Easing your nerves: Tip #5

 Had three lessons today...each student was in the 5-6 range.  Man they're cute. 

Another student comes at 6:30 so I'll just jump right into it today.  So far, I think this will be the most helpful if you are one of those victims of stage fright! 




Easing your nerves: Tip #5- Stop with the "what-if's!!!!!!!!"

"What if I play a wrong note?"

"What if the audience thinks I sound bad?"

"What if I lose my place in the music?"

"What if I drop my violin?"

"What if an alien abduction happens in the middle of my performance?" 

I SAID STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   



Your mind is only controlled by YOU!! Be strong minded.  Any time those silly "what-if" thoughts start creeping into your brain...refuse to let them in.  Just fight yourself until you forget about it. 

"What-if" questions are 99% bad....at least in my personal experience.  They have the ability to absolutely torment you, thus affecting your performance negatively.  Therefore, get rid of them!!!!!!!! If you have any sort of stage fright symptoms before playing in front of people, it's best you don't let any "what-if" scenarios enter your mind. 




Til next time
~Givi Girl

Easing your nerves: Tip #4

 Hello all!

Normally yesterday I would do my daily routine which entails going to school in the evening.  Well, the heavens above responded to my request for it to be cancelled.  Originally I was planning on getting caught up on life...which I did at first...then I decided to go to the gun range.  It was my first time shooting a gun!!! I've always been pretty scared to be around guns, and it was pretty fun to get over that fear.  Ok, not "get over" it, but at least conquer it somehow.  Shooting a gun has been on my bucket list, and now I can scratch that off.  What should I do next?  Getting a pug has been on my bucket list...and my heart wants one NOW, but my mind is telling me to wait.  I am so busy, I'm not sure I have the time to take care of a pug.  However, I'm the type of person that when something is in my mind, I don't like to sit around and wait for it to happen.  I like to make it happen. Mostly because I'm impatient.  That's definitely a trait in my family that we all lack.  Well, except for Jerome...my youngest brother.  Incase you need to match a name to a face, here he is: 

Not only is he patient, he's the nicest kid in the world.  He also is a superb pianist, the captain of his HS soccer team, and a high honors student.  Great kid!  


I've been busy stressing out (I mean figuring out) where my recital venue will be this year.  It seems like hit and miss.  All of the places I like are either too expensive,  unavailable, or too far away.  To be honest, I lose money out of my own pocket on recital days.  I really want that day to be special for my students, so I hire various musicians to join us.  Well, they aren't cheap. Last year I charged a recital fee, but after all was said and done (venue costs, film crew, musicians, food, awards, photos, etc.)  I was still easily out $200 or so.  This year I'd be thrilled if I could at least break even, so I'm trying to find somewhere to make that possible.  However, this day is for my students, not me, so if I end up spending some money, well....so be it. 

Ok...enough chatting...let's get down to business:

Your tip #4 for conquering nerves is to perform more often!!!!!

The more you perform, the more you'll get used to it.
 
Every couple of months, I provide performance opportunities to my students. 

Anything could seem scary and impossible at first, and performing in front of people is no exception!

Take advantage of the situation if you are given the chance to play in front of people.  Even if you start off as small as performing for guests in your house (See "Throw a private recital" blog entry), that will still help.  

 If you do this, I can promise you that performing will go from very scary to enjoyable!  

 

Church festival

Formal recital

 




 

Nursing home recital

Til next time
~Givi Girl

Easing your nerves: Tip #3

 Snow day for me!!!!! No teaching and no school.  Although I honestly do love both teaching and school....I am so grateful for the extra time to get caught up on life. And what better way to start doing that than writing another entry in my blog!?!  I love my kitties, Milo, Mila, and Max, more than life itself...but having three cats requires a lot of upkeep!! Plus, I have to get caught up on the Bachelor.  That show is definitely my guilty pleasure.  Anyways...this is the third of hopefully around ten entries to help you ease those annoying jitterbugs in your stomach before a performance...aka...nerves!

Tip #3: Be prepared.  

Do yourself a favor and know your performance piece(s) like the back of your hand.  Ok, time out real quick: I don't get why people always say "know something like the back of your hand."  First of all, what side is considered the "back" of your hand? My guess would be the side that isn't the palm....but isn't that debatable?  Second of all, what are you supposed to know about it?  I just don't get it.  Lol.







 But regardless, be prepared.  Practice.  Know your music by memory, even if you are planning on bringing your music up on the stage with you.  The more you know your music, the less you have to worry about.  It's a simple concept, but it would be foolish not to include it as a tip to easing your nerves.  

Til next time
~Givi Girl

Easing your nerves: Tip #2

Tip #2:   Eat honey!!!! 


"Just a spoonful of honey makes the recital nerves go down!" (Mary Poppin's theme incase you didn't catch on.) 

"I want YOU to eat some honey before your recital!"

Eat a spoonful or two of honey an hour or two before your recital. Research has proven that honey is a very useful way of calming those nerves.

Honey can be used to relax the body and the mind. Honey is high in tryptophan and this supplement aids to lessen anxiety and calming the nerves. Also, honey is rich in potassium which relieves stress on the brain and body. Potassium helps get rid of stress hormones in the body and acids to decompress the nervous system.

What are the chances I could find a picture of honey in a violin shaped bottle!? 

Cool stuff, eh?!


Maybe I should be writing a biology blog instead. LoL.  Hopefully this will be an easy tip for you to remember and apply! A cool thing with this one is it not only applies to music recitals...but exams and other scary situations like that, too!






Til next time
~Givi Girl 

Easing your nerves: Tip #1

 Nerves are so annoying and can make your playing go from an A+ to a C.

I've experienced it plenty of times.  Your hands start to sweat....you're shaking....your entire body is tense.....  You begin to envisage the worst.  The piece you're about to play becomes extremely frightening (although you've practiced it perfectly 50 times already.)  You start to ponder what people are going to think of you...all of these eyes are focused on you waiting to make one mistake!! Too much pressure....you're freaking out!!!!!! Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!


Ok, seriously...relax.  


I could write a book on everything I have learned via experience and research to help you out on conquering your nerves before performing.  There are innumerable tips and tricks I can share with you, but that would mean I have to write a book.  Right now I don't have that kind of time, so I will try my best to break it down into "tips" every day for you.  I'm not sure how many tips I will end up with....but my guess is, easily over 10. 



The first tip is actually something I've learned from a musician friend of mine who is also a parent to one of my students.  When my students were playing at our Christmas party event, he overheard one of them complaining about her nerves kicking in (aka stage fright.)  He told her this sentence, and it's stuck in my mind ever since:

"You're already doing more than what the audience is doing....you're going up on stage." 


Think about it.  The majority of the time, I assume you aren't playing in a room full of professional musicians (unless you are a professional or music major, of course.)  You're playing in front of a bunch of people, who I would bet, don't play any instrument.  Therefore, just by having enough guts to walk on that stage and attempt to play something....you are doing more than they could do!!!!!!!!  And they respect you for that!!!!


So, tip #1 is to keep that sentence in mind.  You're already above them, so who are they to judge you for how you play? 


Tip #2 should come tomorrow.  Eat these tips up because they could be your new best friend during performance time!


Til next time
~Givi Girl

PS~I don't know about you but I'm sick of this cold weather!!!!

~