how to overcome nerves

[MaryAnn]

Good stuff here. Performance Power is a good book; Roger's advice is right on, as are most of the others, including the one just above this post.

I have the shaking problem too on occasion. Telling someone to relax when they are in this condition of over-adrenalization is useless, because, as Roger says, the chemicals are already in your system. At least I didn't have the freakin' runs like I used to get when I was younger.

The last time I remember having the shakes really badly was a performance of the Brandenberg that has the two horns as soloists; I was shaking so badly I had trouble, literally, keeping the mouthpiece on my face. My reaction was to get mad at my body, tell it to just stop that RIGHT NOW. I also invoked my "love the audience" attitude; I know that the reason why I get nervous to this point is because I am afraid of the audience. I can't love them and be afraid of them at a the same time. By the second movement I was still nervous but the shaking had lessened considerably, and I did a passable, if not stellar, performance. You do have to "just go for it" and wail away and not be timid.

MA

[Rick Denney]

I've told this story before. Back in my TubaMeister days, we agreed to share a recital with the students at (then) Southwest Texas State University. The TubaMeisters were really at the top of their game at that point, having just completed 35 weekends at Fiesta Texas. We decided we'd play a little long-hair music along with our regular polka and polka-parody set.

We started with a tuba quartet arrangement of Till Eulenspiegel. Guess who had the opening horn solo. Yup, the third part--me.

In all but the first half dozen or so of the many hundreds of sets we played that year, I was utterly calm. It was just doing what we did, and I never really felt the pressure.

But as we walked out onto that stage, it occurred to me that in the years I'd lived either in Austin or San Antonio, I had come to many faculty recitals performed on that stage. I remembered the standards I brought in with me in listening to those performances. That's when panic hit.

I started sweating, breathing shallow, and vibrating like a plate compactor. Roger and Joe are right--but it's not an endorphin surge. It's an adrenallin surge. Adrenalin is an anxiety hormone, and it will really ramp you up. But it's there and there's nothing to be done. In retrospect, I did all the things Roger suggested, and that's where the experience from that year really helped. I knew to just bull through it. I took a big breath, and applied a megadose of false confidence.

Other than a bit of shake-induced vibrato, it went fine. It was obvious that we were all a bit stiff performing those long-hair works, and the tension we felt palpably released when we walked away from the music stands, stood in a row on the front edge of the stage, and launched into our polka set.

I've had a similar reaction a couple of times since then, and on one occasion I let it get the best of me and I ruined a solo. Oh, well. In that case, it was over-rehearsal--I gave an relatively easy lick more worry than it deserved. I've learned to practice stuff cold but not to practice from worry.

Rick "noting that practice is for the brain more than the lips" Denney

[UDELBR]

Rick "noting that practice is for the brain more than the lips" Denney

The lips don't make us nervous; the brain does. Thus my recommendation of over-preparation.

[Tubadork]

thanks everyone. as far as just dealing with being nervous i understand what everyone is saying. my biggest problem though is the shaking. you can hear it in my playing and some people have said that they can actually see me shake on stage. of course this only hits me on solo gigs or on pieces where i am being featured. you would think that I could get over it since performing isn't a new thing for me (i performed for busch gardens for about 5 years now and i have been in the navy for about 3 years). i just want to be able to walk onto the stage and get through a piece without shaking like a madman.

Check out your diet.

I used to drink about 3-5 cups of coffee a day, when I got to grad school I noticed that same shaking (in my hands mostly) so before any big performance I would lay off for about 2 weeks and that would usually do to trick, but beware of decaf (which is all I drink now) it still contains some caffiene, so you won't see me drinking it during sound check (unless I'm really dead tired).

See how much sugar you are eating, when adrenaline hits sugar or caffiene it's like giving it a boost. Processed sugars are really the worst, I used to see some black spots when I would perform (probably lower blood sugar?) I would eat a banana, which is also a natural beta blocker and I would be fine.

Experiment, see what works and discard what doesn't. It sounds like a physical issue, when it would happen to me, it was. My hands would shake and I would think that I'm not nervous, but wait my hands are shaking so I must be and then I would get nervous.

Good luck,
Bill

[SplatterTone]

There are the times when I knew the music so well that there was no question I would perform well ... ... ... as long as I didn't get nervous. So now you get nervous about getting nervous. A travel cup with ice, water, and bourbon. About 30 minutes before it is time to play: Relax. Sip. Enjoy. Just don't overdo it.

Phooey on all this mental stuff. Better music through chemistry.

[Brassworks 4]

Run up and down a flight or two of stairs in the middle of your practice session. While you are still winded, play. The shortness of breath is similar to the shortness of breath you may feel when you are nervous. Working your way through this will help you when you are nervous performing. As with anything. it takes a bit of time to learn what you need to do to continue playing in this state - but it is well worth the effort.

[goldtuba]

One thing that I've started doing is playing in very public places. I sit in front of my dorm and play the most difficult things that I have. My particular dorm is in the middle of campus and right next to the music building. I enjoy this because people will walk by heading to class and give me funny looks. People don't expect to hear a tuba playing while they're walking to class. I really enjoy it because people don't give me dirty looks. They must like what they hear.
Playing in an open area is still less pressure than a performance situation, but if you think about it like a performance, than it really helps.

[Brassworks 4]

On a similar line, a friend of mine told me about his trumpet teacher who, before a major audition, put one square of toilet paper in his shirt pocket and said "Just remember, the judge uses it just like you and I do"

It helped.

[tubajoe]

On the practive level, this does not work unless you picture yourself naked and laugh that you are doing this while playing the tuba. I do have a friend who will strip down his clothes while auditioning. He claimed it helped with overheating.
Do what you feel works the best.

Funny story that relates to this.

Once upon a time at a notorius tuba school, auditions for ensemble placement were held behind a screen. One very good euphonium player decided that he'd test this theory and actually do the audition naked. (no, it was not me)

This particular euphonium player was an exceptionally dilligent and very organized practicer, so naturally his rationale included the process of replicating the audition environment in his practice routine. So, for the week prior to his audition, he practiced entirely in the buff. (he only told me about it, no I didnt want to see it)

He won the audition.

But the professor judging the audition wondered why he did not hear shoes when he walked out.

[Dylan King]

Remember that we live in a physical world controlled by the spiritual.

In the spiritual world (where there are actual beings fighting for control of our minds as humans) we are vulnerable to all sorts of influences, including fear and the nervousness of performance in front of others. Satan wants us to be afraid of making good music; and to the contrary wants us to fear making music that is honorable to God.

I find that a few minutes of deep prayer and meditation breaks through the boundary that makes us fear others as human beings. Put your performance into the hands of the supernatural, and do it to the great glory of God. If you have His love in your mind, you cannot go wrong.

I hope everyone in the tuba world, and the American world (the blessed decedents of Ephraim and Mannaseh) have a profitable and most blessed Thanksgiving day.

-DK

[bill]

The poster said:

thanks everyone. as far as just dealing with being nervous i understand what everyone is saying. my biggest problem though is the shaking. you can hear it in my playing and some people have said that they can actually see me shake on stage. of course this only hits me on solo gigs or on pieces where i am being featured. you would think that I could get over it since performing isn't a new thing for me (i performed for busch gardens for about 5 years now and i have been in the navy for about 3 years). i just want to be able to walk onto the stage and get through a piece without shaking like a madman.

I think you are a candidate for beta blockers. You are having a physiologic reaction to stress that can be attenuated with something like Atenolol. It is not an awful drug - it really is nearly a designer drug aimed at such reaction. You might want to talk this over with a physician and try it. I get nervous but, not dysfunctional. I happen to take Atenolol for high blood pressure and its side effect is it reduces much of the physiological part of performance anxiety.

[Brassworks 4]

One of our quartet members takes a low dose of Inderal, (propranolol, which is a beta blocker as well). It really helps him. I know several other musicians that take this as well. Talk to your doctor.

[iiipopes]

Attitude, attitude, attitude. Once you have practiced properly and sufficiently over the proper period of time beforehand, and once you have "practiced peforming," in other words, visualizing the performance as well as just playing the notes, then it's all attitude and self-confidence. If you must, and I know this is the extreme end of things, it has to be confidence bordering on arrogance as you take the stage -- "Yea though I walk through the valley I will fear no evil because I'm the biggest @#$%^&* here, and I will take no prisoners."

The difference between real people and real @#$%^&*s is the ability to turn it back off once you've left the stage.

[Brassworks 4]

A recently published book addresses some of these issues - although its primarily written for trumpet, I have found it extremely helpful (euphonium) The exercises are all easily read for euph or tuba (or any valved instrument) and the helpful hints about performing are very valuable.

I sell the book or you can contact the author/publisher directly.

"Perfecting your Practice for Peak Performance" by Mick Hesse

Visit our website or drop me an email to contact Mick directly.

Great stuff there!

[Roger Lewis]

go out and play. Entertain! That's what it is all about. Sometimes we get too wrapped up in the playing and forget that we are entertainers as well. Go have some fun. Also, before going on, take some deep slow breaths back stage. Tension is held in the larger muscles of the body. The breathing muscles rank right up there. Relaxed deep breaths will help relieve the tension from this part of the body and help the whole body relax.

Try it - you'll like it.
Roger

[kingrob76]

In the spring of 1986 while attending the University of Maryland, our Tuba Ensemble and tuba/euphonium studios put on a recital of sorts. As the only tuba major at that point, I was tabbed to play a solo, something to that point I had only done for teachers or adjudicators of some type. I remember my piece was in the middle of the first half, after several selections by the ensemble and a trio piece and I had just come off to the wings of the recital hall from the stage to wait for my piece. Brian Bowman was instructing euphonium at Maryland at that time and was sitting offstage as well. I sat a few feet from him, and just started to stare at the floor and fidgeted for a few moments when he said "Are you nervous?". I stopped, looked at him and said "Yeah, actually I am a bit".

He paused for a moment, looked at me and said "Does that make you a better player or play better in any way, shape, or form?". Nervously, I replied "Um, no, not really" and he said right back to me "Then don't be nervous. Play the music, relax. Getting nervous just gets in the way." He said it so matter of factly, so confidently, and he made it sound so very simple.

Being a wide-eyed, slack-jawed freshman, I simply said "Um, ok, thanks". But after I really thought about it for about 10 seconds, I got it. I simply decided if I was going to be nervous, then this was probably going to suck, so I chose to not be nervous. Weird thing was, I actually did stop being nervous and haven't been nervous about my playing since that point forward. For me, it was a choice and in one 30-second conversation Dr. Bowman changed my approach to playing from that point forward.

Over the years to follow I thought about that whole thing a lot. What I came away with was that the mind was a very powerful thing, and we (as people) have a lot more control and influence over it than for which we give ourselves credit. Performance anxiety starts and ends in the mind, and while conquering it is a unique and personal thing for each person it can still be beaten. You just need to find your formula and apply it.

[kegmcnabb]

You can try to eat a banana before you play for an audience.

Or, as I have mentioned before, you can be a banana (see avatar). Works every time.

[TubaingAgain]

BEER BEER BEER BEER If that doesnt work try Jack Daniels

[Dylan King]

Psalm 31:24
Be of good courage,And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.

Proverbs 16:3
Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

Habakkuk 3:19
The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet,And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.