How to combat nervousness!

Hello everyone, I've got my grade 8 piano exam coming up soon. For the first time I'm actually quite looking forward to it as I've done enough practice, the only thing I can see which will mess everything up for me is getting nervous on the day and not playing the music the best I can. This would be quite disappointing as I know I can play the music well. I was just wondering how everyone else, copes with nerves (I'm assuming it isn't just me who gets them!!) It seems a shame to let them get in the way of a performance which you are capable of. Cheers

You know, I never could deal with the nerves. The best thing is to just jump right in and get started, because once you're into the swing of things, the anticipation is dispelled.

You could have a look at www.sambrown.co.uk; the techniques he uses are quite powerful and used to assist in phobias etc.

But they are a bit long term, i should start 2 months ago IIWY.

Good luck

Mike R

I never caught the original post on this thread. For future reference you might want to read Michael Colgrass' 'My Lessons with Kumi' which is a novel/excercise book that provides you with the right tools to overcome any kind of performance anxiety.

Since your exam is coming up so quickly, the best thing I can recommend to you (taken from this book) is to take 20 minutes a day or so to focus on visualizing what your exam will be like *in a positive frame of mind*. Picture the room, the jury, what you will wear, what they are wearing (it makes it more real) and then imagine yourself playing through the entire program. Hear the possible coughs, hems and haws of the jury while you play, they will be there but they don't interfere with what you are doing. Always picture yourself performing at your absolute best and in complete calm. If you ever start feeling that knot of nervousness creeping into your stomach as you envision this, stop. Take another moment to remember a time when you have felt like something you did was the absolute best you could have done, where you felt truly satisfied and gratified (could be a performance or anything else). Allow that feeling to take over and then transfer it to your image of the upcoming exam. You play the whole thing calm, confident and everything under control.

To do this properly requires mental commitment on your part. Nerves during performance exist only because we create the stress of a situation in our minds, therefore the solution also lies within out heads but does require some effort. If you do this diligently for at least a week before your exam (if it is sooner, do it anyway it will help) the exam should be a breeze. What you are doing through this excercise is living the exam every day in your head, and having a positive experience with it every time. The day it is for real you have already done your exam 7+ times. If, for whatever reason, on that day you start getting the nerves before you are asked to play, stop and remember the how you felt playing in your head. Then proceed to knock 'em dead.

Elena www.concertpianist.com

Elena, I am personally thrilled that you have joined our newsgroup. I am a harpsichordist now, so I play my Bach, Buxtehude, Couperin, Scarlatti, Sweelinck, Frescobaldi, Byrd, Bull and Gibbons. I started with piano, though, and I still need to play Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Brahms and Joplin every once in a while.

A fellow pianist heard Arthur Rubinstein perform and sat very close to the piano, she could hear Rubinstein hum/sing as he played. I use this technique and find that between playing and singing, there's not much left for me to worry about. The only problem is not to sing to loud. I've also heard that other performers use this technique and when they record, the recording engineers have a heck of a time trying to remove the singing from the recording.

Oh, I'm sure I would find room to worry, in between the playing and the singing!

Speaking as one who's just done her Grade 1 Jazz! Was I shaking!

If you have managed to get through the grades this far, I would suppose that you have got the exam 'knack'.

That in itself is good enough, after all its only an exam. Have you ever failed and exam ? I remember being 'cocky' in one exam and the examiner failed me. (on purpose) I passed with distinction on the second try however just to prove a point. So don't be cocky. Listen carefully to what (s)he says, take you time.

Preparation: Gentle warm up at home before the exam, just once through the pieces, play something else as well.

Arrive in good time.

Don't sit in the waiting room, because the teachers and students are there and they work themselves into a panic that infects every one else. Find yourself a quiet room and contemplate something else, or sit in the car and listen to the radio.

Is the nervousness there because you need this exam for entry to college?

Remember that there is a technique to passing exams whether music or academic or otherwise.

Take it slower rather than faster to impress.

Pick up points on all the other stuff, scales, sight reading and aural. You may be concentrating on the pieces and forget about the rest.

Sight reading - take it real slow. Give yourself time to read through the whole thing to spot any tricky bits. Don't stop if you make a mistake - busk over your mistakes. Get a hymn book and play each page once, then the next, without stopping for about an hour each day.

Aural - sing scales and tunes in the bath, go for a walk and practice singing intervals.

Nervousness - Once you start playing it disappears. When you realise that, you can manage your nervousness. Forget about the examiner is listening. How do you cope with fear of flying - you just think about what fun its going to be when you get there. So you just think about walking out of the room thinking 'yes i'm going to get a distinction'. Positive thinking my friend !!

It comes with experience. You need to get used to playing to people (critical or not). So get your neighbours, grandma et al around and play your pieces as if taking the exam. Ask your teacher to do a mini-recital with similar level students and get them to listen/criticise.

Thank you! This newsgroup is quite addictive, I must confess. Sadly I will not be able to join you after next week until September will be in upstate NY and only have AOL access (unless anyone here's knows how to read newsgroups on AOL!)

When I was younger I used to get bored with early music and confess I never played it enough, but now that I have (hopefully) matured and can appreciate it's beauty I want to start playing it again. Haven't done so for two reasons, my piano duo is taking up all my time (which I'm thrilled about) and I recognize that I am not my best with early music. Stravinsky, Ligeti, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Ravel I feel much more in tune playing these...I tend to want to do too much with Bach, etc. and ruin the entire style!

have to go rehearse now, cya later!

Elena

it's easy... just type in the keyword box:

news:rec.music.makers.piano

and you should end up here. Rubberband Girl

Great, thanks! Now you will all have to hear my platitudes over the summer as well!

Elena www.concertpianist.com