Stage Fright and the Piano, Part 3

What can we do about stage fright? If we are willing to listen to what stage fright is telling us about our preparation, we can change the game.
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[@coffeeandkeys1980]

This is one of the things I love about the internet. Me, a machinist from Scotland can go out and work Nightshift, working with steel, risking crushing or cutting my hands and fingers......or worse.....but then come home and pursue my passion for this beautiful instrument by receiving teaching from the same proffesor who is teaching gifted students halfway across the world. I'm so be grateful that you take the time to make these uploads, I really do appreciate them so much and I'm getting so much out of them! Thank you once again.

[@ClassicalJams]

John, I have to admit that in my recitals all those years ago, I was one of those people that had "irrational" fear. I was extremely well-prepared and had a nearly photographic memory, but had a bit of a shyness in me and always this innate need to be "perfect". I somehow over time learned that it was OK and that I would not die if I somehow made an error (and with the great support of my parents and teachers at the time). I never did make the errors during the performances, but I always had a bit of that anxiety under the surface, but got better each and every time. I will admit that I had one recital that I really wasn't fully prepared for and that was a terrifying fear for me. Although I performed it fairly well, it was missing my soul and even as a young girl, it was always important for me to express my emotion. I never forgot that moment because I felt like a robot in the performance! I had some tough teachers, too. I always was a bit of a musical "rebel" and especially while studying Baroque where I wanted to pedal :-) I also used to love to come to my lesson and when asked if I studied, I would say "Yes, but look what else I learned", then break into a popular song of the day. I remember pedaling through Baroque and really "feeling" it to the dismay of my teachers, so I would have to stop clowning around and play it right, which I then did. Now, with the nerve issues and severe tendinitis (tendinitis actually developed in my 25 years off of playing after the accident where I could not go into graduate study), I am much more forgiving of myself now and since it's now for fun, I make plenty of errors, but I just move past them and realize my own limitations. Could I prepare again to play publicly? Yes, definitely....just not at the same level. It would just take a lot more time and dedication and still tending a career with 9-10 hour days won't get that done. Thanks for this wonderful segment John. It brought back A LOT of memories when I was young, but also gives this "older" player a lot of good tips! I think you are just wonderful and your students are lucky to have you :-) ~Jackie

[@jrodriguezpiano]

One thing Ill add: Your posture when practicing, imagine its hunched and you aren’t worried ahout sitting a little bit lower, or sitting more relaxed. Then you go up on stage after hours of practice, and instantly straighten your back, sit a little bit more raised to the perfect height for your body, and have the bench the correct distance from the piano. Of course your motor memory will get thrown off and you’ll feel weird.

[@vaniasetti7753]

You got my subscription! you are worth more than that. thank you.

[@Corinnasmusic]

I love this series on perfect anxiety. It made me realize mine comes from abuse and years of artistic poverty.

[@joemug4079]

I’m even nervous when I record myself! What the hell?

[@747Aerophilia]

That's one of the many reasons why recording yourself is such a surprisingly powerful practise tool.

[@984francis]

You're not the only one!

[@pianosenzanima1]

you're not alone brother

[@p1anosteve]

Me too. But I've analysed why this is and have come to the conclusion that it is simply because the piece is not practised enough. Now before I record I ensure that I can play the piece invariably absolutely correctly.

[@backtoschool1611]

1:27 This is EXACTLY what I am doing for playing for others!!

[@jeremybogard1216]

Love that plane analogy! Completely agree -- usually my anxiety is just an honest voice telling me I'm trying to impress someone by playing something that I haven't fully learned. I also agree about the physiological feedback loop -- developing better rotation and learning to be more aware of surfacing have helped me to improve my technique which builds confidence as well as maintain fluidity and movability, which releases tension and reduces anxiety and fatigue.

[@ubiestinsula]

I’m a recently retired NYC psychoanalyst who specialized in performance anxiety, primarily with actors and pianists. For both categories of artists, it boils down to insufficient preparation and lingering, nightmarish memories of very public performance disasters-almost all due to poor preparation, as you’ve stressed here as a leading cause of failure. It’s essential to memorize a score so totally that you can play each hand alone from memory and both hands together so slowly that you can note to yourself the harmonic structures as you are playing. A lot of work, I know, but it is indispensable. THIS works, combined with your suggestion to play for friends who are supportive, then gradually raise the ante with more demanding listeners. Tryouts are indispensable. The first ones are nerve-wracking, but you examine where you got derailed in the performance and work like a dog to fix that area of your memory. Eventually, these tryouts help you gain confidence and finally you’re good to go with your scheduled performances. It’s also imperative for actors and pianists, before walking onto that stage, to think of NOTHING except your very first line (actors) or phrase (pianists). Dr. Mortensen, I enjoy your extremely helpful posts. (Yes, I’m a “closet” pianist who began study at five and was still taking lessons with concert pianists in NYC through my retirement.). Your site is a fantastic resource and your stress on the Taubman approach is lucid and enormously helpful. She was a genius. Thanks! It’s a pleasure to have met you here. MG.

[@derekbloomfield6826]

are you working with Edna?

[@janicelekich4847]

Thank you for making this series of videos about performance anxiety. I think I now have a better understanding of what is causing mine. Since it happened in my first studio class, it continues to happen again and again. About sixteen measures in I begin to feel my hands shaking and then I can’t control them well enough to hit all the correct notes. It is just awful. I now choose easier and slower pieces but even then it can still happen. I think now I have trained my brain to keep responding this way even though when it happens it feels completely out of my control. Just hearing you describe it at least let’s me know it is a real thing that performers get. I am going to try the low threat type performances idea. I am going to practice all the difficult passages more until I can play them perfectly ten times in a row. Where I take lessons adults can use the score in studio class and recitals. I am 65 and am having difficulty memorizing and definitely do not want one more thing to contribute to performance anxiety. But I think I might try memorizing easy pieces to see if maybe I really can memorize in spite of my age. Maybe I am talking myself into thinking it isn’t possible.

[@brandys3764]

You are such a thorough and wonderful teacher. Thanks for sharing your insights. Love your channel!

[@beatrizmezzadra2764]

Thank you for such a realistic and practical view of how to overcome such a challenging issue for many classical piano students and performers. Very much appreciate your input on this subject.

[@deecher9494]

1:50 you have no idea...Thanks to Corona we have to record our juries and I am such a perfectionist. Any little thing I don't like, I re-record. It is so time consuming and it really drains my energy. I don't know why that red light just scared the crap out of me more than playing in front of others.

[@PianoTortuga]

Completely agree. Having a narrative of failure can destroy you, not only as a pianist but as human being. I have also experienced a "bad conscience" in regards to preparation. I think one issue is the image that some teachers and the more successful students like to portray of themselves, which misleads those who are less advanced. That is, they "hide" how much work it has cost them. For example they like to give the impression that they have learned a long, difficult piece in a matter of weeks, when in fact they are "recycling" old repertoire from their youth. If you do not know better this makes you feel like a truly inferior musician. They might also hide the amount of hours they really practice. Now I assume that all good pianists practice 24/7 one way or another. Lastly, technique is huge, if you do not have the appropriate technique you will spend 2 years where the professionals will spend hours. If you start late it will be really hard, or if your fingers do not have a good reach. In this case, finding suitable repertoire is essential.

[@coolguy1652]

One more thing I'd like to add is that just like it is important to practice the piano piece, it is equally important to practice PERFORMANCE. And this doesn't have to be a hard thing to practice, you can invite a friend to listen to you, or a teacher, or even go to a public piano such as a hotel and play (that is sure to get your nerves up). If you really have no one that can listen to you play, at the very least record yourself, but only give yourself one chance per week. Anything to give you that sense of "I only get one shot to perform this" will help immensely when the real event comes.

[@theovandaele3220]

Thanks for those videos, an interesting series. One aspect you didn't touch, maybe because it's unusual, is the bruised ego/confidence. Even when I perform just for my camera - nothing can go wrong, you can delete etc. - my ego, my self confidence gets a hit every time I flub. "I should be able to get this right!". So, just with the camera on, I already have a sort of stage fright. Then again, I guess the solutions are similar in approach to solving the real stage fright. Interestingly, I don't have this at all when I'm using an instrument I'm much more familiar with (guitar) and know how to "get away" with mistakes. Playing for 1000+ audiences gives no stress at all. Piano seems (is?) much less forgiving, and your series explain perfectly why that is the case. Again, thanks, I learned something.

[@AZmom60]

We are often our harshest judgers! Oh that we could have compassion for ourselves.

[@samueldesouzamalaquias]

You are awesome!

[@kevinroddyihtpcurriculumwe8141]

I'm a harpist, but the same rules apply whatever instrument you're playing. For me, I think what stage fright really boils down to - for me anyway - is not being prepared - not practicing enough, not knowing how to cover my mistakes - that's why improvisation is so important, and really understanding the music (key, chords, progresions), as Prof. Mortensen has mentioned in his stage fright video series.

[@booksmusic5595]

Your videos have given me food for thought. The majority of my experiences have been stressful and I've actually experienced "flow" on very few occasions. Not sure exactly why I can't replicate it every time. Sometimes they've been brief when I wasn't consciously thinking about it. Thank you for these videos. I look forward to future topics and your book. Any date for its availability?

[@mariadoceumota7370]

Thank you very much for your lessons, you are wondefulll! From Portugal!

[@Kapomafioso]

I'm not a pro, but I've been playing just for joy a bunch of years now. Anytime a piano is around and someone says "hey, you can play piano, so play something!" my stomach drops, my fingers start sweat like hell (and slip on plastic keys, it's better on simulated ivory), and as I sit down the whole keyboard feels weirdly "strange". It's like I never seen it before, every key stares at me...this has nothing to do with preparedness (it happens even before I think of any piece to play), it's just pure hell :( This feeling of the keyboard being strange/unknown to me is especially weird, considering how intimately I deal with it almost daily, every pianist loves to touch keys, feel them, feel a piano respond to his command...but suddenly, it's like they repel your fingers. All the nuances from the practice room are lost. Just...why :/

[@georgebanksesq]

Thank you for these videos. Thoughtful and helpful insights.

[@rapunzelz5520]

You have such great analogies

[@dibaldgyfm9933]

6:50 and especially 7:38, fingermoves as small independent machines - those comments are noteworthy! But then again, there may be a certain feeling entering my hands if I play a fast Allemande (e.g.Partita 1-Allemande) in a rhythmic, almost swinging way. It is NOT only the fingers, but the fingermovement plays a bigger role, even so slightly when I found out that with minimal fingermove and a twist of the forearm (and all) could play a "praller", trill, with fingers 4-5-4 with no trouble whatsoever. Many exercises exist to make students more conscious about movement of the different hand-arm-(and body)-parts.

[@alineboyd983]

Awesome video!!! Thank you professor!!!

[@elenadellasiega2795]

Super! Thanks!

[@SeEyMoReBuTtS]

Can you make a video on playing height/posture? I think its very important not to play low. It causes unnecessary strain in the forearm

[@Corinnasmusic]

One more reason to address please: sadistic abuse and exploitation in classical music.

[@newbaca]

You mentioned the dangers of 'independent motion' methods. Does this include the Hanon exercises?

[@TobiasSebastien]

Hello Dr. Mortensen, thank you so much for your videos! I watched quite a few now and they are ALL very helpful to me! I have a question though that is not directly related to this video but I can't remember which video it was where you mentioned that any other movement of the finger/hand than downwards on the keyboard wouldn't make any sense. Well my question is how do you play finger staccato? Or could you make a video about staccato play and the thumb and staccato? Thank you so much!

[@musicalaccents]

Wonderful video, as always! How much do you teach your students about 'routine' and performance? I'd had the same pre-performance routine since I was in high school (at least) and that has always gave me a sense of comfort. Routine examples being: closing eyes, deep breaths, creating a calmness within, taking 5-10 seconds after getting situated before raising arms, hearing the intro in my head during this time - especially tempo since nerves can affect heartrate and overall tempo. Curious on your thoughts!

[@geraldparker8125]

Imagine the poor aeroplane flying through a SHARNADO, as in that series of motion pictures!

[@dallinfullmer3073]

I️ started with high threat performance at my state’s MTNA competition and that was definitely a mistake.

[@geraldparker8125]

One advantage, one would at first thought entertain, is that accompanying at the piano would be less terrifying, since one seldom has to do that from memory. Then one encounters a singer who (perhaps suddenly, with a cold or whatever) requires TRANSPOSITION to another tonality for the performance (usually lower). Now, transposing at sight in that circumstance is TERRIFYING to have to do in public! So, don't be too jealous of the accompanist's musical life!

[@pianopressofficial]

I was hoping the banana story had a happy ending, like placebo or something 😅

[@JermaineOneal1]

Could you post the link to the article?

[@Mukundanghri]

When I was in the 3rd. in Catholic school I was taught by a very angry nun. Every time I made a mistake she would beat me about the head and threaten me not to mention it to my parents. Her piss-poor behavior literally destroyed my hope to ever perform.

[@AZmom60]

I'm so sorry that happened to you, Michael. How very traumatic. I hope you do find a way to heal from the wrong beliefs that you grew from that experience. How freeing it would be to show her that you are a very capable individual (she is probably dead now anyway, but you know what I mean!).

[@pianosenzanima1]

i feel like that airplane in the wind tunell as soon as i walk outside LOL

[@SeEyMoReBuTtS]

Im confused. Does this mean you wouldn't recommend the dohyani exercises/chopin etude 10 no 2 or 25 no 6?

[@hedgehog_fox]

Please enable the like button, so I can like your video on all my 200 youtube accounts.

[@snowman9555]

Could you fix your camera so it doesn't zoom in and out every time you move? I enjoy your videos, but have to only listen and not watch them because of this.

[@jonashasageremtkjrjensen]

Wow!