Your palms are clammy. Your heart is fluttering. Your mouth feels like cotton and a bead of sweat trickles down your back. No, you’re not heading out on your first date. You’re standing just off-stage in a concert hall, ready to walk out and dazzle the judges with your musical talent.

Every musician knows the trepidation—and sometimes downright terror—of performance day. It’s that make-it-or-break-it, sink-or-swim, my-entire-musical-career-is-on-the-line-and-if-I-blow-it-I’ll-have-to-go-into-library-science feeling. The bad news is that you can never eradicate that feeling entirely. The good news is that there are some steps you can take to make the nerves work for you, not against you.

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

Preparation is the key to musical success. Obvious, right? But preparing in the right way can help you master the panic on performance day.

  • Purposeful Practice—Always have a goal in mind for each practice session and use a variety of techniques to accomplish that goal.  Accurate practice helps build muscle memory in your fingers so you’re more likely to hit the right notes, even when you’re worrying about whether the judge noticed that you forgot the decrescendo in measure 38.
  • Practice Under Pressure—If at all possible, set up a practice performance (or two, or three). Gather your family and friends together and ask them to listen to your program from start to finish. This will help you learn to work well under pressure and take a little of the edge off performance day jitters.
  • Don’t Cram—Cramming for a test at the last minute rarely produces good results. The same is true for musicians. Practice faithfully ahead of time and don’t try to memorize or master the piece the week before the contest.

On The Day Of the Performance

Even if you’ve put in plenty of practice time, contest day jitters can still throw a wrench in your performance. Keep your nerves under control with these techniques:

  • Don’t Practice Too Much—It’s almost never a good idea to run through your entire program start to finish on the day of the performance—certainly not more than once. You want your momentum to build and carry you through the contest or recital. If you peak before you go on stage, chances are greater that you’ll flub something. Practice difficult passages if it helps you feel more confident, but don’t overdo it.
  • It’s All Mental—Allowing your thoughts to spiral out of control will sabotage your technique and memorization. Focus on relevant details (Remember the fingering in measure 32) rather than irrelevant ones (Where are the judges sitting? That girl ahead of me was spectacular! I’ll never nail that run at the end!) Try to let your adrenaline rush drive your performance rather than wrecking it.

Don’t Let a Bad Experience Derail You

We all have bad days. We all have moments where we walk off stage mentally kicking ourselves for making stupid mistakes. Don’t let those bad experiences define you. Each performance is a new opportunity to move you closer to your musical goals. A bad experience is simply a bump in the road—don’t let it shape the way you think about your musical ability overall. And now that the recital is over, treat yourself to ice cream. You deserve it!

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This is a TBMA original article written for our Tampa Bay Music Academy readership.  If you find it to be helpful, we would love for you to re-post it on your blog.  Please contact us first for permission.  Visit our website home for information on finding a music teacher in Tampa, Odessa, Land O’ Lakes, Citrus Park, Westchase, New Port Richey, Lutz, Trinity, Keystone, or Tarpon Springs Florida who offers private piano lessons, guitar lessons, saxophone lessons, voice lessons, or music lessons in any other instrument proficiency category.  TBMA teachers (piano, guitar, voice, woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion) pride themselves in a reputation for an uncompromising commitment to excellence and special care taken for every student. We remain absolutely committed to providing an outstanding enrollment experience beyond any other in the region.  Call us today.  We look forward to hearing from you!