3 ways to conquer stage fright
One reader recently commented that stage fright was his #1 struggle with guitar playing.
If this is something you struggle with, then here are 3 strategies to help you overcome it.
First, have a listen to CCG member Kevin below, who used to be (in his own words) a ‘bag of nerves’. Now he enjoys performing! That was a leap he thought would never occur.
It happened because Kevin followed the steps below.
Following these steps will help you feel the same way about performing.
1. Perform Regularly
If you’re not playing for others at least once a month, then your performance edge can become blunt. Find any and every opportunity to play for others, whether in person or online. Here are a few options to consider:
1) Set up a mini concert for your friends and family
Make it a nice occasion, with dinner and drinks, so everyone is happy and the ambience is great. Even if you play 2-3 pieces, this can be a huge step in helping you feel comfortable performing. This could become a regular thing every month!
2) Play for your local guitar society
Most guitar societies will give the general public opportunities to play. These can admittedly be some of the most stressful environments to play in, because you’re playing for a room of guitarists! They’ll probably know the piece/s you play. But putting yourself under this pressure on a regular basis is crucial for development. It also makes playing for non guitarists feel much easier.
3) Play at open mics
CCG member Richard has started playing weekly at a local open mic in his area. Because of this, his playing has sharpened drastically, as has his confidence.
Look around for open mics in your area, even if they don’t seem to normally have classical guitar on their agenda. Many people in the general public find classical guitar alluring and interesting.
CCG has regular open mics AND two masterclasses each week. Find out more about that here: https://creativeclassicalguitarist.com/join
2. Record Yourself
It’s so easy to record ourselves with the technology that we have - we are truly blessed! It doesn’t need to be anything fancy - simply using your smartphone can get adequate results.
Just to put things into context: before smartphones existed, it was WAY more difficult to record. You needed to have an interface, microphone, software, cables, etc.
I reckon musicians from the past would be envious of just how easy it is for us to record! This is an opportunity to use technology to our advantage, rather than let it take advantage of us (by over consuming content for example).
You can be the creator of content, something that is fulfilling and spreads the joy of your music making to others.
Here’s a way to gradually ease yourself into recording and eventually posting it up online for others to watch:
1) Record yourself on your smartphone and watch it back
Evaluate yourself. What do you like about it? What do you feel can be improved? Record it again. I’ve sometimes done 20-30 takes, where I’m trying to add a small improvement to each one.
2) Record yourself on your smartphone and upload it to YouTube as unlisted
This gets you used to the habit of posting your videos. An unlisted video means that no one can watch it unless they have the link. So if you’re feeling a bit hesitant to share, you can wait and make your videos public at a later date.
3) Record yourself and share it with a community of like-minded guitarists
Within CCG, we have a practice room, where guitarists are constantly sharing videos of their playing. The expectations are very clear: you should aim to record the same piece 2-3 times per month and see the progress you’ve made. There’s also a clear 4 step framework to follow regarding the process of learning pieces. Prepare, Consolidate, Memorize, Perform.
You might have a similar community to play for? But if not, then consider coming on board CCG.
A note about expectations:
It’s important to remember that most videos you see online are not accurate representations of real playing.
Most videos are taken under controlled environments. There could have been plenty of takes. The player could have had plenty of time to warm up. The acoustics, lighting and microphone could be set up ideally.
On the more extreme end, they might even be dubbing over an edited recording! Or, the video has been edited to cut out errors. All in all, remember that watching guitar players online IS NOT a realistic expectation of how we play in real life.
My recommendation: watch as many live concerts as you can.
You will get a much better sense of true expectations this way. You will see world class performers make mistakes, have memory lapses and more. This is part of being human. No guitarist is perfect! If we think the goal is to play perfectly, then we will never reach that level and feel disappointed.
You can instead focus on what’s more important: having an effect on the listener. This is achieved through intention, dynamics, mood, emotion, color, rubato, articulation, tone, phrasing, etc. Try to perfect those things instead of accuracy.
On CCG, we have a different focus for each month. It ranges from left hand technique, to rubato, tone, developing speed and more.
3. Prepare Adequately
1) Adjust your time horizon
I once read interview with Manuel Barrueco, one of the great guitar performers of recent times. He said that he won’t perform a piece until he’s learned it for 1 year.
Yes, that’s right: 1 year of practicing a piece before performing it!
How long do you wait until performing a piece? Do you expect your best performance after reading through the piece a few times? Or after playing the piece for a few weeks?
Adjust your time horizon for preparation from days/weeks to months/years.
CCG has a 4 month process/course you can follow to get pieces to a minimum performance level standard.
2) Practice performing
When you practice, what do you do when you make an error? If you stop, curse and restart from the beginning, then this is what you’ll do during a performance!
Positive habits:
Try to set positive habits that will manifest in your performance. Instead of stopping, cursing and restarting, keep the flow of the music going and smile. Make this a habit in your practice and it will become a habit when you play. People will probably say. “it was so nice when you smiled, that was a real highlight!”. Inside, you know that’s where you messed up, but they didn’t know that.
Transitions:
Do you practice every transition?
Introducing pieces: what will you say and how will you say it?
Beginning a piece: what do you do before starting a piece?
Transitioning from one piece to the next: how much time do you take in between pieces?
Tuning between pieces (drop D for example): don’t let your performance be the first time you try this!
Set aside time to practice performing your program
It’s very important to distinguish practice and performance.
Practicing is a mode where you are very analytical, solving problems, changing fingerings, considering the interpretation, stopping and starting, etc.
Performing is a mode of flow, where you aim to let go of the analytical and just feel the music.
Do you set time aside strictly to practice performing your program?
I’ve worked with many guitarists who have performed or taken exams (high level ones with 20+ minute programs). If they don’t practice performing their entire program at least a few times, then their actual performance will suffer.
I do this myself too. Before playing a program, I will run through it like it’s a performance at least a few times. I’ll record it and sometimes even do a live stream of it (like I did recently for the Echoes of Tradition program).
Here are some tools you can use to help you prepare for a performance:
If you read all of these points but don’t take any action, then I’m sorry to say, but your stage fright will not improve.
What actions will you take that will change you (like Kevin) from a bag of nerves to enjoying performance?
CCG has many opportunities to help conquer your stage fright. You can join us on a free trial at: https://creativeclassicalguitarist.com/join
You can also book a free 10 minute appointment with me to discuss stage fright, technique, composing, or anything guitar related: https://creativeclassicalguitarist.com/contact