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Stage Struck?

© Chris Mindel

Where does all music training eventually lead? To a stage! Or, at least, a performance situation. A most frightening experience to some, complete exhilaration to others. If you love performing and have no fear at all, you might want to wait for the next article. For the rest of us, let me share some wisdom that I have learned.

There is one technique which can help performing in front of people. It can help doing anything, really. This was introduced to me by Dr. Whittaker from Elon College. She is an exceptional saxophonist, and a great oboist as well. She taught me about metal visualization.

It's a very simple idea. You sit down, maybe before you practice or when you have a little exta time, and close your eyes. Imagine yourself at the performance. Imagine every detail: what you will wear, what the audience looks like, your accompanist, etc. Now, begin your performance. Hear and see yourself play each note perfectly. Feel each breath you take, your instrument, the music as you turn the page. When you are done, smile out over the audience. Hear their applause, their complements to you in the lobby, other musicians back stage congratulating you on your performance. Do this many times before the actual concert, and you will find it much easier to perform.

Does this really help? you ask. Yes, and there are scientific studies to back it up. One involved shooting free throws. A group of scientists split their subjects into three groups. One group did nothing. One group shot free throws. The third group imagined themselves shooting free throws. At the end of the experiment, the group that did nothing did nothing did not improve. The group that did practice, improved considerably. The most interesting thing is that the third group, the one that imagined themselves shooting baskets, improved almost as much as those that physically shot baskets (I think they were within two or three percentage points).

So this technique can help you. It also helps conquer stage fright, by constantly putting you in front of an audience with the collective mind of your toughest critic: yourself. I also visualize myself practicing when I cannot. I have found that if I sit looking at a piece of music and fingering in air, when I go back to my instrument the music is easier to play.

Another tip is to make sure that you play the first note correctly. And even more important is to play the ending perfectly. If you played the world's hardest piece of music

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