Stage fright, also known as performance anxiety, is one of the most common and perplexing problems we musicians face. It strikes at all stages of our development. In fact, one study found that 70% of professional orchestra musicians suffer from such intense anxiety that it gets in the way of their playing. You’re in great company if you become nervous when you perform.

by ĚýDavid Fish

Sadly, many musicians never find the way beyond their stage fright. There are a couple of reasons. First, they don’t understand the true nature of the problem. Second, they often don’t realize that part of the solution to their performance anxiety is found in accepting rather than trying to fight it.

Natural Phenomenon

Stage fright is more of a natural phenomenon than many performers realize. But it can keep you from achieving your full potential as a performer.

Some of the ways it can get in your way:

• Causes debilitating physical symptoms.

• Disrupts your concentration leading to mistakes.

• Impairs your motivation.

• Leads to procrastination that results in a lack of preparation.

• Takes the enjoyment out of performing.

In addition, stage fright can keep you from experiencing a sense of flow when you perform. This is the mental state where you’re completely immersed in an activity. Flow is the gateway to peak performance in many endeavors including music performance.

Three factors

Three factors are always at play when stage fright strikes.

• You perform for an audience.

• The audience judges you (or you at least feel it is doing so).

• A negative judgment would constitute a threat.

Sometimes, the threat behind a bout of stage fright is obvious. Let’s say you’re auditioning for acceptance at a prestigious conservatory or other school you have your heart set on attending. You may only get one chance at such an opportunity, and you feel like the stakes are high regarding your future. Both the judgment and the threat associated with it are real. It is understandable that you’re nervous.

Deeper fear

At other times, the threat posed by a performance is less understandable. I like to tell the story of one of the talented students I taught as part of the popular music program I direct at Catawba College. Sam obsessed about his fear of his voice cracking when he performed. While he knew it was unlikely to happen, and the audience wouldn’t care much if it did, he still worried.

A lot of musicians let stage fright tie them up in knots in a similar sort of way. They worry about something that may seem inconsequential to others and then beat up on themselves for worrying.

Sam’s anxiety over his voice cracking turned out to be a surface manifestation of what I call the fear of a “deep danger.” This is a legitimate fear about something that could have significant consequences.

Downward arrow

You can use what is known as the downward arrow technique to uncover the “deep danger” at the heart of your stage fright. You do so by asking a series of “If that happened, then what?” questions. Each consequence forms the next question until you reach the real underlying fear. When I led Sam through the downward arrow, it went something like this:

Me: If your voice did crack, then what?

Sam: The audience won’t take me seriously.

Me: If that happened, then what?

Sam: They won’t come back to hear me again.

Me: If that happened, then what?

Sam: I’d have no audience and I’d have to give up being a musician.

Me: If that happened, then what?

Sam: I’ll lose something that’s very important to me.

Saxophonist Dr. David Fish is the former director of Catawba College’s Popular Music degree concentration. He runs College Music Major and has authored a number of music-oriented publications including the book Goodbye Butterflies: The 5-Day State Fright Solution.

Photo Credit:ĚýCatawba College

by Joanna Cazden –

Managing your audition anxiety is key to your audition success. You want to be at your peak of health, relaxation, and confidence when you stand on that stage. But your anxiety about the outcome can feel like an impossible obstacle.

Performance anxiety is normal. Professionals learn how to manage it, but it never fully goes away. So don’t interpret your fear as a sign that you have no talent, or don’t deserve to succeed.

Here are 6 tools that may help—things I’ve learned from my own performing life, from my training as a speech therapist, and from coaching and counseling students like you.

1. The #1 antidote to anxiety is being prepared. So practice! The moments before you perform are when you’ll be most nervous, so work that sequence just as you work your music. Rehearse walking in, what you’ll say to the faculty, and your cues for the accompanist.

Link these actions to breathing: exhale-pause-inhale before you enter, before you speak, and before you start your music. This breath sequence—and your attention to it—will help keep you calm.

2. When you’re bored or in a rut, change it up. Run your pieces too fast, then very slowly, with comic attitude one day and melodrama the next. Do them in crazy order with dance or calisthenics in between.

Plug in competing music at the same time. Wear a stupid hat. These variations help keep your interpretation fresh. More important, they prepare you to cope with the unexpected distractions—snowstorms, family crises—that could challenge your audition.

During the last week before auditions, just run the program straight so that you’re not confused when you need to be clear.

3. Mentally practice, as athletes do. Go through the audition in your mind, seeing and feeling yourself glide easily from front door through hardest arpeggio to final exit. This reinforces your skills and you can do it anywhere.

4. Practice facing your doubts. “But what if….?” fears are common. Don’t suppress them but don’t give in either. Especially avoid spinning into “what-if-I-can’t-avoid-my-nervousness” spirals.

Anxiety usually hides an equal amount of positive excitement. So welcome your fear as if it’s an animal that is secretly tame. Thank your ambitious energy for showing up, review your exhale-pause-inhale pattern a few times, and go back to work.

5. If you still feel overwhelmed by anxiety despite all of these efforts, talk to a counselor. There may be some other problem or worry that is intensifying your natural feelings about audition season. Keep practicing in the meantime.

6. Find a way to reward yourself for getting through each audition. Ritualize what comes after, to help manage the let-down from all that adrenaline. For instance: jot in a special notebook or app about what you learned from each experience, have a favorite snack, then get some exercise and lots of sleep before the next round of challenges.

Best of luck to you!

Joanna Cazden is a singer-songwriter, voice rehabilitation specialist, and intuitive coach in Los Angeles. She has released six solo albums and is the author of Visualizations for Singers, a CD/MP4 of guided imagery that includes a voice relaxation sequence. Joanna is also the author of Everyday Voice Care:The Lifestyle Guide for Singers and Talkers.

Butterflies in the stomach; sweaty palms; negative self-talk; stomach pain; dry mouth; excessive swallowing; shortness of breath; fuzzy thinking; avoidance; or giving up. These are some of the signs and symptoms of performance anxiety. It feels so unfair when your hard work in the practice room is thwarted by fear or discomfort. A little stress can improve your game, motivating you to practice so you are sufficiently prepared by performance time. And sometimes the rush of adrenaline can sharpen performance. If stress is manageable, then all is well.

But if anxiety limits your ability to develop your talent and music performance charisma, you may wonder whether you should pursue public performance at all. Some people who suffer from performance anxiety decide to play music in ensembles, rather than as soloists. Some become music educators. These are valid choices, but before deciding to change your career path, give yourself time to explore some other options.

You Don’t Have to Be Anxious!

Our biological systems are wired to alert us to danger so we can defend, protect, survive, and procreate. Rapid heartbeat and increased muscle tension are valuable if we want to attack the wooly mammoth or run up a tree to escape it. But when it comes to public speaking, studio recording, or performing on stage, we seldom encounter situations where our lives are literally threatened. Your system doesn’t differentiate between clear and present danger and the perception of it. If you have a conscious or unconscious belief “as if” performing music were life-threatening, your body may tighten, your thoughts may become fuzzy, and you may encounter a variety of uncomfortable symptoms. It is an understatement to say it is not optimal to be in the throes of performance anxiety when you need to delicately coordinate your voice, breathing, arms, or fingers. We may be hard-wired to survey our environment for danger, but we can learn to cope. You can learn to orchestrate the level of stress at which you rehearse, as well as reduce the level of anxiety the day of a music performance, the moments before walking on stage, and even during the concert.

Coping with Performance Anxiety

As a long-time singer and lecturer who used to worry a lot, I found the Alexander Technique helped me improve my vocal technique, and that helped my confidence. I continue to use my Alexander thinking to center myself before performance, and –– most importantly –– to guide my thinking away from self-defeating thoughts and towards constructive ones. Using every Alexander option available to me, I can feel comfortable and joyous while preparing and then performing in front of people. For instance:

• Lying in semi-supine (seeĚý) is a fantastic way for musicians to prepare for practice, rehearsal, auditions, and performance. It’s also a great way to unwind. When you literally stop and rest, you decrease the level of stimuli bombarding you, and anxious thoughts and feelings evaporate. When you resume activity, you’ll have more resilience to encounter new stress-producing conditions.
• Learning to sit or stand with ease while performing music can improve sound quality, breath control, and endurance. In addition, standing in the “monkey” position — where you bend your hips, knees and ankles simultaneously –– can be used during warm-up and practice to transform the quality of your sound.
• Special breathing techniques are often recommended as coping strategies. The Alexander Technique’s approach is the whispered “ah.” All musicians, including conductors, can reap the rewards from its calming effect.

Other useful Alexander practices help you shift your attitude or behavior to prevent confusion, panic, or getting hooked into negative thinking. By mentally preparing yourself ahead of time, there is less to deal with during a music performance. But if you do get triggered, stress hormones that course through your system are only effective for some 20 minutes. Once you know that, the feeling of your heart pounding doesn’t have to perpetuate anxious thoughts. Moreover, you can ask yourself what you want instead: clear thinking, easy breathing, and less tension. It may seem improbable that you could entertain these thoughts in the midst of performance, but that is what Alexander Technique lessons train you to do. The combination of skilled hands, gentle touch, cognitive instruction, and training in how to send yourself messages becomes a powerful and unique way of learning.

Conclusion

Becoming a professional musician offers tremendous rewards––and challenges. If your talent leads you to music performance, don’t let anxiety prevent you from experiencing joy and satisfaction in your chosen field. Students of the Alexander Technique learn many skills to reduce the harmful effects of music performance anxiety. They develop strategies to prevent and diminish discomfort, to put uncomfortable situations in perspective, and to continue organizing themselves to enable peak performance.

Ruth Rootberg is an AmSAT-certified Alexander Technique teacher, designated Linklater theater voice teacher, Laban Movement Analyst, and classical singer. After graduating from the New England Conservatory of Music, Ruth sang opera and symphonic literature in Europe and the United States. She teaches the Alexander Technique and voice to people of all ages in Amherst, Massachusetts, and gives workshops around the country, including her highly successful Moving Voices with Quiet Hands—weekend workshops for voice professionals. Ruth conceived, edited and published Teaching Breathing: Results of a Survey (2002).