Peak Performance for Musicians
Overcome Music Performance Anxiety with Mental Game Strategies
Last time in What Is Your Greatest Fear?, we discussed the common fears that performers face. These fears cause you to doubt your abilities and skills and feed your anxiety level as you prepare for performance. What's more, when you get used to these anxious feelings and fearful thought and behavior patterns, you tend to settle into a place we commonly call a comfort zone. It seems odd, … [Read more...]
If you are like most performers, you have experienced some kind of anxiety or fear when preparing for or waiting for a performance to begin. Many of you find that this fear does not subside once the performance begins. You may have even put a name to your fear—fear of embarrassment, fear of rejection, or fear of failure. Once you discover the source of your fear, you can get busy working … [Read more...]
Practicing is a way of life for musicians. Not only are we expected to perform at consistently high levels, we are constantly learning new music, improving our skills, and reaching for new heights. Let's face it, we want to play or sing well. We want to make great music and we certainly want to avoid embarrassment, disappointing ourselves and others, and, of course, we want to avoid mistakes … [Read more...]
Ok, let's talk about worry. . . How many times have you worried about the weather? If you’ve ever planned an outdoor event—a wedding, a child's birthday party, a picnic or even when you have been planning a trip I bet you have worried about the weather! Is it going to be nice? Is my event going to be rained out? Will all my plans be ruined? I've worked so hard all year for this one … [Read more...]
In our recent discussions of performance anxiety we have talked about how to identify your fears in Performance Fear—Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire and how to understand our fears in The Key To Understanding Your Performance Anxiety. The final step in dealing with your anxiety or fear is to take action and neutralize its ill effects. It’s interesting how when many performers are confronted … [Read more...]
Last time in Performance Fear—Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!, we called fear out for the destructive and deceiving force it can be to our preparation and our performances. As anyone who has experienced it, performance-related fear is a powerful emotion that all of us have felt. In order to neutralize its ill-effects, it is important that you understand that it tricks you into believing things … [Read more...]
Several years ago, Meryl Streep and Albert Brooks starred in a movie called Defending Your Life. Both Streep and Brooks die in the first minutes of the film. The rest of the movie is set in heaven as they attempt to defend the way they lived as a heavenly tribunal reviews footage of scenes from their lives. The novel thesis of the movie is that the purpose of the ‘trial’ is not to … [Read more...]
It was the night before. I just lay there in bed. I couldn't sleep. I was breathing funny, my heart was pounding, and my thoughts were...well, noisy. Some of the thoughts that went racing through my head were "I need to sleep. I need to just calm down and get to sleep. Tomorrow will be here soon enough." I bet you thought I was describing the night before an important performance, … [Read more...]
Preparing your mind to perform is another important reason for having a great pre-performance routine. As you prepare to begin your performance, you will want to engage in thinking and activities that enhance your trust in yourself, your preparation, and your readiness to perform. Also, you will want to recognize the fearful, anxious, and doubtful thoughts and actions—performance … [Read more...]
One of the most important of the 7 Strategies for a Great Pre-Performance Routine is focus. We're not talking just any focus, but a focus on: What is most important to your performance (and I'm not talking about the outcome!) What is within your control THE PROCESS This very moment We are examining the components of a great pre-performance routine to help you respond effectively to … [Read more...]