What is the best way to overcome performance anxiety in music?

Question

I am a relatively talented violist, who freaks out at auditions and when I have to play in front of people. I have done the beta blocker thing, and want to overcome the anxiety,not just mask it.

Answer 1

You'd be surprised what motion can do! If you jog in place or jump up and down a few minutes before an audition or a performance, it not only relieves tension in the body but it also gets the breath moving (which is just as important for instrumentalists as it is for singers). After you've moved, take some slow deep breaths and you should be good to go! Also, the more you audition and perform, the easier they become. The nervousness never fully goes away and it's not supposed to. But if you feel your nerves are interfering with a good performance, try the exercises above. Good luck!

Answer 2

I wouldn't do the beta blockers, the chemicals your brain makes are a natural response to anxiety, and with some practice these 'bad' nerves your experience can actually really give your audition energy. Try imagining that you have already landed the gig/part or whatever you are auditioning for; an audition is just as much about you wanting them, as them wanting you! Be truely confident, and just visualize your success. Sometimes pretending a close friend, family member etc is sitting in the audition room helps a lot. You should always be prepared for the audition, not overly prepared (don't devot your life to preparing for one audition) but do be comfortable with your material. If you mess up in the audition, make sure you mentally move on; stressing about a mistake you made 5 minutes ago will only distract you, whats done is done, so make the best of the rest of the audition. The best way to get over audition anxiety, however, is experience. The more auditions you do, the more confident you will become. Auditions do tend to all feel similar after a while, so don't be stressed if one doesn't go well, try again. Good luck!

Answer 3

Anxiety will never disappear completely. Even Horowitz said he was always nervous.
One has to be able to perform using it to your advantage not against you. Usually nervousness comes from caring too much of what other people will think about us, which is natural...
I have found these things helpful to me (I am a pianist):
1. Know the music extremely well.
2. Have an attitude of enjoyment and sharing.
3. Know you body, feel tensions and release them. BREATH!
4. Not to start the program with Bach. (start with a piece that you feel very confident playing, that will make you more confident at the beginning)
5. In case of mistakes, don´t think about them after they happened.
6. Experience... the more you perform, you will get more confident.

Good luck....

Answer 4

I'm a singer who has often dreaded public performing. The thing to focus on is that in order to do your best you will need to be a bit keyed up (forgive the pun!) so that you can focus. Do you drink? Rachmaninof HATED performing; one day he mentioned this to a fellow performer who suggested a glass of sherry 10 minutes before going on-stage, and Sergei did it for the rest of his performing life! Try that plus a quiet yoga position with deep breathing for 15 minutes beforehand. And remember - you are performing to GIVE, not receive, so it is your audience benefiting. Try to approach it like that - a gift you are GIVING.

Answer 5

Social anxiety can cause these feelings, which can also lead to severe depression,
http://www.socialanxietyinstitute.org/ds...

if not you could be suffering from Generalized Anxiety
Disorder..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/general_anx...

There is hope; I've been there, and still am there, it is a long, hard struggle. I recommend
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cognitive_b... worked best for me, with mild anti-anxiety meds. I suffered from social anxiety for over 15 years. I've tried individual therapy, and group therapy and studied psychology for 10 years, as a profession, but also with the hope to cure myself.

Depending on your comfort level, you could go to a psychologist that practices CBT and specializes in anxiety disorders, seek a group therapy, or create one. Usually those that do attend the group therapy are a bit more high functioning because as you know, it can be difficult to speak in a group.

Another idea is to see if there are any local research studies being conducted that you could participate in.

The program that finally worked the best for me is this one: http://www.socialanxiety.us/findinghelp.... and I was lucky enough to have a structured behavioral group to go along with it. Sometimes the people that actually attend this program come back home and form groups.

I recommend a mild anti-anxiety med in addition to beta-blocker and CBT therapy.

Any questions, let me know ... I can't tell you how much this has improved my life!

Answer 6

Read The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green and if you can go to a workshop with Barry evern better.

His ideas completely changed my life and I can not recomend him highly enought.