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Re: Nerves

To: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Nerves
From: "David Lancaster" <d.lancaster@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 11:54:19 GMT
In-reply-to: <009901bf5c6a$4b9afb00$7018fea9@agc>
Priority: low
Reply-to: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jud - Scaredy Flugel wrote:

> Which brings me onto the subject (hopefully not already done to death on
> this list...) of performance nerves.  How does one stop oneself getting the
> fear?!  and more to the point, once one has it, how does one stop ones hands
> shaking?  I can handle the dry mouth and sweaty palms (I had those too) but
> the shakes just spoil your performance.  (No I hadn't had too much beer the
> night before and yes I could play it in rehearsal....)
>
> All tips gratefully received.

Ha! - when I play it's usually the audience who become nervous!

Seriously though, the adverse effects of nervousness can be overcome
if you're properly prepared, mentally and physically.

Attend lots of rehearsals, practice hard and make certain that you
can play the piece to an acceptable standard ten times out of
ten.  If you're in any doubt about your ability to play the dots or
get through it in one 'take', don't do it in public; you've chosen
the wrong piece.  Use rehearsals to push yourself to the limit, then
relax in performance, knowing that you are playing well within your
ability.  (Read 'The Inner Game of Music' by Barry Green - he
offers many interesting and useful ideas, particularly regarding
concentration and eliminating distractions from your mind).

The physical side can be controlled to a great extent through slow,
regular, deep breathing.  In brief, breathing slowly will slow down
the rate of your heartbeat so that adreneline (which stimulates your
muscles to help you to run away from danger but isn't so helpful in a
performance context) isn't pumped around your body quite so quickly.
That's how beta blockers work but I find that a few minutes of deep
breathing before a performance usually does the trick and is far
less risky.  The effect of a long yawn on your heart rate can be
quite astonishing!

Of course the mental and physical aspects are closely linked since it
is signals from your brain which make your heart beat faster in the
first place; consequentially you should find that the problem begins
to disappear as you stop worrying about getting nervous...

Works for me - I only get nervous worrying about other players now.
Any tips?

 David

--

References:
- Nerves
  - From: Judith Hayes

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