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Posts: 75
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: Marengo, IL, EE UU
The Jitters!
OK, I have my recital this evening - I'm playing the farruca from the Paco Peña's Toques Flamencos book. I'm already getting the jitters and it's still 10 hours out! I'm going to be a wreck come time for me to perform. I know the piece well, but I'm still nervous! I keep telling myself that everyone there has never heard this before, so they will not know if I make a mistake, but I still have the problems with my shakey hands - hopefully they will not freeze up!
I wanted to ask the ones who perform professionally, how do you deal with this stress?
Perform a lot and then it gets easier. If you need a crash course, take your guitar and play the piece for every friend you have. But the real key is just performing a lot. Tonight will be a growing experience. Enjoy everything, even the butterflies.
That's a nice piece to play, but like all pieces (I mean, when you feel you have to learn them note for note, start to finish) there'll be a bit that might make you feel more nervous because it's just on the edge of your ability to play it.
In this piece it might be the tremolo or it might be that pulgar section with the legados? Well, just tell yourself, if it gets really tough then you can just drop the hard bits. Simple as that. As you say, no one is going to know the piece, so that's your fall back position. If it's too stressful, just make it simpler, might be you repeat an easy bit twice to fill the gap.
One other piece of advice, get to the place early, sit on the chair, test the sound system and imagine the place full, whatever you do, don't turn up cold and get a fright when you suddenly realise you're expected to play with the house lights up full, or there's no microphone! Try to iron our as many variables as possible before you play.
One of the things I'd do before a show was to put my chair out in the middle of the stage and sit in it for a few minutes, staring out into the empty room. Imagining the audience and all. Then I'd play a few phrases to check out my sound. Not sure why, but this would help calm a lot of my jitters. I guess it has to do with getting acclimated to the atmosphere of the room or something. This may not be possible to do in all performances, but if you can arrive a bit early, give it a try. Good luck, you'll do just fine
Good luck Scott. Dont worry about nerves. They say Jphn Lennon used to throw up before a gig. Dont know that would help but anyway you're in good company feeling nervous. I once had nerves so bad I thought I had appendicitus ( spelling !!!!) but when the show was cancelled the awful stomach pains left and I felt so stupid realising it had been simply nerves. Best thing is do the gig and afterwards you'll feel great.
I'm working hard on a couple of technical issues to clean up my sound:
1) Marote double-triplets (6-strokes per beat) 2) alzapua 3) playing more onto the tip of my left hand pinky finger. 4) changing my right hand position slightly for picado
Andy,
I'm curious about #3. Were you playing away from the tip, more on the pad? Just wondering if you could elaborate. My left pinky doesn't land exactly on the tip, but more on the outer corner close to where the nail just leaves the flesh. So not quite the tip, but not quite on the pad either.
Well, it wasn't too bad. I did one run through before the real thing and I was sweating and shaking so bad and was missing notes all over the place. So I went outside and took a deep breath and tried to relax. I think that helped a lot. The second run was much better; I was much more relaxed, and although I missed a few notes here and there, I didn't freeze up. BUT, of all the notes to miss - I futzed up the last chord of the song!!! Oh well.
I think the best thing about this piece is there are a lot of sections to regain your composure. I could close my eyes and take a deep breath and get ready for the next section.
Yeh, even touring round the guitar shops, and playing, joining a guitar c.lub is a good way to get used to playing in front of people, but only playing in public will get you used to it. Dave
I'm going to play two solos in front of about 400 people in 2 weeks in a theatre show so I'll be going through the same. I studied mediation with a Budhist nun and I've gotten to where I can zone out in a meditative state if I have a really bad case of stage fright. When I walk out on stage nothing exists in the universe but me and the guitar. Mediation is a good skill to learn if you have bad stage fright like I do.
-andy
Andy,
I'm sure you'll do just fine. I've played a number of shows in large theatres and while at first thought it sounded terrifying, I found my self disappearing into my own world once I start playing, similar to the state you've mentioned, though I'm not into meditation or anything like that. It does seem a little easier to me to play in a large theatre where all the lights are turned off out in the audience and you really can't see anybody anyway. Actually I'm much more nervous playing in a tablao or small room where everyone is very close by and you can see their faces. Maybe I should learn to play my solo pieces with eyes totally closed
Well, it wasn't too bad. I did one run through before the real thing and I was sweating and shaking so bad and was missing notes all over the place. So I went outside and took a deep breath and tried to relax. I think that helped a lot. The second run was much better; I was much more relaxed, and although I missed a few notes here and there, I didn't freeze up. BUT, of all the notes to miss - I futzed up the last chord of the song!!! Oh well.
I think the best thing about this piece is there are a lot of sections to regain your composure. I could close my eyes and take a deep breath and get ready for the next section.
Scott,
Congrats, you took a big first step and that's the hardest one to overcome. The succeeding steps will still be hard, but not as hard as that first one. One thing is for sure, after each performance you'll always know what you need to work on next. It's a real trial by fire, but it's worth it. My suggestion from this point on is to take every opportunity to play for people. The most effective way to deal with fears are to confront them. Easier said than done, I know
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Oh well. 
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