* Takes a bow with gentle embarrassment *
Back on the topic of nerves, I can offer some advice here. All this assumes adequate preparation on our parts.
The single biggest thing we can do is, give ourselves permission to make mistakes. Bear in mind that audiences want to enjoy themselves; they want to be delighted, uplifted, moved, stunned - the whole range. Examiners (mostly) want us to pass exams. From now on, I shall use 'you' instead of 'we', cos I gave myself this permission years ago. ;D
So, accept that you are going to make mistakes. Understand that certain mistakes are worse than others. Here are my priorities; they have withstood the test of time:
* Unmusical playing is a no-no; no audience or examiner will accept that.
* Poor rhythm can have a devastating effect on a performance (I am not talking about silly things like misreadings, but the more subtle ones like uneven semiquavers, imprecise dotted notes - that sort of thing). Your average audience may be aware only that the playing lacks a certain quality, but be unable to say why. Examiners will deduct marks.
* Wrong notes. Nobody cares. We can play fistfuls in live concert; some of the greatest recitals I ever heard had hundreds of them. They will lose exam marks if they radically affect the quality of the performance; unaffected fluency usually leads to unaffected marks.
Most of us worry most about hitting wrong notes (keyboard), intonation and breathing for everyone else and words for singers. So, accept that you are going to hit wrong notes, play out of tune occasionally, run out of breath and forget words. If you perform in public, these errors will occur as surely as night follows day. Truly give yourself permission to make these errors and you will instantly feel better.
Other tips and tricks from Steve's-old-repertoire-of-anti-nerve-devices (I don't need them, of course, because nerves make me want to go to sleep, so I need stimulants, not relaxants ;D)
* Deep breathing helps because it slows the heart-rate, which in turn calms you.
* Use a metronome 'in the wings' to get the speed of the first piece into your head. Nerves speed the heart-beat, which can lead to faster playing.
* Remember what you are there for - to entertain others. 'Going to pieces' is self-indulgent.
* Before starting each piece, play the first few bars mentally, so you are prepared for starting. You don't want to take your brain by surprise ;D
* Whilst playing, concentrate on the
music, not the counter-productive 'white noise' of nervous wittering that can inhabit the mind. "Oh place where satan lives, here comes the bit I can't play" - that sort of thing.
* WHEN you go wrong, forget about it. Dwell on it and the next mistake will happen
very soon.
* Know that you can pick up somewhere if you happen to break down irretrievably, say through memory-loss. Singers, be prepared to sing any old waffle just to keep going. You may hate me for saying this what with all your talk about diction etc, but we can't hear your words unless we already know them. * ducks to avoid thrown boots * ;D
To reiterate, because it is
soooooo important. Remove the fear of making mistakes and most of the mistakes will disappear. Give yourself permission to make mistakes, and
mean it.
Steve