Nerves

[Wongtong]

Personally, I don't think imagining your audience naked/as other objects helps, because you'll get distracted and probably laugh when you're imagining them or get put off your performance.

 

 

 

I also took a class last year where I had to perform an instrument in front of an audience. What helps is if you get to know your class well, remember - you're all friends. : But generally if you're playing an instrument like guitar, where you have to stare at the fretboard/your picking, you don't have to keep staring at the audience. Glance upwards every so often when you can, just look at the wall directly behind them, don't actually stare at anyone. Focus on what you're playing instead of your surroundings. But most of all - practise! If you practise, then you will play well, which is more important than how you interact with the audience. And if you practise enough, it'll come without you having to look at the notes you're playing so you can focus on the audience.. if that makes sense. >_< Practise in front of your friends or family as much as you can as this will help you get used to playing in front of people.

 

 

 

Don't forget to speak your name and what piece you will be playing CLEARLY at the beginning of the song, and at the end, don't shuffle around with your score. Stand up, take a bow and after the audience have finished clapping, muck around with your score if you need to.

 

 

 

Good luck!

 

Don't be afraid to PM me if you need any more help from me, heh. (:

 

 

 

edit:

 

To get rid of nerves, practice is the only way to go. The more you do it, the less nerves you get... also, try caring less.

 

This works, been in front of my whole school playing an instrument and I didn't care, therefore I wasn't nervous.

[Returned3]

I've experienced something similar to this before. Last year I was part of a mini-concert and I was required to play any guitar song of my choosing infront of an audience of roughly 40 people. Prior to my performance, I was nervous as hell and constantly asked my teacher on what would happen should I screw up. In the end, I did not make any mistake and I ended up being happier.

 

 

 

My best advice would be to imagine that you are the best player of that song and smile all the time. Also, you can look at your instrument/music sheet too, that makes you seem alot more focused on the song. If you make any mistake, just give a small laugh and either apologize or continue as if nothing happened. Worst thing you can do when you mess is up think "Oh [bleep] and freeze with the nervous look on your face.

[Zimbu]

One thing that I don't see mentioned here that has helped me personally is mental image training. There is really no reason to skip it as you can just doh it when your on a bus or in the shower.

 

 

 

Put yourself both in the spotlight and the audience roles. Thinking about how you walk in front of the audience and how you then start playing the tune soon realizing how it's not that different from when you were practising reduces the shock factor a little. You've already gone through the whole process in your mind before going on the stage. Go through the worst case scenarios as well, it will teach you how to avoid them and show that they aren't really as bad as they first seem. Sure, your palms might be sweaty and you knees might shake when you first walk in front of the audience, but neither of those two things is going to stop you from performing and the latter will make people see that you're nervous and hope you'll be okay. You might not know this, but a common way to start a lecture on how to teach public speaking is to simulate a worst case scenario start with dropping the lecture notes or simulating technical difficulties. This is done in order to demonstrate the power that these things have for winning the crowd over. It doesn't matter if your name is Demosthenes or Horowitz, not a single person will be going "this better be good" in the crowd after you have a bad start.

 

 

 

When you put yourself in the role of a member of the audience you will quickly see that the audience is always on the performer's side. When your classmates play their songs do you hope that they will fail miserably? I'm guessing you don't. What is your reaction to when they play a wrong note? You probably hope that the rest of the performance goes smoothly. Almost everybody feels very nervous before a public performance. Can you tell by the look of the other pupils that they are nervous? Probably not. Everyone of your audience members has very similar thoughts when you're performing as well.

 

 

 

Also, when you feel nervous it means that you're ready to give it all you got. It's a natural reaction to a big event with a lot of performance enhancing hormones like adrenaline being released into your blood. It's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. Have you ever wondered how basketball players are able to make the most incredible shots in the closing seconds? They're nervous, that's how. The only way to make a bad thing out of it is to evaluate your performance in the middle of it and think about how your nervousness will hurt your performance. The correct time to evaluate a performance is when it's over and the adrenaline flowing in your veins actually has a performance boosting effect. It was you telling yourself that nervousness will make you perform badly that made you perform badly in the past, not the adrenaline. Just concentrate on the part you're playing at the moment and the result will be similar to the result of Michael Jordan concentrating on the last play of the season.

[RUNESCAPEfantasy]

i find its good to play with my eyes close as if i cant see people looking at me i wont get as nervous

[BonScott]

Just close your eyes and get lost in the music dude...I used to be the same way with the drums when I played in my class....I finally just ignored everyone and got lost in the beat.

[IGoddessI]

Negotiate with your teacher to play after class. Some students managed to negotiate this with our old music teacher, however they did need to sacrifice a few points to encourage them to try and get over the nerves. I almost failed music because I can't read music. Every exam I had where I had to call out the notes etc, failed hardcore. When it came to playing musical pieces, I had it down packed in one lesson and learning advanced songs through-out the rest of the week. Including Mozart. People learn different ways so if a teacher expects all their students to be able to learn by the same method, it's very limiting in the least. I could only play music by hearing so thankfully my teacher played it for me to copy her.

[jjrox32]

It's not really everyone looking at me that kills me, since 99% of the class is looking into space or crapping their pants about their own piece. It's just that I'm really nervous that if I mess up, I don't get a second shot at it. And since a lot of my test pieces are very short, maybe 8-10 bars long, I don't really get an opportunity to just get lost in the music like I can with longer exam pieces.

[Roseiah]

I am assuming that you are probably friends with the majority of the people in your class?

 

It helps if you don't think of it is a performance, just think of it as showing your friends what you can do. I did it for my Drama exams last year and it really helped me because I had performed in front of them countless times before when it didn't matter, so I just thought of it as another practice and I pulled it off, or so my grade said.

[dsavi]

I had a similar problem not too long ago, although it wasn't in front of my peers. This is what I did:

 

1. Practice for hours. For the week before the concert, I listened to the song non-stop while I was using my computer and played it for at least an hour every day using a metronome, and sometimes a CD.

 

2. Screw the audience. Honestly, the reason it turned out so well is because I didn't care. I had an excellent piano player as an accompaniment and that was enough for me to be able to get through the song.

 

3. If you make a mistake, KEEP ON GOING. Do not fumble for a while. So you messed up. Big deal. I messed up at the height of the song, taking one of my favorite parts with me. I just forgot it and the rest of the song went excellently.

 

 

 

As for public speaking, I've never had a problem really.

 

1. Make a piece of paper with bullet points about what you're going to say. Don't write it all down, or you'll stumble.

 

2. Practice it several times in your head.

 

3. Speak clearly and loud enough for everyone to hear.

 

4. Speak naturally. Don't use too long words.

 

5. Speak to the audience, not the wall.

 

That should work. I followed those points for a presentation in Swedish class and got a 10 (Or in American terms, an A) for it, which was quite surprising to me, as everyone else in the class had Swedish as their native language, and I hadn't spoken in Swedish to a class before.

[purfishx]

Whenever I have to do anything and I get nervous, I just jump up and down and act like I'm pumped and shout stuff like "YEEEEAAAH!!! I'M HYPEEEE!!! LETS DO THIS!!!!! BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! YEEEEEEEEE BOOOOY!!!!"

 

 

 

May sound stupid, but it works for me.

[Lenin64]

Speak slowly, too. Nothing worse than speaking like you're a tape stuck on fast forward. Plus, you'll bungle more if you speak faster. Speaking slowly also lets you add emphasis in places to add effect.

 

 

 

Also, sound interested. I know a lot of people who give speeches and just go montonously as if they don't care. Fluctuate your tone a bit, and add emphasis to key places.

[armourdilo]

I'd suggest making the speech/performance as interesting and enjoyable for the audience as possible. Once you've designed something, test it out on family and friends to see if they liked it, sincerely. If they did then chances are you can do it for them. That means use visual aids, do something different that will make them go, "Oh, wow, did he/she just do that? Cool!". Finally, when you have it down, think about how much they will like it, not how much they will hate you. Finally, as almost everyone else says, just don't think about it. Do it. You can't go wrong!

[Zierro]

I recommend making our audience laugh near the beginning of your speech. It will help you be more comfortable in front of them. Make sure it's funny though or else it will backfire. There's nothing more awkward than telling a joke that no one laughs at while you're the center of attention.