 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Sydney Lusby
Date: 2012-07-03 20:38
Earlier this year I entered a concerto competition and won. As the performance comes up I was wondering if anyone had any tips for nerves. I get very nervous in performances.
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Author: Clarimeister
Date: 2012-07-03 21:20
Sounds like the nerves didn't take over, since you won! Haha! But, if there is any advice, there is one thing that does help. Breath Builders are fantastic not only for building breath support but keeping yourself in check before auditions and competitions. Another thing is that I'll try to talk to people, get to know them, since this can take some stress off of you so you're not so focussed on being nervous. Try not to listen to anyone else that's playing in the warmup room. If you pay too much attention to that, you'll start having doubts and get more nervous. It sounds like you can already control your nerves. In all reality, you'll never, ever stop getting nervous before a big performance. Even Gustavo Dudamel i've been told shakes a little before a big piece. It happens, and it's just something you get used to over time. You'll always be nervous. Hope this helps a little!
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Author: greenslater
Date: 2012-07-03 22:22
Have a look at this blog. I found it provided some interesting reading.
http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/
Brad
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2012-07-04 03:59
Don't try to stop yourself from becoming nervous. It will just make it worse. I try to have my "attack of nerves" well before the performance, so I can be steady and calm when the notes have to come out of the horn. Usually this works for me, but not always.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
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Author: srattle
Date: 2012-07-04 09:59
Sydney, if you get so nervous, and can still perform to the level of winning your competition, then I think you have nothing to worry about.
Nerves in performance can be very healthy if they do not take over the body and make playing considerably more difficult.
I am not expert on this, so take my words with a grain of salt, but my recommendation is to try to get yourself to a point where you're not thinking about what YOU have to do to play well in a performance, but rather to concentrate on putting yourself in the music, and figure out what the composition needs. I find being able to transport yourself like this makes the actually performance seem like a much smaller task in comparison.
I can't pretend to know exactly how to do this, but I try to study and know the piece as much as I possibly can before a performance (studying it outside of the practice room is much better for me to this end, when I don't have to worry about fingerings etc.)
Not so much help, but that's what works for me. BTW I still get nervous, but I manage to not let it overtake me
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2012-07-05 15:32
A trick I use on myself with a degree of success is based on noting over the years that I get nervous to different extents in different settings: a concerto is the worst, but a big orchestral solo can be nearly as bad - and yet chamber music usually gives me much less grief. This doesn't really make sense: in chamber playing your slightest fluff is exposed, with nowhere to hide - and the notes can often be challenging. But maybe there's something about chamber playing that achieves srattle's goal: drawing you into thinking primarily about the music. I suspect it's to do with the intensity of the 2-way communication with your fellow chamber players. it shouldn't be one-way traffic even in a concerto, of course, but there is a tendency to focus more on yourself in that setting.
So now if I get nervous in an orchestral concert, I say to myself that it's really just chamber music, and that does help produce a desirable degree of relaxation.
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