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Research Article on Performance Anxiety |
"Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind." ~Johannes Brahms |
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Performing. Though this may sound like a simple word, in reality this verb can cause more stress than imaginable. While it may seem surprising, performing anxiety is actually an issue for many people in diverse fields. Research shows that eighty percent of all people feel some form of anxiety when they become the center of attention (Kirchner 1). For musicians whose livelihood depends on performing at center stage, the effects of nerves can be harmful and damaging to their progress. While performing anxiety is not a disease, it is a difficulty or hardship most musicians experience to varying degrees. Over the years, teachers and performers have found many different ways to deal with it. These methods include mental strategies, careful preparation, and experience. If this is not enough, professional assistance is also available and becoming increasingly common. So what exactly is performing anxiety? Philip Rosenthal described the term as, “Also known as “stage fright”, can be thought of as two usually simultaneous conditions: psychic fear and the response of the body to hormones released by the adrenal glands. The psychic symptoms include fear of failure and its personal and professional consequences. Irritability, lack of concentration, and even panic are components of psychic anxiety. Another well-known feature of psychic anxiety is depersonalization, a feeling of one’s self being separated from reality. There may be a sensation of “strangeness” as though the surroundings were unreal” (Rosenthal 1). Think back to any encounter with performing anxiety and your experience with it. Most likely any sensations that occurred fit this scientific definition. For myself, I know that my hands will shake, my throat will go dry, my mind will over worry itself, and my heart will throb. While a performer may feel this, it is possible to overcome the feelings and perform splendidly. Now that we’ve defined it and remembered our own efforts to deal with it, the question is how can we get rid of it or deal with it enough to not let it hurt a performance? In the world of music, the most common approaches for conquering nerves are taught to students from the beginning of their study. Teachers use many different strategies and techniques with students. There are many books and articles full of these mental and emotional approaches. ü Practice and create places in your music called “memory stations” where you can jump to if you ever need to during a performance. ü Record and tape practice sessions and lessons so you can critique yourself from an observer’s point. Notice any tension and slippery points in your performance. ü Give yourself time to learn and live with the piece. Make sure to choose suitable repertoire that fits your abilities. ü Focus on the present so your mind cannot slip ahead or drift back to parts of the music. Be completely absorbed in the moment. ü Do not let yourself have inner dialogue going on while performing. It will only distract and fluster your focus. ü Perform frequently to practice dealing with anxiety and to gain confidence that you can do it. ü Visualize yourself from the moment you walk onstage, through the entire program, and leaving behind a happy audience at the end (Kirchner 31-32). ü Understand the music inside and out. Know the form, shape, phrasing, dynamics, harmonies and melodies. ü Make the music your own so the performance isn’t automatic finger memory but is something you’re involved with and attached to (Hersch 116). Many of these tactics or tricks deal with the preparation and practice before a performance. For overcoming anxiety, significant key is careful preparation. Barbara Schneiderman wrote an entire book about preparation entitled Confident Music Performance, The Art of Preparing. In here she has chapters full of step by step processes to prepare the mind and body for performing. First she stresses the point that preparation for overcoming performance anxiety takes years of training and practice. With that goal, she delves into many topics that should be taught by every teacher to help each student. Mentally, a student should have a “philosophic framework” in place (Schneiderman 16). This includes the mindset of finding the magic in music, communicating with the composer, knowing the history of the piece, and seeing performing as chance to give. A touching part of the text from Schneiderman’s book read, “In a beautiful sense, there is an enlargement, an enrichment of the self as a person absorbs each new piece of music similar to that phenomenon one feels in memorizing a poem. It becomes part of you, you become part of it—an organic fusion takes place and you are somehow amplified. With the understanding of a great work of art, one grows deeper and richer, ones life fuller” (Schneiderman 19). Imagine if every teacher could instill this mindset into their students. What an effect it would have on their lives if they came to truly believe this from the beginning of their musical study. After exploring this topic, the book discusses many others. Finding the artist within ourselves to develop and letting this happen naturally comes next. Then structural preparation brings out ideas about levels of analysis, musical history, rhythm, harmony, texture, articulation ideas, energy, and so much more we should find in our pieces from the beginning. What is so great about her approach is that she teaches the reader how to apply these preparation tactics to themselves and teach them to students. She advances to dealing with the studying the score and correcting every aspect, then repetition of sections and hands separate for skill development, recognizing voices, internalizing the music, and so on. As a piece begins to be memorized, Schneiderman remarks, “When we play with score we are reminded of what the composer wants; when we play without score we discover what we now of his intention” (Schneiderman 69). Although these are only a few points she discusses, there are so many steps discussed in the book to help with the preparation process. If they are followed, the music should be so ingrained into the performer that there is nothing to hinder a performance. Finally the book describes how important it is to develop a confident and positive attitude for performing. Schneiderman parts with this advice: “We all need to keep remembering that we are constantly in a state of becoming, that we can change ourselves, that we are what we do, that our daily choices shape us, that we can grow and improve in whatever we choose” (Schneiderman 149). A very inspirational book, Schneiderman believes that performance anxiety can be overcome solely with proper mental and physical preparation. However, this is a debated topic for many people, not just musicians. Can performance anxiety be bad enough to require professional assistance? One side of professional care deals with medical alternatives, or the use of medicine, mainly beta-blocking drugs, to overcome some effects of anxiety. Basically, the brain causes glands in the body to release hormones when it meets with stress or anxiety. The hormones are adrenalin (epinephrine) and noradrenalin (norephinephrine), which trigger physical effects such as increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, and expanding airways. With some people these hormones also prompt sweating, less salivation, dilated pupils, the need to visit the restroom, and tremors in the muscles (Rosenthal 67). So you may be asking how a medicine can stop these natural effects in any body? Rosenthal explained, “Beta-blocking medications competitively bind to the beta receptors for the adrenal hormones, thus preventing or “blocking” their binding to the organs. In this way, the body’s response to the adrenal glands... can be reduced or prevented” (Rosenthal 67). With much research being done on the safety of beta-blockers, there have been numerous studies and surveys done. Findings have been very positive but a controversial side still exists with the worries of lost sensitivities, feelings of detachment, and questions on psychological addictions. For developing musicians, beta-blockers cannot replace the opportunity to develop true physical and psychological skills for dealing with anxiety and life in the musician’s world. There are also many other approaches involving professional assistance for overcoming performance anxiety. Relaxation methods include autogenic therapy and exercises from eastern cultures, such as Zen, yoga, t’ai chi, or meditation, but require time to learn and master. To rid the body of tension, progressive muscle relaxation and the Alexander Technique are two other methods. Technology has also produced a method called biofeedback therapy to measure physical symptoms of anxiety. Psychologists can also work with musicians to apply different tools to overcoming performing anxiety. Currently, Dr. Don Greene is a psychologist on the faculty at Julliard who works with teachers and their students. Originally a sports psychologist, he has taken the tools from his years in that area and applied them to musicians. Both in his books and on his website, he has tests each person takes individually to determine weak areas. His seven areas he works with are: determination, poise, mental outlook, emotional approach, attention, concentration, and resilience (Greene 22). Each area has many sub scores and which are addressed separately. Specific goals are then set and worked on one at a time. As Greene states, “The process is much like a music lesson. When you meet a new teacher, you explain what you feel you do well and what you don’t, and what you have done to address various problems. Eventually you start to play. The teacher then diagnoses your problems, offers solutions, and assigns exercises specific to your needs. When the lesson’s over you go home and apply the solutions in practice” (Greene 6). Once each goal has been met, Greene’s method also includes a twenty-one day plan to implement before a performance. Although it may be a rather lengthy process, many success stories come from completing the approach. For anyone who does not attend Julliard, it may be hard to practice the method with a book. No stories of success from simply following the book were given. However the website (www.dongreene.com) had another method, even more in depth that you paid for and learned from over the internet with many success stories posted. Most students studying music will not have a ‘music psychologist’ to meet with unless their school or university is highly specialized and can afford such a thing. Perhaps a school psychologist would have ideas to deal with general stage fright that may be helpful. After reading all of this material, I have found that there are many ideas and viewpoints to overcoming performance anxiety. Most musicians deal with it in one form or another. There are many mental strategies to use. Preparation and practice are also very effective. Professional assistance involving medicine or psychology has also developed over the past years. In the end, there are so many methods to try and choose from that musicians should never feel that they don’t have any options for overcoming anxiety.
Greene, Don. Performance Success, Performing Your Best Under Pressure. New York, NY: Routledge, 2002. Hersch, Fred. “Solo Piano: High Anxiety.” Keyboard 24:9:269(1998): 114, 116. Kirchner, Joann. "Managing Musical Performance Anxiety." American Music Teacher 54:3(2004): 31-33. Rosenthal, Philip. “Inderal for Performance Anxiety: Better Living Through Chemistry or Bargaining with Satan?” The Horn Call – Journal of the International Horn Society 30:3(2000): 67-73. Schneiderman, Barbara. Confident Music Performance, The Art of Preparing. Ann Arbor, MI: McNaughton & Gunn Lithographers, 1991. |
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