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Posted: **Sun Mar 18, 2007 6:22 pm**

It's open to the public. That means that the vast majority of the audience members CAN NOT do what you are doing. If they could, they would be up there doing it. They put their britches on one leg at a time just like you.

You said the judges felt you were very tight. For me, that would mean that I played technically very well, but was not able to communicate musically with them. You have to tell your musical story. In order to do that, you will have to take some judicious artistic chances. Your musical story has to come from your soul, not the page. Even if you're just playing the 7 simple half notes in the New World Symphony, you have to feel them before you can impart what you are feeling to others. Make sense?

AFA relaxation, do whatever you do to relax at other times. If it's listening to music, do that. If it's playing a video game, do that. You have to clear your mind in order for your story to come out. Make sure you are not hungry (not stuffed, either), make sure you are adequately hydrated, make sure you are well-rested, make sure that your horn is in good working order. Go to the restroom beforehand, whether you think you need to or not. IOW, remove the chances for outside factors to influence/distract you from your performance.

Remember that every single judge that will be listening to you has been in exactly the same spot. They know how it feels. They are on your side. They want you to do well. They understand that each and every performance NO MATTER WHO IT IS has human moments. They are going to happen. What matters is how you react when they do. The first is out of your control. The second is not.

If you go out there and expect a totally flawless performance, you will likely tighten up at the first sign of anything amiss. If you set a flawless performance as your goal (which you should), you have to be willing to let human moments go. There will be time to dwell on them later, after you have nailed the rest of your gig.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Posted: **Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:32 pm**

Get the Breathing Gym DVD, and go to the last chapter, "Breathing for the Brain." This will have an incredible effect on your stage fright. Hope this helps...

Posted: **Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:41 pm**

Make sure you well rehearse the music. Not just so you can play it - but so you can play it with confidence. So much of nerves is lack of confidence, but if you have played it right the last dozen times through, you have no reason to feel nervous.

Then step out there thinking "I will show them how good a player I am", rather than of all the things which may go wrong.

As you are playing, concentrate on getting into the music, rather than your own feelings. If something does go adrift, don't dwell on it, we are all human and make mistakes - but concentrate on playing the rest better still.

Posted: **Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:51 pm**

Far more than playing, the short time I spent with Pat and Sam helped me with preparing for a performance. Summer 2003 was a GREAT time!

The breathing gym is a good tool, but their performance workshops (if they plan on doing them again) are OUTSTANDING tools.

Perspective has also helped a lot, as a previous poster said how you play and act has a lot of weight in how you are viewed. Playing confidently, even if incorrect, is sometimes viewed as artistic variance... etc.

Just as in Bando Adjudication, recovery is valued almost as much as perfection. Almost.

Posted: **Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:40 pm**

Walk.

Breathe.

20 - 30 minutes works wonders.

Channel that stress into a form of energy you can use to be the absolute best you can be.

Play well, Bud.

Posted: **Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:54 pm**

All posts have been wonderful in this thread. Lots of common sense.
You do what you concentrate on doing. If you think about bombing out, you will bomb.
The job calls for you to tell a story to the audience with your instrument. Anxiety about persons, places or things while performing makes it really hard to get it done. There are enough real obstacles in anyone's life to trip them up occasionally but dwelling on these negative, non-music possibilities is defeating your own dreams and ambition.
As stated before, keep the objective in mind and keep it simple. Make them laugh, make them cry with your horn. Tell your story and get the hell off the stage. Some members of the group won't 'get it". But if you do your job most of them will.

Posted: **Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:15 pm**

Professional players I have observed are well prepared and seldom make a mistake. But what really sets them apart is that they are able to keep going without getting rattled when they do make a mistake.

So what if you make a mistake? Think of all those perfect notes you just played, and all of the perfect notes you are still capable of playing. Move ahead with confidence, because you are well prepared.

Focus on your performance and making music. If you make a mistake, nobody will throw anything at you. Everyone in the room WANTS you to do well -- they are all there because they want to enjoy the music with you. They are your friends, not your enemies.

Be prepared, make music, have fun!

Cheers,

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:23 am**

Performing is just like any other skill required to play your instrument...You have to practice it! The best way to get more comfortable playing in front of others is to do just that: Play your recital music for whomever you can get to listen. Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, friends, teachers, etc. Practice giving your recital as much as possible for anyone you can get to listen before you give the public performance. Do a retirement center tour, or an elementary school general music class tour. If you can entertain second graders, you can entertain anybody! You will find that the more you perform for people, the less it makes you nervous. Also, view every performance as equally important. Trying to suddenly play great because it's a "big" performance or not sweating it because it's a "little" performance are both great ways to perform poorly. A performance is a performance is a performance. The unknown tends to make people nervous, so make performing a "known" thing to you by finding ways to do it much more. You'll be amazed at all the ways you can come up with to do it!

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:21 am**

richland tuba 01 wrote:Eat a banana 30 minutes before the performance. something in it works to help curb stage fright. I had to do a solo on a stage, standing up, wearing sunglasses, in front of 10,000+ people for marching band, and they had a jumbotron. You can guess I was a little nervous before that performance. The banana thing really helped. Believe me.

Better yet, drink some of this stuff.

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:39 am**

richland tuba 01 wrote:Eat a banana

Or (if you look at my avatar) wear a banana!

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:33 am**

tuben wrote:I've heard some of the world's finest players chip notes, even on CD's!!!

Witnesseth the Walter/Columbia recording of Mahler 1 on the Great Performances label. Think the tuba player would have always liked another take on that solo in the 3rd? You have to listen closely to hear that he had a bit of a problem on the 2nd high A.

That brings up another point...

What is a major disaster to you at the time is often unnoticable to the audience in the moment. So unless you totally break down or blow a dissonant partial, chances are the audience won't know the difference.

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:38 am**

Indeed. Now, let's go backwards. A significant portion of performance anxiety can be manifestation of worry over improper preparation, whether as to length of practice and type of practice.

So, let's think ahead to the next performance. As soon as you know when, where, and what you're going to play, map out your rehearsal/practice schedule, and reassure yourself you can do it, and will do it the best. Then follow through.

Of course, it's not a perfect world. Just last week the night I was going to really focus on some of next week's music my wife came down with the flu and I had to cover everything for a few days at home as well. So, even if you can't pick up your instrument and actually blow, keep the music handy and in mind. Mental preparation throughout the time period is at least 2/3 as effective as actually blowing, because you're still at least preparing yourself for the performance. So after she got well I was able to pick back up where I left off and keep going.

I've heard it said in this way, and it's a good phrase:

Don't just practice; practice performing.

As you practice, in addition to the conventional focus on the notes, phrasing and style, keep in mind where you are going to be performing and who your audience will be. Then when you actually get there, your mind will already be farther down the road to being accustomed and at ease with the situation, and relaxed, focused, and better able to channel the pre-performance adrenaline towards a superior peformance.

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:56 am**

Man, there are a lot of good suggestions here.

One of the most nervous times for me was playing "The Lord's Prayer" in church in front of numerous family members at my granddaughter's baptism. I had played this piece numerous times before and have it memorized. I think it had something to do with me making eye contact with family members. That's why I now always have the music in front of me... even if I have it memorized.

The banana trick did work for me when I had to play a featured solo in front of our band with guest conductor, Maestro Loras Schissel last year. I didn't eat dinner, but had 2 bananas and water instead. I always have water by my chair too.

Be sure you know the music cold. Practice like you're performing... perform like you're practicing. Good luck.

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:03 pm**

I was a professional non-musical performer (actor) for several years. Whenever a bit of stage fright came up, I just made myself remember that I was human--and so was everyone in the audience.

One tried-and-true method was to picture the audience naked (if you have the time and/or stomach for it), but I found that one of the simplest things to do was some little, private thing that got me grounded in my personal reality: pick your nose, sniff your armpit, . . . . (again, if you have the stomach for it). Sounds silly, but it can really bring you to the here-and-now.

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:35 pm**

ya know, there have been alot of posts on being better prepared so that you're not nervous, but in my 11ish years of playing (even when well beyond prepared) I've been nervous. The breathing gym does work wonders as several people have mentioned, breathing in general just relaxes you, but if you get into some really intense breathing then you just get so relaxed that you can make it through the whole performance. Needless to say I would swear by the breathing gym, worth every penny (but I just get it from pat and sam instead)

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:36 pm**

Tubaguy56 wrote:ya know, there have been alot of posts on being better prepared so that you're not nervous, but in my 11ish years of playing (even when well beyond prepared) I've been nervous.

The best preparation is the mental prep. Once the music is under your fingers and in your heart, the rest is, simply put, fear.

False
Evidence
Alters
Reality

The mental prep involves examining our assumptions (evidence) about our fears and where they come from. 90% of the time, when we examine those things, we discover that our assumptions (and therefore, our evidence) is false. So we are basing our nervousness and fears on false assumptions about our audience: that they want us to fail, that they will laugh if something unfortunate happens, that they all are listening with the ear of a Fritz Reiner. When we allow those assumptions (evidence) to remain unchallenged in the court of our mind, we are allowing our reality to be altered. Reality in this case being that the audience does want us to succeed. Once we challenge the false evidence and debunk it in our own minds, it does a great deal more than just telling yourself that it will all be OK. You will have actually seen your fears for what they are: not worthy of further examination or attention.

A little nervousness is a good thing. It gets the adrenaline flowing. Everybody loves an adrenaline rush and the subsequent endorphine release. If we didn't get that, we wouldn't get up and play in front of people. But when that healthy nervousness crosses the line into self-defeating fear, that's when we need to look at the assumptions and evidence to make sure that we are perceiving the proper reality of the situation. And you can't do that on stage. You have to do that beforehand as part of your concert prep.

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:59 am**

Here is some great stuff written by Mr. Cox and I must say, he is my new hero.

Ted Cox wrote:I never post, but I couldn't resist and had a few minutes before I leave to play the Nutcracker, (my 25th year).
If I had to sum up the most important element in playing the tuba or any other instrument into one word I suppose it would be acceptance. Let me explain. You can only grow beyond where you are if you accept where you are in the first place. You can only begin to stretch your limits if you can see and embrace them. It isn't willpower or anger at your limitations that strethes them, it's acceptance. Getting angry at yourself for being where you are serves no purpose other than to fuel your frustrations and reinforce your perceived limits. Staying focused on what you can't do prevents you from discovering what you can.
No matter who you are, you can do more than you think you can do. Believing your doubts is one of the most insidious mind tricks that your ego can play on you. Doubts are not real; they are just illusions created to keep ourselves from taking risks because we are so afraid of failing. When you believe you can't, you can't. Come out of your thoughts - your doubts of "I can't do that", your worries of "am I doing this right?" your fears, your frustrations of "why can't I do this as well as he can?" and your ego resistance of "if I can't do this perfectly then I won't do it at all" and just be, accept.
Doubt your doubts and they vanish. Feel your fears and they fade. Let go of your worries and they fail to materialize. Just think less and be more.
Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Our character is basically a composite of our habits. First we make our habits, then our habits make us. Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.
Don't limit your practicing to just working on "fundamentals"
think bigger, expand and grow and forget the old saying, "practice makes perfect". Practice IS perfect. What habits in your practicing could be changed?

Ted Cox
Principal Tubist
Oklahoma City Philharmonic

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2007 4:44 pm**

The greatest comment I've ever heard on performance anxiety comes from 'the inner game of...' books.

"Give yourself permission to fail"

the only reason we get nervous is because we're afraid of failing. If you allow yourself to fail, i.e If i miss a note its no big deal, you won't worry about it as much. when you're not as worried about screwing up, you will play how you practice. have bravado, own your music, and get up there and rock the house. You can do it, and if you miss a note so what? thats one note in one performance on one night. now how many notes does the average tuba player play in a year? whats one? its insignificant, move on and play your heart out.

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Nervousness when performing

Nervousness when performing