Stage Fright~help

[Deborah O.]

I am learning so much from this thread!

[Jerusha Amado]

H.A.

I do the same thing!

[brenda-lee]

That is really a great suggestion.

[Audrey Nickel]

Another thing that can be useful is playing in a place where you’re not the main focus of the audience.

[Karen Johns]

Playing background music for dinners, wine-tastings and Victorian teas are my favorite venue. Much less sense of pressure. When you’re on stage everyone focuses on you. It’s all those pairs of eyes that can be unnerving.

I really like the suggestion of “hiding behind the harp”. However, wouldn’t that affect the projection? (Unless of course you are miked). I have a transducer installed in my soundbox, but I prefer to play acoustic. I find the sound projects from the front of the soundboard and have to face forward towards the audience.

Another glitch I noticed while playing various venues- The pattern on the floors. I once played at this country club that had the most outrageous geometric patterned carpeting. Felt like I was having flashbacks every time I looked at the strings….not fun….

[Audrey Nickel]

I have a similar problem at church…we have red carpets that are exactly the same color as my C strings!

[michael-rockowitz]

Hi Carl,

I just wanted to point out that there are other options out there for music performance anxiety apart from beta blockers – there is, for example, cognitive behavioral therapy, various behavioral techniques, and heart-rate variability biofeedback.

Here an interesting link on a heart-rate biofeedback study:
http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-5428:1

and here’s a nice review study:
http://www2.fhs.usyd.edu.au/bach/staff/kenny/Documents/Music%20Psych/Refereed%20Journals/gasc1167082_FINAL.pdf

Here’s a brief overview of beta blockers for MPA:
http://www.ethanwiner.com/BetaBlox.html

Beta blockers are not without some serious side effects – if you need it for heart disease, that’s one thing – but there may be some alternatives for music performance anxiety.

Here’s a some information on side effects from beta blockers:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/beta-blockers/HI00059

Mike Rockowitz

[carl-swanson]

Michael- I just read that Mayo Clinic article. They are talking about people who take beta blockers every day for various health issues, not about people who take one beta blocker dose once in a while for performance anxiety. So virtually all of the side effects they mention do not apply to the performer taking a pill only when he/she has a performance.

Having said that, one of my symptoms of performance anxiety(when I don’t take medication) is cold hands. Cold to the point of being stiff and virtually unusable. If I take only a beta blocker for a performance, I still have cold stiff hands, because that is the most common side effect of beta blockers. So I also take an alpha blocker(as do almost all people who take beta blockers for health related issues), and the alpha blocker dilates my blood vessels just enough so that I have toasty warm hands when I perform. My doctor explained to me that when someone with normal blood pressure(as I have) takes a beta blocker or an alpha blocker, it won’t change their blood pressure. I have never had any side effects from taking these two drugs for performance.

For the umpteenth time, I do not make recommendations to anyone about taking beta blockers, and I couldn’t care less how anyone else deals with performance anxiety. When I mention beta blockers, it is simply to say that they are there for those who need them.

For years before discovering beta blockers, I tried everything I could think of to control nerves. I was ultra prepared and knew the material backwards and forwards. The second the adreneline kicked in, all preparation flew out the window. I tried endless warmup to get the blood flowing to my hands. I tried holding a heating pad, and soaking my hands in hot water. Nothing worked.
I tried hypnosis. Waste of time and money. To this day, I can’t play unmedicated for two people at a backyard barbecue without the adreneline rushing through my system like electrical voltage, destroying any semblance of technique or musical expression. With the medication, I can play a solo recital for 1000 people with no hint of nerves. I know from talking to many many people that I am not the only person who reacts to performance nerves like this. Beta blockers are there for those who need them

[michael-rockowitz]

Carl,

As some of the folk above pointed out, when we talk about performance anxiety, we seem to be talking about at least 2 (and probably more) very different problems.

[carl-swanson]

Michael- Thanks for the thoughtful response. As i pointed out in the article I wrote for the Harp Column, I never had a fear of performing. My fear was of the Adreneline and the problems it causes. So blocking the Adreneline took care of the problem.

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