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Re: Oh golly, I'm nervous.

Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-26 13:47

I believe that debilitating nerves stem from concentrating on the wrong things. You are (at least subconsciously) thinking of the ramifications of screwing up; failing; not getting first chair; not going to the right college; not having the right teacher; etc. etc.

Performance art is dependent on being IN THE MOMENT. That basically means the note you are playing (or more importantly, the phrase you are in) is the ONLY things that your mind must be processing. That is also to the exclusion of what JUST happened (which could not be LESS important).

I would recommend the book "The Inner Game of Tennis." For me the upshot is concentrating on a bit of minutia of what you are doing so that playing the right rhythm or right note is too big a target to miss (for that you must find your own solution, but for me it is concentrating on the vibrations of each note under my fingers).

There is a similar book that has more direct (in a way) connections to music called "The Soprano on Her Head." But I still like the former a little better.

................Paul Aviles

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