Performance Anxiety
Recently, I entered a number of my students into the National Federation of Music Clubs Piano Solo event. Some of them have only been taking piano lessons for a few months, while others have been studying for years. Some of them were transfer students from other teachers, while others started with me. For some of them, this was their first opportunity to perform in front of judges and actually be evaluated by the way they perform.
My students started learning their pieces in October or November of 2017. Many of them performed their pieces in our December studio recital. I emphasized the need to perform these pieces at recitals, events, school, and for family and friends to help with performance anxiety. Most of my new students did really well at the event, despite it being their first time performing in such an environment. Some of them, unfortunately caved under the pressure.
One student quit before the event even started. In fact, the pressure of preparing for the Federation caused this student to quit taking piano lessons altogether. A shame, as this student is talented, and I believe would have received a superior rating.
The other students went through with it, despite being nervous, and gained from the experience. One thing in common though, was that they all described some element of performance anxiety.
How does one cope with this? Can it be eliminated altogether? There are a lot of resources available on this topic. In this post, I'm only going to share a few ideas that works for me.
Performing More Often
Several years ago, Emmanuel Ax-the famous Juilliard professor-came to the University of Utah to perform and give a master class. I distinctly remember him claiming that even he gets performance anxiety at times. This means that although experience plays a part in controlling anxiety, it may not be enough to eliminate it altogether. Of course, Professor Ax gave an amazing performance in my opinion, so if performance anxiety existed, it was certainly controlled. For us, this means more performances equals more opportunities to learn to cope with and control performance anxiety. If possible, perform for friends, family, strangers, your smart phone, your pets, yourself, anyone and everyone else, in public, in private, and on a variety of pianos in a variety of settings.
We can develop the mindset that the more anxiety received from the performance the bigger the opportunity to learn to control it.
Confidence
Heinrich Neuhaus in his book, The Art of Piano Playing mentions confidence as being an important attribute for pianists to have. Some of the best pianists I know are very confident. This seems to mask any performance anxiety they may have. Confidence can be worked on and developed if doesn't always come naturally to a person. Believe in yourself.
While I'm not a psychologist, it seems that some students have a harder time developing confidence than others. This is likely due to a variety of factors beyond the scope of this post that are both related and unrelated to piano playing.
One thing that helps me is to treat my performance like an argument. When I perform, I am presenting my argument to the world. I am arguing that this is how the piece(s) should be played. In fact when anyone performs, they are arguing that their performance is the correct one whether they understand this or not. I like to present the strongest argument I can. Others may disagree with my argument, but I stand by it. If they don't agree with me, that's okay. I'd like to hear why they don't agree with my argument. Civil debates can be a good thing. After each of my performances, I can even look back and disagree with portions of my own arguments to present a stronger case next time, but during the presentation of any of my arguments, there is no doubt I'm correct. We have to believe we are making a solid argument, we are winning the debate, and others need to hear what we have to say simply because producing this understanding will enrich their lives and make the world a better place. Other useful and common methods for developing confidence that I come across from time to time include trying to not compare myself to others unless it propels me to work harder, recognize triumphs (even if they are small), and prepare each performance properly.
Proper Preparation
Nothing causes more performing anxiety for me than when I feel like I haven't put in the proper time and effort into learning my pieces (aka I doubt my own argument even up to and during the presentation of it) . Proper preparation and a deep understanding of the pieces one intends to perform are essential for controlling performing anxiety. Nothing beats practice, study, and hard work.
One of the methods I use was given to me by one of my former teachers. This teacher told me to practice by "eliminating" senses to help prepare for each performance. What this means is that you can practice, for example, on a weighted keyboard that is turned off to eliminate the ability to rely on sound. Next is to be able to play through your pieces in the dark so as to eliminate the ability to rely on sight. Finally, try playing through your pieces in your mind fully and completely (this takes a lot of concentration). You could try playing through them on a flat surface to help aid with this if needed. It will have a different touch, so it will be harder to rely on how it feels. This approach helps solidify memorization which also helps to build confidence and reduce anxiety. I was also told by this teacher that we perform how we practice.
There are numerous other ways to control performance anxiety that were not covered in this post. Everyone may be dealing with different levels of performance anxiety at different times for different reasons. It is important then, to seek to understand why one is feeling the anxiety (it may be for different reasons for each performance) and then to find a method (or several) to control it.
What are some methods you use to cope with performance anxiety if/when it happens? Send me an email and let me know!