The Importance Of Embracing Performance Nerves

Performing is one of the main reasons people choose to study a musical instrument in the first place. For some of us, performance is an occasional way of showing what we have achieved, whether through a graded exam, part of a school concert or just playing to family and friends at home. For others it is a regular part of the job of being a professional musician - perhaps in an orchestra, a theatre pit or as a soloist on stage. But for everyone involved in performance one thing is certain: at some stage nerves will be involved!

Being nervous is entirely appropriate and indeed welcome in these situations. It allows us to play with a real sense of occasion and the adrenaline sometimes takes us to places we would never reach during practice. Of course, nerves can work against us as well. That feeling in the pit of your stomach can be overwhelmingly unpleasant, and the body can behave in a most unhelpful way. Shakes, sweaty palms and loss of breath control are just a few of the 'classic' symptoms. But what can be done to help?

The answer, I suppose, is that there is no cure as such, but there are ways of managing nerves.

Fairly often people are nervous because they know in their heart of hearts that they are not prepared fully enough. It may be that they haven't done enough practice or that they are taking on a challenge that is perhaps a step too far. A teacher once said to me that the difference between a good performer and a great performer is that the good performer will practise a piece until it is right and a great performer will practise until it can't go wrong. Those words have always helped me to find those extra few hours practice time!

For some, there is the obvious fear of embarrassment if things go wrong. The bottom line is that in every performer's life there will be at least one occasion where something scary does happen. In my experience no one has died from any of these instances and a lot of the time putting things into perspective can help to take the very worst edge off of the anxiety. Some of my personal favourite performance memories are of times when I have made mistakes/memory lapses and got myself out of trouble - it can actually be more of a sense of achievement than a perfect performance, as indeed the audience/examiner will instinctively be on your side in these situations!

There is also the more rare but equally intriguing situation for experienced campaigners where you have played something so many times that you start questioning the statistical side of things. Something very easy can suddenly fill you with dread: "I've played this solo hundreds of times, surely it'll go wrong one day??" It might. And then you'll feel silly and people might have a little chuckle to themselves, but I'll bet it'll also be a mighty relief!

The one thing that we all should try to remember is that the feeling of being nervous is actually a heightened sense of excitement. It is surely fun waiting for a rollercoaster to start? Going on a first date? Making a speech in public about something you care about? People pay serious money to jump out of planes or go bungee jumping. Why? Because quite simply, they want to feel alive. If you have the ability to play an instrument to any level, you can experience these feelings and make other people happy at the same time. That sets performers apart from most of society, and it is a gift we should all cherish.

Embrace it, enjoy it, feel it. You can do this!

Break a leg comrades.