by Dave Belcher<\/p>\n
In this article we’re going to talk about managing performance anxiety and I’ll share a story with you from one of our members that I think will bring you a great deal of inspiration.<\/p>\n
I’m not afraid to admit that I have struggled for decades with performance anxiety. And you might be surprised to learn that this is true of many professional musicians. Stage fright is pretty universal, affecting the adult amateur to professionals and everyone in between.<\/p>\n
We all just want to perform the music we\u2019ve poured so much practice time into. But actually doing it is another story. Everything goes so well in the practice room. But the moment we play in front of someone else mistakes start to crop up. Our hands shake and we may even forget huge passages of music we thought were secure.<\/p>\n
The good news, though, is that we can learn to manage this (at times debilitating) problem.<\/p>\n
PJ has been a member at CGC Academy for several years now. She has steadily advanced through the grades. Along the way she has picked up not only musical knowledge but also the skills to tackle advanced music. But PJ has always struggled with stage fright, even just when the camera was on for grade exam recordings.<\/p>\n
So PJ started coming to our Open Mics and performing in front of others as often as she could. She also joined a study group where fellow members started to learn how to deal with performance anxiety together (the group met together for many weeks). Slowly but surely she built up more confidence in her performance and then, at our 2023 Summer School Open Mic, she successfully performed in front of a live audience for the first time. And she did great!<\/p>\n\n