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 Performance Nerves
Author: Ken Shaw 2017
Date:   2005-06-03 14:54

Here's an intersting blog posting from the concertmaster in Seattle on performance anxiety. http://schmaltzuberalles.blogspot.com/2005/05/nerves.html

There are many good things on his blog, but he was fired from Seattle, so it's difficult to get through the anger.

Ken Shaw

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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: hans 
Date:   2005-06-03 15:18

Ken,

His comment: "The composers didn’t even expect the musicians to accurately reproduce what they wrote on paper." was particularly interesting.
Since I often can't do that anyway, I will no longer worry about it.

Regards,
Hans

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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: jim S. 
Date:   2005-06-03 15:58

His June1 blog sounded pretty sensible to me.

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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: Clarinetgirl06 
Date:   2005-06-03 20:30

Nice Ken!

I agree with the suggestion of playing music that at an orchestras level. I'm in my high school's orchestra and the winds/percussion on have 25 minutes of classtime per day. We often get 1-2 hours of rehearsal on some pieces or maybe we even sightread at performances (happened a good amount of times this year. On one song, we found out while we were sightreading that the clarinets had this fast melody and everyone else just had these random attacks, which was scary.) Some pieces we'll get maybe 7-10 hours of rehearsal for contest, but we'll still mess up because it just isn't enough time for a piece that is too hard for us. Our high school orchestra is one of the best in the state, but maybe we could be better?

I can also relate to the nerves article. I am a person that shakes. I'll just have to get over it!



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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: Greg1138 
Date:   2005-06-03 21:52

Nerves - close your eyes, picture an accurate image of youself in your mind, breathe in, hold breath for just a second or two, breathe out pretty slowly(over say 7 - 8 seconds - no longer than 10) and as you breathe out picture yourself getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger.....stop when you have expelled the breath.....open eyes....no more nerves.....

Works every time....has always worked with every pupil I've ever had and with every musician I have ever worked with who has mentioned that she/he is nervous.....

....much better than self-medicating!!!!!!

G

:-)



Post Edited (2005-06-03 21:54)

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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: Clarinetgirl06 
Date:   2005-06-03 22:44

Thanks Greg! I'll definitely have to try that next year!



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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: Greg1138 
Date:   2005-06-04 22:43

No worries - glad I could be at least a little help!!

Love your homepage,

Greg

:-)

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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: Clarinetgirl06 
Date:   2005-06-04 22:54

haha, thanks. Nice name eh? lol.



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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: Ralph Katz 
Date:   2005-06-05 00:05

Interesting post. The points on practice are well taken, just what I used to tell my daughter.

Thanks, Ken!

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 Re: Performance Nerves
Author: SueSmith 
Date:   2005-06-05 07:03

I also didn't sense too much anger in his posts - except his aversion to the generic "wunderkin" - yet, who can blame him? His assessment on the state of classical music student to professional job ration is right on IMO - it's certainly easier to afford the equipment to make music when you have a job that makes money. I'd love to get my hands on his cotroversial (now deleted) post which caused him to post that retraction!

His recent Starker post is also a good read...I'm heading to the library on Monday to checkout the book.

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