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HI Dahlia,
I don't know that it ever goes away .
To me that's a good thing . I live to be on the stage , it's the best high ever .
Most times I play better from it . I've amazed myself playing live .
Some people have a beer and that steadies them .
Tell yourself the truth that this is the time to shine. All that practicing and
studying is for these moments .
I don't think you ever get over it, but you learn how to harness it and make it your friend .

Hey Hal,

Why thank you for responding. The situation seems quite obvious when I think about it but I still have to over come certain things. I have been trained as a classical pianist and honestly I can't perform classical music. I have had some horrible moments on stage and by horrible I'm not being harsh on myself. A moment of confusion and anxiety concoct as one, but when I sit at the piano during intermission or when I know people are paying attention just not focusing on the techniquality of the music and rather the emotion involved I tend to let myself go and play much better.

I have a certain respect for classical music but I feel that I do it no justice yet I have to perform it and that is when mayhem occurs...I freak out.


What to do? It really doesnÂ’tÂ…IÂ’ve taken ear training for a while. It doesnÂ’t work



Dahlia

I got some good advice years ago and it's helped a lot.

First: while you are practicing, imagine that you are in front of an audience and see how you react to that idea. It's amazing, then continue playing throughout that reaction and learn how to deal with that nervousness. I found that breathing consciously diverts some of it. But everyone has to figure out for themselves what works best for them.

Second: start playing in small places, at friend's houses, living rooms, then larger places. Play in front of people as often as you can so you can learn to keep yourself focused and GROUNDED. By grounded I mean feeling your body while doing other stuff. I ride horses these days and feeling your feet is one good way to get and stay grounded. T'ai Chi also helps.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

Hue mentioned feeling your feet. A similar image that I've heard people use is to feel a "circle of energy," going from the audience, to your heart, through your body, out your feet, through the ground, back to the audience.

Something else I've heard said is to always be over-prepared.

For me, I've found that practicing making mistakes and then recovering from them helped me to become more comfortable, on stage. Having a really clear idea of large-scale form can help too. So, you always know the structure of what you're doing, and can basically recover, whatever happens.

Knowing how to improvise may help too.

These are all tools to help you be prepared, whatever happens, and that might help you to relax and enjoy it more. There really is a lot to enjoy about performing.

--Jonathan

Hi Dahlia,

You're welcome

There's a lot of good advise here .
I like the " Playing in front of friends, small venues , Also envisioning yourself playing in-front of people ." I use myself while playing a piece or a tune .

I've thought of another thing that may help.
You're a classical musician you read well . Try to find a Jazz or Popular band
to play with . You'll find a lot less pressure while playing with a bass and guitar
or Bass, drums and guitar . You may find a great feeling while playing live and
increase your confidence this way . Then shine as a solo concert pianist !