No Anxiety, No Zone.
For a few years, I had the chance to play on cruise ships. The advantage of this experience was that I played every single night. That means plenty of opportunities to live through stage fright.
I soon realized that trying to eliminate stage fright is a mistake. The performance becomes flat and passive. A certain degree of anxiety helps to get into this magical state, the Zone.
With this realization, a new opportunity appeared for me. My goal was to become friends with stage fright and make it my ally.
The problem of stage fright turned out to be a great resource. It forces us to think about our preparation and our way of practice. What can we change? How can we change it?
Tip #1
Deliberate Practice
„Repetition is the mother of learning.”
The question is how you repeat. Repeating something, always in the same way, does not make it necessarily better. Repetition with a strategy and a plan makes a difference.
Instead of repeating the same piece of music on autopilot, try this practice method.
- Choose a short musical excerpt.
- Set up your recording device and play it once. Imagine you play it in a recital.
- Listen to the recording and ask yourself: What do I want to change?
- Choose three elements you want to change. It can be the dynamics, articulation, phrasing, etc.
- Continue asking yourself: How can I change it?
- Choose an action for each of the three elements above. For example: change the fingering, your posture, the tempo, etc.
- Write down your answers, and be specific. Writing your answers down helps you to get a clear plan.
- With a clear plan in mind, record the music one more time. Listen to the recording, and observe your changes. Did they work?
- If yes, hurray, you found the solution. If not, go back to the question, „How can I change it?” and come up with a different answer. Record it one more time, and observe.
- Repeat the process until you like what you hear.
Warning!!
When you start with this practice method, do it only in a small amount. Do not change your entire practice routine in one day. Do short sessions regularly and expand the time step by step.
Tip #2
Interleaved Practice
You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
Will Rogers
Often, we work on a challenging passage, and after a certain amount of trials, we can play it. Maybe we play it very well. However, in a concert situation, a mistake occurs. Always at the same measure.
Interleaved practice solves this issue.
- Choose three excerpts from your repertoire; A, B, and C. Preferably from different eras or styles.
- Set up your timer for 3 minutes.
- Play A for 3 minutes, switch to B for 3 minutes, then C.
- Repeat the process three times.
You might think: „I just started to get into this piece, and I have to switch to something else?!”
Yes, exactly. Believe it or not, that happens when you perform. There is no warm-up on stage. There is only the first impression. With interleaved practice, you prepare yourself for a confident start.
Warning!
Interleaved practice is frustrating at first. It does not give you immediate feedback on improvement. It challenges long-term memory, and shows you how you play the music the first time. Not the second trial, not the third.
Tip #3
Attentional Endurance
Attentional endurance is the ability to stay focused for long periods. Clearly, it is an essential performance skill.
It means you spend time with practice without checking your phone, emails, or social media. You are not checking them while performing, are you?
Remember, you play the way you practice.
While practicing, only to see that you received a message will distract you. You are not in the zone anymore, and it takes time to be focused again. You are losing precious practice time and energy. These little distractions reduce attentional endurance.
To avoid wasting time and energy, create a distraction-free practice environment. Keep your practice space clean and organized. Sticky spots, rubbish, and waste paper distract from the learning process.
Disconnect all devices or put them in airplane mode. Every message or call will distract you even if you don’t pick up the device.
Attentional endurance is an essential skill that you’ll need in order to play your best in recitals.
Tip #4
Pre-Performance Routine
The day of the performance arrived. You are in the greenroom, and ready to play. Suddenly, just before you go on stage, you feel cold, and your nerves are at their peak. Doubt, uncertainty, and second-guessing want to sabotage your performance. Does it sound familiar?
The pre-performance routine helps precisely at these moments.
To practice the routine, choose a short musical excerpt.
- Now, sit or stand in a comfortable position. Take a few slow, deep breaths. Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth.
The air may feel a little cooler and drier on the inhale, a little warmer and humid on the exhale.
- As you continue to breathe, scan for tension that you might be unaware of. Release tension from your eyes, mouth, and jaw. Then your neck, shoulders, and upper back. And so on, all the way down to your feet. Your body is a little more relaxed, and breathing has helped you to quiet your thoughts.
- Hear before you play.
Imagine the opening phrase of the music you have selected. Hear it exactly the way you’d like it to come out of your instrument. Focus especially on the first note or two (or the first chord).
- Feel before you play.
Remind yourself how your body, and perhaps your arms or hands, feel physically. When you let go, and everything works just the way you want. The idea is to focus on the big picture, and how things feel overall.
- Let go.
When all of this comes together, take one more breath. Then without hesitation or any further thought, just go for it. Play the first two lines.
How do you feel now? How did it sound?
What you just did is an example of a pre-performance routine. As with any other routine, it has to be practiced and turned into an automatic habit.
So take that same excerpt of music that you just used. Set aside about 10 minutes and do seven repetitions of the entire process. Keep doing it daily until it becomes a routine.
Using a pre-performance routine helps you to get into the zone from the very first note of your performance.
Tip #5
Practice Performance
Experience helps to deal with stage fright. Share your music, play for others, and experience as many concert situations as possible.
A good way to create a concert situation is to organize events for family, and friends. It can be a live concert for a handful of people. At a small place with a piano, maybe a grandparent, uncle, or aunt has one. You can do it online as well.
Details matter!
- Even if you do your practice performance online, wear your concert outfit. It is a good opportunity to test the shoes, dresses, earrings, and ties, avoiding unpleasant surprises later.
- Do everything just as you would do at a high-stakes performance. Walk on stage, bow, play, bow one more time, and go backstage. Even if you play for a tiny audience, stage presence is a significant part of the performance.
- Record yourself for post-performance reflection. These precious recordings allow us to observe our performance. While watching the recording, take notes and include your ideas in your practice planning.
The Key Is Regularity
These five practice tips require time and repetition. When I say time, I do not mean hours of practice a day. All of them are attainable with short practice sessions. The key is regularity.
Download this checklist for your next practice session. Use it regularly to keep you on track and focused. Create new practice habits and become friends with stage fright.
For further details I recommend Noa Kageyama’s website: https://bulletproofmusician.com/
I find it extremely useful, with reliable information, and effective exercises.
Happy practice!
Source of Music 
This is SO helpful. The tips and Strategies you have presented here are easy to read. with clear instructions for both students and teachers to implement. Great article. Thankyou
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