU. They already love you before you even tune up, so why freak out??

If you can train yourself to play with you eyes closed that can prove very useful too. Andy Mckee says he does this all the time.. This means that your muscle memory must be down SOLID. Tommy Emmanuel says that when you play a new song, do not start anything else until you play that song everytime you pick up your guitar. Play it until you can play it standing, sitting, talking, or reading the newspaper. That's a little unrealistic but you get the point. That is how he makes it look and sound so easy. Hope this helps some.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Nepper on June 8, 2009 at 6:51am

Love the comparison to slamming 4 pots of coffee! That's really funny, and not too far off at all! Thanks for making me laugh.
I was re-reading some of these posts and thinking same about how well it has been covered here in these responses. Any thoughts or comments back from the original questioner?
Best, Mike

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Permalink Reply by Kirk Mathew Gatzka on June 18, 2009 at 12:28pm

I suffer from Acute Anxiety and this includes Performance Anxiety. I have yet to overcome it even with medications. I have only performed once in the last few years at a songwriters gathering. It was really hard for me and I made a lot of mistakes in my performance, at one time I completely lost the song and where I was at. I covered with some banter about my mother n law being there to support me as she was our only living parent now since deceased. I recovered when some one in the audience began to sing the chorus to my song.

I was able to finish 3 songs total and then ran like a scared rabbit. I only got a few comments because we left right away. All the comments were, thankfully, positive! But I have only performed for my wife since then.

I do share my songs as MP3's with family and a few friends. I get some good feedback from them.

I write original songs, do covers of some songs. But I love to record using my Line 6 Toneport UX1 and Gearbox software. I have been trying to learn lead by ear and without any training. I do pretty good and my wife is kind enough to say I should try to sell my songs. But that has not been my goal.

I consider myself a passable stylized rhythm player. I use mostly open chords and have small hands and don't barre much.

I also sing fairly well but due to asthma have a limited power and range.

I am going to read all these posts with interest as I would like to share of my efforts more as a performer.

Thanks for the open talk about this part of Guitar playing and singing.

Kirk

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Permalink Reply by Mike Nepper on June 18, 2009 at 3:28pm

I have been doing some video recording in the last few months which is another tool for sharing performances since I don't play out hardly at all. It is a great learning tool as well. There is nothing quite like watching yourself to see exactly what you are projecting to an audience. It took me awhile to realize I need to look at the camera and SMILE. I have 7 videos on YouTube and they are also here on this website. People who comment from this website are very friendly and insightful. Anyways, best of luck, Mike

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Permalink Reply by David Lenef on June 18, 2009 at 9:16pm

I'm really glad to see this thread. I've battled anxiety often since I started performing while in college in the 70s. I agree that not being adequately prepared can really bring it on. But for me the most important element seems to be the environment and even specific people. For example, having another musician onstage or in the audience who I admire can cause me to get very self conscious. I've also found that playing in a new venue can bring on some nerves, but if I play there regularly, I'll get pretty comfortable.

These are obviously social insecurities that are far beyond performance, and more about my psychological dynamics with other people.

What I'm also very interested in is the other side of this spectrum. In the same vein as The Inner Game of Music or Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner, I relish those nights where I totally get in the zone. That is the ultimate goal for me and means more than any money I might get paid for playing. When I'm in that space, I feel like I can do no wrong, and everything just flows. It's truly joyous.

Oh - one more thing. A few times I've found that publicly acknowledging my nervous state actually cures it. Like once when I turned to a the open mic host and showed him my trembling hand. "Can you believe this?" I asked. And I was instantly calmer.

--dave

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Permalink Reply by Tony Burt on June 18, 2009 at 11:31pm

hmmmm performance anxiety
here are few personal observations

It is not proportional to the size of the audience you are playing to

It is increased the longer I wait for your spot in a compilation gig

It increases if I know the audience is going to be more attentive ( formal performance )

Playing in a group dissipates the anxiety ( only ever effects me in a solo performance )

Lighning fast and delicate finger techniques turn to jelly sticks ( start with something simple)

That first phrase I can play in your sleep has suddenly been erased from your memory

The face muscles disengage when in deep concentration ,, a normal cheery happy demeanor will change to a lop sided mouth droop and the appearance of a tongue :-)-... When I think about how Ilook ,, concentration diverts from your fingers ,,, why are they linked

I have come to accept it ,, learnt to enjoy the experience and accept the odd slip up ,, it dissipates once I feel that the audience is with me in the musical performance.. One thing I do try and do is chat before I start playing ( dependant on the occasion) this helps to relax me and introduce some of my personality to the audience.. Never dink alcohol before playing ,, adrenalin will do just fine

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