How to lose your temper

[paulamollapagan]

HI! More and more at concerts I tend to have uncontrollable nerves that make me get nervous when I play and it doesn’t go well.
Do you have any tips to lose your nerves?
Thanks, best regards!

[carl-swanson]

You need to read the article I wrote for the Harp Column 20 years ago called A Prescription for Success. You can find it on the Articles page of my web site, http://www.swansonharp.com.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I have two approaches: one is to be too busy to even think about it, and to only go on stage just as you are to start playing. The other is to have the music by heart. One does have to learn to be fearless in front of an audience and to connect with them. Experience works wonders; repeated performances of the same repertoire. Once I had performed pieces several times, I found there was a “performance zone” I could enter into, and play a piece I had performed before with no preparation.

[balfour-knight]

I liked to actually mingle with my audience before I performed, talking with them and getting to know them. That made me feel comfortable with them and kept me from becoming nervous, fretting about the music by myself before the performance. It gave me something else to think about, especially since folks would start to arrive 30 minutes early!

Depending on the venue, this might not always be possible. But whenever I could get out there among the people, I always felt much better. I always tried to raise their life-energy and make them feel better as a result of hearing me perform.

Harp Hugs and Cheers,
Balfour

[paulamollapagan]

Thanks, Carl, for your recommendation! Great article, it’s helped me a lot.

[paulamollapagan]

Thanks for your recommendation!

[paulamollapagan]

Thanks for your recommendation, Balfour! I’ll try it at my next recital to see if it works.

[Jerusha Amado]

Hi Balfour,

Talking with audience members beforehand also helps me to keep the nerves at bay, particularly when I’m performing new arrangements for the first time. As a freelancer who specializes in popular music, I also listen to how I feel about my planned repertoire. If I don’t feel comfortable with any of the tunes the day before I need to play, I replace them with others that are more familiar.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by Jerusha Amado.

[balfour-knight]

Thanks, Jerusha. It’s so good to hear from you.

[susanzvacek]

I’m late to the discussion (I’m a new HC member), but this topic is especially relevant to me! For several reasons, I’ve always struggled with nerves when playing in front of anyone, even family and friends. Playing for a teacher was out of the question. When I say I “struggled,” I mean that my hands would shake so badly that playing correct notes was a hit-or-miss enterprise and don’t even get me started on the nausea. I actually quit playing altogether for more than 10 years.

I am working with a therapist on overcoming the anxiety and hoping to participate in a group recital, a first for me. Obviously, I will practice my recital piece incessantly until then but I’m also going to look into trying out a beta blocker. I realize being a little nervous is completely normal and to be expected, but I’d love to avoid the debilitating anxiety that has plagued me for so long.

Fingers crossed (except while practicing).

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