How To Reduce Performance Anxiety
What Is It?
Performance Anxiety - a musician’s largest foe. Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘If only I could get over this performance anxiety?!’ You’ve spent hours upon hours researching and figuring out the ultimate secret or magical pill behind this huge obstacle. You’ve searched all of reddit only to find a bunch of fluff:
Sure, Reddit is right but I wish it was as simple as faking it till you make it or the process of repetition until you finally just, well, get it. Much like anything we do in life, nothing comes easily. Let’s first dissect what exactly happens to us as we experience performance anxiety. Sweaty palms, negative self talk, stomach pain, memory lapses, dry mouth, avoidance and butterflies in your stomach are just some of the signs and symptoms. Our biological systems naturally have a ‘fight or flight’ response where we are wired to react to danger. In response to acute stress, our body's sympathetic nervous system is activated by a sudden release of hormones. The sympathetic nervous system stimulates our adrenal glands which triggers the release of catecholamines. All these chemical reactions result in a large increase of heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure. As a result, our bodies may tighten and experience the variety of uncomfortable symptoms previously mentioned. Familiar with working hard in the practice room only to be thwarted by these stresses? You’re not alone, in fact, I’ve personally had to battle my inner demons with performance anxiety my entire life. I remember my first piano competition at the ripe age of 7 years old and was completely petrified to say the least. I was shaking and wrought with negative thoughts. I kept telling my mom I couldn’t remember my piece and tried everything I could to get out of that church. Alas, I came out alive but totally distraught. My muscle memory allowed me to power through a 2 minute piece but I was so anxious that I hurried off the piano, hit an extra note and forgot to bow. Believe it or not, to this very day I still experience extreme stress over performing. A little rush of manageable adrenaline certainly sharpens performances but when it’s so damning it’s detrimental.
Coping With Performance Anxiety
Alright! Enough about how terrible performance anxiety can be, there is a light at the end of the tunnel so let’s get to the nitty gritty’s of how we can help overcome it. In my twenty years or so of performing, I’ve narrowed it down to these key tools and skills dealing with performing under pressure.
Understanding Your Genetics, Nature & Nurture
Simply put, some people are blessed and made for the stage. Our genetics play a big role in how we perceive and deal with performance anxiety and it is the first step to understanding ourselves. A person high in trait anxiety will find themselves dealing with it bleeding into all facets of their lives. Being nervous about meeting new people, going to unfamiliar places, doing well in school and work, dating, public speaking. It’s fundamentally a part of their personality to be stressed out and anxious in general. Sometimes these traits have also been nurtured.
In my personal experience, I have picked up on a bit of my mother’s highly strung nature. Additionally, I grew up in an introverted traditionally conservative Chinese family with cultural values that promoted being socially shy, not hanging out with friends and working hard with no real focus on growing self esteem, I found myself constantly doubting and never believing in myself. A musician’s tentativeness and self doubt off stage is reflected in their ability to perform well on stage. The lack of confidence and focusing a great deal on how others perceive you will generally produce a musician that has a difficult time believing in themselves. The biggest step to supplementing your natural predisposition is to work on one’s self and emotional intelligence. It’s important to be more adventurous, surround yourself with positive people and build courage by getting out of your comfort zone. Through more life experiences meeting new people, going to new places and trying new things, one can build the confidence and courage to overcome performance anxiety as well as becoming more musically expanded.
Alexander Technique
After a very expensive Bachelors and Masters Degree in Music, I’m pleased to say that I at least got some Alexander Technique out of it. Its main focus is to center yourself before a performance, change long-standing habits that cause unnecessary tension in everything you do and most importantly guide your thoughts away from destructive self defeating ones. One element is lying in a semi-supine position.
When you stop, rest and become more mindful of decreasing the level of stimuli right before auditions and performances, your anxious thoughts and feelings will gradually dissipate. Partnering this position with special breathing techniques such as the whispered ah helps calm the instinctive fight or flight condition.
Other useful Alexander practices also help you shift your attitude or behavior away from negative thinking and panic. Mentally preparing yourself ahead of a performance enables one to deal with less noise. When you are mindful, learning to feel and control your thoughts is exhilarating as you let yourself go. Alexander Technique lessons train you into clarity of thinking, easier breathing and overall less tension. I’d highly suggest finding an Alexander Technique instructor to regain control.
Practice Practice Practice, Prepare And Practice Performing
It goes without saying, nothing beats practicing but practice has to be mindful, efficient and done so with purpose. If you are not well prepared and don’t know your repertoire inside out, it’s a recipe for disaster. Playing your pieces beginning to end mindlessly is a huge caveat as you are ingraining bad habits into your muscle memory. Not being present nor focused in a practice session is reflected on stage causing you to panic and instigate your nerves even more. Being able to know pickup points and analyzing your pieces is important in preventing memory lapses. The ability to memorize form and harmonic structure as well as breaking down pieces into smaller chunks helps your brain connect the dots while you perform so that when you do happen to have a slip you are able to recover with ease. With proper practice and preparation, one can build up a lot more confidence leading up to a performance. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts and putting in the hard hours will certainly reap rewards. The ability to practice performing is also incredibly important as the more you expose yourself to situations outside your comfort zone, the more likely you’ll start adjusting and become accustomed to crowds. I’d suggest starting of small with family, friends and recording yourself via camera. Once you get a bit more comfortable, you can migrate to bigger performances and organize recitals. Eventually, you learn that the audience is there to cheer you on and that we are all human so mistakes are completely normal!
Visualize Success, Change Your Mindset
Mental practice is just as important as physical practice and it involves imagining yourself playing as if you were actually at your instrument. The main benefits of visualization include better physical technique, as, if you have mastered the ability to mentally control what your body does, your ability to regulate your body during a performance will improve drastically. Therefore when you perform, your mental imagery is slightly ahead of your physical actions so you can feel a mistake before it occurs, allowing you to fix it before it does happen. This facilitates incredible mindfulness, self control and concentration. Visualization also accelerates the speed of memorizing a piece. Playing an instrument requires incredible memory recall therefore mentally playing through a piece in your head will make the whole process a little easier. Finally visualization is useful for releasing both physical and emotional tension. When you picture yourself relaxing and performing in the same exact location where you’ll be performing, you’ll be able to build confidence and familiarity. Most of us don’t perform in a totally chilled state so make sure to visualize the specific emotions you will be experiencing at a nerve wrecking performance and regulate how you will deal with it mentally.
Pre-Performance Routine
Having a pre-performance routine can be soothing, give you comfort and is used by professional athletes and musicians alike. It’s a sequence of tasks, relevant thoughts and actions which a musician engages in systematically prior to performing. Having this routine creates a space for musicians to be in their most optimal mindset to achieve a close to perfect execution. There are three components to a pre-performance routine and these include cognitions, behaviors and systematic tasks:
Cognitions
Self talk and telling yourself what you are going to do or feel. For example, giving yourself cues like ‘relax’ as you breath out or actively ‘release tension’ for all your movements will likely help promote these behaviors. It’s important to always be positive, relevant and keep your thoughts short. Relaxing and controlling your breathing to a slow and rhythmical state is optimal. Lastly, focusing on the feeling of playing enables you to not overthink the technical execution.
Behaviors and Systemic Tasks
Behaviors include taking the same number of actions before performing. If you revel in taking 3 big breaths before you start or bowing in a specific manner, do it! These actions help create a sense of comfort and confidence. When we are developing a routine, it is important to correlate the behaviors and systemic tasks with emotional regulation to calm our nerves.
Eventually, we all develop our own individual routines that works for us over time. Don’t be afraid to make adjustments or become restricted to the same routine.
Take Care Of Yourself
Most importantly, taking care of yourself is a huge piece of the puzzle. Incorporating daily exercise, eating a healthy diet, getting adequate sleep and meditating insures you are in tip top shape. Being physically healthy promotes more mental clarity and endorphin releases to reduce stress. Musicians are akin to elite athletes. A lot is demanded of us when performing both physically and mentally, therefore taking care of your body and mental health should be your number one priority. On the day prior to performing, limit your caffeine and sugar intake. Eat a sensible filling meal a few hours before to stock up on energy and curb your hunger. Get your complex carbs in and keep it simple. Your potassium levels drop as your metabolic rate rises prior to a big performance so a natural high potassium booster that lowers your blood pressure such as bananas is the perfect snack. At the end of the day, you deserve to treat yourself. After completing a big performance don’t forget to be kind to yourself. Go take a spa day, shopping trip, hang out with your friends, grab a drink or do anything you fancy to reward all the efforts and hard work you put in.
You’ve got this!
Confronting your fears and vulnerabilities as well as being able to accept who you are and not having to prove yourself to others is the ultimate goal towards overcoming performance anxiety. Nobody is perfect and being able to accept that fact is the first step towards not feeling like you have to prove yourself to others. Learning ways to reduce and manage your fears can be empowering. Not only will you feel good about yourself, you may discover that you are a more confident performer!