 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2001-12-04 15:10
I have this problem that whenever I get nervous my mouth gets really dry. Not just when performing, other situations too, but its just really difficult when I have to play clarinet.
I can keep my jitters in control enough to perform well. I dont think anyone can even tell how nervous I really feel inside.
We just had our concert and i did ok but i could have done better if my mouth wasnt so dry. water doesnt help. does anyone else have this problem? and what do you think i can do to prevent it from happening or what can i do when it happens?
thanks JL
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2001-12-04 16:06
My problem is different and only occasional: sometimes my saliva production is much greater than usual. When that happens, using a half- or even whole-number stiffer reed works better, as slobbering on my usual reed so much seems to make it too flexible. Works for me.
Janlynn, my difficulty is only infrequent and rather simple to fix. If yours is a "pretty-much always" happening, perhaps checking with your doctor might bring up some good suggestions.
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Author: William
Date: 2001-12-04 17:07
This is not meant to alarm you but I feel compelled to share this information in the event that it could be of help. I experianced "dry mouth" during performances and teaching duties to the extent that I could not make it through twenty minutes of playing or speaking without a water bottle at my side. I discovered that I had a serious medical condition that was causing it my excessive and constant thirst--adult onset diabetes--that was diagnosed via doctor supervised fasting blood sugar test. If you also experiance unexplained weight loss and frequent urination, you should see your MD as soon as possible. It is a disease that is easily controlled with medication and frequent self-administer blood tests. My thirst has completely disappeared and, as my wife can tell you, I can talk (or play my instruments) for hours without raising my glass or feel the need to "excuse myself" from the room. Good Clarineting and Good Health to You!!!!
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Author: C@p
Date: 2001-12-04 17:09
As JMcAulay seems to indicate, your problem could be a physiological problem that you could discuss with your family doctor. On the other hand, consider this:
Nervousness comes from fear (F.E.A.R. or False Expectations that Appear Real) or concentrating too much on the outcome and not enough on purpose. Your outcome is to give a good performance for which others will admire you. Your purpose is to make good music. If others do not admire you, you can possibly suffer rejection, humiliation, loss of status and a whole lot of other negative emotions. Well, these are false expectations that seem real to you. Unless people are paying a great deal of money to see a professional product, your mistakes will probably result in the audience feeling sympathy for you, being glad that they are not up there themselves and respecting you tremendously for the courage for getting up there in the first place. Actually, only you can control your emotions as no one can make you feel bad without our permission or cooperation but this is something to discuss more deeply on a psychology BB.
Keep on purpose, forget about the reception to your efforts and your music will come out. Will this happen overnight? It could. It depends on whether you are a glass if half full or half empty type of person.
I am a trial lawyer. I have tried many, many cases over 30 years. I have had embarrassing surprises before judges, juries and before the appellate courts. I have conducted training sessions for many organizations although my largest audience was only about 500 people at one time.
I still get nervous before each “performance.” Frank Sinatra was reported to have butterflies before each performance.
But it usually quickly goes away once we get going.
As a lawyer I have no script or score and I can keep talking while I think of something to say. On the other hand, music in ensemble, band or orchestra calls for precise execution. In the courtroom you never know exactly what will happen from moment to moment while the advantage to playing music is that you can practice exactly what is going to happen.
With all of my experience I suffered from dry mouth, tenseness in my jaw and a feeling of confusion when I got to perform a long slow lead with our community band last year.
I got through it by practicing as much as I could. I used a small tape recorder under my seat at rehearsal and practiced with the tape over and over again between rehearsals. At the first rehearsal after becoming so proficient with the tape I was playing like an idiot. Fortunately, the director stayed with me. At the concert, I could feel the whole band holding their collective breaths (even while playing the background parts) waiting to hear what would come out of my horn. I was similarly interested in that result, myself.
To make things worse, I had a pretty bad cold with dryness in my mouth that was unrelated to being nervous.
I looked at the notes and thought: “Its me or you, notes, and it ain’t gonna be me!” The first measure came out fine leading into a long upper clarion B. I was so pleased that I forgot to count and immediately was lost. But I remembered from all that practicing what the background would sound like when I had to come in again. So I just skipped ahead and waited for the rest of the band to catch up and give me the cues I was waiting for.
I next took the attitude that whatever would be would be, that there were things going on in my nervous system I could not control, and that I might just as well enjoy myself the best I could. And it worked. It was not necessarily easy, but by concentrating on where I wanted to go instead of on what I feared I performed well enough to the extent that my mistakes were not that obvious and I actually received sincere compliments from some of the music directors performing in the concert. Remember that while you know what you have to play, the audience doesn’t and usually will not realize your mistakes and since you are not a professional, they do not expect perfection, anyway. Should there be a serious musician in the audience, the chances are that he will know exactly what you are going through as he probably had to go through it himself in his earlier years.
I learned to not be nervous about being nervous. Nervousness is a natural reaction showing you are human and that should be recognized as a positive experience. It shows that you care about your performance and those with whom you are interacting. The more nervous you are, the more you care about your performance and that is a good trait to have. If you make an mistake, forget it. No sense trying to figure out how to unmake a potato or take back a miscue.
My first reaction after the last note of the concert was to request a seat in the back of the third clarinet section. I then changed my mind, talked candidly about the experience with the director and asked for as many further opportunities to play the solo lead in the future. Others have confirmed to me their similar experiences and that the only way to get over it would be to keep facing the situations that cause you to be nervous. I am sure you have heard of the example of getting back on the horse that threw you as soon as you can.
I heard a story from my clarinet instructor who admitted she still gets nervous. She told me about four french horn players car pooling to the auditorium for their concert in a well respected nationally known symphony orchestra. Like clockwork, 3 and 5/8 miles from the auditorium, at the same spot each time they made this trip, the driver would pull over, let the second french horn player relieve himself of his last meal at the curb, and then drive on to a stellar performance by all of them. As the story goes, that musician never got over that need to pull over and always played quite well.
Another way to look at it is that sooner or later you will no longer be nervous at a performance. There are only so many performances at which you will be able to be nervous. It is a limited number. So, each time you are nervous just understand that is one more event of nervousness out of the way getting you closer to the last time you will have this problem and the first performance where it will no longer be an issue with you.
With your open mindedness and willingness to learn, you will be fine and this condition will someday pass.
C@p
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Author: Ken
Date: 2001-12-04 17:53
Excluding any psychological factors, a player/performer of any woodwind instrument especially a reed instrument places a much greater demand on saliva flow/reproduction, expels more moisture from the breath then public speaking or even preaching...and in a considerably shorter period of time. Dry mouth syndrome is common even among the finest and most experienced performers and not necessarily an indicator of any medical condition. Unfortunately, dry mouth can prove a major nuisance and detractor from an otherwise outstanding presentation.
I'd heed previously stated advice and as a precaution contact your doctor to discuss the issue and symptomology. While counseling with them enquire about the drug "Pilocarpine or Salagen" to see if you qualify for a prescription. I've been using it "sparingly" for years as I was born with smaller than normal-sized saliva glands. The meds are harmless if taken per doctor's orders; it's not addictive and promotes saliva activity in the "periodic" glands. 5mg is the normal dosage with effects lasting about 3 hours. As a routinely performing clarinetist and soloist, it greatly aids in "leveling the playing field".
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2001-12-04 17:55
Good words, C@p. Somewhat OT: Courtroom "performance" surely can be likened to musical improvisation. And as the protagonist of Neil Simon's "Romantic Comedy" says (to himself), "It takes a lot of practice to be glib."
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2001-12-04 18:05
ive had the problem since i started playing again about 3 years ago. I also thot it would go away as i did more performances and the experience of them would lessen my nervousness but that hasnt happened yet either.
you guys have given me some interesting answers. wish i hasnt waited so long to ask. i thot i was a unique case. glad to hear im not.
thanks JL
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Author: Jessica
Date: 2001-12-05 04:15
I had that problem all the time... then one time I did a performance for my whole high school and afterward the choir teacher (my accompanist) came up and I asked if I was nervous... of course I answered yes--sweaty palms, dry mouth which led to dry reed, and slight dizzyness... then she said something to me which I now think before every audition and performance to calm my nerves, "Who's out there making you nervous? No one, it's all in your head!" I guess it was all in my head, because I rarely ever have problems with nervousness anymore.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2001-12-05 20:56
Dehydration. Most of us probably don't drink enough water and before performances we probably refrain from drinking water so we don't have an urge to visit the restroom. I see more and more players with water bottles these days and I think there must be a reason....i.e. we have generally come to realize that we need more water intake than we realize. Certainly the other comments have validity too.
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Author: Luanne
Date: 2001-12-06 03:04
A good friend of mine made a suggestion to me when I had that problem and it seems to help. If the dry mouth is caused by nerves and not a medical condition, try drinking orange juice before you play. You might want to rinse a little though because of the sugar. I no longer need this advice but it did help.
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